Ulster triallist Zac Ward emerges as Ireland flyer

Zac Ward is on a short-term trial with Ulster and the versatile Sevens player looked like a man on a mission as Emerging Ireland began their tour of South Africa with a six-try win.

The 25-year-old has been one of Ireland Seven's standouts over the last year, and scored tries against Fiji, USA, New Zealand and Japan during the Olympics.

The son of former Ireland flanker Andy, Zac was a back row before his switch to Sevens but Ulster coach Richie Murphy is keen to convert him to the wing and it was from there he scored Ireland's first try against the Airlink Pumas in Bloemfontein in a 36-24 victory.

Described as a "shop window" tour by captain Alex Kendellen, a handful of players did their provincial prospects no harm, chief among them Ward.

"I'm not sure about his contractual situation at the moment [but] he was excellent," head coach Simon Easterby told RTÉ Sport.

"Goodie [Andrew Goodman, backs coach] said it earlier, just looking forward to seeing Zac (above) break tackles, beating people one on one, you could see out there he did that countless times.

"Shifting to Sevens to 15s is a really [hard switch]...we want to see those guys do that.

"Conditioning and fitness, it’s a different game, he stood up really well, he started to cramp up toward the end of the game but stayed in the game, he showed up really well.

"He should be really pleased the way he went about his business, Zac will feel there are still things he is continuing to learn in the 15s game about that position, he’s not familiar with."

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