For a while, Eric O’Sullivan didn’t know where he was going to be next season. It’s the perils of being in a contract year with your club as a professional sportsperson, having the worry over whether you’re being offered a new deal or not.
Despite being one of Ulster’s mainstays in the line-up throughout Richie Murphy’s reign, which began midway through last season after the exit of Dan McFarland, largely splitting time with Andy Warwick on the loosehead side of the front-row, and being a former Ireland international, there was still doubt over whether O’Sullivan would be retained.
So when he put pen to paper on a new two-year deal at Ravenhill earlier in the week, there was a sense of relief at getting that part of his job squared away — and not having to worry about where he would be plying his trade come the summer months.
“Yeah, a couple of times,” admits the 29-year-old as to whether he thought he would be leaving Ulster.
“It was difficult, I was planning and prepping to be somewhere else and seeing where else I could be then I got an offer here.
“It all worked out and I’m happy to be here.
“It is nice to have a bit of security and be able to fully focus on rugby now. I had a couple of turbulent years there where I didn’t know where I was going to be. It’s brilliant.”
His future secured, the objective is now to nail down that starting jersey which has been largely up for grabs this season.
Warwick started against Leicester last weekend and in Toulouse as well, but it was O’Sullivan in the driving seat when they faced Leinster and Bordeaux.
It seems likely that it will be O’Sullivan back in the run-on team on Friday night in their must-win Champions Cup clash with the Exeter Chiefs and, after years of biding his time behind the likes of Steven Kitshoff, Jack McGrath and Rory Sutherland, the hope is that he can nail down the starts in the big games long-term.
“It’s big. It is very difficult for guys week to week when some weeks they are playing and some weeks they are not, then there is no hiding when it comes to the big games that everyone wants to be playing in,” adds O’Sullivan.
“I felt really young when I came on the scene, I played a load of games and then these guys come in and your game time maybe stutters a bit.
“The first few years were definitely difficult for me with the challenge of being used to playing and then seeing your minutes dropping.
“Obviously it is great to learn from these guys because they have been through so much but ultimately you have to be out there as well to be able to develop.”
The same goes for Ulster’s young players, who are still learning their trade in Europe as their results thus far have shown, but O’Sullivan is confident they can find the right combination.
“Some of our rugby has been up and down and in games we have been really good, it is just about getting consistent with it,” admits O’Sullivan.
“We are trending in the right direction and we are improving in there, but obviously in Europe you are going to be tested in those games.
“But I think we have done really well.”