Gilroy raring to roar again

HEINEKEN CUP POOL FIVE:

Gilroy has had a frustrating stint on the sidelines with groin and ankle problems but the 22-year-old hopes he can now stay fit to finish what should be a busy and fulfilling season. Gilroy is back in his normal position on the left wing, with Jared Payne returning to full-back after a groin problem and Ruan Pienaar back in at scrum-half to partner Paddy Jackson, who will be making his 50th appearance for Ulster.

Up front, skipper Johann Muller returns to partner Dan Tuohy in the engine room and Rob Herring is at hooker in an unchanged front-row after recovering from a stinger, with Sean Doyle at open-side in place of Mike McComish.

“I was really disappointed to miss the autumn internationals,” said Gilroy.

“When the injury had recovered I would have been happy to get a run-out for junior club Bangor or Dungannon because I just wanted to play. I was just so disappointed to miss the Ulster games and then the autumn internationals.”

Gilroy shot to fame 12 months ago when he scored a hat-trick of tries for Ireland in a non-cap match against Fiji at Thomond Park and made his international debut a week later, scoring a spectacular try against Argentina.

“It was this time last year I got my first cap for Ireland against Argentina and it brought back a few memories. But it has given me a real drive and I now want to comeback even better,” explained Gilroy, a former GAA player with St Paul’s in Holywood, who returned to playing a few weeks ago in the number 15 jersey. I’ve played a bit there this season, but not so much in the past. Playing a bit of GAA when I was younger definitely helps your aerial skills, it is one of those transferable skills I have been able to carry across to rugby and it is part of my game I feel comfortable with.

“At full-back you’re working with your two wings and when they push up in the line the full-back is more about covering kicks. It’s important to work with the whole back three as a unit and help each other out.

“When I go back to playing on the wing I’m more comfortable with the full-back because I can see things from his angle,” said Gilroy who relishes his chance to play on the European stage again.

But facing tough Italian opposition in Europe is not going to be a picnic, as Gilroy explains.

“It was a tough game last week against Zebre. They didn’t make it easy for us and it has put us in good stead for this week.

“We are in pretty good shape in the group at the moment, you would say Leicester and Montpellier are the two toughest teams on paper, so it’s good to know we’ve beaten them both. But we have to treat Treviso the same, we cannot look at them any differently, they are going to be just as hard.

“They are hugely competitive and passionate rugby players. One thing you can’t cater for is attitude on the pitch. You can have all the training, all the skills and all the technicalities of the day but when you have mentality and attitude it makes it very hard and they have the potential to cause upsets.

“They have a pretty good record at Ravenhill, so we just have to do our thing and shut them down. There is a higher intensity in back-to-back games and there is more at stake. There are a lot of sore bodies and the guys do pick up niggles and injuries. You do need an element of luck on your side for guys to stay fit, it’s so important to do everything you can to be right for the next game.”