Robert Baloucoune ready to fire after overcoming injury setback

The 25-year-old has already had his fair share of injuries since making his provincial debut in the 2018/19 season.

The Enniskillen man had a hamstring injury which required surgery and his latest set back came in Ulster’s United Rugby Championship semi-final at the end of last season forcing him to miss Ireland’s historic tour victory in New Zealand.

Restored to full fitness and starting in tonight’s league opener against Connacht Baloucoune is hoping for a big season especially as there are World Cup places up for grabs.

“Every season is a big season and this one is particularity big,” said Baloucoune.

“It is always at the back of your mind (World Cup) but the season hasn’t started yet and I’m just looking forward to the Connacht game and taking every week as it comes and see how it goes.

“I think from some of the performances we had last year and the enjoyment of those games like Northampton and Toulouse, the style that we played and how we performed as a team is really exciting to be a part of. It is the same for this season and we will try to push on again.”

Baloucoune’s semi-final injury led to him missing the summer tour with Ireland.

“I took a bit of a knock to my hip in the first half and it kind of seized up,” he said.

“As soon as I went to jump for the ball, I tore my TFL, which is like a tendon in my hip. It was a grade three, I tried to run a wee bit but that was me and there was no chance of moving after that.

“I jumped up in the air and before I landed, I felt it I think all the staff and the doctor said it was only me that it would happen to.

“There wasn’t a direct call that my tour was over, I went into camp and got scanned but I wasn’t moving too well especially the next couple of days after the game.

“I kind of knew deep down I wasn’t going to be involved and I had to take it, it was kind of hard to deal with especially in camp seeing everyone there.

“I enjoyed watching the games and it was a great result in New Zealand, but it definitely would have been a thing to remember if I was out there.

“ Pretty much as soon as I got the scan I was back into doing rehab and then I got a week off, it had to be done and I had to deal with it.

“I have had my fair share of injuries so I am kind of used to rehabbing especially when people are off so I wasn’t dragged down too much.”

Ulster’s quest for silverware last year were in Europe and domestically were both ended in the dying ambers of knockout games, Baloucoune hopes the lessons have been learned.

“It’s hard to take especially at the time it is a tough one, but it depends how you look at it,” he said.

“We kind of talked about it in the meetings that we had, we talked about how about being able to compete, about being on top and how to stay on top. It kind of shows the position we are in and where we are competing at.

“We have looked at how we finish games and how we can improve our finishes to matches, it is definitely something we have looked at and something that we will try to improve this year.”