United Rugby Championship, Ulster v Scarlets
Date: Saturday 1 March Venue: Kingspan Stadium, Belfast Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Coverage: Live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app
Ulster centre James Hume says he is keen to find a balance between rediscovering his best form after a lengthy lay-off with a knee injury and helping to mentor the young players in the Irish province’s squad.
The 26-year-old returned to competitive action after 10 months out in the United Rugby Championship defeat by Benetton earlier this month.
Hume has been undergoing ACL reconstruction and meniscus repair.
“It’s a tough balance for me to accept at the moment, being a senior player at 26 is pretty mental,” Hume told BBC Sport NI.
“I’m trying to get that balance of getting my own stuff right on coming back from injury but I do want to help the academy lads and the younger lads coming through as much as possible.
“That balance of focusing on what I’m good at but also giving them advice and experience when I can.”
Hume says Ulster’s indifferent form this season, which sees them sit 14th in the URC table and struggling to secure qualification for next season’s Champions Cup, has made it a steep learning curve for the younger players in the squad.
“The position we are in at the moment they [younger players] have a huge role in making the team better.
“We’re putting everything into everything we’re doing – our pitch sessions, our gym, our intensity has risen the past few weeks in training and I just hope that starts translating onto the pitch because we are putting the work in behind the scenes.
“It’s just a matter of time before that clicks and hopefully we can get into that top eight and secure European rugby.”
‘Week on, week off’ during Six Nations helps
Hume’s career has been beset with a catalogue of serious injuries in recent years, but signing a three-year deal in March 2024 ensured that he will remain with the northern province until 2027.
He believes the ‘stop-start’ nature of Ulster’s fixture list in and around the Six Nations period is of benefit to him as he continues to build up match fitness.
“The week on, week off thing during the Six Nations helps if you have any niggles,” he explained.
“So although I want to be playing games as much as possible if there is anything to sort out you kind of can in those weeks when there is no game.
“When I got back running and into bits of training that was the hardest because I knew I was still two or three months off but I felt I was able to do a lot.
“Ultimately that’s where the experience of the physios and the research behind ACL rehabs comes in. You need to build up a tolerance and that’s why I have that confidence now, all the hours you put in, and the programmes, it shows that they really work.”
