It was a summer of mixed emotions for Jacob Stockdale.

He didn’t feature in either the series win in New Zealand or the Grand Slam campaign, but starting Ireland’s World Cup warm-up match against Italy in Dublin opened the door again. Stockdale wasn’t involved in the next match, against England, but a Keith Earls “niggle” offered him another chance against Samoa, Ireland’s final tune-up.

Stockdale started four of Ireland’s five matches at the 2019 World Cup, including the quarter-final defeat by New Zealand, but his hopes of getting a second crack at rugby’s showpiece were dashed when he was left out of Andy Farrell’s 33-man squad.

As Ireland experienced the ecstasy (beating South Africa) and agony (yet another quarter-final exit) of World Cup rugby again, Stockdale watched on from home.

“It was obviously really disappointing for me,” Stockdale told BBC Sport NI’s Stephen Watson.

“Going to a World Cup is a huge goal for any international rugby player so I was disappointed to miss out.

“But at the same time Faz [Farrell] has built a really good quality squad with loads of competition and it was just one of those things were it made more sense for him to take other players than to take me and I completely understand that.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not disappointing and a bit frustrating, but I get it.”

Still only 27, Stockdale still has plenty of road ahead in terms of his Test career, and with the Six Nations to come at the start of next year, he is keen to show Farrell his best form in Ulster colours over the next few months.

“For me, with the way I’ve been going over the last couple of months, it kind of fuelled the fire a bit more to, in the nicest way possible, prove Faz wrong,” added the wing, who has 37 caps for Ireland.

“I think if you weren’t playing particularly well and you were struggling for form, it could have an effect on your confidence, but I’m training well and playing well and feel good so it’s probably more of a motivation booster more than anything else.”

‘My mind’s definitely being changed’

Stockdale says that working his way back into Farrell’s plans remains his “number one goal” and he made a pretty good start on Saturday by scoring two tries in Ulster’s 40-36 win over Zebre.

The topsy-turvy win in Parma ensured two things: Stockdale hitting the ground running and Ulster bagging early momentum before facing the Bulls on Sunday in their first home match in five months.

While Ulster’s opening home match of the season always generates considerable interest, Sunday’s fixture marks the official rollout of the new artificial surface at Kingspan Stadium.

Stockdale admits he wasn’t overly sold on the idea of playing on a synthetic pitch at first, but having trained on it, he has softened his stance.

“It’s great, to be honest. I maybe wasn’t 100% certain on it beforehand, just with having played on pitches away before. But I think my mind’s definitely being changed because it’s giving us, particularly in training the lads are able to train a bit faster on it and that’s definitely enjoyable.”

Earlier this week, Nathan Doak said the new 3G surface should enable Ulster to play a faster, more attack-minded brand of rugby.

Stockdale concurs.

“There’s two things. One is that you’re able to play a bit faster because it’s a lighter surface and you can bounce across the top of it instead of getting dug into the mud,” he smiles.

“That will allow us to play a faster brand of rugby. Second part of it is having that consistency every week. Last season, there were times when you were showing up and it was a bog and maybe it was sandy the next week.

“At the start of the season it was always really nice but the pitch used to get a bit worn down by the time it came to February, March. It’ll be nice to have that consistency every week and have one less thing to worry about coming into matchday.”

Having made an eye-catching start to Ulster’s new campaign, Stockdale says he is confident he can recapture his blistering 2018 form, when he scored seven tries in Ireland’s Grand Slam-winning campaign and was named the Six Nations player of the year.

“I’m very confident of that. I’m not a different player. I’m still me and if anything I feel like my game has grown [since 2018].

“Maybe not in the scoring seven tries in the Six Nations kind of way but more the fundamentals of the game are definitely growing and I’m becoming a lot more of a solid player which is my ultimate goal.

“When you look after the fundamentals and the little things, the bigger moments take care of themselves to a certain degree.”