Families of our rugby young guns geared up as stars prepare for their big stage bow

AS the country prepares for the first Six Nations clash of this year, family and friends of the squad’s young guns are eagerly awaiting their debuts.

Among them are the family of 21-year-old Ulster winger Jacob Stockdale, who will line out for his Championship bow today.

His mother Janine and two sisters Hannah and Lydia will fly to Paris to cheer on the young Newtownstewart man as he lines out with the team.

Unfortunately his father, Rev Graham Stockdale, a chaplain at a hospice and prison, won’t get an opportunity to witness his son’s first outing for the country in this competition due to work commitments. “I won’t be there because I’m on duty in the hospice here,” he said. “I couldn’t manage to wangle all the weekends off because I have to work every two to three.

“So I’m hoping to get to all the other matches but we were frantically booking flights for my wife and two daughters. So the three women will be there cheering him on.”

While Stockdale’s rise has been phenomenal, his father revealed an interest in rugby goes back several generations, with Jacob’s grandfather buying him his first rugby ball.

“My father, his grandfather, was a better player than me and quite like Jacob,” he said. “He was a winger like Jacob. He arrived at some point when Jacob was still in a cot with a rugby ball in his hands and that was that.”

Another fresh-faced star in the squad is Jordan Larmour, from Dublin. His father Ian told how the 20-year-old had a talent for every sport he turned his hand to. “He was just one of those kids who loved any sport and just picked it up as he went along, whether it was swimming, hockey or rugby,” he said. “I’d say it’s probably his dream come true, he always wanted to be a rugby player.”

‘I’d say that it’s probably his dream come true’

He revealed how Jordan and brother Adam had a memorable introduction to the game with both boys losing teeth.

“They played mini rugby and the first day I brought them down Adam lost two teeth and Jordan lost one so it was a baptism of fire.”

While the young Leinster winger was not picked for this weekend’s clash, his family are hopeful he will play a significant role in the Championship.

Larmour coaches at his former school St Andrew’s.

Jordan Larmour playing for Wanderers in 2010 and (inset) at Ireland training this week; LEFT: Jordan’s father Ian. RIGHT: Jacob Stockdale in Wallace High School’s team photo, his father Rev Graham Stockdale, and (inset above) in Ireland camp.