Ulster Rugby Annual Report

together during the summer sessions, the transition of the players involved was relatively easy. In preparation for the Inter-Provincial series the Ulster U19 squad had two games which were played as part of a Blitz Festival at Barnard Castle School on 8th August. A squad of twenty six travelled to play against teams from Sale and Newcastle Rugby Clubs. The Ulster U19 team defeated Sale by 14-0 and Newcastle by 15-14 in the course of the festival. This trip proved to be useful in assisting the bonding of players and management, both on and off the pitch, in a very short period of time. Next it was back to Newforge where the squad continued to train with, and against, the Ulster Sub Academy and Academy groups. The first Inter-Provincial game was played against Munster at Cork Institute of Technology playing fields on Saturday 1st September. Prior to this game three U19 players had been selected to play for the Ulster Academy team, so were unavailable for the trip to Cork. While very evenly contested for most of the game, the Ulster team was unable to finish off a number of try scoring opportunities they had created. This, allied to their failure, at times, to protect their possession resulted in a 34-22 win for Munster, a disappointing outcome for the squad of players who had been unable to display their true potential. The following week Ulster hosted their Connacht counterparts at Bangor Grammar School. A 21-0 half-time proved invaluable against a very committed Connacht U19 side which had Ulster on the defensive for long periods in the second half. Despite conceding some points, the game finished with a deserved 33-17 bonus point victory for the Ulster. The third and final Inter-Provincial game the following week saw the team return to the Newforge Country Club grounds to face a very talented Leinster U19 team. Before this game Leinster, Ulster and Munster were all in with a chance of winning the U19 Inter-Provincial Campaign depending on how results panned out. Ulster set about their business in a very workmanlike way and, by midway through the second half, had built up an impressive 14-3 lead. Leinster reduced the deficit to 14-10 going into the final few minutes. With a last ditch counter attack from deep the visitors scored an unconverted try with only seconds of the game remaining. This was sufficient to see the Leinster team through with a hard earned 15-14 victory. The team management would like to congratulate all the players involved with the U19 squad throughout the season. Their hard work, on and off the pitch, was not rewarded as it might have been but all the players deserve praise for their commitment and dedication to the cause of Ulster U19 Rugby. Bangor Grammar School and Newforge Country Club deserve a special word of thanks for hosting the games played in Ulster. The authorities at Newforge should also be thanked for the provision of gym, pitch and team-room facilities throughout the busy summer period. Thanks are also due to the staff at Ulster Rugby, especially Lesley, Jill, Laura-Jayne and Damian, for their continued support of the Ulster U19 squad. As recorded earlier in this report, the Ulster U19s defeated Australia Schools by 22-17 at the Queen’s University Arena on Tuesday 4th December.

ULSTER UNDER 18 (CLUBS) Head Coach : Jonny Gillespie Assistant Coach: Jonny Graham Manager: Eamon McCormick Physiotherapist: Bebhinn Flaherty Age-grade Manager: Michael Black

Winter training was based centrally at Meadowbank Sports Complex in Magherafelt with sessions on Monday nights which included playing selected schools on a schedule to complement the regular squad sessions. The training then moved to Newforge Country Club for the short summer period before the Inter-Provincial competition. Malone Rugby Club hosted the first match against an American touring academy, EIRA. A very competitive game allowed the coaching staff to involve many of the squad and to try out some positional changes. On a very warm afternoon the visitors gained the upper hand towards the end of the game to gain a narrow victory. Rugby Canada sent a complete age-grade complement of teams from Under 16 to Under 18 and based themselves in UUJ for several weeks during the early part of the summer. The hot weather was still in evidence when the Clubs entertained the Canadians in Jordanstown. This was the final game before the Inter- Provincials and the strong opposition proved a good test of the capabilities of the squad. A new format for the Inter-Provincial competition was introduced this year. The IRFU organised an age-grade festival at the University of Limerick where all the provinces were based. Munster (32-10) and Leinster (46-12) won their games against Ulster before the Ulster players went home mid-week to receive the results of their GCSE examinations. Returning to Limerick for the last game against Connacht was a much changed Ulster squad due to a higher than usual number of injuries. Ulster lost 41-15 to the eventual winners of this year’s competition, Connacht, who only fielded a combined side in the Clubs competition, with no School team in the Schools Inter-Pros. ULSTER UNDER 18 (SCHOOLS) Head Coach: Kieran Campbell Assistant Head Coach: Willie Faloon Assistant Coaches: Mike McKeever & Peter Weir S & C Coach: Matthew Maguire Physiotherapist: Jason Patton (b7;oꢄꢀm-Ѵ v|Ĺꢄ Simon MacLeod Resources Managers: Adrian Walker and Andy Weir Assistant Manager: David Kennedy Manager: Richard Clingan

The 2018/19 season saw the Inter-Pros take the form of an U18 Festival with both the Schools and Clubs event run in parallel at the University of Limerick with all of the matches played on the same 4G pitch. The

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