Ulster Rugby Annual Report 2016-17

PRESIDENT’S REPORT JOHN McKIBBIN

It has been a great honour and a privilege to serve as the Ulster Branch President for the 2016/17 season and I am grateful to the Council of the Ulster Branch for electing me to this prestigious role.

wish them well for the challenging tour ahead in New Zealand. The Ulster team have had their ups and downs throughout what has been a slightly disappointing and frustrating season, narrowly missing out in getting to the Guinness PRO12 play-offs and also failing to make the knockout stages of the European Champions Cup. After a bright start in the PRO12 League, winning their first five matches, including an excellent away victory in Glasgow, the team performances became somewhat inconsistent. Whilst injuries did not help the situation, our “away” form is a concern. This season we have only won four of our fourteen away matches which, if the team want to be in play-offs and win silverware, is not good enough and needs to be addressed. However, the Ulster team did put in a spirited performance in the last league game against Leinster to defeat our old rivals and give legends Ruan Pienaar and Roger Wilson a fitting send-off. In the European Champions Cup, the highlights were a tremendous victory over the much vaunted Clermont Auvergne and a narrow victory against Exeter, both at the Kingspan Stadium. However, defeats in our three away matches and a home defeat by Bordeaux-Begles meant we were bottom of our group. Having had the privilege of travelling with the team throughout the season, I know that we have a very committed and skilled squad of players with excellent coaches and hopefully our performances will improve next season. The Ulster “A” team had a good season and did particularly well, qualifying for the quarter-finals of the British & Irish Cup for the first time in many years. However, in the quarter-final, they lost out to Munster “A” who went on to win the B&I Cup. My thanks go to Bobby Stewart, Philip Gregg, Paul Flanagan and Barney McGonigle who supported and travelled with the team.

When I was elected, I was advised that the year would fly in and it certainly did. It has been a busy but enjoyable year in office and I will take away many fond memories of the matches, events and occasions I have attended and the people I have met. The Kingspan Stadium is now fully operational and is, without doubt, one of the best stadiums in Europe. With the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup coming to Belfast, we will get the opportunity to showcase the stadium to the entire rugby world and help to ensure the tournament is a great success. Ulster Rugby owes a great deal of thanks to Cecil Watson’s Development Committee for the tremendous work they have put in, not just in building the Kingspan Stadium, but also the ongoing work of maintaining and further developing it. The Ireland team, following on from their great victory over New Zealand in the Autumn Series, did well to finish as runners up in this season’s Six Nations. Whilst the defeats in Wales and Scotland were disappointing, the victories over France and particularly England were excellent performances. Congratulations go to Rory Best, Ian Henderson, Jared Payne, Paddy Jackson, Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe and Craig Gilroy, all of whom represented Ireland in the Six Nations. Congratulations also go to Sean Reidy who was capped on the summer tour to South Africa. The Ireland Women’s team also had a good season and, like their male counterparts, finished as runners up in the Women’s Six Nations. Congratulations go to Ilse van Staden, Claire McLaughlin and Nikki Caughey who represented Ireland in the tournament. Following on from the Six Nations, it was good to see eleven Ireland players selected for the British and Irish Lions but, more importantly, it was great to see three Ulster players selected. Congratulations go to Rory Best, Jared Payne and Ian Henderson and we

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