Ulster Rugby vs Glasgow Warriors

“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?”

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