Ulster Rugby v Racing 92

ROBERT BALOUCOUNE ( ) ! $ (

&Ѵv|;u 1;m|u; -uu;m -ˆ; ]bˆ;v _bv o‰m †mbt†; bmvb]_| bm|o om; o= &Ѵv|;uĽv 0ub]_|;v| ‹o†m] |-Ѵ;m|vĻ

was given to him by one Willie Anderson in reference to a core-stability exercise he †v;7 |o o[;m u;r;-| |o 1ol0-| - Ѵo‰;u 0-1h niggle. Legend has it that it actually comes from the striking resemblance between a cheetah moving in the grasslands with splendid balance, grace and speed, and Rob going down the wing for Enniskillen RFC at Mullaghmeen in the 2017 Towns Cup 2nd Round. ; Cuv| |ooh †r u†]0‹ -| ou|ou- !o‹-Ѵķ ou Enniskillen Royal Grammar for the millennials out there, and cites a trip to the Subsidiary Shield Final in Year 13 as a highlight. On the 0-1h o= =o†u |ub;v =ou &Ѵv|;u &ƐƖv bm - CŠ|†u; versus Connacht in 2015, he was now well and truly on the radar of Ulster Rugby. ; u;1-ѴѴvĸ ľ ‰-v om _oѴb7-‹ ‰b|_ - =;‰ mates and I got a phone call from James Topping asking did I want to come up to Belfast and do some training* with the Ulster Academy. I went up and trained one day, then the next day we had an internal game -m7 ]o| o@;u;7 -m u;Ѵ-m7 ƕv 1om|u-1| -[;u the game.” *Needless to say I enquired whether or not Rob was asked to cut his holiday short for said training and I’m sure you will all share

Abbey Insurance Ulster Academy star Robert ‘The Cat’ Baloucoune played only four games of 15-a-side rugby in the 2017/18 season, and one of those was in junior rugby with Enniskillen RFC. Fast forward only a few lom|_v -m7 |_bv -[;umoom ‰bѴѴ 0; _bv Ɣ|_ 1-r =ou &Ѵv|;uķ -m7 mo 7o†0| _bv Cuv| o= l-m‹ in the Champions Cup. When Baloucoune made his senior Ulster debut in October 2018 versus the Dragons, the Kingspan Stadium faithful were on the ;7]; o= |_;bu v;-|v bm -mঞ1br-ঞom |o v;; |_; u;Ѵ-m7 ƕv Y‹;u ļv|u;|1_ _bv Ѵ;]vĽĺ Ѵvo h;;m |o v;; _bl u†m bm =†ѴѴ Yb]_|Ļ _; 7b7mĽ| disappoint on the night with four line breaks (I can’t comment on the stretching or the legs), but it was his defensive display, both rovbঞom-Ѵ -m7 |-1hѴbm]ķ ‰_b1_ blru;vv;7 l;ĺ I’m not normally one for stats but I’ll round the above up to a trio - he also made 8 tackles without a miss and forced 3 |†umoˆ;uv om |_; mb]_|ĺ u;‚‹ 7;1;m| u;-7bm] to back up the impressive viewing on his PRO14 debut. To say Rob is ‘chilled’ would be the understatement of the season. The man is so laid-back, he’s horizontal. Also quiet and humble, he says his nickname of ‘The Cat’

24

WWW.ULSTERRUGBY.COM