Ulster Rugby
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| File:Ulster rugby badge.png | |||
| Nickname(s) | The Ulstermen | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1879 | ||
| Location | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
| Ground(s) | Ravenhill, Belfast, Northern Ireland (Capacity: 12,300) | ||
| Chairman | Shane Logan | ||
| Coach(es) | Brian McLaughlin | ||
| Captain(s) | Johann Muller | ||
| League(s) | Celtic League | ||
| 2010-11 | 3rd | ||
| |||
Ulster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Ulster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Belfast, representing the Irish province of Ulster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 (formerly known as the Magners League) and also competes in the Heineken Cup. The team also represents the IRFU Ulster Branch which is one of the four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for amateur sport of rugby union in the Irish province of Ulster, comprising six counties in Northern Ireland and three in the Republic of Ireland.
The branch was founded in 1879. The home ground of Ulster Rugby is Ravenhill in Belfast, which has a capacity of 12,300. In 2004, Ulster Rugby re-located their training base to Newforge Country Club in South Belfast. Ulster Rugby traditionally played solely as an Irish province but in recent years, since rugby union became a professional sport in 1995, Ulster Rugby now play as a professional club.
Ulster have many youth teams and also the 'Phoenix Ulster Academy' which helps to develop talented young rugby players. The teams which Ulster field each season in various competitions are as follows: Ulster U18s, Ulster Schools (U18 and U19), Ulster U19s, Ulster U20s, Ulster Ravens and of course the full Ulster XV.
Ulster's main shirt sponsor is Bank of Ireland. The team also has 2 other shirt sponsors, Belfast Telegraph and Vodafone. The Ulster Rugby kit is manufactured by Kukri Sports.
History
The Ulster Branch of the IRFU was founded in 1879. Since then, Ulster has been arguably the most successful of the four Irish provinces (the others are Connacht, Leinster and Munster) having won the Inter-Provincial Championship a record 26 times as well as being the first Irish side to win the European Cup, which they won back in 1999 against French side US Colomiers at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.(Now the Aviva stadium)
In the amateur Rugby Union era Ulster regularly played international touring sides from the southern hemisphere, their most impressive performance coming in the 1984/5 season when they defeated Andrew Slack's "Grand Slam" Wallabies. This was one of only four defeats for the Australians on a tour which saw them defeat Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England.
Professional Era
In the 1998–99 season Ulster became the first Irish province to win the Heineken Cup. They beat Colomiers in the final at Lansdowne Road (predessor and still common name for the recently built Aviva Stadium) 21–6. Coached by Harry Williams and Managed by John Kinnear the squad contained many part-time players two of whom, Andy Matchett and Stephen McKinty, started the final.
From 2001–04 the Ulster team was coached by Alan Solomons, a former Assistant Coach of the Springboks and head coach at The Stormers and Western Province in his native South Africa. It was during this time that Ulster rugby fully embraced the professional era.
Alan Solomons coached Ulster to a three year unbeaten home record in the Heineken Cup and in the 2003/04 season Ulster finished second in the Celtic League, only overtaken by Llanelli on the final day of the campaign. Two of Ulster's most impressive achievements in this period were a 33–0 win over English giants Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Cup in January 2004, and winning the inaugural Celtic Cup on the 20th December 2003, beating Edinburgh in a rain-soaked Murrayfield final.
In July 2004, Solomons departed for Northampton Saints and Mark McCall, a former captain of the province and a member of Ulster’s European Cup-winning squad took over as Ulster Rugby head coach with European Cup teammate Allen Clarke as his assistant. Despite an initially poor start to the season the two extended Ulster's unbeaten home record in Europe to four years.
In the 2005–6 season Ulster led the league for most of the season thanks to dominant forward play largely inspired by Australian import Justin Harrison and New Zealand–born Irish scrum-half Isaac Boss and a rapid maturing of a youthful home-grown three-quarter line. However, inconsistent late form from Ulster combined with a late run from Leinster meant that either of those sides could take the title in the final game of the season. With four minutes to go in Ulster's match against the Ospreys, Leinster's match in Edinburgh finished in a decisive bonus-point victory for the visitors. With Ulster one point behind and the Ospreys dominating territorially, it looked like the cup would go to Dublin. David Humphreys, however, kicked a last minute 40 metre drop goal to clinch the game and the league for Ulster.
Ulster started the 2006/2007 season in fine form racking up a number of notable victories including a 30–3 thrashing of perennial Heinieken Cup contenders Toulouse however following an abject display in Reading, where they lost 29–13 to London Irish, their season went from bad to worse with a number of poor performances, such as the home defeats to Munster, Glasgow and Llanelli, leading to a 5th place finish in the Celtic League and another early exit from Europe.
The team began the 2007/2008 season well with a young side beating an Ospreys side including All Blacks leg-end Justin Marshall 17–16 however following their opening day win the team went on a terrible run of form losing their next 3 games before David Humphreys inspired the team to a comeback draw against a star studded Leinster side at Ravenhill, suggesting that the return of their World Cup stars could lead Ulster back up the table. However in the week before they opened their Heineken Cup Campaign Ulster lost 25–6 away to Glasgow. Mark McCall parted company with Ulster when he resigned on the 13th November 2007 following Ulster's embarrassing 32–14 home defeat to Gloucester in the opening round of the 2007-08 Heineken Cup,[1] with assistant coach Steve Williams taking temporary charge of the team.
Under Williams Ulster seemed to get back on track with a brave display in France culminating in an unlucky 24–17 away defeat to Bourgoin and following an away win at Connacht, 30–13, things seemed to be improving however Ulster then lost at home to Edinburgh, home and away to the Ospreys in the Heineken Cup and away to Leinster to leave them firmly rooted to the bottom of the Celtic League and out of Europe.
