Ulster Rugby v Munster

going to be difficult for those guys to transition into the seniors. So that connects with the transition of our programme from the Academy into the seniors. It was good last year and again, we’re trying to make it excellent. All Academy players are now supported by an Integrated Service Team, giving them exposure to six service providers - obviously the central one everything has to be built out from is rugby, but you’ve also got hugely important support services in Strength and Conditioning, Nutrition, Physio and Medical, Performance Psychology and Personal Development. What we have now is a really high-performing integrated service team. It has taken a year to develop but when you look at the way the players are developing in an accelerated way, you can see the benefits and I think it will get even better. There is also a very good synergy between the Academy staff and the senior coaches, and the transition of players has been greatly improved through the support of Dwayne (Peel) and Aaron (Dundon), who have a key role in ensuring the young players are successful upon entry into the 1st XV. This has been an excellent development to ensure the hard work of the high performing Integrated Service Team is being realised during the academy players’ entry point to the seniors, which is always challenging. There is a lot more around the game, in addition to just performing on the pitch, and that’s something we’re trying to work hard on to ensure that when those good players come through, they sustain their position in the first team and go on to have a number of successful caps for Ulster and indeed, Ireland.

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