For a while, James McNabney thought he was destined to play no more than three games in a season for Ulster.
You could hardly blame him. Last season it seemed like the world was at his feet when he made his debut against the Glasgow Warriors in November and held on to his jersey against Edinburgh the following week before making his European debut against Bath soon later.
But then that proved to be something of a false dawn. All of a sudden, he found himself out of the team for the following week’s game against Racing 92, replaced by Matty Rea, and even when Richie Murphy took over from Dan McFarland at the helm, there would be no further exposure for the rest of the season.
So you can forgive the 21-year-old for feeling rather anxious when, after appearing in Ulster’s opening three games this season — starting against Glasgow and the Bulls and coming off the bench against the Lions — he found himself out of the team for the next two against Connacht and the Ospreys.
“I thought I had a three game curse,” says the Academy graduate, the smile that accompanies the answer coming with the benefit of hindsight now he has made seven appearances this campaign.
Those outings have not been insignificant, either. McNabney has been entrusted with starts against the defending United Rugby Championship Champions in Glasgow, the ever-dangerous Leinster and, most notably, Toulouse in their Champions Cup opener.
Going head-to-head against the likes of Jack Willis and Alexandre Roumat was a learning experience, and another will follow against the Leicester Tigers on Saturday when Ulster look to prolong their stay in the Champions Cup with a victory at Welford Road.
But, as with all of their experiences this season, it is another learning one for this young squad and McNabney in particular, who is simply enjoying getting so much game time.
“(Playing against Toulouse) was never one that I had planned,” concedes the Ballymena man.
“You never know when you are going to be playing so it is always important just to be ready. When you think you are not playing, you’re only ever a couple of injuries away from getting back in.
“I knew within myself I had the capabilities, I just needed the opportunity and I would say, yeah, Richie probably doesn’t want to be playing young players as much but, in the circumstances, we have.
“I have played a couple of good games and forced his hand to play me more.
“When I got back in, I went to different coaches and asked when I get in, how do I stay in, and Jimmy Duffy gave me good feedback, he was like: ‘if you do your job and do your job well, there is no reason whey they won’t pick you’.
“Another aspect that I like to pride myself on is getting over the gainline. If I can get them front foot ball, there is no reason why they can’t pick me.”
For McNabney to have made himself an integral part of the back row this season says much about the potential that Murphy and co see in him, to the extent that Cormac Izuchuwku, who was so impressive when breaking through on the blindside flank in the latter half of last season and made his Ireland debut in the position, was forced back into the second row to accommodate McNabney in their recent game against Connacht.
The flanker’s performance showed that the decision was justified, although he himself admits he would rather be utilised more at the back of the scrum rather than on the blindside, and the reward looks to be another significant involvement against a Tigers back row that could include the Welsh duo of Olly Cracknell and Tommy Reffell as well as South African bruiser Hanro Liebenberg.
“I don’t know much about them,” retorts McNabney.
“I tend not to look into them too much and that probably stands me in good stead because I don’t give them the respect they deserve.
“When some players say ‘class, you’re playing Champions Cup’, it is just another game really. It’s just another 15 players to play against. I’ll just take it in my stride and hopefully play well.
“Every team you face, they are only another 15 players, they are 15 people and they are all beatable, so just go out with the confidence.”
Confidence is not lacking for McNabney with each passing game, while that laidback attitude will serve him well as he tries to break into the upper echelons of the sport, admitting that while he has goals for the future, he’s not exactly stressing over whether he hits them or not.
Instead, he is focusing on how he nails down that starting jersey week in and week out for Ulster, finding a way to edge out one of Izuchukwu, David McCann or Nick Timoney and convince Murphy that he should be part of the back row puzzle moving forward.
It helps that McNabney and Murphy have a pre-existing relationship from the latter’s time with the Ireland Under-20s, which has undoubtedly helped since his move up to Ravenhill, and trying to continue what they did so well in the underage national set-up has been the plan this campaign.
“The relationship with me and Richie has just been the same all throughout,” reveals McNabney.
“Richie doesn’t chat too much during training and if you don’t hear from him, it is probably a good thing. If he needs to speak to you, you’re going to hear it and I think that is the relationship we need.
“I personally just take on board what he has to say because he definitely knows more than me and I’m not going to argue with what he has to say, I just do what he says and I think that helps me.
“My physical ability hasn’t changed that much in a couple of weeks, it is definitely mentally knowing that when you run into a brick wall of men, there is a good chance that you are going to come out the other side of it.”
Ulster will need all of that physicality if they are going to triumph against a star-studded Tigers pack that, as well as Reffell, is likely to contain no shortage of talent, including England internationals Dan Cole and George Martin, Argentina captain Julian Montoya, Scotland prop Will Hurd and Reffell’s Welsh team-mate Nicky Smith.
But just as much as Ulster know that this weekend is vital to their hopes of keeping their Champions Cup dream alive, it is also just as important to maintain their winning momentum having finally ended their five-game losing streak with victory at Connacht two weeks ago.
Against a Leicester side that Ulster have traditionally done well against in the past, they will be tested just as they were against Toulouse and Bordeaux. But, as McNabney outlines, they are confident this can be a different outcome.
“We know they are going to be a big physical side and we know what they are going to bring,” he adds. “You can only focus on them so much, you need to look at yourself and the team because it is the team performance that is going to win the game this weekend.
“We know it is going to be a big challenge but as long as we can put out or best performance, we know we are in with a big chance.”