Ulster Rugby v La Rochelle

LIFE AT ULSTER: JEAN DEYSEL

Having made a return from injury in the nail-biting New Year’s Day fixture against Munster, Springbok back-rower Jean Deysel is determined to put his impressive ball-carrying skills to work to help his side have a successful second half of the season.

against them. It is always quite a difficult thing playing against guys you know - you normally want to go harder against the people you know. Even back home in South Africa, it was the same thing, the hardest games were not the games you played against the New Zealand or Australian sides in the Super Rugby but the games against your fellow South Africans as you really wanted to go out and prove a point. But as soon as the game started I was just focused on doing my best for Ulster and the jersey. I really enjoyed it and it was good to see the team pull together so well in the game. I was just happy to get off the park with the win. How did you keep yourself motivated to return from injury? How the injured players get managed here at Ulster is phenomenal. They keep you busy enough to feel that you’re not injured but also rested enough so that you can work on your rehab so that you get strong again. It was a bit of a frustrating time, like any injury in rugby, but at the end of the day you can work on different things to improve your game and come back stronger. I’ve always seen an injury as an opportunity to work harder on things you don’t always get a chance to work hard on. I wouldn’t say it’s a good thing but you have to take every opportunity you have from not playing the game to get yourself ready and strong for the next one. Today, Ulster face La Rochelle… what do you think they will bring to the pitch? La Rochelle is a top side and they’re doing very well in the Top 14 as well as the Champions Cup. They’ve got some big ball carriers and some quality play makers in their side, and they’re having a great season, so it’s definitely going to be tough for us tonight. But we are at home and we’ve been pulling together quite well these last few weeks.

Take us through your first few months playing for Ulster, how do you feel it’s going? Since arriving, I played a few games and then I injured my neck so I was out for a bit and only just came back for the Munster game. So, for me, my first season at Ulster was a little bit stop-start. Thankfully, it is all going well now so hopefully I can get a few more games under my belt and build on the great season that I was planning on from the beginning. I’m really looking forward to these next couple of weeks, particularly tonight’s European game where I’ll hopefully get a good run out. How have you settled into life in Belfast? We’re really enjoying it - not just myself but my family as well. We’ve really been welcomed with open arms by everyone, from the players and their families to the staff, and the general public as well. The first week that we arrived here, we didn’t know what to expect, but the people of Ulster Rugby and the people of Ulster just welcomed us and took us in as family, and for me that was massive. It has really been phenomenal being in Belfast. I’ve got so many stand out memories to talk about, not just on the field but off the field as well. A big thing for me was playing my first game for Ulster. Ulster is a club you hear of back home and the likes of Ruan [Pienaar], who I played with previously and Johann [Muller] and those guys who’ve been here always spoke so highly of Ulster. I always had ambitions to be involved in something like that and so my first game for Ulster, that is really a moment I cherish. You returned from injury to face Munster who you’d previously played with on a three month loan deal. How did it feel to be playing against your old team mates? I had mixed emotions to be honest. It was good to see the Munster guys again and playing

JEAN DEYSEL

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