Ulster Rugby v Glasgow

IT’S BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN FOR CALLUM BLACK

Callum Black, Ulster’s long-serving loose- head prop, prepares to hang up the white jersey for the last time at the end of this season. Here, he takes a moment to reflect on the days gone by and speculate on what’s next to come. Black joined Ulster in 2011 and, seven years on, it’s fair to say that he has experienced all the highs and lows of professional rugby, something which, owing to mixed results and personal injuries, he has perhaps felt more keenly this year. “It’s been a bit up and down. As a whole we’ve been fairly inconsistent. We’ve had some good wins especially in that block of games in Europe where we backed up a couple of big performances. But we’ve also slipped up in a few games. It’s not great because obviously you’ve got to build momentum and there were a few moments of frustration. “We’ve worked hard to put everything right to finish off strong and we’re doing everything that we can to do that.” Black has decided that the time has come to make a move and so, at the end of this season, the front-row specialist will return to Worcester Warriors, where his career in rugby began.

Given the quality of the Ulster setup and the famous match night atmosphere, Black readily admits there are a lot of things he will miss about playing for Ulster. “I’ll miss the boys and the squad. I’ve been with a lot of these boys for the whole seven years that I’ve been here, through the whole highs and lows and I’ve had a lot of special memories that I’ll take away with me. “Playing at home in a packed out Kingspan Stadium is an incredible atmosphere, something which I hadn’t experienced before and just living in Belfast for this past seven years has been great. It’s a hugely passionate place to play rugby, everyone’s behind the rugby and the boys feed off seeing how passionate the fans are.” Black has worked with a variety of influential coaches during his time at Ulster and played alongside a range of inspirational sporting stars who have all contributed to his development as a player. “It would be hard to single out any one individual as the biggest influence on my rugby career. Ulster has a great rugby culture, a great mix of young home grown lads who have come through into the senior team and international quality, world class players like Johann Muller, Ruan Pienaar and Charles Piutau. I’ve been able to feed off all those lads, and learn from them to improve myself as a player. The local lads that represent Ireland have an important impact too as they bring back the standards set when they’re at international camp to Ulster and that rubs off on you too.” With 142 Ulster caps under his belt and a wealth of experience to boot, Black struggles to pick just one stand-out moment. “There have been a lot of highs and a lot of lows during my time with Ulster. We’ve had some finals and some near misses and some semi-finals. I think the year that we won 13 games in a row at the start of the season was fantastic, there was a great buzz around the squad and the stadium and obviously winning 6 out of 6 in Europe that year was great. “I’m very proud to have played over 100 games for Ulster and to have ran out for my 100th cap

INTERVIEW: CALLUM BLACK “I’m just coming to the end of my seventh season here at Ulster and I’ve had some great moments here both personally and with the team. Ulster has been a great place to play and call home. The set up and the new stadium and all the facilities Ulster offers are second to none and I will be sad to leave, but I’ve just got to enjoy every chance I get from now until the end of the season. It’s about cherishing every moment.

“My two daughters were born here and we’ve made ourselves a home here but I couldn’t refuse the chance to move back to Worcester. It was my first club and there’s still a few boys there who I’d played with and it’s nice that I’ll only have had two clubs. The family factor was a big influence on the decision. My family and my wife’s family are all back in England so the opportunity to go back home and be closer to family and for my two daughters to be closer to their grandparents and cousins, that’s an added bonus.”

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