Centre Luke Marshall says he's ready and raring to go against the Southern Kings this week after his return from a long-term injury.
Marshall has been out since the defeat to Leinster at Kingspan Stadium last October with an Achilles injury, missing 11 games as well as the November internationals for Ireland.
However, the 26-year old made his long-awaited return in helping Ulster A into the quarter-finals of the British and Irish Cup at the end of last month, winning 23-14 over a Scarlets Premiership Select to finish top of their pool.
After a start for Ballymena in the Ulster Bank League, Marshall is now excited to be back working with the senior team after what has been a difficult few months for him.
“It’s been frustrating, obviously getting injured just before November and missing a few big games,” Marshall admits. “But that’s the nature of the game, I’m just happy now to be back in the mix and getting some game time.
“Over the last few seasons I’ve been very fortunate injury-wise so it’s just how it is, you have to deal with it.
“I was doing rehab with Marcell Coetzee, so comparing myself to him, he’s had a horrid time with injuries, so it could always be worse. You feel a bit guilty actually!
“(The A game) was enjoyable. Pretty tough conditions, a pretty tough pitch in Llandovery. It was nice for me, it was funny being one of the older players in the team because I’m still only 26, but there are some great young players coming through and that’s encouraging to see,” he added.
Last week the Province and Director of Rugby Les Kiss parted company by mutual decision, with head coach Jono Gibbes now taking control of the on-field responsibilities.
“Jono’s fully in charge now and everyone knows in here and outside of the organisation what a good coach he is, just look at his record with Leinster: two or three European Cups, and he won the Top 14 with Clermont last year.
“He’s a very good coach and fills the squad with a lot of confidence. He’s a natural leader and he’s going to be really good for us going forward. It’s a shame to lose Les from a coaching point of view and from a personal point of view, but that’s the way it is. We still have a good coaching set up in place.”
This week Ulster are back in action against the Southern Kings at Kingspan Stadium and will be looking to get back on track as they make a push for the Guinness PRO14 play-offs.
This is the first stop for the Kings on a three-game visit to the Northern Hemisphere, with the Conference A rivals still looking for their first victory since joining the PRO14 at the start of the season.
Nobody will forget Ulster’s first ever trip to South Africa when they took on the Kings at Isaac Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth and came away with the spoils in a thrilling 43-36 win that saw the two sides share 12 tries.
Although he made the trip, Marshall didn’t play in that game, but he’s eager to get a crack at the tourists who he believes will prove to be more than capable opponents this week.
“They’ve gone through a rough patch, but they have a lot of pace in their backline so they’ll be dangerous. It’ll be a good game on Friday night.
“Over there the game got a bit loose at times and we weren’t accurate with the ball and got turned over a few times, and that’s what they love because they have so much gas out in the wide channels and they really punished us.
“We haven’t played to our potential the last few months. We’ve been inconsistent, some good performances and some poor performances.
“We’re training hard but things aren’t clicking in the games. Some people say about needing a statement, I don’t think that’s the case, I think it’s just getting a good victory to bounce back from that last defeat to Wasps.”
Tickets for Friday's game are available from ulsterrugby.com/buytickets.
Marshall has been out since the defeat to Leinster at Kingspan Stadium last October with an Achilles injury, missing 11 games as well as the November internationals for Ireland.
However, the 26-year old made his long-awaited return in helping Ulster A into the quarter-finals of the British and Irish Cup at the end of last month, winning 23-14 over a Scarlets Premiership Select to finish top of their pool.
After a start for Ballymena in the Ulster Bank League, Marshall is now excited to be back working with the senior team after what has been a difficult few months for him.
“It’s been frustrating, obviously getting injured just before November and missing a few big games,” Marshall admits. “But that’s the nature of the game, I’m just happy now to be back in the mix and getting some game time.
“Over the last few seasons I’ve been very fortunate injury-wise so it’s just how it is, you have to deal with it.
“I was doing rehab with Marcell Coetzee, so comparing myself to him, he’s had a horrid time with injuries, so it could always be worse. You feel a bit guilty actually!
“(The A game) was enjoyable. Pretty tough conditions, a pretty tough pitch in Llandovery. It was nice for me, it was funny being one of the older players in the team because I’m still only 26, but there are some great young players coming through and that’s encouraging to see,” he added.
Last week the Province and Director of Rugby Les Kiss parted company by mutual decision, with head coach Jono Gibbes now taking control of the on-field responsibilities.
“Jono’s fully in charge now and everyone knows in here and outside of the organisation what a good coach he is, just look at his record with Leinster: two or three European Cups, and he won the Top 14 with Clermont last year.
“He’s a very good coach and fills the squad with a lot of confidence. He’s a natural leader and he’s going to be really good for us going forward. It’s a shame to lose Les from a coaching point of view and from a personal point of view, but that’s the way it is. We still have a good coaching set up in place.”
This week Ulster are back in action against the Southern Kings at Kingspan Stadium and will be looking to get back on track as they make a push for the Guinness PRO14 play-offs.
This is the first stop for the Kings on a three-game visit to the Northern Hemisphere, with the Conference A rivals still looking for their first victory since joining the PRO14 at the start of the season.
Nobody will forget Ulster’s first ever trip to South Africa when they took on the Kings at Isaac Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth and came away with the spoils in a thrilling 43-36 win that saw the two sides share 12 tries.
Although he made the trip, Marshall didn’t play in that game, but he’s eager to get a crack at the tourists who he believes will prove to be more than capable opponents this week.
“They’ve gone through a rough patch, but they have a lot of pace in their backline so they’ll be dangerous. It’ll be a good game on Friday night.
“Over there the game got a bit loose at times and we weren’t accurate with the ball and got turned over a few times, and that’s what they love because they have so much gas out in the wide channels and they really punished us.
“We haven’t played to our potential the last few months. We’ve been inconsistent, some good performances and some poor performances.
“We’re training hard but things aren’t clicking in the games. Some people say about needing a statement, I don’t think that’s the case, I think it’s just getting a good victory to bounce back from that last defeat to Wasps.”
Tickets for Friday's game are available from ulsterrugby.com/buytickets.