Eoghan Masterson delighted as injury nightmare is over

Connacht back row Eoghan Masterson is thrilled to be available to face the team he got injured against over a year ago.

The 23-year-old No 8 suffered a gruesome knee injury in Connacht’s bonus point victory over Zebre on February 20, 2016 at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi and hasn’t featured since.

But having gained match fitness through the Connacht Eagles and in the Ulster Bank League with Galwegians, the Portlaoise native is delighted to be back as the champions welcome the Italians to the Sportsground on Friday, chasing four wins in a row in the league.

“The knee is great. In the first game back I was a little bit of nervous of it. You get all of these terrible thoughts in your mind. But as the games have went on it’s more of a mental thing than anything else,” said Masterson.

“I had that experience over in Zebre, and my memories from that game was that they were scoring lots of tries and they were very physical. That’s my last memory of pro rugby really.

“I would never take Zebre or any team lightly. They have a lot of internationals coming back. From a forward’s point of view, it’s always an unbelievably physical game. They are tough in the scrum and tough in the line-out.”

Masterson was joined at the Sportsground this season by younger brother, Sean, who signed up with the Connacht sub-academy and made his Ireland U20s debut in their win over France last weekend.

“Sean just finished school last year and he was given the option to come down here and see how it went for him. He leapt at it, he loves Mayo, he loves Galway and Connacht as well,” said Masterson.

“Growing up in a non-rugby area we have always dreamed of being professional rugby players. I was very proud to see him line out in the green of Ireland and hopefully he just keeps his head down, keeps working away and he can keep getting better.”