It's official, Ireland has a new try-scoring hero, and he's only 21-years-old.
Jacob Stockdale added two tries to his his international tally as he ran over the line twice in the first half against Scotland today, taking his record to ten tries in eight games for the national team, and six in four games in this season's Six Nations.
Ulster teammate and fellow Andrew Trimble was at the Aviva Fan Studio with Off the Ball's Nathan Murphy during the game, and he praised the young man he battles it out with for a starting birth at the Kingspan Stadium.
"He's class, he knows the game well, he's pretty switched on, he's tall, he's rangy, he's the perfect winger".
Trimble said that while the public might only be seeing the best of Stockdale now, those in Ulster have seen the talent for well over a season now. He noted that the hype around Stockdale has been there since his early school days, well before he made the breakthrough for his club side, and that he's simply made the progression to the international game like many had thought he would.
"Jacob's been kind of coming through the ranks at Ulster for the last couple of years. He was kind of a big name coming through school, and everyone sort of anticipated that he'd be the next big thing, and you can see that coming to fruition now".
While Stockdale has set the international scene alight his his try-scoring exploits, Trimble said that it wasn't so long ago that he wasn't a starter for Ulster, which makes his quick rise to prominence for Ireland even more impressive.
"Even last year he was a bit part kind of player for Ulster, he'd come off the bench, but every time he'd come off the bench, few tired legs and he tore it up and scored a few tries. He's just gone out for the try line, and he's got that habit of getting over the line".
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