Rory Scholes seizes chance as injuries force Ulster to dig deep

Rory Scholes understands the impatience of youth and the familiar refrain of chasing opportunities. At the start of this season he would have been in the shadow cast by the queue that had formed for a place on the wing at Ulster. Injury has changed that dynamic.

Where he might have expected to play a handful of Guinness Pro12 matches, after 12 minutes of last Sunday's Champions Cup match against Toulouse at the Stade Ernest Wallon, he stood on the touchline waiting to replace the luckless Craig Gilroy, who had just fractured an eye socket.

The 22-year-old Scholes boasts an impressive underage representative rugby CV, including six tries in nine matches for the Ireland Under-20 team in 2013, but this was the biggest chance of his fledgling career; he enjoyed a one-minute cameo at the end of the previous week’s 38-0 romp against the same opposition in Belfast but that wouldn’t have inspired too many nerves.

Pulse

It might have been interesting to take his pulse last Sunday. It would be an irregular occurrence to be thrust into the action so soon.

Reflecting on the moment, he was glad that head coach Les Kiss is a stickler for detail.

“Les puts a big onus on the bench being ready at all stages so I was happy to get on and just play my part in a famous win away from home for Ulster. It was a bit tighter than the first game,” he smiled.

On a personal level, it could have been an even sweeter triumph had Scholes’s try in first-half injury time not been ruled out for a forward pass from fullback Louis Ludik to man-of-the-match Ruan Pienaar during a move that originated in the Ulster 22.

His celebration was genuine and it was only when reviewing the big screen that he realised it wouldn’t stand.

“I didn’t know [about the forward pass] at the time I scored it. When I saw it on the screen, it looked a wee bit forward to be honest.

“It would have been a great try if it had [stood from a team perspective. It was] one of our best. The play in the build-up has been what we have been trying to do; that is the sort of rugby we are trying to play these days.

“We know the sort of talent we have within the squad and the things we can do, we just had to show everyone else, and those two performances [against Toulouse] did that. We now have to move on and keep that run going now.

Hurting

“We are in a better position in the group than we were before the Saracens game but we can’t take anything for granted. Oyonnax are probably hurting a wee bit from their results recently so we know they will be coming out firing,” he pointed out, although the French club have lost all three matches in the tournament to date and have nothing to play for.

On Sunday, January 10th, Oyonnax will host Ulster in a game re-fixed from the opening weekend. And then the French club will travel to Belfast in the last round of matches in the pool stages. One aspect of the Irish province’s performances is the manner in which some of the less experienced members of the group have grasped their chance.

Scholes said: “It is a credit to the young guys like Kyle [McCall] and Alan [O’Connor]; there is massive talent in the age-grades and the academy. We just need an opportunity to show it. When we have been given the chance, we have taken it. It is good for Ulster rugby to have that strength in depth and to have people from Ulster playing for Ulster and playing well.”

Ulster’s expansive style of play under Kiss is something that naturally appeals to the winger. “Les is slowly getting his point across of what he wants and it is also the way that we want to play, with ball-in-hand. We are all happy, it’s going in the right direction. But we are a work in progress, not the finished article, and just want to keep improving.

“As a back three player, I just want the ball in my hands. The sort of rugby we are playing suits our backline, suits some of our forwards, who are very good with ball-in-hand. I just want to play as much as possible for Ulster.”

Baggage

The priority for now is this weekend’s Pro12 game against Connacht at the Sportsground and trying to secure a win. Scholes, though, is going to bring a little bit of baggage from his recent trip to France.

“Toulouse hadn’t lost at home until we went there so that is going to give us a bit of confidence to go and do a job in the Sportsground.”