Ulster's James Hume determined to build back better

Ulster’s Player of the Year and the Rugby Writer’s Player of the Year James Hume found his hamstring injury sustained over the summer was dragging him into a rut

Sat, 03 Dec, 2022 - 07:05

Declan Bogue

He won’t shy away from it, after being named as Ulster’s Player of the Year and the Rugby Writer’s Player of the Year for his work last season, James Hume found his hamstring injury sustained over the summer was dragging him into a rut.

From trying to get back too soon, he tweaked an abdominal muscle and readily admits to having the foresight to ‘snap out’ of the rut he was in, not allowing it to go on for more than three days.

Now, the outside centre faces Leinster this weekend in the United Rugby Championship, seeing it as ideal preparation for the week later when they begin their European campaign away to Sale Sharks.

For Hume, it’s a case of building things back up gradually, as he compares his thoughts and feelings after the recent win over Zebre.

“Even the difference between the game at the weekend, I felt like I had a bit more of a reaction, I could trust it,” he says of his injury.

“Whereas when I first came back and started training, I could feel myself clenching when I stepped to try and protect it and then my hip and ab would take the hit for it and it wasn't going right. And that's just me, it's just a natural reaction when you have surgery on that area and you want to protect it.

“Footwork and explosiveness was such a big part of my game last year and I'm building back up to that level again. It just takes training load and exposure to get back.

“I was a wee bit mentally fragile after that Ireland A game because I was just a bit inside my own head and was thinking, 'Is this going to get better, can I get back to the way I was last year?' I didn't want to be a one-season wonder and then just flop for the rest of my career.

“All this goes on inside your head. It's something I can't control but I reacted to it well and I got myself out of a rut I'd been in for a few days. I said this is stupid and got back to rehab, worked on myself again and now I'm feeling confident. Getting my hands on the ball a bit on Friday night gets my confidence up another level.”

Back at the start of October, Leinster made the trip north and emerged 20-13 winners at Kingspan Stadium after a tense game. Usually, games between the two feature the ball being thrown around a bit more.

Studying the tape to pick out the ‘learnings?’ Not for Hume, who believes they have to get out there and express themselves.

“I don't think we can look too much in the past, that's not something we do. We've looked at the game in terms of review of what we can do better, but that wouldn't be something that's mentioned. Maybe briefly. We need to go down there and do a job on them but it's not something we really dwell on.”

Leo Cullen has named seven players in his starting line-up from the October encounter. Ireland internationals Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe and Hugo Keenan are set for their first Leinster appearances of the campaign.

Rónan Kelleher will take his place in the front row alongside Cian Healy and Ala'alatoa after successfully making his injury comeback last week.

Captain Garry Ringrose is partnered by Jamie Osbourne in the midfield, while Jimmy O'Brien fills out the back three.

Iain Henderson will make his first start of the season for Ulster, where he will wear the number six jersey, allowing Alan O'Connor and Kieran Treadwell to occupy the second-row slots. He will be joined in the back row by fellow Irish international Nick Timoney, as well as Marcus Rea.

LEINSTER: H Keenan; J O’Brien, G Ringrose (Captain), J Osborne, J Lowe; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; C Healy, R Kelleher, M Ala’alatoa; J Ryan, J Jenkins; R Baird, J van der Flier, J Conan.

Replacements: D Sheehan, A Porter, T Furlong, R Molony, C Doris, N McCarthy, C Tector, L Turner.

ULSTER: M Lowry; E McIlroy, J Hume, S McCloskey, S Moore; B Burns, J Cooney; A Warwick, T Stewart, M Moore; A O’Connor, K Treadwell; I Henderson (Captain), M Rea, N Timoney.

Replacements: R Herring, C Reid, T O’Toole, S Carter, D Vermeulen, N Doak, J Stockdale, M Rea.

Referee: Christophe Ridley.