Ulster Rugby Annual Report 2016-17

The Committee has pleasure in presenting the 137th Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for 2016/17. ULSTER BRANCH REPORT

Ruan had played in his development. We often hear governing bodies and supporters bemoan the lack of loyalty in professional sportsmen. Not so many years ago Ruan was offered a significant increase in salary to play in France. Although he is not an Irishman, he chose to forego the financial rewards on offer in order to stay with Ulster at a time when not every Irish player chose to stay in Ireland. How has Ruan been rewarded for his loyalty? Ulster did everything in our power to keep Ruan at the Kingspan Stadium, but the IRFU refused to alter its stance. While we all understand the logic behind their policy, and the need to produce Irish players, it is not a policy which has always been rigidly applied. In the case of Ruan Pienaar, the Ulster Rugby public believe this decision, for a number of reasons, was simply wrong. The Pro 12 will be a poorer league next season without one of its greatest stars. All we can do now is thank Ruan Pienaar for seven wonderful years. We wish him, his wife Monique and their two children every happiness in their new adventure in Montpellier. We hope it will not be too long before we have the chance to welcome them back to Belfast. Roger Wilson Following a fifteen year professional career, eleven of which were spent with Ulster, Roger Wilson bowed out at the Kinspan Stadium on Saturday 6th May 2017. Winning his two hundred and twenty first and final Ulster cap, more than any other player, how typical it was that on a beautiful evening, in front of a full house, he not only won the “man of the match” award, but also scored Ulster’s first try – and he did it against old rivals Leinster. It is hard to imagine a better send-off. A product of R.B.A.I. with whom he won two Schools Cups, Roger made his debut for Ulster in September 2003 and stayed with the Province until the end of the 2007/8 season. During that time he helped Ulster to win the Celtic Cup in 2003 and the League in 2006, as well as winning his only Irish Cap against Japan. After leaving Ulster, he played over one hundred matches for Northampton, winning the European Challenge Cup in 2009 and the LV Cup the following year, returning to Belfast in 2012 and remaining here ever since. Wherever he goes now – it may be to America – we wish him well, and we thank him for an invaluable contribution to Ulster Rugby over many years. Others Departing Apart from Ruan and Roger, we also say good-bye to a number of players who will not be with us next season. Angus Lloyd, Dan Tuohy and Sam Windsor left us during the current season, as did assistant coach Joe Barakat. To them and to Franco Van De Merwe, Ricky Lutton, Stevie Mulholland, John Donnan, Conor Joyce, Mark Best, Lorcan Dow, Johnny Murphy and Callum

INTRODUCTION Once again, injuries to key players had an adverse affect on the performance of the Ulster side, most noticeably the absence of Marcell Coetzee for all but four of our matches. What a difference he made during those four games! Additionally, we saw very little of Jared Payne in the white of Ulster, but everyone was delighted and relieved that he was able to recover as quickly as he did from a serious kidney injury. Despite a number of excellent results, notably at home to Clermont and Leinster and a first ever league win over Glasgow at Scotstoun, it was a disappointing season for the senior team, finishing bottom of our group in Europe and narrowly failing to qualify for a play-off spot in the Guinness Pro 12. On the Domestic front, things were brighter than for a number of years. Ulster sides gained three nett promotions in the AIL, including Omagh, who were promoted from the Ulster Championship League. Following Bangor’s success last season, this brings Ulster’s representation in the AIL to twelve, its highest for many seasons. For the second successive season, the number of cancellations in the adult Domestic game was down. At one hundred and sixty one it remains a significant problem, but is a reduction of sixty on last season and compares even more favourably with the two hundred and twenty games cancelled in 2014/2015. It is also the lowest number of cancellations since the 2010/2011 season. Hopefully a downward trend has begun. We also had three Inter Provincial champions this season. Our U18 Girls were successful in the first ever Inter Pro series, winning all three matches, as did the U19s. Not to be outdone, the Ulster Juniors also won all three of their matches, to be crowned champions for the second time in three seasons. Ruan Pienaar During his seven seasons in Belfast, Ruan Pienaar established himself as one of the most talented and popular players ever to wear the white shirt of Ulster. The news that Ulster had been refused permission to renew his contract was received with a mixture of stunned disbelief and anger, made all the worse by the fact that Ruan wanted to continue to play in what has become his home city. The contribution made by Ruan, not just by his incredible performances on the pitch, but by the effect he has on the development of our younger players is there for all to see. A fantastic role model in so many ways, it is no coincidence that players like Paddy Jackson, Luke Marshall, Stuart Olding, Stuart McCloskey and Craig Gilroy have flourished and gone on to earn their first Ireland caps, as did Paul Marshall, during Ruan’s time in Ulster. At our Awards Ceremony on 6th June, on accepting his award as the Young Player of the Year, yet another of our rising stars, Jacob Stockdale, also paid tribute to the mentoring role that

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