Ulster Rugby vs Cardiff Blues

STUART OLDING: BACK TO ACTION

Ten weeks ago Stuart Olding tore his ACL playing against Toulon at Stade Felix Mayol, this week he returns to the starting line-up following an intense rehabilitation programme and he is feeling stronger and faster than ever before…

Stadium would be class. The stadium and the fans deserve a big occasion like that.” For the past two weeks Kingspan Stadium has played host to the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Final, the Subsidiary Shield, Medallion Final, Girls Schools’ Cup Final and High Schools Final. Having celebrated his 22nd birthday just last week Stuart remembers those days well but things have changed dramatically for him since then: “In terms of training I only started doing weights in lower sixth at SINI and then I was picked up to play Under 18s for Ulster and worked closely with Chris Shields and Matty Maguire just preparing my body for joining the Academy. At school I trained two days a week, with two days in the gym and a game on Saturday so when I started in the Academy it was not dissimilar, just a lot more intense. It was a more professional regime with different sessions being scheduled throughout the week, a lot more time was focused on strength and conditioning, weight training and nutrition. “The biggest difference in myself is body weight and muscle mass, having a much stricter gym routine over the past four years. My speed has definitely improved and psychologically I have developed a lot. At school I did no video work and now I sit down after every game to analyse my performance to see where I can improve. Enhancing your knowledge of the game is massive, so if I was to offer any of those young players a piece of advice that is what it would be. In the professional set up we are encouraged to study the video footage and pick out things that we could improve on and bring suggestions to training, so doing your homework is worth it. Also for those young players, I wouldn’t get bogged down in doing weights, your skills are more important. I wasn’t a big guy at school but my skills got me into the Academy set up, so now the season is over for many, the most important thing is to keep working on your rugby skills.”

“Following my operation nine weeks ago I spent a week in a cast and then moved into an elbow brace with restrictive movement. After five weeks that came off completely and I gradually built up movement and started passing drills, doing weights and push ups to strengthen and straighten my arm. For the past two weeks I have been back on the pitch in team training so things are going well, I am feeling good and I’m excited to be back playing again. “I have really missed being a part of the team environment, I was out for a year last season and it was horrendous watching the guys train and play together so to have another nine weeks on the side-line was frustrating. But I am back training now and everything is going well, I am feeling stronger and faster than I was before the injury so that’s positive. “Being back before I or anyone had anticipated is a massive credit to my surgeon Dr Michael Eames, GG (Gareth Robinson), the physio team, S&C staff and the coaches. I cannot thank them enough.” Sitting joint second in the Guinness PRO12 table with 53 points, Ulster have five games remaining and must keep their spot in the top two to secure a double header playoff and final at Kingspan Stadium in May. “There is huge belief amongst the squad at the minute,” says Stuart. “From next week the only remaining injured player will be Andrew (Trimble). We haven’t been in that position all season where there is only one player out with an injury. I know not having Trimby in the squad is a big deal but to have almost a full squad to pick from is great, everyone is fighting for positions so I think we are in a good place. I don’t think we have shown our full potential yet this season. We have had bursts of good play for 20 or 30 minutes but we have not been able to sustain that for the full 80 minutes; that is the goal going into the last few games of the season. “It is important to stay where we are in second or push on to first place, get a home playoff and then to play a final at Kingspan

STUART OLDING

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ULSTER RUGBY

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