Queen's prop Jacob Boyd preparing for senior Ulster debut against Benetton
Queen’s prop Jacob Boyd is set to make his senior debut for Ulster in Saturday evening’s crucial United Rugby Championship clash in Benetton.
Andrew Warick and Eric O’Sullivan both picked up knocks in last week’s friendly against the Queensland Reds while Callum Reid sat that game out due to injury, leaving Ulster short on the loosehead side of the scrum.
Boyd – son of former Ulster and Bath prop Clem – captained RBAI to Schools’ Cup glory in 2023 and made an impressive cameo from the bench against the Australian Super rugby side last Friday night.
Ulster forwards coach Jimmy Duffy feels the 20-year-old is ready to step up against the Italians after getting time against the Reds.
“It was massive for Jacob, he played against a Wallaby who played in the last World Cup and I’m sure that young man will derive a lot of confidence out of that performance,” said Duffy.
“That progression for props is probably getting shorter. In some positions some people come through a little bit later but if they are ready, they are ready. An opportunity arose and we felt we could have a look at Jacob and he did admirably well in the game, and we are delighted it is another option for us.”
Duffy is happy to help Boyd and the other young props at Ulster to develop their game.
“It is still about trying to educate them around the fundamentals, but he has been well educated in the academy so knows it is just about trying to top it up,” he said.
Ulster travel to Treviso sitting ninth in the URC after a shock home defeat by Zebre in the last round and Duffy knows there is now little room for error if the province are to make the playoffs.
“They are all must-wins now at this point. Everything is must-win but we don’t kind of look at them like that,” he said.
"We just target our performance and our fundamentals to get after and once we get them right we are in a position to push forward.”
Benetton are two places below Ulster and have a number of players involved in the Italian Six Nations squad, but regardless Duffy is expecting a tough battle up front.
“Thery are a very strong team and have been for a number of years,” he said. “They have been always been in and around the playoffs for a very good reason and we’ll need to be on the money this weekend.”