‘Jacob has to dust himself down and move on, we all do’, says Ulster coach
Ulster believe Jacob Stockdale has the mental strength to get over Saturday’s fumble and say he’s eager to throw himself straight back into PRO14 action this weekend to shake off his Champions Cup blues.
Stockdale’s failure to dot the ball down after crossing the tryline in the Aviva Stadium was one of the main talking points in the aftermath of Ulster’s narrow quarter-final loss to the champions, Leinster.
The wing, who turns 23 tomorrow, posted an apology to Ulster fans on social media for his blunder and said sorry to his team-mates, who are adamant he should not be made the scapegoat.
“That’s a really tight group of guys and that’s why probably it hurts so much for Jacob,” said Ulster skills coach Dan Soper.
“It means so much for him, which is why he felt the way he did after the match, but as a group, the collective will be 100% behind Jacob.
“I thought he was absolutely first-class and were there too many other players on the pitch that could have put themselves in that position to have scored that try? Maybe not.
"He is a huge part of how we got to the quarter-final, the magic moments he has given us, and there’s gonna be a lot more.
“I guess when you are a player like Jacob, at some stage there is going to be a bump on the road and you make an error because of the absolutely wonderful quality he has.
“As a group, it was one of a number of errors that we made. We won’t be highlighting one thing as the difference.
“If you asked anybody in the squad, who do you want to be on the end of the line to finish off a score this Friday night, I am pretty sure they are going to pick Jacob.”
Soper couldn’t confirm the extent of Rory Best’s ankle injury — “hopefully it is not too bad” — after the Ulster and Ireland captain hobbled off early in the game, looking distraught on the sideline.
With three vital PRO14 games remaining and a possible play-off to follow, Best will hope to be back before the season is over.
“The medics will have a good look at him,” said Soper.
“He played on for seven or eight minutes after and he was keen to keep going, but he felt he was going to let the team down.
“It is such a tight turnaround, it’s probably a good assumption [to miss Friday’s game away to Glasgow], I would think.”
Stockdale will be desperate to make an impact in Scotstoun, however, to atone for his big mistake.
Soper said: “Jacob will bounce back because he is going to get another opportunity to score, hopefully, this weekend. He has got to dust himself down and move on, as we all do.
“That’s the quality of anyone who makes it to the absolute top of whatever sport or profession, is that they have to have a mental strength.
“That’s the job he is in, that’s the job he has to do this week.
"Jacob is a strong character and I am looking forward to seeing him getting ripped into it this week.”
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