Ulster Rugby v Harlequins

CRAIG GILROY HOPES HIS GOOD FORM CAN CONTINUE

Craig Gilroy made his 150th provincial appearance in Ulster’s fixture against the Southern Kings in South Africa, and has recaptured some brilliant form after an injury lay-off at the start of the season.

You missed the first two months of the season on account of injury. Take us through that time and how you kept yourself motivated to return to form? Pre-season was probably one of the most enjoyable I’ve had with Ulster to date. We were away to Portugal for a training camp and with the new coaches coming in, it was a really good pre-season. I felt in really good shape so it was a bit of a knock for me to have an injury that was going to put me on the sidelines for so long. It was disappointing to miss the start of the season but, to be honest, I just stayed really positive and continued to train with the injured group that was here. I had a bit of craic with the Strength & Conditioning guys, Jonny (Davis) and Kev (Geary), and same with the physios. I trained hard and knew that I was in good hands and my chance would come around again. You now have four games under your belt. How do you think they have gone for you personally? My first game in South Africa was really just about getting back on the pitch it was really nice to get back. And to earn my 150th cap over there, in a country we’d never played in before, was amazing. Time flies in this career. It doesn’t feel too long ago since I got my first cap and then I got my 100th at home to Treviso a couple of seasons ago. That doesn’t feel too long ago either but they do rack up pretty quickly. It was a nice milestone for me to get and a proud moment for my family and friends who have helped me out along the way. As I said though, for me it was good to get back on the pitch and better when I got back in front of the home crowd against Treviso. These last few games I’ve felt 100% again, the best I’ve felt since pre-season, before I got injured. I feel that I’m back to my best and I’m looking forward to showing what I can do and enjoying a good run of rugby.

You were in the starting line-up against Harlequins last weekend so they’re a familiar opposition. How do you feel about the challenge of playing them again this weekend? I’d played against Harlequins years ago in pre- season friendlies, and their core guys are still there, the likes of Chris Robshaw, Danny Kerr, Mike Brown their English internationals who pose a big threat are still there. Harlequins are a strong outfit - any they showed that on Sunday at the Stoop. They’re sitting about mid-table in their league, but I don’t think that does them justice. What can fans hope to see from their Ulstermen tonight? I think the changes the coaches are trying to bring about are starting to come through in recent games. We’ve put together some lovely passages of play and showed some great skills. The skill shown by our backs especially when we were under pressure was great and I think we can take a lot of confidence from that. But we really need to push the foot down and move on and be ruthless and keep adding to that score board. I think the fans just want to see a good performance. They want to see us showing what it means to play for Ulster and showing how much we want to win. We’re hoping for a dry day, the chance to throw the ball about a bit and ultimately, we hope to come away with the win. What are your personal ambitions for the rest of the season? Firstly, I want to stay injury-free. I’m hoping that’s my bit of injuries out of the way for the season. I’ve come back from it now and I hope I can put that injury to bed and just focus on Ulster and staying in the starting team. I want to keep adding my bit to make the team do well and hopefully be able to maintain strong form in both competitions. Ideally, I’d like to put my hand up for Irish selection again down the line.

CRAIG GILROY

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