Ulster Rugby vs Oyonnax

He was always something of a prodigy, catching the eye as a free-running, try- scoring 15-year-old fullback, and seven years later Rory Scholes has graduated to the Ulster side with his pace and formidable presence undiminished. TALENTED SCHOLES IS CUTTING A DASH

Andrew having layoffs too, I’ve been fortunate to play in all our Champions Cup games this season, and in the majority of the Guinness PRO12 matches.” And Scholes has taken his chances whenever they’ve come, with two important PRO12 touchdowns and that potentially very important score two weeks ago in Oyonnax. He says he’s still very much “learning my trade”, but he’s clearly ambitious to be part of an Ulster side which brings home some silverware, and with representative honours at U18, U19 and U20 level for Ireland, he’s already sure to have caught the eye of senior Irish management. For the moment though he prefers to concentrate on making an Ulster starting place his own, and this season – after his debut in 2013 – he’s enjoyed his longest run in the side. “I think I’ve been playing well, and when I got my chance I was confident I could take it, and there’s no doubt that confidence grows with a good run in the team. “Every game is important, but this season is the most important so far in my career, we’re a group of very talented players and we have coaches who believe I us, trust us to back ourselves, and in the last couple of months I think we’ve, in the main, produced some outstanding rugby,” he says. Scholes is a formidably-gifted player, and as a youngster he made his debut for Campbell at outhalf, before making the fullback position his own for a few seasons, picking up a Schools’ Cup winners’ medal in 2011 in a side which included Chris Farrell and Mark Best, two youngsters many think will play key roles in Ulster’s future. “Mr McKinney and Mr Robinson (John and Brian)”, he says respectfully, “were and remain great influences with me from my days at Campbell, and I see them regularly and talk about things when I help out with coaching there now. “When I left school I thought about university, but my parents Janice and Jim, supported me when I decided I wanted to make a real ‘go’ of rugby, and after I finally got into the Ulster Academy, first with Gary Longwell in charge, then with Allen Clarke, I felt I was on the right track.” His father, a retired senior civil servant, was a season ticket-holder at Kingspan Stadium before his son featured on the pitch, and his mum is becoming more and more involved in supporting Rory and the side. “Dad tells me he was decent footballer in his time,” he laughs, “but he never does anything but encourage me, and if there is anything I want to ask him about how I played I can do that, but he knows I’m in a professional environment with top people helping me.

The former Campbell College, Ulster and Irish Schools, and Hughes Insurance Academy product, has apparently seamlessly progressed through the development structures to make himself a key member of the current squad. Already a favourite for his combative, fleet-footed style at Kingspan Stadium, the winger became part of this season’s folklore with a mazy, powerful strike which sparked the remarkable recovery in France a fortnight ago against this afternoon’s opponents, Oyonnax. With his side 23 points down at the interval, the 22-year- old demonstrated the side’s attacking verve with a try which left home defenders flailing in his powerful wake. It was to light the fuse for a second 40 minutes that culminated in Paddy Jackson landing a massive 78th minute penalty to snatch a crucial 24-23 win in the shadow of the Alps. “I would have to say that the try in Oyonnax was my most important for Ulster so far, I think it gave us a bit of momentum as we clawed back that deficit. Stuart McCloskey ‘popped’ me a great pass and I saw a gap and went for it. “I’m a winger on the team, and wingers should be scoring tries and it was one I’ll remember for a while, certainly,” says the flame-haired Scholes, a young man who was determined to make it into the professional ranks, spurning the opportunity of university to pursue his ambition. And just what was it during the interval at Oyonnax that skipper Rory Best said which helped to fashion that spectacular second half in France? “Rory is just so good with the words he uses, you listen to someone like him because he has so much respect and he gives so much as a player. “I just know that what he said, and how he said it, had us raring to go, and along with a few changes the coaches came up with we felt we could win – and we did!” Scholes took to heart Les Kiss’ declaration to the whole squad a year before he took full control of the Director of Rugby reins, and just after he scored two tries against Exeter at Kingspan in a pre-season friendly in August 2014. “Les looked us all in the eye and said he wanted each and every one of us – established, or like me, emerging through the ranks – to make it hard for the coaches when it came to selection, to aim to hold down a starting place,” Scholes recalls. “That still holds good, and when I got my chance it was an opportunity to make selection difficult, but you we have three highly-rated international wingers in Andrew Trimble, Craig Gilroy and Tommy Bowe, who’s been out through injury since the World Cup, and with Craig and

RORY SCHOLES

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