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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.
Gregor Peter John Townsend is a Scottish professional rugby union coach and former player who has been coaching the Scotland national team since 2017.
Daniel Arthur Parks is a professional rugby union coach and former player who played as a fly-half.
Rob Dewey is a Scottish former rugby union player and played for the Glasgow Warriors. Despite having only come onto the professional rugby scene in the 2005–06 season, a lethal combination of pace and power gave him a name amongst the Scottish rugby community.
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.
Ruan Pienaar is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half for the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup.
Neil Best is a former rugby union footballer, who attended Wellington College Belfast and played his school rugby there until he left in 1997 after upper sixth. The last professional team he played for was London Scottish and previously played on the Irish national team. He played as a flanker.
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.
Roger Wilson is an Irish former rugby union player, who played at number eight for Ulster, Northampton Saints and Ireland. Since retiring in 2017, he has worked in the United States, coaching American football players in rugby tackling techniques.
Neil George Doak is a Northern Irish former cricketer and rugby union player. He currently works as a rugby union coach, and has served as attack and backs coach with English club side Worcester Warriors, and Georgia during the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup. Doak previously worked as attack and backs coach of Irish provincial side Ulster from 2008 to 2017, where he also spent his professional playing career. During his time with Ulster, he had brief stints as a coach with Ireland and Emerging 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.
Richard James Gray is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for United Rugby Championship club Glasgow Warriors and the Scotland national team.
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.
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.
Dan McFarland is an English rugby union coach and former player. He was head coach of Ulster Rugby from 2018 to 2024.
Conor Carey is an English-born Irish professional rugby union player. He primarily plays as a prop. Carey currently plays for English Premiership side Northampton Saints. He previously played for Irish provincial side Connacht in the Pro14, and before that played for Nottingham and Ealing Trailfinders in the English Championship. Raised in Belfast, Carey started his career playing under-age rugby with Ulster and represented Ireland internationally up to under-20 level.
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.
The 2006–07 Ulster Rugby season was Ulster's 13th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and their third under head coach Mark McCall. They competed in the Heineken Cup and the Celtic League.
References
- ↑ Tim Barker profile, European Professional Club Rugby
- 1 2 Adam McKendry, "Tim Barker: I have no regrets, only pride in my wonderful rugby career", Belfast Telegraph, 3 March 2019
- ↑ Gavin Mairs, "Rugby: New faces on show as Ulster slip into gear", Belfast Telegraph, 1 July 2003
- ↑ "Humph out of Welsh clash", Belfast Telegraph, 8 April 2005
- ↑ "Ulster sign Tim Barker", Glasgow Warriors, 3 March 2006
- ↑ "Ulster's Tim Barker reaches deal to join Castres", Irish Independent, 12 November 2007
- ↑ "Barker returns to Glasgow", ESPN, 23 May 2008
- ↑ Niall Crozier, "Magners League: Rivals wary of Ulster", Belfast Telegraph, 30 August 2010
