Ruan Pienaar may have made a try scoring return from injury to the Ulster team last Saturday night, but there was an equally impressive performance from another player, also coming back after a long lay-off. Ireland second row Dan Tuohy was out for 11 weeks with a broken arm and put in a memorable display as the province recorded the bonus point win.

Ruan Pienaar may have made a try scoring return from injury to the Ulster team last Saturday night, but there was an equally impressive performance from another player, also coming back after a long lay-off. Ireland second row Dan Tuohy was out for 11 weeks with a broken arm and put in a memorable display as the province recorded the bonus point win.

“I don’t think the plan was to play 80 minutes but that’s the way it worked out," says Dan. “I was quite relaxed. I know as an international player, having played international rugby, people have standards and expectations of me that they expect me to hit. Also, Doaky (Neil Doak) had faith in me – after three months out he could have stuck me on the bench, but he played me from the start. Fortunately, we got the right result.”

If there was one minor disappointment from the night, it was that he didn’t add to his already impressive try scoring record. After going over against Scarlets in the opening game of the PRO12, then again against Zebre and Cardiff, it was the first match that he played this season in which he hasn’t scored a try;

Dan says: “If Cavey (Darren Cave) had run out of gas I was on his left hand side. Three from four isn’t too bad. Not many second rows can say that!”

Tuohy is aiming for another big performance on Sunday as Ulster travel to Parc Y Scarlets for the return leg against the Welsh region:

He says: It’s well documented how many people we are missing. That’s professional rugby. I am sure they are missing a few players. I think we need to go there with a positive mind-set. We have talked this week about upping our intensity. They haven’t lost there this season and that shows you the strength that they have.

“With Leicester beating Toulon it certainly opens the group a bit,” continues Dan. “Last week’s game will count for nothing if we don’t beat Scarlets over there. Both ourselves and Scarlets are sitting on one win, so someone is going to get the victory and the other team is going to be left behind.”

Let’s hope it is Dan Tuohy and Ulster that are celebrating on Sunday night.

Dan Tuohy: Last Week Counts For Nothing If We Don't Win Over There

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