8 / 66
Since he had to leave the field with a
fractured arm in Ireland’s game in last
season’s RBS 6 Nations against Wales, he
has broken his arm again, broken his hand
and ruptured ligaments in his thumb. Now
fully fit again, he will be playing only his 10th
game of the season:
“At times it has been tough to sit on the
sidelines and watch good performances
and also to watch bad performances and
not be able to affect that,” says Tuohy. “It
has probably been the toughest period of
my career so far. Fortunately, I have not had
any really nasty knee injuries or shoulders
or anything like that. In the grand scheme
of things I have been lucky as the longest
I have been out is ten to 12 weeks but it is
the cumulative effect of all of them that has
made it a very frustrating time.”
“It was tough getting injured and then
having to make the decision as to whether
to have surgery on my thumb or not. When
I had the surgery done the surgeon said
that it was the best decision that I could
have made because the thumb was in
such disrepair that I wouldn’t have stood a
chance of being available for selection for
the 6 Nations or for the games here, so I
am glad that I made that decision. It is just
one of those things. I am as fresh as I can
be. Now we have a run of seven games
and perhaps knock-out matches. Hopefully
I can get into the team, make a positive
impact and hopefully help them to win
something.”
A month ago Ulster had crashed out of
Europe and had slipped out of the play off
places in the PRO12. Five weeks on and
the province are up to second and Tuohy
believes that the team are starting to hit
form at the critical time of the season:
He says: “It was disappointing that Europe
finished the way it did. Having said that it
was great to get that performance against
Leicester Tigers and that has put us in a
good mind-frame and set the benchmark
for the rest of the season. Performances
like that are key. Glasgow at the start of
the season was like that. It shows what we
can do as a squad and shows what level
we can play at. You have to show
consistency if you are going to be
in the mix for silverware and that is
what we are starting to show now.”
Having won three matches in row,
maintaining consistency will be
essential against the Scarlets, a team
that Ulster know well:
“This is our fourth time playing them
this season and I will have played in
all the games, says Tuohy. “We are well
accustomed to each other. There will be no
suprises for either team. We are at home
on Friday and we have got the best home
record in the league and continuing that
in the knock out stages will be key to our
success. Now that there is a guaranteed
final at Kingspan Stadium it would be nice
to have a home play off and these are
the games that we need to win if we are
to achieve that. This week teams around
us are playing each other so we have to
pick up results to keep the pressure on
Glasgow.”
Tuohy’s immediate goal is to help Ulster win
these next two PRO12 matches but having
worked hard to get fit he is hopeful that he
might still be able to make an impact for
Ireland in this season’s RBS 6 Nations:
“I got a text message from Joe Schmidt the
other evening,” Tuohy reveals. “He is going
to touch base with me post-Dragons. I am
going to try and get as many minutes as
possible in the next two matches. He will
assess everyone meticulously as he always
does and he will probably make a call from
there. If my thumb holds up, I would love
to go down to Dublin and to contribute to
the final two games and see where I stand.
I am not expecting a great deal, but to
contribute in a world cup year to the end of
the campaign will be incredibly important.
He will get the chance to see me train and
you never know, play. That will be a good
precursor leading up to the world cup warm
up games. That’s a bit further down the line,
right now I am just going to concentrate on
these two matches with Ulster.”
Dan Tuohy, returns to the Ulster starting XV tonight
after what has been a frustrating 12 months with injury.
6
ULSTER
RUGBY
www. ulster rugby.comDAN TUOHY
DAN TUOHY:
BACK FROM INJURY
AND AIMING TO MAKE AN IMPACT
FOR ULSTER AND IRELAND