Ulster Rugby Annual Report

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of the match their efforts were rewarded with a well- worked try from Conor Rankin, converted by Nathan Doak, to seal a deserved 22-17 victory for the young Ulster team. The full report of the Ulster U19 season can be found in the Age-Grade section. Heineken Cup For the first time in five years, Ulster qualified for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup. Drawn in a difficult group which included the French side Racing 92, Ulster began their campaign with a home win over old rivals Leicester Tigers, before moving on to Paris to meet Racing. Although Ulster lost, they played some exhilarating rugby, notably Academy player Michael Lowry, who topped the ‘metres gained’ stats after the first two rounds of the competition. Excellent back to back wins over the Scarlets were backed up by a brilliant home success against Racing. What should have been one of our best moments of the season almost turned into our worst, when it was reported that Simon Zebo had been subjected to racial abuse from the terraces. With the assistance of a number of our fans, the perpetrator was identified and received a lifetime ban from the Kingspan Stadium. We are much indebted to those fans and also to Jonny Petrie for taking such swift action to deal with the issue. In the final group match away to the Tigers, we were thirteen points down at half-time. A spectacular recovery in the second-half saw Ulster score two converted tries to win by a point and qualify for the quarters. Against Leinster in the Aviva Stadium, Ulster produced one of its best ever European performances. It was a case of so near but yet so far, as a couple of things didn’t quite go our way, and the match was lost by three points. There is no doubt that Leinster, who had been firm favourites, and that many pundits were taken aback by the Ulster performance. The team really did us proud and we record our appreciation to all of the players and support staff. Rory Best In April 2019, Rory Best announced that he would retire from Professional rugby after the World Cup in Japan. His record for Ireland is quite phenomenal. With one hundred and seventeen caps and counting since his 2005 debut, Rory is the most capped Irish forward of all time, and third on the overall list behind only Brian O’Driscoll and Ronan O’Gara. During that time he has won the Triple Crown and Six Nations Championship four times each, including two Grand Slams in 2009 and 2018. Appointed as Irish captain in 2016, he led the team to its first ever victory over New Zealand in Chicago later that year, following twenty eight previous matches

What a difference a year makes. In 2017/18 the Branch was confronted by many issues, both on and off the pitch. The turnaround of the past twelve months, also on and off the pitch, has seen us take significant strides along the road to recovery. It has not been an easy journey and there remains much more to do, but the process which begun at the end of last season is in full swing and will continue. The problems which we faced, and the subsequent damage which they caused, were not solved by themselves. Many people in the organisation, including our office bearers, made significant contributions. Off the pitch, the leadership of Paul Terrington, Chair of the Management Committee, was outstanding. The recruitment of Jonny Petrie as CEO proved to be an excellent choice. While we had to wait for Jonny to arrive from Edinburgh, following some negotiation with the Scottish Rugby Union, David Dobbin proved a most effective deputy in his role as interim CEO. The Commercial and Marketing Committee played its part also, ensuring that our sponsors remained committed to Ulster. There were also changes on the playing and coaching fronts. In his first season in charge Head Coach Dan McFarland instilled a “fight for every inch” mentality into the players, but always remained calm and considered in his approach. A number of new players were recruited, including Jordi Murphy, Marty Moore, Will Addison and Billy Burns who all fitted in well and had a very positive effect on performances. With other experienced players like Jack McGrath, Sam Carter and Matt Faddes due to join us next season, as well as our new forwards coach Roddy Grant, we can look forward with optimism. Ulster U19 v Australia Schools In an exciting game played at the Queen’s University Arena the Ulster U19s defeated Australia Schools by 22-17 on Tuesday 4th December. The Australian’s only defeat in their five match tour to Ireland and Scotland was played in front of a good crowd including Ian McIlrath (IRFU President), Stephen Elliott (Ulster Branch President), Gerry Drennan (IRFU Schools Chair) and John Robinson, (IRFU Age-Grade Committee Chair). The Ulster team, coached by Jonny Gillespie and assisted by Willie Anderson, Jonathon Graham and James Topping comprised players from U17, U18 and U19 took a 7-0 lead when Nathan Doak converted a try from Tom Stewart. Australia then hit back with two unconverted tries to take a 10-7 lead before a Nathan Doak penalty tied the scores at 10-10 just before the interval. An unconverted try from George Saunderson gave Ulster a 15-10 lead midway through the second half before Australia responded with a converted try fifteen minutes from the end to take a 17-15 lead. The Ulster boys refused to admit defeat and in the final seconds

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