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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Jacob Stockdale out to make up for World Cup disappointment in Six Nations

Jacob Stockdale wants to show that he won't be defined by a disappointing first World Cup.

In Japan, Stockdale failed to conjure up the sort of form that he brought into his sensational first Six Nations in 2018.

Being young helped him to move on quickly. But what happened in the Far East lit a fire, and he has played well for Ulster since his return, whether on the wing or at full-back.

He will resume his usual position on the left wing for Ireland on Saturday.

"I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily forgetting about it," he said, reflecting on the events of three months ago. "It’s just about not dwelling on it. I think they're two quite different things.

"I accept I didn’t have a (good) World Cup. I didn’t really enjoy the World Cup in a rugby sense.

"But you just have to park that and say, ‘That’s not me, I’m not defined by that - I’m defined by how I move forward'.

"Coming in the camp, it’s very different now. With new management, new styles, they’ve really tried to shake everything up and it feels completely different.

Ireland's Jacob Stockdale dejected after the defeat to Japan (©INPHO/Dan Sheridan)

"It’s been really enjoyable coming back in and seeing the guys who you hung out with for so long in Japan."


Stockdale's performances helped Ulster reach the Champions Cup last eight and, with the focus switching back to the Test arena and the need for Ireland to prove 2019 was a big blip, he claims he can't feel a harsher spotlight on the team.

“I don’t feel any more pressure," said the 23-year-old. "What happened at the World Cup is gone now.

"For me, I’m just looking forward now and playing the game that I want to play, I don’t really feel any pressure because if you put yourself under too much pressure it’s going to affect you.

"It’s just about moving forward.

"You can’t win a Grand Slam on the first weekend but you can lose it. As a player, you don’t really think about those worst-case scenarios. 

"You go in with the confidence that we’re at home, we’re a good team and we’re training really well.


"We’ve prepared well for this game so for us it’s just going into this game with that confidence that that’s not going to happen and if it does, then we’ll deal with it.

"But we’re definitely hoping that it doesn’t".

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