TOM O’TOOLE’S VERSATILITY was on show again last weekend as he ended up starting at tighthead prop but finished the game at loosehead in Ulster’s Challenge Cup round of 16 victory over the Ospreys.
It wasn’t planned but came about after both Angus Bell and Sam Crean were forced off the field, O’Toole having already been subbed off after a decent shift at his normal position of tighthead.
“Yes, that was interesting,” the 27-year-old, who unexpectedly featured for Ireland at loosehead during the Six Nations, said of last Saturday evening.
“I ended up kind of cramping up in both my quads after about a minute (back on) which wasn’t great.
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“They were kind of saying to me ‘just be ready to come back on’ but to be honest I probably should have got moving a little bit more.”
“Actually, doing that in a game (switching sides) doesn’t really bother me, and I get quite excited when I can kind of be able to have the opportunity to do loosehead as well.”
This evening (SAT) Ulster take on La Rochelle in the Challenge Cup quarterfinal and O’Toole, who has never faced Ronan O’Gara’s side before, is determined to make home advantage pay and hopefully take Ulster one step closer to May’s final in Bilbao.
“We understand the importance of this,” said O’Toole who starts in his usual tighthead spot for the province.
“They (quarter-finals) don’t come around too often; you have one shot at it.”
“We’re at home, it’s Friday night which traditionally has been great for us, and it’s a French team coming to Belfast.”
“It’s about just taking the positives from last week and building on that and going again Friday night.”
O’Toole had a good Six Nations, filling the void left by the lack of frontline looseheads. He featured in four games and started against Wales and Scotland.
“I think that exposure (at loosehead) is good for me so coming away from that, I feel pretty confident now switching over between both sides, and I’d be happy to do the job,” he explains.
“I probably wouldn’t get a whole lot of reps (at it when with Ulster), but I just take confidence in what I’ve done over the last few weeks. I try not to overthink it too much.
“If it comes my way, it comes my way. If I get an opportunity, I have confidence in what I’ve done and know that I can do it.”
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Tom O'Toole enjoying new role as dual prop for province and country
TOM O’TOOLE’S VERSATILITY was on show again last weekend as he ended up starting at tighthead prop but finished the game at loosehead in Ulster’s Challenge Cup round of 16 victory over the Ospreys.
It wasn’t planned but came about after both Angus Bell and Sam Crean were forced off the field, O’Toole having already been subbed off after a decent shift at his normal position of tighthead.
“Yes, that was interesting,” the 27-year-old, who unexpectedly featured for Ireland at loosehead during the Six Nations, said of last Saturday evening.
“I ended up kind of cramping up in both my quads after about a minute (back on) which wasn’t great.
“They were kind of saying to me ‘just be ready to come back on’ but to be honest I probably should have got moving a little bit more.”
“Actually, doing that in a game (switching sides) doesn’t really bother me, and I get quite excited when I can kind of be able to have the opportunity to do loosehead as well.”
This evening (SAT) Ulster take on La Rochelle in the Challenge Cup quarterfinal and O’Toole, who has never faced Ronan O’Gara’s side before, is determined to make home advantage pay and hopefully take Ulster one step closer to May’s final in Bilbao.
“We understand the importance of this,” said O’Toole who starts in his usual tighthead spot for the province.
“They (quarter-finals) don’t come around too often; you have one shot at it.”
“We’re at home, it’s Friday night which traditionally has been great for us, and it’s a French team coming to Belfast.”
“It’s about just taking the positives from last week and building on that and going again Friday night.”
O’Toole had a good Six Nations, filling the void left by the lack of frontline looseheads. He featured in four games and started against Wales and Scotland.
“I think that exposure (at loosehead) is good for me so coming away from that, I feel pretty confident now switching over between both sides, and I’d be happy to do the job,” he explains.
“I probably wouldn’t get a whole lot of reps (at it when with Ulster), but I just take confidence in what I’ve done over the last few weeks. I try not to overthink it too much.
“If it comes my way, it comes my way. If I get an opportunity, I have confidence in what I’ve done and know that I can do it.”
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Rugby versatile