ULSTER BACK ETHAN McIlroy has spoken for the first time about the sickening collision he suffered earlier this season which forced him out of the game for three months.
In a freak accident, the 23-year-old was knocked unconscious and suffered a facial fracture as he attempted to score a try early on during last November’s game with Munster at Ravenhill.
Though a shaken and bloody McIlroy was able to walk off the pitch that night after being attended by medical staff, he was immediately taken to a local hospital’s emergency department, though he was discharged that same evening.
“I don’t remember much of the exact incident,” McIlroy recalled earlier this week in Cape Town as Ulster ramped up for Saturday’s URC clash with the Stormers.
“It was a tough bang to take, but I was looked after really well on the night, the staff, physios, the doctor coming in and helped me on the way and got me into hospital and got everything sorted.”
“I had a bit of a fracture in my eye so there no rush to get me back in (training again), and concussion-wise, it was the normal routine to get back in, so I had plenty of time to get back on my feet and into shape.
“There were also no real symptoms after that or problems with me that any of this was really bad.
“I’ll hopefully try and avoid those (outcomes) in the future.
“I felt fully confident getting back in there and building my way back into a game scenario,” McIlroy added.
This weekend as he lines out against the Stormers will only be his sixth involvement of the season after returning to play for Ulster in last month’s defeat at the Ospreys after which Dan McFarland parted company with the province.
Though Richie Murphy’s time with Ulster opened with a loss at the Sharks, McIlroy – who put in 80 minutes of work in the heat of Durban – is impressed by what the Ireland U20s coach has already shown to the squad.
“I’ve really liked what I’ve seen so far,” he said.
The detail he brings to the rugby, and he’s a new coach for me, and it’s good to see how he sees the game.”
McIlroy has played at the Stormers twice before, losing on both previous occasions in 2022, the last time being to a last-gasp conversion when Manie Libbok put Ulster out in the semi-final stages.
“That kick at the end was pretty devastating,” he recalls.
“You have to really be on the money playing against them, but I think that if we’re on our game and get together, we can beat them.”