Ulster Rugby vs Saracens

JARED PAYNE: REFLECTS ON HIS RWC 2015 EXPERIENCE

JARED PAYNE

up high for the effort they put into the tournament. bitter-sweet but we will all look back on it as a great memory. ON HIS INJURY You could say I brought home an unwanted souvenir (the moon boot). I snapped my middle metatarsal bone in my foot so that was a disappointment. It was done at a training session and I didn’t think too much off it, I put it in a boot and got some physio on it and I was hoping that it would settle down but it didn’t and the doc said we better get this x-rayed. I didn’t really want it because I was worried it would put an end to my World Cup and unfortunately the x-ray did show a break. It was disappointing but injuries are a part of sport and you just have to get on with it. I got the operation done quickly, woke up in hospital on my birthday, was on the couch for two weeks straight after and then got moving. It will be six weeks next week when I go back to see the surgeon and hopefully he will give me some good news. Ideally I will be back playing some time in January and I can’t wait!

ON THE WORLD CUP It was an awesome experience; it was everything I had imagined. The supporters were amazing, the way they got behind the team and the atmosphere that they created in the stadiums was unbelievable. We also had a lot of fun off the pitch, meeting some interesting people like Usain Bolt, the experience really was a dream come true for me and I loved every minute of it. ON HIS FAVOURITE MOMENT My favourite moment was definitely the first bus trip to the Millennium Stadium – seeing the magnitude of the support and the sea of green was unbelievable. At that moment you realised how important what we were doing was to so many people. It really showed how much rugby means to

this nation, which was pretty special. ON THE QF DISSAPOINTMENT The quarter-final against Argentina was

disappointing, the boys came up against a pretty good team that day unfortunately. They did well to get back into the game but Argentina managed to finish us off towards the end. It was difficult, we had high hopes to go a lot further but at the same time, I think everyone involved can hold their heads

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