Ulster Rugby v Leicester Tigers

T O M 0 ' T O O L E

RAPIDLY RISIING

When it comes to making your break into professional rugby, Tom O'Toole has most certainly gone around the world for a shortcut.

flight and seeing my name to train with the seniors on Monday, which was great but I expected nothing from it. "We had a really long meeting over at Newforge, Jono revealed the team for Edinburgh and all of a sudden I saw my name and I got a bit light-headed! I had about ten seconds (to enjoy it) before I had to flick the switch and get into game mode. "That was an amazing week, one I'll always remember." After signing his first senior deal with Ulster at the start of the season, O'Toole is tied down to Kingspan Stadium until 2021, by which stage he'll be 23-years old. With props typically maturing later in their careers than in other positions, O'Toole believes there are big things on the way over the course of the next three years. "There's a lot to come," he says with a steely determination. "Each year I want to get that much better and it's great getting all this experience now. "I look at my footage each week and hope there's a small change every week, and hopefully by my mid-20s I'll be an all-rounded player. I want my scrummaging to consistently improve and become a mobile, aggressive player around the park. "In the years to come there's a lot more for me to develop, get a bit more muscle on me, and I'm hugely excited for what's to come. My contract is four years so hopefully by the end of that I'll be a completely different person, and I'm feeling really positive."

Born in Drogheda, the tighthead prop moved to Australia as a seven-year old to follow his father's work before returning as a 16-year old to Northern Ireland to board at Campbell College and try to break into the Ulster Academy system. Four years, a Schools' Cup final appearance, ten senior caps and a first senior Ulster contract later, here we are. "It's been quite a crazy transition for me, I sometimes forget I only left school two years ago, but I've loved the challenge," the now 20-year old O'Toole grins. "I really enjoyed the Academy last year and then getting the upgrade to the development contract has been unbelievable. I'm getting all this experience now, I'm learning a huge amount and everything has been accelerated, but I love that. I love the challenge. "Sometimes I do have to sit back and remind myself there are things I have to work on and get right, but that's just time and patience. But I'm hugely excited for this year, it's been a great start to the year." The great start to what has already been a rapid rise through the professional ranks came last season when O'Toole made his senior bow away to Edinburgh in the Guinness PRO14. Starting in the front row alongside Rory Best, O'Toole put in an impressive shift on his debut, and thus establishing himself within the Ulster set-up. "I remember I was with Ulster A coming back from Bedford and I remember getting off the

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