Ulster Rugby vs Zebre

PETER NELSON RECOVERY… RESURGENCE… RESULT

Having dislocated his left midfoot in December 2015, it has been a long road to recovery for out-half Pete Nelson: “It was 14 months in total, which started with a month off my feet doing very little,” says Pete. “From there, it was all about getting back into walking and gradually picking up my pace into running and learning that gait cycle again. Then the focus was getting strength in the foot and building up speed and endurance and then into training and changing direction. The last step was integrating back into the playing squad and then finally getting back into the match day squad. It was a long process and difficult to work towards such a long-term goal at times but we got there in the end. It was tough watching from the side-lines, you always want to be out there helping the boys out, so it was great to get back out there last month.” Pete has been named in the starting line- up for Ulster’s resurgent victories over Edinburgh, Glasgow, Zebre and Treviso: “I am delighted to be back in the team, this is a difficult enough time with boys away at the Six Nations, so I knew if I could be back fit around this time, that there may be opportunities and I am really pleased to have four games on the bounce under my belt. “After Edinburgh and Glasgow, the buzz in the squad definitely picked up; two wins on the trot really helped to push us in the right direction. We were disappointed at the weekend not picking up the bonus point against Treviso but we are still going in the right direction and those four wins are exactly what we needed to pick up momentum.” Since returning from injury, Pete has occupied a half-back spot alongside fan favourite Ruan Pienaar, gaining invaluable experience from the Springbok: “Playing with him has been brilliant. Ruan is world class, everyone knows that. He really helps me out and takes the pressure off at times. Whether that’s kicking to the corner or organising the forwards a bit more, it just gives me a bit more time and a little more space to organise things.”

PETER NELSON

Like many others, Pete is under no illusion that his spot on the team is secure, but he thrives on the competition: “It’s exactly what you need in a squad that wants to go on and win. If there wasn’t competition you might be resting on your laurels, so it’s important in every training session and in every match that you are stepping up and pushing hard because if you’re not, there’s someone there ready to take your place. Just look at Jacob (Stockdale), who’s on fire at the minute, it’s great to see those guys coming through the Academy system and it’s brilliant for the future of Ulster, it also keeps the more experienced guys on their toes.” This weekend’s fixture presents another opportunity to pick up a bonus point win against an Italian side missing key personnel due to the penultimate weekend of the Six Nations: “This game is another step to hopefully get us to the top four. So it’s important we go out there and put in another big performance, we will be looking for the win and five points but we will take it minute by minute and work on our processes and hopefully break them down. “We have watched the footage from two weeks ago, we have assessed what we can do better and the opportunities that we missed. We let them in for a few soft tries so defensively we are sharpening up. It was tough to play last weekend against Treviso due to the weather but we will look to eradicate any small errors and hopefully under better conditions, we can throw the ball around, score a few tries and get the result we all know we are capable of.”

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