Press Notes: Tom O’Toole

The tighthead prop spoke to the media this week ahead of Ulster’s first URC Inter-Pro versus Connacht on Saturday.

Ulster have 20 points on the board from the first four games this season – do you sense there is something different this year compared to previous seasons?

I think so. Over the last couple of years, we were pretty consistent in how we started in the league. This year, we’ve picked areas where we can be a lot better. It’s really encouraging to come in on Mondays – and we’re delighted to have maximum points – but there are so many areas we want to get better on. It’s encouraging that we’re not just happy with our performances even with the bonus points, but we’re really looking at the small areas of the game which we need to make improvements on. Ultimately, we know when it comes to crunch time in the season, when we want to play those really competitive games, that’s when we have to perform.

There’s a bit of a different feeling this year, especially with Dan [McFarland] here a couple of years now. We know exactly what we’re about and know fundamentally as a team what we want to produce out on the field. It’s nice now that we’re still looking for those small opportunities for improvement.

What would it mean to get five wins from five games?

It would be huge. It’s coming off a long pre-season and playing a couple of pre-season game, we talked about what our goals were. With the amount of injuries we’ve had, a lot of guys have had to step up. For us, it would be massive to come out of this block with maximum points and all wins. That’s what we’re aiming for – to be competitive with our performances – so that’s exactly what we want out of this block of games. It would be really encouraging going forward. We’ll have a few weeks to recover and to build again. It will put us in a really good place, but the job isn’t done and we’ve plenty of work to do to make sure we’re prepared for Connacht. They’ll be rightly up for it, but it’ll be a massive opportunity for us to put in a performance, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Connacht have defeated Ulster before in recent times – is there a feeling within the squad that you owe them one?

Not particularly. For us, Connacht have always been really competitive and always presented a huge physical battle. They have been really confrontational when playing us. They’ve come to Kingspan Stadium a couple of times and got a couple of wins, so they have no fear playing us, home or away. It’s a funny fixture in that we’re playing them at Aviva Stadium, but that’s where we played them after lockdown so they will be comfortable there. We know what to expect with this challenge, but in terms of our prep, it’s a local derby against another province so we’re just really focused on getting what we can get right and go into the game in a good position.

You have started three games in a row – how do you find that experience of starting week after week?

Starting week in, week out has given me a lot of confidence. No matter what prop we have in, we do a good job. We’re lucky to be in the position of having talented tightheads in the squad. For me, it’s really beneficial and it’s an opportunity to present what I want to do on the field; I want to be robust and play each week. I’m extremely happy to have been given the opportunity over the last few weeks. It does help to build momentum, which is what you want at the start of the season as it takes a couple of games to find a bit of rhythm.

As a front row unit, how much confidence do you take from the game against Emirates Lions last week, having negated their scrum – one of their strengths?

It was massive and something we put a big emphasis on during the week. Any team that analyses them would say they usually get plenty of purchase from the scrum. It was a huge challenge for us on our own patch and in front of our own fans, so it was an emphasis for us. There was going to be a collective effort; they have a massive South African pack with a lot of weight, so there was a lot of technical stuff we needed to sort out. I had an internal voice to drive me on and make sure we don’t give them anything. We knew if we shut their scrum down, we wouldn’t give them a big ‘in’ to get a penalty and kick 40 metres down the pitch. We took their tactical advantage away and it gave us a lot of encouragement. Each week presents a new challenge though, and as a tighthead if you get comfortable, you make mistakes. I want to take the learnings from the game and make sure I’m bringing that into this week and clean up a few areas. It is encouraging, but for me it’s about not getting comfortable or happy with our performances without pushing on.

You’ve got experience of a few wet and windy December nights in Galway – how different will it be at Aviva Stadium?

We usually prepare for any kind of weather that could hit us, whether it’s rain or wind, but it will be different going to Dublin. They will be in the same boat as us though, but it will be great to have fans there with a good energy around the place. In terms of what Connacht will bring, we always know that they’ll bring physicality and threats around the field. We know what to expect and there won’t be much different a threat in Connacht.

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