His first starting shirt and on the opposite wing stood Mack Hansen – not exactly a gentle introduction to being on the park from the start, but Rory Telfer just got his head down and tried to savour the moment.
It was a memorable evening in Galway, too, Telfer being on the winning side as Ulster defied expectations by taking on a close-to-full-strength Connacht and winning 17-7 to bring the curtain down on a damaging five games without having outscored those opposing them.
The 21-year-old Academy player – one of two in the starting side and three when Wilhelm de Klerk came on for the injured Werner Kok – acquitted himself well and didn’t look uncomfortable at this level.
Nor was Telfer greatly discomforted by facing Hansen, Ireland’s frontline winger scoring a try but from an unlucky ricochet off Michael Lowry after chasing a Jack Carty dink over the top before nearly doing the same later on when Harry Sheridan got in the way of Hansen’s own midfield chip ahead.
Not that the fearlessness of youth was the only thing feeding into Telfer’s psyche. After all, this was a big ask for the youngster who had got several minutes off the bench the week before against Munster and left early due to Tom O’Toole’s red card and the need for a prop to come on for scrums.
It was all in the waiting to play on Saturday in terms of the nerves. Once it all got going on the pitch, the adrenaline kicked in big style for the former Grand Slam winner with Ireland Under-20s.
“It was great,” Telfer reckoned after leaving the Dexcom Stadium as a winner.
“It was quite scary, but it was exciting at the same time. I mean, there was Mack Hansen as my opposite man.
“It was really exciting to get out here and do our best for the team, we’re just absolutely buzzing to play against players like that,” he added, with Jude Postlethwaite doubtless concurring after his joust with Bundee Aki, the second time in the 2024/25 season the hard-running Ulster centre has had this on his plate after the narrow win over the westerners in October at Ravenhill.
Telfer, who plays his club rugby with Queen’s University, continued with his own take on having dealt with some of Connacht’s star men for the first time and then coming out the other end with the right result.
“(We) just back ourselves,” he insisted.
“It is intimidating playing against them (Connacht), but when you are on the pitch, you just realise that they are players like yourself, so you just take confidence from that.”
With Kok looking as if he will be added to Ulster’s lengthy injury list when it comes to back-three players after the South African failed to make it back for the second-half in Galway with an arm issue, it could be that Telfer is given more exposure – starting at Leicester Tigers on Saturday, January 11 – following the break in games.
His previous taste of European action was as a late sub in December’s heavy home defeat to Bordeaux Bègles, so Welford Road would theoretically bring more time in the Champions Cup should Richie Murphy use him.
“I can’t wait,” said former Campbell College pupil Telfer of what might come his way in the New Year.
“The last few weeks have been great getting some experience and exposure, so I’m just hoping to kick on in the New Year and see what happens.”
He has had to wait a while for his chance having played a pre-season friendly not long after leaving school.
As he admitted: “I think that game two years ago, I was straight out of school, so I was quite fresh, and it is a big jump up from schoolboy rugby to senior rugby.
“I definitely feel after two years I am a lot more ready and am a lot more comfortable as a player and a person and hopefully will get more opportunities.”
Telfer may get the nod against Leicester Tigers should none of Kok, Jacob Stockdale, Zac Ward, Stewart Moore, Ethan McIlroy or Rob Baloucoune be fit, though it is believed that Moore and McIlroy might be in the reckoning.
“There are obviously a lot of players in my position in the senior team,” Telfer added. “It takes a while to break through, so you just have to be patient, take feedback on board and just take the opportunity when it comes along.”
Back in 2023, he was on board for Ireland’s Grand Slam at Under-20s level and when they reached the World Championship Final, meaning he is yet another young player who worked with head coach Murphy prior to his arrival at Ulster.
“Richie created a great atmosphere and a great squad, and he has brought that into Ulster as well, the atmosphere and the environment is really good, and it has been very enjoyable,” said Telfer.
“He is a good coach, he has plenty of knowledge and he gets his point across well.
“He cares about you as a person as well, which really helps you to play for him, and I’ve had that in both the teams I have been involved in with him.”
It’s over to Telfer to show his worth.