Ulster wing Jacob Stockdale says he found his year on the sidelines through injury “really difficult” and his spell out of action has given him “a new appreciation” of playing the game.

“I love playing rugby so not being able to do that was really frustrating for me,” said Stockdale.

“It has definitely given me a new appreciation of how lucky I am to play.

“I tried to throw myself into things outside of rugby.

“I started a degree in engineering, and my wife was pregnant almost all the time I was injured so it was good to be around to help and support her.

“Once I was back in training [after undergoing surgery], that’s when I could focus again on rugby.

“When you do a full year of sitting on the sidelines and just watching it does make you miss it a lot.

“I feel very lucky to have been able to get back from the injury – full stop – and it’s not giving me any bother now which is really nice as well.

“You’re literally always one injury away from not being on the pitch any more. That’s probably something I didn’t appreciate that much before and it’s something I definitely appreciate now.”

‘A pretty big shock to the system’

The 26-year-old eased himself back into the fray by coming on as a second-half substitute in the pre-season win over Exeter and has since started the club’s victories over Connacht and Scarlets.

“It was a pretty big shock to the system, the 40 minutes against Exeter was a nice way to do it in a pre-season game where probably not everyone was going full tongs,” added Stockdale.

“Connacht was kind of a different game, more physical, and I probably didn’t look after the ball that well, so it was kind of nice to get a couple of learnings in and build my way back into it.

“Scarlets was an absolute lung buster. I think everyone was struggling which made me feel a lot better.

“The Connacht game, I was a bit messy with the ball and tried to push the offloads a bit, whereas last week I went back to the fundamentals of the game – ball carry, breakdown and tackle – tried to focus on those as much as I could.

“I’m trying to go back to what I’m good at – beating defenders, getting my hands on the ball and trying to carry as hard as I can.

“Leinster will be a huge challenge for us as a team and for me individually as well. It’s quite a short turnaround for us so it’s about going into this game as physically ready as I can be.”

‘Bottom of the pecking order’

The highlight of Stockdale’s 35-cap Ireland career to date came in 2018 when he was named Player of the Championship in the Six Nations after setting a tournament record for most tries scored, with seven as Ireland won the Grand Slam.

“I’ve felt some expectation from outside [about Ireland] but the way I look at it I’ve been out for a full year so I’m bottom of the pecking order,” he said.

“Other lads have kicked on and played brilliant rugby. It’s up to me to push my way back into contention.”