Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
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Ulster star Jacob examines his past failures but won’t dwell on them
BANK it and move on, that’s Jacob Stockdale’s mentality on coming to terms with the bad days.
Like the one in Toulouse last month when he played on the left wing and was schooled by World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe (above).
Th e S o u t h Af r i c a n left Stockdale for dust twice as he ran in two tries and Ulster lost out in the Champions Cup quarter-final clash.
Ahead of the Six Nations restart thi s we ekend , the 24-year-old admitted: “I’m never going to deal well with disappointment, that’s part of having a competitive nature. It’s always going to be a disappointment when you haven’t played well.
“But, personally, it’s about being able to block out that and internalise how I ’m feeling about the game. Having two or three guys’ opinions that I really trust and leaning on them for that is massive for me.
“That’s definitely something I’ve learned to deal with better over the last couple of years.
“But, on top of that, the schedule is so hectic you just have to throw yourself into the next week and forget about what happened at the weekend. Learn from it definitely but don’t get too down about it. You just go on to your next challenge really.”
Stockdale is enthused about where his game is now, his confidence buoyed thanks to his last two performances in the PRO14 before coming into Ireland camp.
To his own mind he had been playing well before that too, apart from the “bit of a blip” in Toulouse. “It It was really disappointing for me personally and for us as a team in Ulster but these things are going to happen,” he said.
“You’re going to have games where you don’t perform as well as you would like to. It’s about learning from those things.
“I’m happy with where I’m sitting right now and I’m just looking forward to potentially getting to play a bit of rugby in the next few weeks.”
But where he gets picked by Ireland boss Andy Farrell is the big question.
With Jordan Larmour gone for four months, Farrell needs someone to step i nto the full-back role and Stockdale has frequently played there for Ulster since rugby’s restart. Andrew Conway is another option while the uncapped Hugo Keenan and Shane Daly are specialists in the position. “I’ve no idea,” said Stockdale, when asked what his best position is. “I’ve been asked this question a good few times over the last wee while and my answer remains the same. “I will be more than happy to pl ay wh ere v er they put me on the team sheet , whether that’s fullback, wing or, ‘There you go, you’re a second row now’. Actually, I’d maybe draw the line at second row. I’m just happy to get on the pitch and play to the best of my ability wherever that is.”