AT THE AGE of just 25, Eric O’Sullivan still has a few years to go before he reaches what are widely regarded as his prime years as a prop, but already the Ulsterman has begun to make his presence felt on the international scene.
A string of impressive displays for Ulster post-lockdown led to a first call-up to the international set-up for the conclusion of the Autumn Nations Cup after injury to Ed Byrne, and then yielded a first cap off the bench in the third-fourth play-off against Scotland.
He backed that up with an impressive 75-minute outing in Europe last week when he went toe-to-toe with World Cup winning prop Charlie Faumuina at the scrum and held him steady, while adding his usual work-rate around the pitch, albeit in a losing effort against Toulouse.
While he has yet to fully establish himself as Ulster’s No. 1 with former Lions loosehead Jack McGrath still on the scene, O’Sullivan doesn’t hide his ambitions to kick on from that first appearance in Andy Farrell’s squad and is keen to build on the learnings he took from being down in Carton House.
In particular, the Dublin-born prop hails the impact of fellow loosehead Cian Healy and scrum coach John Fogarty while he was there, acknowledging that it was good to hear a fresh perspective on the game than that which he hears in Ulster each week.
“I always think it’s a good thing to have a fresh face in there every so often. There’s things that different coaches have a different perspective on,” says O’Sullivan.
“Working with different players as well, you learn a lot. I think I learnt a lot in camp and hopefully I can bring that back. Dan [McFarland] is obviously an incredibly good scrum coach. I’m in safe hands there anyway but being able to add to that is huge.
“[Cian] was very good. He was chatting to me about the different things he’s trying and things that are working for him. So when you have a guy with that level of experience in your ear and giving you little tips, it’s huge.
“It’s the same here [at Ulster] – Jack [McGrath], Kyle [McCall], there’s so much to learn. [The scrum], it’s a weird place in there at times and until you have a lot of games under your belt, I don’t think you’ll ever really figure it out.”
But the key is making that experience matter, which he appeared to do in another stand-out display against Toulouse, and ensuring he’s back in consideration whenever the Ireland squad is named for the Six Nations in February.
Having ticked that first cap off the checklist, the next one would be playing in a game at the Aviva Stadium that his parents and girlfriend Fiona, herself an Ulster player, could be in attendance for.
That may not happen in the Six Nations depending on government restrictions with regards to the coronavirus, but being involved there would be another step forward at least.
Certainly he did himself no harm with that brief cameo against Scotland, and with three more European games and three interprovincials to play between now and Farrell’s next squad announcement, he has plenty of time to force the coach’s hand.
“It’s been a crazy month. I’d never have expected to get a call-up to camp so that was definitely a welcome surprise, and then there were a couple of nervous weeks in camp trying to make sure I’d learnt everything,” recalls the former Leinster sub-Academy player.
“I managed to put forward the best picture of myself that I could and I was happy with how I went after those first couple of days and all the lads down there were so supportive. Anything I was stuck on or needed help with they were right there for me so that was great.
“It was incredibly special, it’s been my ambition for a long time and to get out there was awesome. I don’t think it’s really hit home with me yet. It was weird circumstances with no crowd, it would have been great to have family there in the stands but hopefully there’ll be another in the future and they’ll be there.”
The saying goes that if you look after the pennies then the pounds will look after themselves. In that vein, if O’Sullivan can impress on provincial duty, then international recognition should follow, and right now all the focus at Kingspan Stadium is on undoing the damage that the Toulouse defeat did.
While it was a first loss in 26 games in Belfast for the province, and their first reverse of the campaign, the prop insists all the focus has quickly switched to ensuring they don’t double up by falling to Gloucester at Kingsholm tomorrow, which would definitely end their European ambitions for the season.
Although the Covid-19 outbreak at Exeter Chiefs has muddied the waters considerably in Pool B, it is still a safe bet to assume that Ulster need three wins from three in order to make it three successive seasons with European knockout rugby, and that is what is driving the province on currently.
“Big games like that, you always want to win. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we back ourselves to win those kinds of games,” admitted O’Sullivan of the Toulouse loss.
“I think on a personal level, everyone is very ambitious. We’re not happy if we lose a game regardless of where it is. It’s not that it was a home game, it’s the fact that we lost a game we feel we should have won. It’s important we get back on it, focus on what we can do and bring it into the weekend.
“There’s a big focus on trying to put out a good performance and trying to get the win. It’s a tough place to go but with a good week’s training under our belt, it’ll be no problem.”
