ROBERT BALOUCOUNE WON’T watch Ulster’s United Rugby Championship semi-final defeat to the DHL Stormers back with any fond memories, if he watches it back at all.
Not only did his side lose in the most gut-wrenching of fashions, conceding an 85th-minute try to Warrick Gelant to be knocked out by the eventual champions at the penultimate hurdle, it was also the moment his involvement in the summer’s historic tour to New Zealand was ended.
An innocuous collision in the first half at DHL Stadium hurt his hip and, while the pain was noticeable, Baloucoune believed it was initially manageable. But the internal damage was worse than he expected, and when he tried to go up for a high ball early in the second half, something went.
“I tore my TFL, which is like a tendon in my hip,” explains the winger. “It was a grade 3. I tried to run a wee bit but that was me and there was no chance of moving after that.
“I think all the staff and the doctor said it was only me that it would happen to.”
The pain was so bad, he knew his place on the plane to Auckland was already gone, with a scan a few days later only confirming the inevitable. By this stage he had already linked up with the Ireland squad just in case the injury had eased, but he would receive no such good news.
Instead, as his team-mates headed off to make history with their series victory over the All Blacks, Baloucoune began his rehab back home as he targeted a return for the start of the new season.
“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,” he admits.
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. But 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 use to rehabbing, especially when people are off, so I wasn’t dragged down too much.”
If there is a silver lining, is is that the injury has allowed Baloucoune to focus on making sure he is as strong and prepared as possible for the new season as he tries to work his way back into first the Ulster set-up and then the international reckoning too.
From the latter perspective, he has been included in the Emerging Ireland squad that will head to South Africa next month for games against the Griquas, Pumas and Cheetahs, which shows that he is still in the thought process of the brains trust at Carton House.
Still, it isn’t the squad he ideally wants to be in.
“Every season is a big season and this one is particularly big,” acknowledges the 25-year-old, referencing the fact that it is a World Cup year.
“It is always at the back of your mind, 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 there are always that couple of long term goals that are in the background but, for me, I take it week by week because there are always changes and you never know what happens.
“I kind of set my goals at the start of the week and then that leads into a longer objective.”
Of course, if things go well at provincial level then recognition will naturally follow for his country, and Baloucoune has admirers in the Ireland set-up having been called up for the last few squads when fit, scoring one try in his two appearances in a green jersey.
But before he can set his mind back to that, the Enniskillen man is determined to lead Ulster to success in the United Rugby Championship and not only end their silverware drought that stretches back to 2006 but also help them overcome the devastation of last year’s ending.
The province are still reeling from that semi-final loss to DHL Stormers back in May, but Baloucoune is hoping they can use that as motivation going into the new season, with Connacht the visitors to Belfast tonight [7.35pm].
“It’s hard to take, especially at the time it is a tough one, but it depends how you look at it,” says Baloucoune.
“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.
“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.”
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