It was a bittersweet day for Luke Marshall on Saturday as the Irish international made a remarkable return to action after ten months out of action.
The Ballymena man, who suffered an ACL injury all the way back in May of 2018, came back into the match-day 23 for the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final defeat to Leinster in the Aviva Stadium and didn't miss a beat, scoring a try in an excellent late cameo from the bench.
Indeed, if things had panned out differently, it could have been a fairytale return after his 65th minute score drew his side level at 18-18.
Unfortunately, it was Leinster who went on to claim a late victory, a brilliant Ulster performance just not quite enough to book a first semi-final since 2012.
"Obviously I got injured back in May last season against Ospreys and I was pretty disappointed that I was going to be out for a while," said the centre.
"But that's rugby, these injuries come to everyone and you work hard and get through them.
"I got some good advice from the likes of Marcell (Coetzee) who has been in this position and a few other guys just saying 'enjoy it, enjoy being back, do not force it, no one is expecting anything.'
"It was about keeping the expectations low. I thought I was going to be a lot more nervous. I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the occasion.
"The travelling support from Ulster coming down the road, I am not sure what the figures were but it looked as it was 50-50 support in the crowd and the noise was brilliant. It is up there with one of the big occasions.
"It was bittersweet for me. Great getting back out on the pitch and great getting back on such a big occasion, obviously the other side of it is that we did not complete the task and are out of the competition now.
"I'm still pretty pleased to get back fit, but wish it could have been in a different fashion."
Indeed, if things had panned out differently, it could have been a fairytale return after his 65th minute score drew his side level at 18-18.
Unfortunately, it was Leinster who went on to claim a late victory, a brilliant Ulster performance just not quite enough to book a first semi-final since 2012.
"Obviously I got injured back in May last season against Ospreys and I was pretty disappointed that I was going to be out for a while," said the centre.
"But that's rugby, these injuries come to everyone and you work hard and get through them.
"I got some good advice from the likes of Marcell (Coetzee) who has been in this position and a few other guys just saying 'enjoy it, enjoy being back, do not force it, no one is expecting anything.'
"It was about keeping the expectations low. I thought I was going to be a lot more nervous. I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the occasion.
"The travelling support from Ulster coming down the road, I am not sure what the figures were but it looked as it was 50-50 support in the crowd and the noise was brilliant. It is up there with one of the big occasions.
"It was bittersweet for me. Great getting back out on the pitch and great getting back on such a big occasion, obviously the other side of it is that we did not complete the task and are out of the competition now.
"I'm still pretty pleased to get back fit, but wish it could have been in a different fashion."
Despite the defeat, Ulster left Dublin with their heads held high after their best European run in some five seasons. Marshall has been admiring the squad's improvement from the sidelines. "To see how far we have come as a squad and being able to watch it from the sidelines, there were some great games this year," he continued. "To beat Racing at home, and Scarlets home and away, and even some of our league games, beating sides away which we would not have done over the last few years, it shows how much we have grown as a squad. "I think if this (Leinster) game was last year we probably would have ended up losing it by 20 points, we would have just went out the gate once Leinster got in the ascendancy. But we stayed in the fight and kept coming back at them and there's definitely a lot to be proud of.Proud to be an Ulsterman yesterday, proud to be a part of this team and proud to represent the incredible fans of this special province
— Luke Marshall (@lukemarshall121) March 31, 2019
"It definitely feels like we are in a good place. The age profile of our squad we are in a good place with those guys getting experience. Obviously we lost, but playing against a side like Leinster on the big stage like a quarter-final, they are going to learn so much."Not only will it give them a taste of it, but they will learn from the experience and hopefully in the years to come in these tight games they will know what to do to be on the right side of the scoreline." In the short-term, Marshall won't be resting on his laurels. After so long out, he is itching for more action between now and the end of the season. "I want to stay in the match-day squad and try and get a start towards the end of the season," he added. "We've tough games but good games. We've Glasgow and Edinburgh away the next two weeks, then Leinster at home. They're tough games but they're winnable. We'll take confidence from this performance, and character too. There's no reason we can't win all three and see what happens after that."