FORMER ULSTER OUT-HALF Paddy Jackson is set to return to the rugby pitch for the first time in over a year after being named in Perpignan’s squad for their pre-season fixture with Toulouse.

Jackson last took to the field in Ireland colours during their summer Test with Japan in June of 2017.

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

An IRFU and Ulster Rugby review saw the 26-year-old Lisburn native and his former provincial and international teammate Stuart Olding relieved of their Ulster contracts with immediate effect last April, a month after the conclusion of the Belfast rape trial.

In March, Jackson and Olding were acquitted of raping a woman in June of 2016.

Both men will resume their rugby careers in France this season, with Jackson joining the newly-promoted Perpignan in the Top 14 and Olding moving to Brive a division below.

Olding lined out at inside centre for his new club in their 14-0 defeat to Mont-de-Marsan last week. Brive, whose head coach is former Ulster and Ireland lock Jeremy Davidson, face Connacht in their next pre-season game this Saturday.

Jackson, meanwhile, has been named among the backs in Perpignan’s squad to face Toulouse in a warm-up ahead of their 25 August league opener versus Paul O’Connell’s Stade Francais.

Seven-time French champions Perpignan are back in the top flight following their relegation in 2014 – the club’s sole divisional drop in its 106-year history.

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