25 / 66
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
Physio:
Richard Johnston / Aine McCormick
Doctor:
Ryan Hamilton / Phil McClelland
Manager:
Barney McGonigle
23
23