Dark days during injury have made me - McCormick

McCormick has benefitted from Ulster's injury problems at hooker this season

United Rugby Championship: Cardiff v Ulster

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park Date: Saturday, 26 October Kick-off: 19:35 BST

Coverage: Live audio and text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app; highlights on BBC Sport website and app.

Ulster hooker James McCormick believes the "dark days" he endured during a long spell on the sidelines helped steel him for the rigours of senior rugby.

McCormick has capitalised on injuries to Irish internationals Rob Herring and Tom Stewart in the early weeks of the new season, scoring two tries on his first home start to help Ulster beat Ospreys last weekend.

The 22-year-old was Ulster head coach Richie Murphy's starting hooker in Ireland's Under-20 Six Nations Grand Slam triumph in 2022 before a shoulder injury curtailed his development.

"I was out for 15 months nearly," explained McCormick, who has shared hooker duties with the experienced John Andrew in Herring and Stewart's absence.

"I'd played the 20s year and got injured during the 20s, got scanned and it was fine so played on for nearly 12 months.

"Then I got a bad shoulder injury, had surgery, came back last pre-season and re-injured it. I came back to play and my other shoulder unfortunately gave way. It was just a bad run of luck and I'm glad I got through it.

"Plenty of dark days but I think that's what made me. If I hadn't gone through that and still been here. I think it's helped me, it's definitely been a positive so I'm looking at it that way."

Free of injury, he has seized his chance and made an impact, even if the headlines were stolen by Jacob Stockdale's man-of-the-match display.

"I've been here since I got out of school, been injured for a lot of it, and you kind of sit back and see a lot of lads with their chance. When you go in, you have to take it because it may not come around again.

"I'm just trying to focus on getting better every week."

Ballymoney man McCormick, who plays his club rugby for City of Armagh, was a number eight in his school days but was instructed to try his hand in the front row after being told he wasn't tall enough to play further back.

He has learned quickly. Indeed, while his senior Ulster career is barely a month old, he has already packed down with some world-class scrummagers, notably on his first start against the Bulls in Loftus Versfeld Stadium when he faced South Africa internationals Gerhard Steenekamp, Wilco Louw and Johan Grobbelaar.

McCormick says he learned a lot from that experience, which he described as a "punch in the face" for the Ulster squad as they fell to a 47-21 defeat.

And while Ulster starts may become more sparing when Herring and Stewart return to fitness, the youngster says he is not worried about the prospect of playing for City of Armagh in order to keep up his match sharpness.

"He [Murphy] hasn't personally spoke about it but you know that's coming," he explained.

"All I can do is play well and work as hard as I can. I don't mind if I have to play club for a week because other guys are playing.

"If I'm the best player for club that's all I can do and all I can control. I can't really control what they're doing."