Court: I haven’t reached my potential yet

Ulster prop Tom Court has been given the opportunity this weekend to showcase his talents against the hard-hitting Samoans.

Court, originally from Australia, can pack down on both sides of the scrum and has been a regular feature in the Irish set-up for the past three years.

The former University shot-putt champion made a telling contribution from the bench in the defeat to South Africa last weekend.

“I did alright out there,” Court admits.

“The priority for me was to get out there and to shore up the scrum and to add as much as I could around the pitch.

“Being a bit of a perfectionist (I think) there’s always more you can do…it would have been nice to get the ball in hand a bit more, make a bit more of an impact around the ruck and in defence, but every game’s not going to go your way.

“It’s just a matter, especially off the bench, to really try to make an impact and inject a bit of energy and pace into the other guys- so I guess to a degree I’d like to think I achieved that.

“I still think I haven’t really played up to my potential especially in an Irish jersey so it’s just a matter of getting comfortable at that level.”

Court was singled out for special mention in the aftermath of the Springboks match for the way he dealt with Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira at scrum time after Tony Buckley, who started at tight-head, had struggled in that area.

“I was probably lucky,” said Court.

“Most of the scrums when I was there were on the right touchline so there’s probably going to be less pressure coming through from the loosehead on the tight-head; its probably going to be more (pressure) on our loosehead and hooker so it was probably a bit easier on me.”

“You’re always going to have tough opposition at this level and those guys are massive- big strong guys that have destroyed better packs than Irelands.

“I was happy enough with how it went, but it can always go better.”

Court has been mainly used an impact sub for Ireland in recent times, but the Brisbane native is looking forward to getting a rare start for his adopted country.

“I always find it’s easier starting the game because you can get up to speed with everyone else out there,” he said.

“It’s always tough coming off the bench and trying to slot into the pace off the game especially for me: I’m maybe not the most agile or fittest of guys out there.

“It’s always nice when you’re starting…obviously everyone wants to start and that’s always the goal. It’s going to be tough and fairly intense from the get go with these guys (Samoa). You’re out there; it’s just a matter of proving to people that you deserve to be there.”