Ulster tighthead Marty Moore finally feeling like himself again after long road back from injury

Knee ligament injuries are among the most feared for any player and, as he lay on the Ravenhill turf, the former Leinster and Wasps prop knew instantly what had befallen him.

“I hadn’t done anything like that before,” he remembered. “There’s certain things that happen, like say a shoulder going, where you know pretty quick that something’s not good.

“When it happened, the thing that annoyed me the most was that I knew exactly what the future entailed.

“It wasn’t that I was angry at the pain or this or that, though it was painful. I was just thinking, ‘right, this is me and a rehab coach for the next nine to 10 months’. It was that kind of instant reality check.

Having made his comeback from the injury in the win over the Lions in Round 5 of the URC, Moore admits that getting back on the field and getting back to where he wanted to be proved to be two different things.

Tomorrow against the Ospreys will be just his second start of the year with five of his first six games since the injury having come as a replacement.

While they sometimes say in such instances the return to form takes just as long as the recovery, Moore believes that three months after getting back on the pitch he is feeling like the player that had proven to be such a cornerstone for Ulster since his arrival in 2018.

“I think it took me longer to get back to a level that I’m comfortable with than maybe I anticipated,” he said.

“Medically I was fit and ready to go. I was on the field. But it was probably another six weeks of playing before I felt good in myself and that I was playing at a level that I would recognise as being as good as what I can do.

“That’s the biggest task when you’re coming back from an injury like that where you’ve been safeguarded from the collisions right to the end.

“Even early on, you can be changing direction and doing a lot of work but the physical contact is the very last thing to get checked off the list.

“So it’s the hardest thing to get used to again. Hopefully it won’t be an issue now.

“I feel I’m pretty much there at the minute, I’m at a level of operating where I’m happy, not thinking about the knee.”

Turning 33 next month, the 10-time Irish international said during the lengthy rehab he had no thoughts that the long road back wouldn’t be worth the climb.

“I’ve always kept to the idea that as long as I can do the fundamentals, as long as I can keep running around and hitting people, I’ll be on the field as long as someone is happy to have me there,” he said.

Now back in the fold, Moore’s return has coincided with a tough run for the northern province, losing five of his seven outings so far.

Ulster have been boosted for tomorrow’s trip to Ospreys by the presence of four of their Six Nations contingent.

Iain Henderson is there to skipper his provincial side, while Jacob Stockdale takes his usual place in the No 11 jersey and Nick Timoney starts at No 8.

The final member of the Irish contingent, hooker Tom Stewart, starts the game on the bench with John Andrew getting the nod in the No 2 jersey.

Verdict: Ulster

OSPREYS: J Walsh; M Protheroe, D Morris, K Williams, K Giles; D Edwards, R Morgan-Williams; N Smith, S Parry, T Botha; J Ratti, V Sekekete; H Deaves, J Tipuric (capt), M Morse. Reps: L Lloyd, R Henry, B Warren, L Jones, W Hickey, C Jones, A Cuthbert, E Boshoff.

ULSTER: W Addison; M Lowry, J Hume, J Postlethwaite, J Stockdale; J Flannery, N Doak; A Warwick, J Andrew, M Moore; H Sheridan, I Henderson (capt); D McCann, Marcus Rea, N Timoney. Reps: T Stewart, S Kitshoff, S Wilson, C Izuchukwu, Matty Rea, D Shanahan, L Marshall, E McIlroy.

REF: F Vedovelli (Italy).

Ospreys v Ulster

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