BY HIS OWN admission, Tom O’Toole hasn’t played as much rugby as he would have liked of late.
There is no doubt that going to the World Cup was the fulfilment of a long-held ambition but, once there, he would feature only once, getting a run from the bench in Ireland’s opener against Romania and not seeing the pitch thereafter.
Understandably, he was itching to get back into action at Ulster, the first of Andy Farrell’s squad to don provincial colours after returning from France.
But after an 80-minute, Player of the Match shift against the Bulls in late October, he would go under the knife only days later for a procedure on his groin.
Having returned a few weeks earlier than planned against Glasgow last week, O’Toole starts again against Edinburgh in Belfast on Saturday night and seems eager to make up for lost time.
After turning 25-years-old during the World Cup, and coming to the end of a calendar year where he featured from the bench in all five of Ireland’s games during a Six Nations Grand Slam, the Drogheda native believes now is the opportune moment for him to take the next step.
“I feel I need to take my career and development to the next stage now and I feel really comfortable with that,” he said.
“It takes a while. Especially for front row guys, (you have) to develop naturally your own strength in your neck and some of the physical things that you have to be patient with.
“But the more you play, the more exposure you get, the more experiences that you come across and the more confidence you have in yourself to perform at that level which is important.
“It has been a really good six years. But I’m 25 now and I feel that I’m at a good stage of my career and my development.
“I have had a lot of exposure and a lot of help over the last few years. I feel that I’m in a good place to crack on.”
Last week represented the first time that Ulster head coach Dan McFarland had both O’Toole and fellow tighthead Marty Moore available for the same game in almost a year, since the opening round of the Champions Cup last year.
O’Toole started that game away to Sale in December 2022 but, for all his Ireland involvement since, it is easy to overlook the fact that he has never been in a position to definitively claim he is Ulster’s first-choice in the number three jersey.
Moore continues to work his way back to full match-sharpness after 11 months on the sidelines, while Academy player Scott Wilson has impressed after debuting last month, and it will be interesting to monitor how minutes are divided for the big games ahead that include European games away to Bath and at home to Racing 92 this month.
“I think that is what we need, that competitiveness at training,” O’Toole said.
“It is really good to have Marty back, we have worked alongside each other for years, and then to have big Scotty come through the Academy the way he has and play well, it’s great for him to get that exposure.
“To challenge for championships and to be competitive near the back end of the season, you need a strong squad and you need depth. So I think Scotty being able to play a couple of games there recently and get that exposure is going to be great for us.
“He is a young guy and he’ll develop the way Ulster want him to and the coaches will make sure they look after him and develop him correctly.
“It is great to have Marty back as well and all the tightheads are pretty much fit now which is great. That will keep the competition good at training and that is what drives the standards for us as a group. That is what you need to be able to be competitive in this league and in Europe.”
