Rising Ulster star Doak determined to be own man

Nathan Doak has always been surrounded by good people.

Dad Neil played for Ulster for a decade and is now back coaching with the province. He too was a scrum-half.

A regular at Ravenhill growing up, Nathan watched on as Ruan Pienaar directed proceedings from behind the scrum, the 88-cap Springbok was a huge part of the reason why Ulster reached the Heineken Cup final 10 years ago and the Pro12 final in 2013.

Aged 17, when he first arrived into the Ulster youth and development set-up he had Dwayne Peel, the Wales stalwart who racked up 79 Test caps, including three for the Lions against New Zealand in 2005, as coach.

And the 20-year-old is now learning his trade as deputy to John Cooney, the goal-kicking half-back with 11 Ireland appearances to his name. For out-half company, Billy Burns is on hand.

It doesn't finish there; he can also now call on the wisdom of World Cup-winning South Africa number eight Duane Vermeulen, who joined the club at the end of last year.

There have been comparisons with Pienaar and the former Wallace High School pupil - who stands 6’ 1" - concedes he has, whether by accident or design, modelled himself on the South African.

"I suppose when I do look at myself and review games, especially when I was younger, I did notice I used to try and do things that Pienaar did, and you don't even realise you're doing them," said Doak, who recently signed a new deal with the province, ahead of this evening’s United Rugby Championship match at home to Scarlets (7.35pm).

"Watching Pienaar was awesome at a young age - he was capped 80-plus times for South Africa, he's played at World Cups - getting to watch him every week was a privilege.

"Then following Pienaar has been Cooney, and he's filled the boots a lot and