John Cooney out to make up for lost time with Ulster after pain game

Cooney has only 31 minutes of action under his belt since Ulster’s European Challenge Cup semi-final defeat against Leicester in April.

He started the season opener against Glasgow before being replaced by Nathan Doak, but instead of wallowing in self-pity Cooney has tried to take the positives out of his neck and then hamstring injuries.

“It was three days after (Leicester game) I was just sitting at home and I lost the power down my arm then I got a scan and I had disc damage to my neck,” said Cooney. “This neck one kind of threw me off because I didn’t see it coming because it was from the head knock, it just kind of blind-sided me and it took way longer than I thought.

“I found it kind of threw my whole body off, I never had a hamstring injury in my whole career, people might say I’m getting a little bit older but I refuse to believe that...I think it was from the neck with everything not flowing correctly.

“In a weird way I saw the positives because it gave me two more months to get it right, things that I couldn’t do the week of the Glasgow game I can do now really well.

“I think everything feels physically a lot better than what it did and it has given me the seven months that I needed.

“After that Leicester game I didn’t think I was going to be out for seven months, I just thought it was going to be the concussion protocol because I walked off the field not thinking there was anything wrong with me.

“It was quite scary but an injury grounded me and got me to appreciate the position I’m in and gave me that gratitude that I needed to humble me.”

Cooney has been impressed by the way Doak deputised for him during his absence.

“I was nowhere near that at that age, it was great to see,” he said. “It wasn’t one of those positions where I knew I couldn’t be back at the level I wanted to be.

“It was good for him to get the game time that he probably didn’t think he was going to get.

“To have an Ulster-born scrum half in that position that they probably haven’t had for years is nice to see, I think I’m a lot more mature in my years where in the past I would have been at home gritting my teeth and getting pissed off with the competition but I think it is a maturity thing that the better he plays the better I play.”

With Europe on the horizon Cooney feels it is the perfect time to make his return.

“I have always enjoyed those European games the last couple of years and I’m happy that I have a couple of games leading into that as I have only played one game in seven months,” hw said. “I know it is a big game to get thrown back into but I physically easily feel up for it and a lot better than what I did at the start of the season.

“I’m grateful that I have a couple of games leading into Europe where I can get a feel for the match tempo, the lines of running and the kind of subtleties of the game.”

Ulster team to play Leinster Rugby (United Rugby Championship, round six, Saturday, November 27, RDS Arena, 8pm kick-off, live on RTÉ and Premier Sports): (15-9) Mike Lowry, Craig Gilroy, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, John Cooney; (1-8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor (captain), Sam Carter, Greg Jones, Nick Timoney, David McCann. Replacements: Tom Stewart, Eric O’Sullivan, Ross Kane, Mick Kearney, Marcus Rea, Nathan Doak, Angus Curtis, Rob Lyttle.

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