On the 30th of December 2007 former Leinster and Scotland Head Coach Matt Williams was named Mark McCall's successor as Ulster's Head Coach. He took charge at the beginning of February 2008, but despite some improved performances, he failed to turn the season around; Ulster finishing 9th in the 2007–08 Celtic League (in the 10 team league Connacht finished bottom).
On 21 May 2009, Matt Williams resigned as Coach of Ulster after finishing 8th in the Celtic League that season.[2] He was replaced by Brian McLaughlin as Head Coach, with Jeremy Davidson and Neil Doak as assistants, and former Ulster and Ireland outhalf David Humphreys taking on the role as Director of Rugby.[2] The 2009/10 season was the beginning of a new era for Ulster Rugby, as they got new management staff, a newly improved Heineken Cup campaign where they got their first ever win on English soil against Bath Rugby, a brand new stand at Ravenhill and more fans started to follow the team. But unfortunately, Ulster finished 8th place in the Celtic League again due to a series of disappointing results in the league since Christmas. But the 2010/11 season became an even better season for Ulster as they signed new key players including 2007 Rugby World Cup winning Springbok Ruan Pienaar, reached the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time since 1999 and performed outstandingly in the Celtic League which saw them finish 3rd place.
Current Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Leinster (F)
|
22 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 568 | 326 | +242 | 48 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 81 | Play-off place |
| 2 |  Ospreys (C)
|
22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 491 | 337 | +154 | 44 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 71 | |
| 3 | Munster (SF)
|
22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 489 | 367 | +122 | 45 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 67 | |
| 4 |  Glasgow Warriors (SF)
|
22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 445 | 321 | +124 | 34 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 65 | |
| 5 | Scarlets
|
22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 446 | 373 | +73 | 43 | 30 | 5 | 5 | 62 | |
| 6 | Ulster
|
22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 474 | 424 | +50 | 53 | 41 | 5 | 3 | 56 | |
| 7 | Cardiff Blues
|
22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 446 | 460 | −14 | 43 | 45 | 5 | 5 | 50 | |
| 8 | Connacht
|
22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 321 | 433 | −112 | 27 | 36 | 0 | 7 | 37 | |
| 9 | Newport Gwent Dragons
|
22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 370 | 474 | −104 | 27 | 41 | 1 | 5 | 36 | |
| 10 |  Benetton Treviso
|
22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 419 | 558 | −139 | 41 | 57 | 3 | 5 | 36 | |
| 11 | Edinburgh
|
22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 454 | 588 | −134 | 42 | 65 | 2 | 4 | 32 | |
| 12 | Aironi
|
22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 289 | 551 | −262 | 22 | 54 | 1 | 5 | 22 |
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[3]
- number of matches won;
- the difference between points for and points against;
- the number of tries scored;
- the most points scored;
- the difference between tries for and tries against;
- the fewest red cards received;
- the fewest yellow cards received.
(C) Champions; (F) Lost in the final; (SF) Lost in the semi-finals
Notes:
- ^ Qualification for the Heineken Cup is based on each country's allocation, i.e. three highest-ranked Irish teams, three highest-ranked Welsh teams, both Italian teams and both Scottish teams. Because Leinster won the 2012 Heineken Cup Final, Ireland earned an extra Heineken Cup place, which will go to Connacht. Aironi were denied a licence for the 2012–13 season due to financial issues; the newly established Zebre side replaced Aironi in the Pro12 and Heineken Cup.
Honours
- Heineken Cup
- Winners: 1998–99 1
- Celtic League
- Winners: 2005–06 1
- Celtic Cup
- Winners: 2003–04 1
- Irish Inter-Provincial Championships
- Winners: 26
Current squad (Season 2011/2012)
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
- Internationally capped players in bold
- Players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality *
Players in (Season 2011/2012)
- Lewis Stevenson from Harlequins[4]
- Callum Black from Worcester[5]
- Mike McCormish from Connacht
- John Afoa from Auckland Blues [6]
- Jared Payne from Auckland Blues[7]
- Stefan Terblanche from The Sharks (On 3 Month Deal)
Players out (Season 2011/2012)
- Niall O'Connor to Connacht[8]
- Mark McCrea to Connacht
- Ryan Caldwell to Bath
- BJ Botha to Munster Rugby
- TJ Anderson to Connacht
- Tommy Seymour to Glasgow Warriors
- Jamie Smith to Newport Gwent Dragons
Notable players
See also Category:Ulster Rugby players
British and Irish Lions
The following Ulster players, in addition to representing Ireland, have also represented the British and Irish Lions.[9]
Note : Philip Matthews captained the Lions in their victory against France in Paris. The game formed part of the celebrations of the bi-centennial of the French Revolution, but did not count as a "formal" Lions international. Robin Thompson and Willie John McBride both captained the Lions.
See also
References
- ^ "Ulster coach quits". Sky Sports. 13 November 2007.
- ^ a b "Williams leaves Ulster". Sky Sports. 21 May 2009.
- ^ Competition Rule 3.5 "Summary of Key Rules". Pro12. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ "Ulster snap up Stevenson". Sky Sports. 18 February 2011.
- ^ "Ulster announce two new signings". The Irish Times. 7 March 2011.
- ^ "Ulster Sign All-Black Prop John Afoa". Ulster Rugby. 16 March 2011.
- ^ "Payne signs with Ulster". The Blues. 1 April 2011.
- ^ "Connacht sign Ulster duo as Naoupu returns". RTÉ Sport. 7 January 2011.
- ^ Cronin, Ciaran (2007). The Ireland Rugby Miscellany.