STOCKDALE IS READY TO MOTOR AGAIN FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY
Enforced break has revitalised prolific winger
‘I’ve kept busy working on my 1966 Mustang’
PERHAPS only a few have taken to lockdown life as well as Jacob Stockdale. The Ulster and Ireland winger has wasted little time in limbo as rugby’s unforeseen offseason drags on.
A petrolhead away from the sport, the 24-year-old switched his focus to his 1966 Ford Mustang once professional sport was put on the backburner.
In between solo training sessions, Zoom quizzes and updates from Ulster Rugby, the Lurgan local has kept himself busy with his new ‘project’.
‘I’m really into my cars and mechanic work. I did a bit of work on a 1966 Mustang I have,’ he said while fronting Aware’s Phone A Friend initiative.
‘I changed the suspension, rewired the horn, rewired the radio in it and I actually did a four-week mechanic course online so I’ve kept myself busy with things that I’m enjoying.’
Having adapted to his surroundings at home, a fire burns bright inside the winger for a return to top-level sport. The fact his general knowledge is at ‘all-time high’ by way of endless Zoom quizzes isn’t enough gratification for the 2018 Grand Slam winner.
Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton recently admitted to suffering from motivation struggles but
Stockdale’s sheer excitement has kept him raring to go.
‘This is probably the longest break in rugby I have had since I started playing professionally.
‘I’m dead excited to get back to rugby now so I’m finding the motivation pretty easy in that sense.’
Being an IRFU club under the governmental provision of the United Kingdom, Ulster Rugby’s situation is a lot hazier than their provincial rivals.
Stockdale and his teammates have so far received documents from both north and south of the border regarding exit plans and social distancing measures for Covid-19.
Bar a couple of ‘greatly appreciated’ phone calls from the Ireland camp to see how he has been coping, Stockdale has been relying on updates through his club.
‘With Ulster it is a bit different to the other provinces just due to the fact we’re in Northern Ireland,’ he said.
‘Realistically we trust in Jonny Petrie’s (Ulster CEO) decisions and (head coach) Dan McFarland’s decisions and they’ve managed it really well so far and they’ll continue to do that so I’ve every faith in them.’
A welcome interprovincial series in the latter half of August is on the agenda for the Champions Cup quarter-finalists who hope to return to training at the end of next month.
‘I think the 28th of June is when we are hoping to be back training which would work well in terms of those games they’re hoping to be played on August 22nd.
‘I think that’s the most likely scenario but realistically it will depend on what goes on in the next few weeks.’
The prospect of competing in ‘geisterspiele’ (ghost games) at Aviva Stadium in a similar setting to those which have haunted the German Bundesliga isn’t a disconcerting thought for the winger.
‘I get the feeling it’ll be like playing schoolboy rugby again. Like when you’re driving an hour and a half to some random school in the middle of nowhere and playing rugby in front of a man and his dog!’
WHAT the interprovincial series lacks in atmosphere it will make up for in quality. All four provinces look set to field full-strength XVs against one another — an alltoo-unfamiliar sight in recent seasons.
‘I think in the last three years I have only played one of the Christmas Interpros. Two years ago I didn’t play any because I was injured.
‘To play against all of the guys I train with in (Ireland) camp is going to be dead exciting. None of us will have played rugby for four or five months at that point so it’ll be interesting.’
One man Stockdale is looking forward to facing is Leinster’s James Lowe.
The duo will do battle for the first time in August before they join forces in November when
Lowe becomes Ireland-eligible.
‘He’s an incredibly powerful fella,’ acknowledged Stockdale.
‘In terms of Ireland there’s already so much competition that him coming in and adding to that is only going to be a good thing.
‘The likes of Andrew Conway, Jordan Larmour and Earlsy (Keith Earls) have forced me to push my game and work even harder at it so the addition of him (Lowe) is going to be a boost for us.’
They could yet feature together in the Irish back three. Stockdale has already shown his versatility at Ulster after deputising mainly at full-back and in the centre at
schoolboy level. Lowe would do exceptionally well to replicate Stockdale’s debut season at Test level under Joe Schmidt, although the Ireland mainstay admits he set the bar high for even himself.
‘When you win a Grand Slam in your first year and break records it’s always going to be tough… because people are just going to expect that from you constantly going forward.
‘You rarely see a player at the very top of their game their entire career,’ he added.
‘It (a dip in form) has to happen at some point but it’s how you respond that matters.’
Whilst acknowledging the disappointments of 2019 (see panel), the prolific try-scorer is looking ahead instead of dwelling on the past and is determined for Ulster to get their just rewards after a stellar season in the Champions Cup and Pro14.
‘We were incredibly excited to go over and play Toulouse as difficult a game as it would’ve been. The same goes for the Pro14.
‘Ulster is building at the moment and it exciting to be a part of.
‘We’re hoping this year’s tournaments get to continue but I guess it’s about finding the weeks to play those games.’