HIS TIME WITH Ulster hasn’t exactly gone according to the plan that he perhaps had in his head when signing, but Sam Carter remains an eternal optimist despite the repeated setbacks he’s been served since joining the province.
Many others would be left rather frustrated about their time in Belfast had they relocated halfway around the world only to play 22 games in nearly two years, while also spending a cumulative 13 months on the sidelines due to separate injuries.
As if being ruled out for nine months – exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic – with a shoulder injury received on European duty against Bath in October 2019 was bad enough, the head-knock Carter picked up against Leinster in January of this year transpired to need a four-month recovery too.
And then you add in the considerable role Covid-19 has played, which ruled out a large portion of his first season at Kingspan Stadium too. Indeed, when you put all of those factors together, Carter has missed the same number of games as he’s played for Ulster.
With an increased importance on foreign imports needing to provide value to a province under IRFU performance director David Nucifora, it’s been difficult to judge Carter as he’s barely had an extended run of games. And any time that he has, it’s come either just after he’s had an injury or it ends with him picking up another one.
Despite that, the former Australian international has just signed a new two-year contract at the province, and a lot of that is down to the work he’s been doing off the pitch, both in mentoring young players and helping drive the standards.
“It’s been tough. It hasn’t been easy with the injuries and the setbacks I’ve had,” acknowledges the former Brumbies second row. “But even when I am injured, there are things I can contribute, there are still things I can do to set the standard and hopefully help out the team any way I can.
“I think (that attitude) is something I’ve always had. I’ve always been excited to be in a team environment, it’s a privilege to do what we do and turn up each day and play and train with 30 or 40 other similarly-minded guys. It’s something to get excited by and any time I can contribute is the way I want to see it.
“It’s looking at lineouts, doing your research, carrying yourself around the training facilities, how you train when you do get a chance. It’s the standard you set, turning up on time, looking at the younger guys if they need a helping hand, giving them the knowledge. It’s just little things, I can’t really describe it. Hopefully I’m doing all the right things.”
His most recent injury was the toughest of the lot. While his shoulder dislocation against Bath was the longest to rehab over lockdown, the frustration over the ongoing recovery from that concussion he picked up against Leinster four months ago was worse.
“I hadn’t really been in that position before because when you have a set injury like a hamstring or a knee or a shoulder, you generally have a timeline,” said Carter.
“But with concussion or a different kind of head injury, it’s very grey and it’s more how you feel or how you’re responding to training, how you’re recovering and things like that.
“It was tough, but what I’m pleased about now is that I’ve got my confidence back and I feel ready to go again.”
He goes again tonight, starting at the RDS against Leinster in what is effectively a dead-rubber Rainbow Cup tie for Ulster given they are already seven points behind Munster in the standings with just three games remaining.
While out, Carter has had plenty of time to analyse his team-mates from an objective perspective, and he believes that the route back to form for Ulster is by keeping things simple, which he hopes they will do against an exciting opposition in Dublin.
“In patches we’ve been playing some really good rugby, you saw that in the first half against Leicester,” points out the 16-time capped Wallaby.
“Then sometimes when we have one error, we compound it with another one. That can be contagious and it can creep in, so we need to go back to basics and make sure we’re all on the same page heading in the same direction.
“(Leinster) are right up there. Not only do they have good individual players but they also play well together as a pack, and they work off each other really well, everyone knows their roles.
“When you play some of the best packs, you get excited, and that’s how I’m feeling for this weekend for the contest.”
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