Nathan Doak preparing for special Ulster debut 11 years on from proud night

Two tries from Scotland winger Simon Danielli helped Ulster to a 15-10 victory 11 years ago.

Nathan’s father Neil was in the Ulster coaching box that night as assistant coach after he had a distinguished career in the Ulster No9 shirt and is hoping for the same result tonight.

“I’m obviously delighted for him, he has been a ball boy and a mascot and he has been around Ulster with myself, it is a great moment for us, mum, dad, all the family and it is great time for him,” said Neil.

“He has worked really hard at it and he always wanted to be involved in that level of sport and it is a great opportunity for him.

“It has been pretty frustrating over the last while with COVID-19 there hasn’t been a lot of rugby, it would be nice to be at the game but hopefully he gets on and does well and Ulster get a good win.

“It is pretty exciting time for him and obviously we are delighted for him.”

It’s a huge coincidence that Ulster face the same opposition on the same date from when Nathan first ran out at Ravenhill and Neil is keeping his fingers crossed for a similar outcome.

“It is, we were talking about it on Friday morning, we have a photograph framed in his room of him being mascot that night,” he said.

“Chris Henry was skipper and led him out and it is quite ironic that 11 years apart it is the same team on the same date and hopefully it is the same result for Ulster.”

Nathan was instrumental in leading Wallace to the School’s Cup final in March but due to COVID-19 they had to share the trophy with Royal School Armagh.

He has played for Ireland U18s, Ulster A and was always destined to follow in his father’s footsteps.

“Over the last number of years he has been watching me doing some work on the computer, he has been down at training with Ulster, he has been a ball boy and some of the days the kickers were in he’d come in with his younger brother Cameron and they would kick the balls back,” Neil added.

“He’s probably been quite lucky that he has been around that environment for a number of years.

“He is his own player he has got a good head on him, he reads the game well and he has a pretty decent understanding and he knows what he wants and to be fair to him, he has worked his socks off to get himself in decent shape and hopefully he’ll take his opportunity and we’re looking forward to watching it on TV.

“It would have been nice for us to be at the game but under the circumstances it is just unfortunate.”

Ulster coach Dan McFarland makes 10 changes to the starting line up from the team that was victorious in Galway last week while Munster travel to Belfast without big names like Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony, CJ Stander and Damian De Allende.

Ulster team to play Munster, Guinness PRO14 Round 10, Saturday 2 January at Kingspan Stadium (kick-off 5.15pm, live on Premier Sports): (15-9) Jacob Stockdale, Matt Faddes, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, John Cooney; (1-8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Kieran Treadwell, Sam Carter (Capt.), Matty Rea, David McCann, Nick Timoney.

Replacements: Adam McBurney, Callum Reid, Tom O’Toole, David O’Connor, Marcell Coetzee, Nathan Doak, Ian Madigan, Ben Moxham.

* A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Irish and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. To subscribe, click here.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Thank you,

Alistair Bushe

Editor