Date of birth | 14 February 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 87 kg (13 st 10 lb; 192 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Adam Larkin is an Australian former rugby union player and coach, who played for North Harbour, Bristol, Castres and Ulster. A utility back, his preferred position was inside centre, but he also played fly-half and wing.
Larkin was born in Sydney, Australia, and raised in New Zealand. [1] Through a grandmother from Belfast, he held an Irish passport. [2] He played for North Harbour for three seasons, alongside All-Black centres Walter Little and Frank Bunce, [2] making 26 appearances and scoring 53 points, [3] and represented New Zealand at under-21 level, [4] but after failing to win a Super 12 contract with the Waikato Chiefs, he moved to England to join Bristol, making his debut in January 1998. He made 28 appearances for the club, scoring 17 tries and kicking one conversion, totalling 90 points, but was not offered a new contract after the 1998-99 season, [4] and joined Castres Olympique. In 2001 he moved from Castres to Ulster. [5] He was part of the team that won the Celtic Cup in 2004 and the 2005–06 Celtic League. He retired in December 2007, having made 69 appearances for the province and scored 233 points. [6] He coached Belfast Harlequins for six seasons, from 2010 to 2016. [7]
Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won once. Ulster were the first Irish team and the first team outside England and France to win the European Cup in 1999.
Pedrie Johannes Wannenburg was a South African rugby union player. He last coached for Austin Elite Rugby in North American Major League Rugby. He played for Austin in 2018, Denver Stampede in the now defunct PRO Rugby League of North America and Castres Olympique for two seasons, after two years with Irish club Ulster.
Justin Michael Fitzpatrick is an Irish former rugby union player who most recently was head coach of the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for London Irish, Castres Olympique, Dungannon RFC & Ulster. He had also held several other coaching positions, including head coach of Dungannon RFC and the Seattle Saracens, and assistant coach of the United States national rugby union team.
Patrick Wallace is an Ireland rugby union player who played for Ireland's national team and played for Ulster. A native of Belfast, he attended Rockport School and Campbell College. He was a member of the Ireland U19 side that lifted the U19 World Cup in 1998. He was a member of the Ireland Grand Slam winning team of 2009.
Andy Ward is a New Zealand-born former rugby union player, who played flanker professionally for Ulster and internationally for Ireland.
Mark Conn McCall is an Irish professional rugby union coach and former player, who is the current director of rugby of Premiership Rugby club Saracens. Arriving as an assistant in 2009 and taking charge of the first-team in 2011, he is considered one of the greatest club managers of all time and holds the record for the most English championships won with six Premiership trophies. McCall also led Saracens to three European Rugby Champions Cup wins.
Jared Benjamin Payne is a former rugby union centre who played for Ulster and the Ireland national team. He was a member of the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, but did not play a test match. On his retirement from playing in 2018, he took over as Ulster's defence coach, a position he left at the end of the 2021-22 season. Since 2022 he has been defence coach for Clermont Auvergne.
David Humphreys MBE is a former Irish rugby union player. He played 72 times for Ireland, scoring 560 points, including 6 tries, and at the time of his international retirement was Ireland's most capped out-half. He played his club rugby for London Irish and Ulster, winning the 1998-99 Heineken Cup, the 2004 Celtic Cup and the 2005–06 Celtic League with the latter. Since retiring as a player he has served as director of rugby for Ulster and Gloucester, as a performance consultant with the Georgian Rugby Union, and is currently Director of Performance Operations with the England and Wales Cricket Board. He will succeed David Nucifora as the IRFU Performance Director in 2024.
Ian Madigan is an Irish former professional rugby union player for Leinster, Bordeaux, Bristol Bears, Ulster and Ireland. His primary position was at fly-half, although he also played at centre and full-back.
Adam D'Arcy is an Australian former rugby union player who played fullback professionally for Ulster and Bristol.
Nick Timoney is an Irish rugby union player, who plays in the back row for Ulster and Ireland. He is regarded as a "hybrid" player, an athletic forward with the pace of a back. He was named in the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship Dream Team.
Michael Lowry is an Irish rugby union player from Northern Ireland who plays fullback and out-half for United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup side Ulster, and internationally for Ireland. Doubted early on because of his small stature, he has exceptional footwork and acceleration. Ireland coach Andy Farrell describes him as a "nightmare" to play against, praising his explosiveness and bravery.
James Hume is an Irish rugby union player who plays centre for United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup side Ulster.
Nathan Doak is an Irish rugby union player who plays scrum-half and out-half for Ulster in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.
The 2018–19 season was Ulster's 25th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and Dan McFarland's first season as head coach. Rory Best was captain. They competed in the Pro14, making the semi-finals, and the European Rugby Champions Cup, making the quarter-finals.
The 2016–17 season was Ulster's 23rd season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and the third under Director of Rugby Les Kiss and head coach Neil Doak. They completed in the European Rugby Champions Cup and the final season of the Pro12 before it became the Pro14 with the addition of two teams from South Africa.
In Ulster Rugby's fourth season since the advent of professionalism, they were champions of the Heineken Cup, and finished second in the IRFU Interprovincial Championship.
The 2003–04 season was Ulster Rugby's ninth under professionalism, and their third under head coach Alan Solomons. They competed in the Heineken Cup, the Celtic League and the inaugural Celtic Cup.
In the 2005–06 season, Ulster were Celtic League champions for the first time. This was their eleventh season under professionalism, and their second under head coach Mark McCall. They also competed in the Heineken Cup.