Ulster Rugby vs Newport Gwent Dragons

IRFU ULSTER BRANCH

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

OFFICERS John Kinnear // President Bobby Stewart // Senior Vice President John McKibbin // Junior Vice President John McKibbin // Honorary Secretary Michael Boyd // Honorary Treasurer Denis Gardiner // Competitions Secretary EXECUTIVE TEAM Shane Logan // Chief Executive Chris Webster // Domestic Rugby Manager Audrey Robinson // Financial Controller Fiona Hampton // Head of Sales & Marketing

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all here to this Guinness PRO12 match between Ulster and Newport Gwent Dragons.

This week it was announced that Bryn Cunningham has been appointed Ulster’s new Team Manager. I would like to offer him my sincere congratulations. For 13 years Bryn was one of the most reliable members of the Ulster team and I have no doubt that he will do as good a job as a manager as he did as a player. Finally, congratulations to Bangor, opening round of the Ulster Bank All Ireland Junior Cup last weekend and I wish them well in their upcoming quarter final matches. A mention too, for Portadown, who put in a great performance away to last season’s cup winners, Enniscorthy. I hope that you enjoy the game. Good luck to Ulster and Stand up for CIYMS and Clogher Valley on picking up superb wins in the

I would like to welcome in particular our friends from Newport; directors, players, supporters and coaches. The Welsh region come to Belfast having lost narrowly to Newcastle Falcons in the Rugby Challenge Cup at Rodney Parade. However, the scale of the task that Ulster will face this evening was illustrated a week earlier when the men of Gwent defeated Stade Francais in Paris. That was without doubt one of the results of the season for any PRO12 team so far and Ulster will have to be at their very best if they are to get a win this evening. Last weekend we experienced the highs and lows of the new Rugby Champions Cup. The atmosphere was electric as we welcomed the reigning European Champions, Toulon. While we didn’t get the result that we wanted we can take heart from a spirited Ulster performance. Mathematically, the team can still make it out of the group and we know that they will be doing everything possible to defy the odds and to qualify for the knock-out stages.

the Ulstermen! Yours in Rugby, John Kinnear // President IRFU (Ulster Branch)

Kingspan Stadium, 85 Ravenhill Park, Belfast, BT6 0DG T // +44 (0)28 9049 3222 ulsterrugby.com

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