Cormac Izuchukwu happy to be 'hitting my milestones' for Ulster and Ireland

The loose forward got his first taste of the Europe’s premier competition last week, coming off the bench in the defeat against Toulouse.

It has been a season of landmarks for the Tullamore native - he was called into the Ireland squad for the first time, touring South Africa in the summer, then back in the Rainbow Nation with Emerging Ireland during October and he won his first international cap in the Autumn Series against Fiji.

The Bordeaux game will be only his third start of the season for Ulster.

“I’m still hitting my milestones, my first (Champions Cup) game last week, that was special and this is my first home game this week and that’s another challenge for me, that’s something I haven’t experienced before...I’m still having the moments so, hopefully, they keep coming,” said Izuchukwu. “I’ve surprised myself with how fast it’s gone, I think every player believes they are good enough but for me it’s how quick and fast it’s come.

“These moments keep coming, when there’s something new, it’s been a bit of a surprise how fast it’s gone. I thought something down the line in maybe two or three years, maybe I’ll be in the Ulster squad regularly and you already dream about playing for Ireland until you play for Ulster, so it was never in my six-month plan.”

With the Six Nations on the horizon Izuchukwu is just concentrating on helping Ulster over the next few weeks as they prepare for three big European games and two festive inter-pro derbies.

“I’ve been lucky with Ireland selections in the past,” he said. “There have been injuries and I’ve had a couple of good games just before the selection period so I think for me it’s I can’t wait for this weekend and get stuck into Bordeaux and whatever happens, happens and I can have my best performance and, hopefully, that helps the team.”

Realistically, if Ulster want to make the knockout stages of the Champions Cup they will have to beat Bordeaux, who sit second in the French Top 14 and have scored more points domestically than leaders Toulouse.

“It’s on the day mentally you turn up and I thought on the weekend the forwards did a pretty decent job around set-piece and stuff and some of our one-to-one tackles weren’t perfect but I thought the forwards stepped up well,” he said. “That’s something you’ve got to bring yourself, there’s no preparing you because every week there’s a new challenge with someone else coming at you, so you just got to get stuck in.

“I can’t wait for it and, hopefully, have a good game and do something special for the fans as when you’re back here it’s a whole different feeling.

“Their backline is really special, they’ve got power and speed same as Toulouse but it’s just a case of can we handle that and, as forwards, spread the field and take care of the challenges...hopefully we are going to build in the right direction for this weekend.”

Despite the Ulster coaching staff praising the scrum and maul last week, head coach Richie Murphy has completely changed the pack.

Behind the scrum there is a debut for winger Zac Ward, while Rory Telfer is also set for his first competitive appearance after being named on the bench.

ULSTER: (v Union Bordeaux Begles, Saturday, 3.15pm, Round 2, Investec Champions Cup, Kingspan Stadium, live on Premier Sports, BBC Sounds and RTE Radio) - (15-9) M Lowry; W Kok, J Postlethwaite, S McCloskey, Z Ward; A Morgan, N Doak; (1-8) E O’Sullivan, R Herring, T O’Toole; I Henderson (captain), K Treadwell; C Izuchukwu, N Timoney, D McCann.