O'Toole targets 'huge' provincial win over Munster
The Pic: O'toole Ulster's Dejected Laszlo Geczo/inpho Game After Tom
Ulster and Ireland prop Tom O’Toole intends to pull out all the stops to get a winning result over Munster in this evening’s interprovincial at the Kingspan Stadium.
The 26-year-old tighthead is determined to put an end to Ulster’s recent four game losing streak in all competitions – one of the worst runs in the pro game that the province have ever had – and breathe new life into their URC season which sees them currently positioned 10th in the log.
“A win at home after the weeks we’ve had would be huge, for the league, the table and the group,” the Ireland squad member explained.
“It’s been challenging after the autumn break, Leinster (in the URC) then Toulouse and Bordeaux (in the Champions Cup) and that’s naturally tough, if we play more like we did in that first half against Bordeaux that’s the way we would like to play we just have to be consistent.
“Wins can boost the young guys’ confidence and for myself and everybody here, it could make a big difference,” added O'Toole who starts tonight in the number three jersey.
As for Munster, they travel to Belfast with their own issues, sitting a place and solitary point behind Ulster in the table and, as with the northern province, have only won three times from seven rounds of league games.
Even so, O’Toole is sure that the visitors will bring their usual commitment and physicality to the contest.
“You know what Munster are going to bring to an interprovincial game, and they are looking at physically coming at you so it’s always going to be confrontational there as a forward and that’s my area of the game.
“It’s what we would expect from Munster no matter who’s playing for them.
“You know them individually quite well but when they put on a Munster jersey you also know what they’re going to bring,” he said.
“Everyone wants to get one over on each other.”
While O’Toole has been turning out at tighthead prop for Ulster since his debut back in 2018, his most recent stint with Ireland has seen him try out the switch over to loosehead which he played in the Autumn Test against Fiji.
The logic behind the move has been to improve the depth chart behind Andrew Porter – who has also switched from tight to loosehead – and veteran Cian Healy and though O’Toole is all for adding to his 16 Ireland caps where a gap needs to be filled, the situation at Ulster means he ends up back on the right hand side of the scrum again.
“It was a cool experience and my first time playing loosehead at pro level,” he says of the Fiji game.
“I’m confident in myself and my abilities that I can do both (play tight and loosehead) but coming back here it makes sense for me to play tighthead just with how things have gone this year at Ulster.
“I’ve been talking to Cian Healy a lot, he has helped me out especially that Fiji week, leading into that game.
“And Andrew Porter, to be able to pick his brains has been great as he did this exactly and it’s been pretty seamless, him going from tighthead to loosehead and to playing unbelievably well.” As for going forward, he doesn’t commit in terms of which position he will primarily be focusing on.
“It’s a boring answer but I just want to take it week to week and this week I’m tighthead so that’s it, that’s what I’ve got to focus on this week and see where it goes from there,” he says.