Tom O'Toole: Ulster prop aiming to return to form which put him on brink of Ireland cap

Tom O'Toole knows he will be part of a tough front row battle if he does come off the bench in Saturday's game against Munster

Ulster prop Tom O'Toole is looking forward to getting more game time in Saturday's Pro14 home contest against Munster as he regains match fitness following a frustrating ankle injury.

Drogheda-born O'Toole, 22, looked on the brink of a first Ireland cap last spring before Covid-19 intervened.

An ankle injury sustained in the Pro14 final in September then put paid to his hopes of an Ireland bow in the autumn.

"You can never really pick and choose when you get injured," says O'Toole.

"It's been a hard year with not much going on outside of rugby and when things aren't really flowing the way you would want but ultimately that's rugby.

"I had a great two years there with no real injuries. I was getting a long of game time. A lot of opportunities. That was really brilliant for me."

O'Toole 'the smiling assassin'

O'Toole's excellent form in the Ulster front row led coach Dan McFarland to describe the man who joined the province's academy in 2017 as a "smiling assassin".

Andy Farrell was also impressed with O'Toole as he called him into Ireland's pre-Christmas camp 13 months ago and then kept him in the squad for the opening stages of the Six Nations before Coronavirus put a halt to the Championship.

O'Toole continued to motor nicely when rugby resumed in August and the expectation was that a first Ireland cap would follow during the Autumn Nations Cup.

But his injury in the disappointing Pro14 Final defeat by Leinster capped a bad evening for Ulster and O'Toole.

"It has been a tough year but there's plenty more rugby to play and it's about me getting back to where I was as quickly as I can.

"In the Pro14 Final against Leinster, I felt I was in a really good space."

O'Toole represented Ireland at underage level after spending most of his childhood and youth in Australia

O'Toole on bench for Munster game

After making his return to action when coming on as a replacement against Scarlets on 22 November, O'Toole was also introduced off the bench in the narrow European defeats by Toulouse and Gloucester before starting in Sunday's win over Connacht.

O'Toole, who spent most of his childhood and youth in Australia, is back on Ulster's bench for Saturday's home game against Munster but can expect to get more game time in the latest Irish interpro derby.

After recovering from early scrum struggles in Galway, Ulster's front row competed well against a highly-rated Connacht trio but O'Toole knows it's unlikely to get significantly easier in the engine room against Munster who have selected Niall Scannell and John Ryan with another Ireland international Dave Kilcoyne also named on the bench.

"We know they really are proud of their set-piece.

"It's something that they try to get a hammer at in the game whether it's the scrum or the maul so we're expecting a big challenge.

"Also Munster didn't have that game against Leinster so we know they will be very fresh and up for it.

"They have been playing an unbelievable brand of rugby this year which is really expansive and really open. A little bit different to what we usually see from Munster.

"We know how dangerous they can be. And they are coming off a great win away against Clermont so their confidence is going to be through the roof."