Latest news with #JacobStockdale
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Stockdale has turned 'frailties' into strengths
In-form Ulster wing Jacob Stockdale feels he "had a lot of frailties" in his game during the breakout seasons of his career. The 29-year-old starred for Ireland during 2018, a year in which the side won a Six Nations Grand Slam and beat the All Blacks in Dublin. His seven tries during the former remained a championship record until it was bettered this year by French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey. Stockdale, though, fell out of favour with the national side and has not been a regular starter for Andy Farrell since 2020 but feels his recent string of impressive performances are the product of "having worked really hard" during recent years."I think I was in a good vein of form in a very good team in 2018," said Stockdale after being named player of the match in Ulster's defeat by the Sharks on Saturday."I was 21 back then. I was trying to figure everything out and I was thrust into this position where I was first-choice for Ireland and scored a couple of good tries but I definitely wasn't a well-rounded player."I had a lot of frailties in my game, frailties that I've worked really hard on over the last few years and a lot of them have become strengths of mine. I think you can see the error-rate in my game has dropped massively as well." After missing all but one game of the 2021-22 season through injury, the 38-times capped wing has slowly worked his way back to his best and this season has scored five times in 12 games for Ulster. His eye-catching provincial form earned him a Test start in a rotated side against Fiji in November, but any hopes of putting his hand up for selection against Australia a week later were scuppered by a hamstring injury."I think it's easy to feel sorry for yourself in those situations and think it's always bad timing for me," he said."It was bad timing, I felt like I was really going well and I didn't get back quite as quickly as I would have hoped either, but you can't manage or control those things."All you can manage and control is how you play when you have the opportunity to step onto the pitch." 'I wasn't too happy hearing that' Stockdale made his return from injury against Benetton in February after almost three months on the he scored a try in the fixture, neither the player nor his coach Richie Murphy was particularly happy with his form across his first games back in the side. "Richie challenged me and said he didn't feel like I'd been the same player as I was before I got injured for those [first] couple of games," Stockdale said. "I wasn't too happy hearing that but I think he was right. "In the Stormers game [at the end of March] I felt like I set down a marker and took a step forward with my performances. I haven't really looked back over the last couple of weeks."While Ulster are on a three-game losing run, against Bordeaux-Begles, Leinster and Sharks, Stockdale has impressed against opposition boasting plenty of international stars. Although helping Ulster in their efforts to make the URC play-offs is his most immediate goal, he hopes that an Ireland recall could soon be on the cards the possibility that plenty of the usual Test starters will be on tour with the British and Irish Lions this summer, Ireland's July fixtures against Georgia and Portugal should offer an opportunity to those who have been on the fringes. "You always want to be able to get into the green jersey, no matter what scenario it's in," Stockdale said."For me, I'm excited about the prospect of being involved in that tour potentially but there's a lot of lads playing brilliantly who won't be on the Lions tour, last week [Leinster's] Tommy O'Brien was brilliant against us and he's had a great few games."I don't think it's a matter of me wandering in and having a few games. It's going to be hard-fought in those positions."
BBC News
26-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Sharks defeat sums up Ulster's season
Ulster full-back Jacob Stockdale says Saturday's 22-19 defeat by the Sharks in Belfast "feels like one that got away".The hosts held a 19-5 lead after a superb first half against a Shark side that contained eight World Cup winners with South Africa. However, the visitors dominated the second half and Jordan Hendrikse's late penalty gave the Sharks the win."The first half hour we we cooking and it felt great," Stockdale told BBC Sport NI."We let them back into the game a bit too much and let them play their power game. In fairness to them, they took their chances really well." Stockdale, who was named player of the match after impressing at full-back despite a first-half yellow card, said it was a "disappointing one" to let the game slip defeat leaves Ulster in 12th position in the United Rugby Championship with two matches top eight qualify for the play-offs and while Richie Murphy's side are just three points off securing knockout rugby, they will likely need victories away to challengers Munster and Edinburgh."It's a disappointing one and I suppose that's representative of the season we've had, where there's a lot of really promising stuff but we haven't quite been able to get across the line," admitted Stockdale."We've still got a couple of games left to squeeze into the play-offs. I think we still can, so our focus has to shift to that now." Stockdale, who said he "loved the freedom" of playing at full-back instead of his traditional wing position, said he was "gutted" Ulster could not win in the final home match for eight players who will leave the province at the end of the of those is captain Alan O'Connor, who Stockdale said was "one of the best leaders who has ever graced" Ulster's Ravenhill home."I don't say that lightly. He's an incredibly humble fella and he brings the best version of himself every single day into Ulster. "We've a couple more weeks of him, which is great, but when he moves on there are going to be some massive boots to fill."
BBC News
15-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
France's Bielle-Biarrey breaks Six Nations try record
France wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey broke the record for most tries in a single Six Nations campaign with his eighth score of this year's 21-year-old, who dotted down in every game, broke Ireland wing Jacob Stockdale's record of seven tries from Bordeaux-Begles flyer ran a sharp support line off Romain Ntamack to race away and score in the win over Scotland on Saturday that clinched France's first title since equals the all-time record for most tries in one edition - joining England's Cyril Lowe and Scotland's Ian Smith, who scored eight tries in the 1914 and 1925 Five Nations Bleus ended this year's tournament with 30 tries - the most in a single Six Nations campaign. The 2025 championship also broke the record for the most tries overall in one edition (101), surpassing the 91 scored two years Tommy Freeman joined Bielle-Biarrey in touching down in every game of this year's Six Nations, becoming the first Englishman to do 24-year-old started England's first four matches on the wing and played at outside centre in the 10-try thrashing of Wales in France wing Philippe Bernat-Salles was the last player to score in every round of the Six Nations back in 2001.
