Ulster Rugby Annual Report 2016-17

attractive and enterprising rugby. Ulster took a 20-19 lead into the halftime break. However, in the second half Ulster struggled to match their opponents pace in attack, which was compounded by the number of missed tackles in defence. The Ulster team competed right to the end but unfortunately went down by 20-46. Although a disappointing result, the young Ulster players learned a lot and this game will be a valuable lesson in their overall development. The second Inter-pro was against Munster. This was the proverbial game of two halves. Ulster dominated the first half and despite losing two players just before the game, started very fluently. The Ulster set piece was dominant and there was great intensity in defence, with Munster making little headway when they had the ball, largely due to the aggressive, committed tackling of the Ulster players. In attack, Ulster made good ground and varied the point of attack well. Importantly Ulster controlled the ball, regularly putting the ball in behind Munster to get good field position. At half-time Ulster led 18-0. The second half was a different story. Straight from the kick off Munster upped their intensity, but also varied the point of attack. Whilst a number of enforced changes due to injury did not help the Ulster cause, Ulster found themselves on the back foot for most of the second half and found themselves 21-18 down with eight minutes to play. Ulster threw everything at their opponents, but Munster’s defence held firm to record a narrow victory. Unusually all 39 points were scored at one end, but without a strong wind to explain this scoring pattern. The Ulster players were left wondering what has caused an 18-0 half time lead to slip away. The format for this year’s Interprovincial series was very different to previous years, with the matches comprising

players almost exclusively from the Academies. Whilst there was an emphasis on playing players eligible for the National Under 20 team, older players were also included which increased the competitive nature of the fixtures and undoubtedly helped to prepare some of the younger players for subsequent “A” and Senior fixtures. This was evidenced by the excellent win of the “A” team over Canada and the emergence of players into the Senior ranks such as Ross Kane, Aaron Cairns and David Busby. This was in addition to players who have already represented the Province at Senior level early in the season such as Robert Lyttle, Jacob Stockdale and Jack Owens. The Province has also gone on to be very well represented at National Under 20 level and with the majority of the early seasons squad acting as the core for Ulster at “A” level in what has been the most successful season in the British and Irish Cup for many years. ULSTER UNDER 19S Head Coach Kieran Campbell Assistant Coach: Willie Anderson Coaches: David Creighton / John Creighton / Jimmy Topping Age Grade Manager: Michael Black Video Analysis: Bryan Young / Ryan Dennison GPS Analyst: Simon MacLeod S&C Coach: Matthew Godfrey / Amy Davis Resources Manager: Tim Morton

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Physio: Richard Johnston / Aine McCormick Doctor: Ryan Hamilton / Phil McClelland Manager: Barney McGonigle