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Rugby

13th Jan 2018

Jacob Stockdale sparks dust-up with dismissive gesture before scoring a cracker

All kicked off

Patrick McCarry

You could never accuse Jacob Stockdale in lacking confidence.

The Ulster and Ireland winger is having one hell of a season and enjoying the increase in pressure and attention that comes with it.

While he had a couple of defensive blips in the humbling PRO14 loss to Leinster, last weekend, he kept on going until the end and was rewarded with a consolation try. Against La Rochelle, at Kingspan Stadium today, he was in the thick of it again.

The 21-year-old was needed in a defensive capacity for the opening 25 minutes as the French side tore into their hosts. However, when Charles Piutau was bumped mid-air by Paul Jordaan, Ulster had a man advantage to play with.

Piutau could see Jordaan coming and turned his back after claiming a high ball, before hitting the deck hard. Stockdale was first Ulsterman on the scene and he sparked a dust-up by dismissively patting the South African on the head.

That action, and Jordaan’s initial indiscretion, sparked a dust-up involving 20 players from both sides before referee Wayne Barnes and his officials calmed matters.

Stockdale then did what he does so terribly, destructively well – shift into gear, shrug off tackles and score tries.

Minutes after Rory Best got his team’s side of the scoreboard ticking with a nice try, Stockdale brushed off two La Rochelle defenders to craft a try out of nowhere.

The young lad is loving life at the top.