Ulster Rugby

A number of clubs were operating in Ulster prior to the foundation of the Irish Rugby Football Union and the Ulster branch. The Belfast-based Northern Ireland F.C., founded in 1868, was the earliest club to operate in the province. Clubs from this era still in existence include Dungannon and Queen's University. The first Irish inter-provincial game took place in 1875 between Ulster and Leinster, with Ulster being the victors.[1] In Ireland's first international match, which was played in 1875 against England, eight Ulster-based players took part. Rugby in Ulster at this time was mostly overseen by the Irish Football Union, with the Northern Football Union of Ireland controlling the game in Belfast. The two unions amalgamated in 1879, with the provincial branches of Ulster, Leinster and Munster being founded as part of the terms of this arrangement.[2] The final Irish provincial side, Connacht, was founded in 1885.[3]

During the amateur era Irish players primarily played for their respective clubs, with provincial games effectively treated as Irish trial matches.[4] The provincial teams were also used to provide competitive club opposition for touring international sides. Inter-provincial games were played on an irregular basis but starting in the 1946–47 season, the provinces played against each other in the annual Irish Interprovincial Championship.[3] Ulster won this tournament 26 times in total, with eight of these titles being shared. The team's greatest period of success was in the 1980s and 1990s when they won ten titles in a row.[5][6][7]

In the 1998–99 season, Ulster became the first Irish province to win the Heineken Cup. They beat French side US Colomiers 21–6 in the final at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.[8]

From 2001 to 2004, the Ulster team was coached by Alan Solomons, a former assistant coach of the Springboks and head coach of The Stormers and Western Province in his native South Africa. It was during this time that Ulster fully embraced the professional era.

Alan Solomons coached Ulster to a three-year unbeaten home record in the Heineken Cup.[9] 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 20 December 2003, beating Edinburgh in a rain-soaked Murrayfield final.

In July 2004, Solomons departed for Northampton Saints and Mark McCall, 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.[10][11]

Ulster led the Celtic league for most of the 2005–06 season thanks to dominant forward play largely inspired by Australian import Justin Harrison, 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. In Ulster's final match against the Ospreys with Ulster one point behind, David Humphreys kicked a 40-metre drop goal to clinch the game and the league for Ulster.

Ulster started the 2006–07 season in fine form racking up a number of victories including a 30–3 thrashing of Heineken Cup contenders Toulouse. However, following an abject display losing 29–13 to London Irish, their season deteriorated with a number of poor performances, including several home defeats, leading to a fifth-place finish in the Celtic League and another early exit from Europe.

The team began the 2007–08 season with a terrible run of form. Mark McCall resigned in November following Ulster's embarrassing 32–14 home defeat to Gloucester in the opening round of the 2007–08 Heineken Cup.[12] Assistant coach Steve Williams took temporary charge of the team. Under Williams, Ulster had some initial success, however several defeats left them firmly rooted to the bottom of the Celtic League and out of Europe. In December, 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, with Ulster finishing 9th in the 10 team Celtic League.

On 21 May 2009, Matt Williams resigned as Ulster's head coach after finishing 8th in the Celtic League that season.[13] He was replaced by Brian McLaughlin as head coach, with Jeremy Davidson and Neil Doak as his assistants, and former Ulster and Ireland outhalf David Humphreys taking on the role as director of rugby.[13]

The 2009–10 season brought many changes to Ulster, as they got new management staff, a newly improved Heineken Cup campaign including their first ever win in England against Bath Rugby, a new stand at Ravenhill, and new fans as more people started to support the team. But Ulster finished eighth place in the Celtic League again, due to a series of disappointing results in the league since Christmas.

The 2010–11 season was even better for Ulster, as they signed key players including 2007 Rugby World Cup winning Springbok Ruan Pienaar. Ulster reached the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time since 1999 and finished third in the Celtic League.

The 2011–12 season brought even more success. Ulster beat Edinburgh to reach the Heineken Cup final for the first time in thirteen years.[14] In the final, Ulster lost 14–42 to Leinster at Twickenham Stadium. In the Pro12, Ulster finished sixth after a disappointing finish to the season. Brian McLaughlin did not have his contract renewed as head coach at the end of the season.

For the 2012–13 season, Mark Anscombe was appointed as the new head coach. Major signings included Nick Williams from the now defunct Aironi and Tommy Bowe returning from his four-year stay at the Ospreys. Ulster started the season with 13 consecutive wins in all competitions, making it the longest unbeaten run in their history.[15] It started on 31 August 2012 as they defeated Glasgow Warriors 18–10 in the Pro12 and it ended on 15 December 2012 as they lost 9–10 to Northampton Saints in the Heineken Cup. Despite finishing top of their Heineken Cup Group for the first time since the 1999 triumph, Ulster were defeated 27–16 by Saracens at the quarterfinal stage. Ulster finished top of the Pro12 table thereby giving them a home semi-final against the Scarlets. Ulster defeated the Scarlets 28–17 in the last match in front of the old grandstand before demolition. Due to the redevelopment of Ravenhill, Ulster played the Pro12 final at the RDS Arena in Dublin against Leinster losing 24–18.

