Fired-up Stockdale determined to get off to a flying start
EVEN after his record-setting year, Ulster’s Jacob Stockdale believes he is far from the finished article.
The flying winger makes his first appearance of the season against Connacht this evening (7.35pm kick-off ) looking to follow on from a campaign that saw him finish as the Six Nations top scorer.
“Last year, when I had set out my goals at the start of the season, it was merely to get on the bench for a Six Nations game,” he said. “But obviously it panned out pretty differently.
“You never know how it is going to go, it’s a cliché, but it’s about getting better every time you step on the pitch and improving. That’s the kind of mentality I try to play with.”
Stockdale is raring to go after a grade two hamstring strain suffered in pre-season training believing that, while frustrating, the injury has allowed him to enter the season in better shape than ever before.
When Stockdale was last seen on the field it was for Ireland against Australia in the June tour, the very end of a 12-month spell that saw him go from promising Ulster youngster to bonafide international star, a record breaker and Grand Slam winner at his first attempt.
After Joe Schmidt’s men won the series Down Under, Stockdale had no plans to celebrate his success. He spent a week or so in Australia after the series, spending more time in Sydney and Melbourne, but the games against the Wallabies lingered in his mind.
“Everybody has areas to work on,” he said. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist, even stuff that isn’t a weakness I want to improve.
“My high ball game is something that I thought was a strength but there are players out there who are better.
“You look at the first game (against Australia) and Israel Folau was better than me in the air. That’s something that really annoyed me and that I’ve gone away and worked on.
“There’s other stuff that you keep chipping away at every day. The more you play the more you realise that you’re not the finished article.
“I’ve learnt that at PRO14 level, I’ve learnt that at European level and now I’ve learnt that at Test level.”
While not involved in the record defeat to Munster last week, Stockdale says the squad have put it behind them ahead of tonight’s game in Belfast.
“Obviously after the weekend, there were a lot of tough words spoken and stuff and the guys, on the whole, have reacted really well to that. Training went really, really well, guys were energised. We want to make a point at home this week.”