THE ANNUAL TRIP to the RDS Arena last Friday yielded Ulster’s seemingly usual quota of Academy debutants, with four making their bows in the 14-try, 54-42 thriller in D4.

Azur Allison (20), Stewart Moore (20) and Jack Regan (22) were all introduced in the second half and, fittingly, flourished as the visitors mounted an impressive comeback to steal a try bonus point from the Irish capital in a somewhat successful trip down the M1.

But it was the youngest of the four, full-back Ethan McIlroy, who only nine months ago was playing in the Schools’ Cup final for Methodist College, who had one member of the senior Ulster squad jokingly contemplating whether he should go out and buy a walking stick this week.

“It’s mad,” laughs winger Craig Gilroy of the teenager lining out alongside him. “You almost see a little bit of yourself in them from when you were starting, trying to remember what they might be feeling like from when I was that age.

“You guys saw the game, they were fantastic, they did really, really well.”

Once considered the up-and-coming star of Irish rugby, Gilroy is now such an established member within the set-up to the extent that, at the still young age of just 28, he is the most-capped player in the current Ulster squad with 177. As such, his role has changed from that of an eager-eyed prospect to a leader of the young players.

“I was chatting to Ethan a lot during the week just to keep talking, not to go quiet,” explains Gilroy of the advice he handed out to his young back-three partner.

“Playing professional rugby can sometimes be overwhelming, particularly away from home when you’re in somewhere like the RDS, which can be a hostile place with how good Leinster are and obviously they have amazing support.

“So, look, just enjoy it and use your voice. He seemed to do that alright.”

While embracing his new role as an encouragement to the next wave of talent coming through in a youthful squad at Kingspan Stadium, there’s also that relentless desire to still represent his province driving Gilroy on, something that has never wavered over time.

It was a distant thought this time last year, the winger sidelined with a back injury that he sustained against Racing 92 in October 2018 that just would not clear up. What was initially hoped to be a short-term absence stretched into weeks. Then months. Then he was ruled out for the season.

When he finally made his competitive return in the first game of this season against the Ospreys, he’d seen Robert Baloucoune step into the squad seamlessly in his absence and impress. Matt Faddes joined from the Highlanders. The list of players he was battling with in the back three had grown substantially.

So simply to get selected for that game against the Welsh region on opening day was a relief, and the culmination of months of gut-wrenching rehabilitation.

“Being out for so long last year, it was tough at times, especially with the injury I had. A break in your vertebrae, it’s not something where you can go in every day and do live contact drills,” recalls the former Methodist College ace.

“It’s just amazing being back, that Ospreys game at the beginning of the season I was literally dreaming of that for flipping six to eight months, I just missed it so much.

“It’s just brilliant to be back in the squad and I’ve just to keep on my A-game because there’s a lot of competition.”

To beat out the internal competition within the squad from the likes of Baloucoune, Faddes, Robert Lyttle and Irish international Jacob Stockdale, you have to have an edge. All five – including Gilroy – offer differing skillsets to Dan McFarland, so pushing to the head of the queue isn’t easy.

For Gilroy, the beginning of finding the edge lies in the statistics behind his performances.

So far, the numbers suggest the season has been a mixed bag for the 10-time capped Ireland international. On attack, he’s been just as good as he’s ever been, making 11 clean breaks and beating 18 defenders in just nine games, but defensively he’s averaging a tackle percentage of just 61.76%.

Gilroy touches down against Leinster last weekend. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

While insisting he’s not married to the analytics side of things, Gilroy does admit that looking at the stats is helping him work out where he needs to improve to work his way back into the mix for the big games.

“I like to know (my stats), so I’d go to Niall Malone every, say we do a block of three or four games, I’ll go to him and he’ll send me it across and I’ll put it up somewhere – I’ve a wee office in the house, I sound like an old man! – and keep tabs on where it is or where it needs to be, and then I can set mini-goals every week going into a game,” reveals the 28-year-old.

“Last week if I beat a couple of defenders I’ll say to myself I want to beat more than that (next week), I know I’m capable of beating more than that, so that’s what I want to do.

“I’ll always go for over five defenders beaten. That gives me that mindset to attack space, take people on, create chances for tries or to set up someone else.”

With Stockdale kicking his heels while serving the second game of his IRFU-mandated rest period this festive season, and with Lyttle injured, his opportunities to impress have improved, with another run-out against Connacht tonight from the bench a chance to pencil his name in for those big games coming up against Clermont and Bath in Europe.

The western province will be no pushovers, as Gilroy knows all too well. He didn’t play in that 22-15 loss at Kingspan Stadium back in October 2018 but the entire squad took that defeat personally. Thus far it’s the only loss in Belfast in the Dan McFarland reign, and their unbeaten streak at the fortress formerly known as Ravenhill is 17.

But now, 14 months further along in the journey that McFarland has this team on, there’s not even a consideration within the squad that they’ll be beaten at home, and particularly not by Connacht. Even though they defeated their interprovincial rivals in the play-offs, Ulster are still out for vengeance.

“It’s kinda fitting that that was the last loss we had at home and it’s an opportunity, I suppose, to put that right again,” adds Gilroy.

“It’s at a nice time of year, I always enjoy these Christmas games and into the new year is nice as well. There’s always a buzz around the place, the fans seem to be in good form.

I think our home performances, we’ve really strengthened it as a fortress out here, playing at home, playing in front of the fans. I think in previous years it’s been our away form that has let us down a bit, but even this season like Bath away, Harlequins away, those are two big performances that gave us a lot of confidence for our away games as well.

“All in all we’re in a really good place at the minute.”