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.
Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union throughout the geographical Irish province of Connacht.
Rugby union is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1875, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland), which were both founded in 1871.
Ian James T. Keatley is an Irish rugby union player. He plays primarily as a fly-half, but can also play as a centre or fullback.
Quinn Roux is a rugby union player who plays for Bath in the Premiership Rugby and formerly the Ireland national team. Born in South Africa, he qualified for Ireland through residency, made his international debut in 2016 and has won 16 caps. In 2018 he became an Irish citizen. He primarily plays as a lock.
Robert Anthony Henshaw is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team.
John Cooney is an Irish rugby union player who plays scrum-half for Irish provincial side Ulster in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup, having previously played for Leinster and Connacht, and has eleven caps for Ireland. Since joining Ulster in 2017, he has been nominated for EPCR European Player of the Year once, been named in the Pro14 Dream Team four times, and been Ulster's player of the year twice.
Finlay Harry Bealham is a professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for United Rugby Championship club Connacht. Born in Australia, he represents Ireland at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.
Cian Kelleher is an Irish professional rugby union player. He primarily plays on the wing or at fullback. Kelleher currently plays for Ealing Trailfinders in the RFU Championship. After initially coming through Leinster's academy, Kelleher had a three-year spell with Irish rivals Connacht, before returning to Leinster for the 2019–20 season.
Cáolin Blade is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for United Rugby Championship club Connacht and the Ireland national team.
Tom Daly is an Irish rugby union player for Lou rugby (France). At 6'4" and 106-kg, he plays the centre position. He formerly played for Lansdowne in the All Ireland League.
Dan Goggin is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a centre for French Pro D2 club Montauban.
Tadhg Gerard Beirne is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a lock for United Rugby Championship club Munster, where he is the club captain, and the Ireland national team.
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.
The 2018–19 Pro14 is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the Pro14.
Ciarán Frawley is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and represents Ireland at international level.
The 2019–20 Munster Rugby season was Munster's nineteenth season competing in the Pro14, alongside which they also competed in the European Rugby Champions Cup. It was Johann van Graan's third season as head coach.
Cian Prendergast is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for United Rugby Championship club Connacht and the Ireland national team.
Andrew Smith is an Irish rugby union player. He plays for Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup side Connacht as a wing. He also plays for the Ireland national rugby sevens team as a forward.
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.
