"The wings playing for Ireland are doing really well and it's great to see," he told the Ulster Rugby Show.

"At the same time there's definitely a bit of frustration, where you're going 'It should be me'."

"Whenever I'm watching the games you're just worried about being left behind and other lads taking advantage of the fact you're injured," added Stockdale.

"When you're injured it's very easy to overthink, you forgot how much you've done on the pitch before now."

Stockdale stardust

Stockdale enjoyed a dream start to his international career as he shot to stardom at the age of 21 in 2018.

The Lisburn man scored nine tries in his first 11 games for Ireland to help them to a Grand Slam triumph.

Stockdale broke the Six Nations try-scoring record and was named Player of the Tournament before touching down for a memorable try in Ireland's first ever home win over New Zealand.

A high point for Jacob Stockdale as he celebrates scoring the only try in Ireland's historic Dublin win over the All Blacks in 2018

It was a meteoric rise but it has not been smooth sailing since those glory days and he missed out on selection for the Lions tour of South Africa last summer through injury and a dip in form.

Stockdale has targeted the start of next season for a return to action as he continues his rehabilitation from surgery in December.

"Whenever we won the Grand Slam a few of the older heads, like Cian Healy and Rob Kearney, said to me 'Enjoy this because this doesn't happen very often'," he revealed.

"Obviously you take it on board but to a certain extent I was going 'Well, not being funny but I've done it first time around'. Rugby did seem really easy at that point and looking back I probably didn't appreciate that it doesn't happen very often.

"And then you look at the Six Nations since - we didn't get far in 2019, 2020 was Covid, 2021 I'm injured and this year I'm injured as well. All of a sudden those frustrations start to creep in and it's been tough, but you learn how to deal with it.

"I'm off crutches, out of a boot and able to live a normal life. It's a matter now of hitting scores in the gym to make sure I'm ready to go out to run - the worry is I might pop a calf or tear a hamstring as a haven't run in seven or eight months.

"Things are looking good now and I plan to be back running on a pitch in three or four weeks and then progress from there. Hopefully I'll get a good pre-season under my belt and hit the ground running come September."

You can watch Jacob Stockdale talking with Rory Best and Tommy Bowe on the Ulster Rugby Show at 21:00 GMT on Thursday on BBC2 NI and BBC iPlayer.