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“Look at the great scrum-halves
around, like Aaron Smith, even Conor
Murray, their passing and kicking are
the platforms for the rest of their game.
Those are the reliable things they start
with, and that sort of consistency is what
I look for,” he says with a winning smile.
Dave Shanahan is an affable, friendly
young man, but he does not lack
ambition, and he sees his goals being
realised at Ulster and knows that every
year, every game, is a learning curve.
“I want to be an Ulsterman,” then he
corrects himself. “I already am an
Ulsterman, but I want to start regularly for
the side in front of those big crowds, in big
games. You can feed off the atmosphere, you
know, like that afternoon against Oyonnax.
“I’m 22, I am surrounded by quality players, the
best coaches and S&C people, and I just want
to keep on enjoying my rugby, putting myself ‘in
the mix’ for selection, and develop to be the best
I can be.”
And what of exchanging the brightest lights of
sprawling Dublin for Belfast? “You know, my
friends kid me down South about the change in my
accent, but I really love Belfast. It’s a small city but
everything’s so close, I wouldn’t change a thing!”
He shares a house with Stuart McCloskey and Peter
Nelson and all three played together for Ulster at the
start of the season, and that was something they all
enjoyed.
“We get on really well, and though Peter’s out with
a bad injury at the moment he’s such a talented
footballer, in a variety of back positions. He’s working
hard in ‘rehab’, very positive about the future. Stuart
has really broken though this season – though I love to
remind him I got my first ‘cap’ for Ulster before him! –
and I’d love to see him get a chance in the Six Nations.
“But I have to say he’s a better centre than he is a
cook, at home it’s best to leave that to Pete and to
me!”
And is that where he’d like to be involved in the future?
“Of course, doesn’t every young player aspire to that?
But I know I have to keep working hard, learn more
and more in a great structure, which gave me my
chance and which has made me a better player.
“There’s not anyone in the set-up – in the Academy,
the ‘As’, in the senior squad – that doesn’t believe that
we’re building something very successful at Kingspan
Stadium.
“Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”