Tom Stewart: Ulster hooker dreams of World Cup chance with Ireland after 'dark days'
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Stewart's breakthrough season has earned him a spot in Ireland's World Cup training squad alongside fellow Ulster hooker Rob Herring (left)
Life is pretty good for Tom Stewart at the moment.
The 22-year-old is fresh off a superb breakthrough season with Ulster, during which he scored a record-breaking 16 tries in the regular United Rugby Championship campaign.
It came as little surprise, then, to see the hooker named as one of seven Ulster players in Ireland's World Cup training squad on Tuesday.
Stewart's inclusion is a reflection of his impressive rise over the last 12 months, but even he would have found it difficult to imagine receiving a squad release e-mail during the depths of the injury woes that curtailed his progress with Ulster.
"It was obviously tough at the time and there were some dark days," Stewart told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.
"When it just kept happening you couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, it was pretty dark.
"But coming out at the end of it and reflecting on it, it was probably the best thing that's happened to me."
The best thing, perhaps, until receiving confirmation that he has made Ireland's 42-man summer panel.
"I'm over the moon," he said of making the squad.
"The fact I'm in for a run-in to a World Cup, to be a part of a team that's actually looking promising to go far, it's very exciting."
Having overcome hamstring and foot injuries, Stewart made a sizeable impression in an Ulster shirt in the 2022-23 season, his ability to burst out from the back of a maul and score a try becoming a key weapon for the northern province.
His performances became impossible to ignore and, having played his part in the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa last autumn, he was called up by Ireland head coach Andy Farrell as injury cover during the Six Nations.
Stewart may not have seen any game time during Ireland's Grand Slam campaign, but his continued development at Ulster has earned him a shot at possibly experiencing his first World Cup at 22.
'I'm really hungry for it'
Now that he's in, he will position himself under Farrell's microscope alongside fellow hookers Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher of Leinster and his club team-mate Rob Herring before 42 becomes the final 33 on the plane to France.
And while Stewart admits he never expected to be called up during the Six Nations, his time in the senior set-up deepened his desire to establish himself under Farrell.
"I'm hungry, very hungry," said Stewart, who is one of four uncapped players in Farrell's squad with Leinster duo Ciaran Frawley and Jamie Osborne and Munster's Calvin Nash.
"Just to be a part of it. I was kind of, not on the outside looking in in the Six Nations but to be a part of it and to be announced in this summer training squad is another step again.
"I'm really hungry for it. I'm looking forward to it and I'm going to throw my all at it."
On his time on the Emerging Ireland tour, Stewart says he was struck by watching forwards coach Paul O'Connell during training sessions.
Stewart (far right) was part of the Emerging Ireland team that won all three matches in their tour of South Africa last autumn
"Just seeing how he likes the way things go around the breakdown was a big eye-opener for me," he said of the former Ireland captain.
"Ireland's breakdown is next level in my opinion so to see how he coached that was very good."
He added: "The Emerging Ireland tour really helped in that it showed me how Ireland wanted to play.
"I took that into Ulster stuff and tried little details, I was just trying to push myself to the best of my ability. I obviously have aspirations to play for Ireland but I just didn't think that I'd be going to the Six Nations, but I'm very happy that I got to do that."
Stewart can now look forward to a focused block of time in the Ireland set-up, which will include a warm-weather training camp in Portugal and World Cup warm-up games against Italy, England and Samoa before Farrell confirms his final 33 in late August.
And what can Stewart do to muscle his way on to the plane to France? The answer is simple.
"Just work really hard," he says.
"Obviously the boys will be out there and pushing and it's going to be all guns blazing because everyone's fighting for the last 33.
"But it's [all about] a bit of hard work and dedication, and as I said a bit of luck."