Ulster Rugby's Tom O'Toole on his progression from schoolboy prospect to grand slam winner

​O’Toole was the only Ulster player to feature in all five games as Ireland achieved the clean sweep in the Six Nations.

However, it hasn’t been all plain sailing for the tight head prop.

Early in his second season he started against Connacht in a game that head coach Dan McFarland admitted he probably wasn’t ready for and O’Toole now looks back on the experience as part of a steep learning curve that has helped him develop on his career path.

“I did a lot of work physically in my first few years,” he said. “Going in from schools’ transition straight into senior men’s transition as a tighthead is pretty difficult.

“When I was younger and that age you go out full of confidence and you think you want to go out and show what you are about but there is a lot more to it as you are going against grown men and seasoned professionals.

“Stuff like that is extremely hard to take mentally. It takes a bit of a toll on you but for me to crack on those were the challenges and everybody has challenges in their career - nobody goes through their career without having challenges.

“For me I came across them quite young and early in my career and I am grateful for it now because those experiences that were probably poor early on in my career hurt a lot mentally.

“Nobody in the club really had a big dig at me but I take quite a lot of personal ownership on my performances, and I put a lot of onus on it.

“Those are difficult times, and you definitely grow from it, learn from it and you appreciate the good moments going forward because you realise how hard you have to work.

“The first couple of years I figured out I had to get myself physically prepared. The stuff like the weight coming through your neck and back that just takes time to develop and you really can’t rush that.

“As you get later in your career you realise it is 50% physical and 50% mental – that is the way it is. You have to be mentally strong and I feel like I have grown that bit of resilience as well.

“I’m pleased now looking back at those experiences. They were tough at the time but looking back I’m pleased that they happened because you feel like you grow as a person and a rugby player.”

With a Six Nations medal secured O’Toole’s goal is to now help Ulster win the URC title.

O’Toole and his teammates have two games left in the regular season, starting with the Dragons tomorrow night to try and overhaul second-placed Stormers for the right to host a semi-final in Belfast.

“For me personally I want to win silverware,” he added. “A lot of the young guys do – James Hume, Mikey Lowry the younger guys coming through we want that.

“For us we want to chase the five points in each game, and we have to.

"The pressure is on us to deliver but it is also an extremely exciting challenge for us because we know what we are capable of, especially when we have our home fans behind us.”