Ulster star Jacob Stockdale looking to put 'toughest year' behind him and work way into Ireland's World Cup squad

​The Ireland winger has been plagued with injuries to the extent that he only played one game last season.

Stockdale’s last try for Ulster came against Connacht in April 2021 but against Cardiff at the Arms Park he scored a trademark solo effort, gathering his own chip over the defence and finishing with aplomb in the corner.

“It is a great feeling,” enthused Stockdale. “I just felt that it was coming and coming and never quite got it, then it was a pretty nice way to score it.”

Stockdale has been part of the Ireland Six Nations squad but has yet to get any game time.

He is hoping his form with Ulster can help him earn a World Cup spot.

“The lads are flying in the Six Nations and performing really well and are the number one team in the world,” he added.

“I suppose it is not necessarily a bad thing that you can’t get into the number one team in the world. It has been a touch frustrating, but it is an exciting place to be in that squad.

“I’m very appreciative to Andy Farrell for giving me the chance to be there and putting trust in me.

“I just want to show what I can do in an Ulster jersey over the next couple of months to try and get back into that green jersey come the World Cup.”

Stockdale is hoping his injury woes are over after a frustrating period on the sidelines.

“The injury to my ankle is probably the toughest year I’ve had as a professional rugby player,” he said.

“That year was incredibly frustrating as it was a pretty unusual injury. Not many people would have rehabbed it or experienced it then I came back for a couple of games and injured my other ankle.

“I’d say 2022 as a whole was a pretty frustrating year for me but outside rugby it was brilliant. I got married and had a baby, so I made the most of it.

“This season has been another frustrating year in terms of a few games not going the way I wanted them to and picking up a couple more injuries, but I finally feel I’m now really fit and getting the performances.”

Stockdale has used his experiences on and off the pitch as a learning curve.

“I’m a lot tougher now than I was a couple of years ago and I think that is only going to do good for me over the next couple of seasons,” he added. “I’m feeling good now and I’m excited about what the next couple of years holds.”

The winger was delighted with Ulster’s bonus point win in Cardiff.

“Cardiff are a very good team and particularity in attack they are very dangerous, so we are obviously delighted with that win,” he said.

“However, we are always striving for more. We left a couple of tries out there for us and we probably gave them a couple of tries too easily so those are the kind of things that we are going to work on over the next couple of weeks, especially getting into the business end of the season.”