The 2013–14 season proved trophyless again. For the first time, Ulster won all their Heineken Cup group games, with away victories against Montpellier and Leicester Tigers being the highlight. They were knocked out at the quarterfinal stage with a 17–15 home defeat to Saracens. The Pro12 season was racked with inconsistency and Ulster finished the league season in fourth place. This set up an away semi-final with Leinster, and for the fourth time in four seasons the season was ended by their old foes with a 13–9 defeat. The season ended with the retirements of captain Johann Muller, centre Paddy Wallace, and flanker Stephen Ferris. Director of Rugby David Humphreys also left the province to take up a similar position at Gloucester Rugby. Following Humphreys' departure, Mark Anscombe was sacked by the province and was replaced by Ireland defence coach Les Kiss on an interim basis.[16]

The 2014–15 season saw Rory Best return to the captaincy, a position that he first held from 2007 to 2011, after the retirement of the now ex-captain Johann Muller.[17] Ulster were knocked out of the new European Champions Cup at the group stage. They finished fourth in the Pro12 but narrowly lost in the playoff semifinal to eventual champions Glasgow Warriors.

2015–16 saw Neil Doak promoted to head coach with Les Kiss returning to the province after the 2015 Rugby World Cup to take up the full-time Director of Rugby role with the province.[18] Ulster were knocked out of the Champions Cup at the group stage despite a memorable back to back win over Toulouse. They finished fourth in the Pro12 but again lost in the playoff semi final, this time to Leinster.

2016–17 was a disappointing season, finishing bottom of their Champions Cup group and finishing 5th in the Pro12. At the end of the season, all-time appearance holder Roger Wilson retired and Ruan Pienaar was controversially not awarded a new contract. Neil Doak and Allen Clarke also left the province being replaced by Jono Gibbes as head coach and Dwayne Peel as assistant coach.

For the 2018–19 season Dan McFarland was brought in as the new head coach.

Pool B

Pool A Standings [20]
Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Racing 92	4	4	0	0	126	24	+102	16	3	3	0	19
Ulster	4	4	0	0	114	96	+18	15	9	3	0	19
La Rochelle	4	3	1	0	97	64	+33	11	7	2	0	16
Leinster	4	3	0	1	198	62	+136	30	8	3	0	15
Sale Sharks	4	2	1	1	89	48	+41	13	5	1	1	12
Exeter Chiefs	4	2	0	2	127	82	+45	19	7	3	0	11
Montpellier	4	2	0	2	78	157	–79	9	23	2	0	10
Clermont	4	1	1	2	79	82	–3	8	10	0	2	8
Glasgow Warriors	4	1	0	3	82	117	–35	7	15	0	1	5
Northampton Saints	4	0	0	4	56	124	–68	6	17	0	2	2
Bath	4	0	1	3	48	148	–100	6	22	0	0	2
Ospreys	4	0	0	4	33	123	–90	3	17	0	0	0

(correct as of 30 April 2022)[47][48]

(correct as of 5 February 2022)[48]

(correct as of 28 January 2022)[49]

Pro14 Team of the Year

Competition	Irish players	Overseas players
2006–07[50]	—	Justin Harrison
2007–08[51]	Tommy Bowe	—
2008–09[52]	—	—
2009–10[53]	—	—
2010–11[54]	—	Ruan Pienaar
2011–12[55]	—	—
2012–13[56]	Luke Marshall	Nick Williams
2013–14[57]	Andrew Trimble	Johann Muller
2014–15[58]	Craig Gilroy, Rory Best	Franco van der Merwe
2015–16[59]	Craig Gilroy (2)	—
2016–17[60]	—	Ruan Pienaar (2), Charles Piutau
2017–18[61]	John Cooney	—
2018–19[62]	John Cooney (2), Stuart McCloskey	—
2019–20[63]	John Cooney (3), Stuart McCloskey (2)	—
2020–21[64]	John Cooney (4), Michael Lowry, Eric O'Sullivan	Marcell Coetzee

Pro14 Player of the Year

Competition	Irish players	Overseas players
2010–11[65]	—	Ruan Pienaar
2012–13[66]	—	Nick Williams
2016–17[60]	—	Charles Piutau
2020–21[67]	—	Marcell Coetzee

Pro14 Individual Awards

Pro14 Team Awards

• 2012–13 Pro12 Fair Play Award
• 2013–14 Pro12 Fair Play Award (joint)
• 2015–16 Pro12 Fair Play Award

The following Ulster players, in addition to representing Ireland, have also represented the British & Irish Lions.[68]

• Bold indicates player was tour captain for the year in question

Note: Phillip Matthews played for 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.