“I found a place close by and it is fully furnished so I have landed on my feet,” says Sam. “I took a few strolls into town over the weekend to have a look around but I haven’t done too much exploring yet. I enjoy coffee and food and the boys have shown me a few good spots already, so far I am really impressed.
“The facilities here are unreal and are obviously really new. It is a privilege to come in and be a part of this squad. The coaching staff are really serious about getting the job done so we are in good hands. I visited in February and May so I had seen and toured around the stadium and was extremely impressed.”
Sam is an alumni of the ACT Brumbies Academy and before moving to Worcester Warriors in the later part of the 2014/15 season he played for his home side New South Wales Country Eagles. He describes the main differences between the set up in Oz and the set up in Ulster as:
“Here everything is centralised in one base, and I think that is really important. At Kingspan the all-weather pitches are at the back and you are just a short walk away from the Pirrie grass pitches. In Australia everything is a bit more spread out. Teams usually share the facilities with other sports. When I was in Canberra, the Brumbies shared theirs with the AIS and the University so to have our own place solely for team use is pretty cool.
“I think Irish people are definitely more passionate, supporters and players. The rugby culture here is a lot different to Australia, there you have a few other distractions, beaches and nicer weather so boys can potentially lead off track. But over here, there is a huge amount of seriousness that comes with rugby. So when you are training or in game time it is all systems go, which I like and I think that’s what breeds success - Irish rugby has shown that in the last few years.”
Speaking at the beginning of a tough few weeks of pre-season Sam is looking forward to getting past his shoulder injury and had his sights set on playing as many games for Ulster this season as possible…
“The first few weeks will be a building stage for me, lots of weights, anaerobic stuff and speed exercises to build on muscle and prepare us for what’s going to be a tough season. Last year I injured my shoulder in December so the last six months have been rehab for me. I am sure the S&C guys will be looking to get some size and strength back on my upper body also.
“It is a really exciting time to be joining Ulster, the squad is full of talented guys but teams wouldn’t be successful if there wasn’t pressure or competition for positions from guys coming in. The more competition, the better players perform because they know there is always someone knocking on the door. I am excited about that and looking forward to the challenge.
“My goals for this season at Ulster are really just to play rugby regularly, coming off the shoulder injury, I haven’t played for six months so my first goal is to get on the field and then string as many games together as I can. I hope to remain injury free and ultimately win games. I am really looking forward to experiencing the renowned support and atmosphere here, I have watched it on TV so the first home game at Kingspan Stadium is going to be pretty special.”