Dan Tuohy made his long awaited return to action on Saturday evening for the Ulster A team, sponsored by CD Group, versus Leinster A at Donnybrook.
It has been a long road to recovery for Tuohy, who has just completed his rehab from ankle surgery following an injury picked up against Edinburgh in early December 2015.
It was a disappointing night for the Ulster A team, who went down 51-10 to their hosts, but Tuohy admits the result on the night was a secondary concern for him:
“From a selfish point of view it was great to get the full 80 minutes. The ankle felt good. You can try and replicate it as much as you want in training but getting the match time under the belt was important for me.”
In the game itself, which served as a final warm-up ahead of the British & Irish Cup opener this weekend, Leinster shot out of blocks and early tries put them 14-0 up after 10 minutes. In the second quarter Ulster fought back well and a superb individual try from Aaron Cairns helped to reduce the half-time deficit to 7 points, 17-10.
In the second half Leinster put on a ruthless display of attacking rugby, adding a flurry of tries to run out convincing winners. Speaking after the game, Tuohy was somewhat shell-shocked but also impressed:
“Leinster were very clinical when they got hold of the ball. We showed some decent glimpses in the second quarter but they were incredibly clinical; scored a couple of breakaways and the scoreline just ran away from us. Fair play to Leinster – it was a good side who beat us tonight.”
However, the Ulster lock wasn’t prepared to dwell too long on the result, with his mind quickly turning to other matters:
“I’ve been hassling Les (Kiss) for weeks now, so as long as I’m fit I’ll keep banging on his door looking for a place on the first team. We’ve a lot of big games coming up in the next few weeks so I’ll just keep working away and hopefully he’ll give me a shot in the team. That’s all I want.”
While Tuohy may have an eye on the trip to Bordeaux for the opening round of the Champions Cup, the Ulster A team will begin their British & Irish Cup campaign on Friday night against Jersey Reds at Shawsbridge, and Tuohy feels the second string are in a good place ahead of the game:
“The entire squad have been working very hard throughout pre-season and the opening weeks of the PRO12, so I’m sure that whatever team is picked for the Jersey game will be more than ready and hopefully we will begin the competition with a home win.”
It has been a long road to recovery for Tuohy, who has just completed his rehab from ankle surgery following an injury picked up against Edinburgh in early December 2015.
It was a disappointing night for the Ulster A team, who went down 51-10 to their hosts, but Tuohy admits the result on the night was a secondary concern for him:
“From a selfish point of view it was great to get the full 80 minutes. The ankle felt good. You can try and replicate it as much as you want in training but getting the match time under the belt was important for me.”
In the game itself, which served as a final warm-up ahead of the British & Irish Cup opener this weekend, Leinster shot out of blocks and early tries put them 14-0 up after 10 minutes. In the second quarter Ulster fought back well and a superb individual try from Aaron Cairns helped to reduce the half-time deficit to 7 points, 17-10.
In the second half Leinster put on a ruthless display of attacking rugby, adding a flurry of tries to run out convincing winners. Speaking after the game, Tuohy was somewhat shell-shocked but also impressed:
“Leinster were very clinical when they got hold of the ball. We showed some decent glimpses in the second quarter but they were incredibly clinical; scored a couple of breakaways and the scoreline just ran away from us. Fair play to Leinster – it was a good side who beat us tonight.”
However, the Ulster lock wasn’t prepared to dwell too long on the result, with his mind quickly turning to other matters:
“I’ve been hassling Les (Kiss) for weeks now, so as long as I’m fit I’ll keep banging on his door looking for a place on the first team. We’ve a lot of big games coming up in the next few weeks so I’ll just keep working away and hopefully he’ll give me a shot in the team. That’s all I want.”
While Tuohy may have an eye on the trip to Bordeaux for the opening round of the Champions Cup, the Ulster A team will begin their British & Irish Cup campaign on Friday night against Jersey Reds at Shawsbridge, and Tuohy feels the second string are in a good place ahead of the game:
“The entire squad have been working very hard throughout pre-season and the opening weeks of the PRO12, so I’m sure that whatever team is picked for the Jersey game will be more than ready and hopefully we will begin the competition with a home win.”