'I soaked it all in' - Tom Stewart wants more days in green

Tom Stewart has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

With the Ulsterman competing alongside Dan Sheehan, Rónan Kelleher and Rob Herring for one of what's likely to be three hooker spots at the Rugby World Cup, the 22-year-old's relative lack of experience may just leave him as the odd one out, barring injury

If he doesn't get to the World Cup next month, it shouldn't knock the confidence of someone who's exploded onto the Irish rugby scene in the last year.

"It was kind of a bit of a surprise even to be here over the summer and I was delighted I got selected," he says.

Having played just a handful of senior games for Ulster prior to the 2022/23 season - and all of those off the bench - Stewart wouldn't have been on the radar of the casual Irish rugby fan even a year ago.

Seventeen tries in 19 games changed all that though. The hooker has been prolific in the last year, setting a new single-season record of 16 tries in the BKT United Rugby Championship (his other came in the Champions Cup), and was named the competition's Next-Gen Player of the Season. In one five-game stretch between February and April, the Belfast native scored 10 times, an average of a try every 24 minutes.

That form saw him earn a call-up to the wider Irish squad during the Six Nations as well as this summer's World Cup training camp, before making his debut against Italy in last Saturday's 33-17 win against Italy, replacing his Ulster teammate Rob Herring for the final 29 minutes.

"I was delighted really, speechless at the time, but for any young boy growing up playing rugby the dream is to one day pull on the green jersey and run out in front of the Aviva.

"The fact that I got to do that on Saturday with some really good lads, good teammates and good