'My superpower is my energy and ability to keep going'

Listen to Leinster v Ulster on BBC Sounds & BBC Sport website from 17:00 BST on Saturday, 8 June

With a fair few miles on the clock and having grappled with the entire spectrum of emotions that comes with being a high-level sportsperson, John Cooney seems comfortable in his skin.

Now 34, Cooney comes across as one of Irish rugby's deeper thinkers. He is content with what he has achieved in the game and, perhaps more importantly, no longer dwells on what he hasn't.

Cooney's popularity at Ulster stems from his willingness to open up when placed in front of a dictaphone or camera, a mindset not shared by a lot of his peers.

He was comfortable admitting that he was "quite bitter" about losing his place in the Ireland squad, while as recently as five weeks ago he spoke candidly about having questioned his ability following Ulster's defeat by the Sharks in March.

Having absorbed enough setbacks throughout his career, it could have broken him. Cooney, however, had other ideas.

"My superpower is my energy and ability to keep going," he tells BBC Sport NI.

"In the depths of winter, maybe I did think 'can I keep going?'. It was nothing to do with my body, it felt amazing, but mentally because I'd put so much into it."

As Cooney put it, he could have "fallen back into the wilderness" after the Sharks game.

Instead, he plotted his path out of the darkness and it has benefitted player and club, his late penalty sealing Ulster's 23-21 win over Leinster and a place in the United Rugby Championship play-offs.

Cooney, like several of his team-mates, have looked rejuvenated in recent weeks. With Richie Murphy now installed as Dan McFarland's permanent successor, stability has bred better results: Ulster won four games on the spin before falling 29-24 to Munster last week.

Their reward for making the play-offs is another date with Leinster. Ulster have beaten Leinster home and away this season but on Saturday they will face a side driven by the hurt of another heartbreaking Champions Cup final defeat.

Naturally, facing Leinster stirs complicated feelings for Cooney. While he has family connections in Scotland, Connacht and Ulster, he grew up in Dublin and started his career at Leinster.

When his career began to stall, he moved west, where he helped Connacht claim a shock Pro12 title win in 2015-16.

For him, there are similarities between that Connacht team of eight years ago and this current Ulster crop.

"I had a feeling last week that maybe this is us going on our run," says Cooney, who is second in Ulster's all-time points list with 1,116.

"I had it the year we lost to the Stormers [2022] and lost in the last play. That year we should have won it, personally."

'Everything's in their court'

Cooney kicked the match-winning penalty in Ulster's victory over Leinster last month

Of course, Ulster's dream of winning the URC will not last the weekend unless they show up on the big stage and beat Leinster at Aviva Stadium.

When Ulster travelled to Lansdowne Road for last season's Champions Cup last-16 encounter, they were outplayed and lost 30-15. The Aviva can be an intimidating venue for opposing teams, but Cooney insists Ulster are not scared.

"We've definitely gained confidence from the past couple of years," said Cooney.

"Everything's in their court. It's theirs to lose really. I know they're gunning for us, gunning for me but it is what it is, I'm going to go out and try my best."

Crucially, Cooney insists Ulster have learned the lessons of last year's play-offs when they surprisingly lost their home quarter-final to Connacht having finished the regular season second, 18 points ahead of their Irish rivals in seventh.

"It's probably the polar opposite of what happened in the quarter-final last year.

"We went in second thinking we were massive favourites, we were going to put them away and move on to a home semi.

"We were definitely too confident and we got bullied out there. That was a difficult game for me to take. It's now more like we have nothing to lose. We're the Connacht going to Leinster. They're the ones under a bit of pressure at the moment."