Light at end of the tunnel for Gareth Milasinovich

Prop Gareth Milasinovich was hoping to make a big impression with Ulster after arriving at Kingspan Stadium form the Worcester Warriors last summer.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Feb 2020, 08:45 BST
Kingspan, official sponsors of Ulster Rugby, hosted a coaching masterclass with Culcrow Primary School. Ulster players Louis Ludik, Ross Kane and Gareth Milasinovich were on hand to put the students through their paces having won a competition organised by Kingspan. Photo by William Cherry/PresseyeKingspan, official sponsors of Ulster Rugby, hosted a coaching masterclass with Culcrow Primary School. Ulster players Louis Ludik, Ross Kane and Gareth Milasinovich were on hand to put the students through their paces having won a competition organised by Kingspan. Photo by William Cherry/Presseye
Kingspan, official sponsors of Ulster Rugby, hosted a coaching masterclass with Culcrow Primary School. Ulster players Louis Ludik, Ross Kane and Gareth Milasinovich were on hand to put the students through their paces having won a competition organised by Kingspan. Photo by William Cherry/Presseye

However, the Irish qualified 27-year-old front rower had to go under surgery to repair a torn ACL in his knee after suffering the injury in pre-season training.

Having missed most of his first season with Ulster, Milasinovich is hoping to be back on the pitch very soon.

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“Rehab is going very well, the knee is looking strong and I am doing small bits of training now,” said Milasinovich.

“I’m training with the boys and I can jump into sessions so there is light at the end of the tunnel now.

“I haven’t done any full contact yet but I will be doing that in the next couple of weeks.

“There will be no date set until I’m back into full training and hopefully that will be within the next couple of weeks, then I can look at return date.

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“It was an incredibly difficult time because I had just arrived from England, it was the worst possible start.

“It was tough mentality because you want to get in and show what you are about and show the coaches what you are about and gel with your team mates.

“When you are injured you have to train separately because you can’t do what the team is doing.

“It was quite a challenge at the start but as time has gone on it has got easier.

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“I have gotten to know the boys better and now I’m integrating back into the training and I’m doing some of the scrum sessions now which is brilliant.

“To be back in doing small bits and pieces has made things a lot easier so I can see the end is near and getting to the other side which would be fantastic.”

Ulster reaching the Heineken Champions Cup has made it even more difficult for Milasinovich to be out of action.

“You always wish you are out there with the boys especially when they are performing so well,” he said.

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“It makes you want to get out there more, hopefully they continue to do well and I can contribute towards the end of the season.”

Milasinovich was at Culcrow Primary School in Coleraine nurturing the next generation of rugby players as part of the Kingspan Masterclass Coaching clinics.

“It has been good with the Kingspan Coaching Clinic some of the kids have got a lot talent, one of the girls was side stepping the whole team and scoring a few tries,” he said.

“It’s good to see there is a bit of talent coming through the system, there are 24 kids here and only seven of them had played rugby before.

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“It is about teaching them the basics how to pass backwards and there is definitely a lot of potential.

“It’s all about the skill set at this age, catch, pass and sidestep.

“It’s been good, the PR stuff you meet a lot more people and talk and it’s good I can contribute to Ulster Rugby.”

Related topics:UlsterEngland