New signing Addison enjoying a sort of homecoming at Ulster

By Jim Stokes

It didn’t take Ulster’s exciting new signing Will Addison long to ingratiate himself into the Irish way of doing things once he was pointed in the direction of Belfast, about 80 miles from Enniskillen, where his mother and close family ties are from.

No sooner had Cumbria-born Addison decided to move from Sale Sharks to the Kingspan Stadium, than he was rubbing noses and training with the Ireland touring team as they prepared for the Second Test against Australia which they won to level the series. Now the utility back has an insatiable appetite for more to make him a better player.

So far the breaking-in process of a new environment has been a great success for the 25-year-old speedster who had been involved with Sale for a decade.

My mum is from Enniskillen, she grew up there then went to Trinity and came over to England and met a farmer. I have a good strong family connection in Enniskillen and my aunties have been given me some good home cooking every weekend. So far, I’m being well looked after in Fermanagh and I’m loving Belfast as well,” said Addison, who sees an Ulster squad full of promise.

“There is a real good group of guys here and a really strong backbone to the squad. We saw the hard grit of it last year through some really tough times and I think that bedrock is built on a real tight unit. We have had a real tough pre-season but I think that has bought everyone very close together and has helped me settle in very fast.”

He will certain see plenty of action at the start of the season, what with injuries and retirements. With Jacob Stockdale joining Louis Ludik and Luke Marshall on the long-term injury list, Jared Payne, Tommy Bowe, and Andrew Trimble retired, and Charles Puitau moving to Bristol, Addison, could have a starring role in a number of positions — much like his new defence coach Payne, a player with an astute rugby brain who he initially met in Australia.

I was on holiday in Melbourne in the June series so I managed to do a little bit of training with the Ireland team,” he said. “I loved that and I’m loving the environment I’m in at the moment so it’s really pushing me to be a better player. Jared will be someone I’ll be picking the brains off,” said the former England U20 international.

Addison is targeting an Ireland call but is taking “first things first”. “I have to get into the team at Ulster, I think if I do that, I could fill my potential and that would push me towards those international standards.

“I think it is a positive for me throughout my career I have played wing, full-back, centre, although centre is probably my favourite. But I just love being on the pitch.”

It’s early days b ut Addison sees the beginning of something special at Kingspan Stadium.

“The addition of Henry Speight is good, and we’re looking forward to see how he goes after a bit of training time. I think we have the bedrock of a really good team. We have some good young players coming through — the likes of Stewart Moore and Angus Curtis in the backline — who are going to be pushing myself and some of the older players very strong and competition is going to bring a very high standard this year.”

Addison had a clause in his contract at Sale that if an Irish province came calling he could up out.

“Sale traditionally always had a very small squad which meant you were playing week in and week out, so it was very attritional. I think there is scope for more rotation (at Ulster). Myself and Billy Burns are really excited about a new competition, the two weeks in South Africa is a really good chance for some team building.”