50 / 64
48
LOOKING GET AN ‘A’ GRADE
ULSTER ‘A’ UPDATE
We always welcome the emergence of new faces, and
we know that at age-group level the most talented
youngsters are being nurtured, the relationship with the
schools’ game has never been healthier, and the breadth
of the process to identify the Ulster players of just a few
short years down the ‘road’.
The U18s, U19s, U20s at provincial and Irish level are
coherently managed and developed, and there is now a
very real staircase to offer a route to a career in the sport.
And, critically, there is recognition that for some the
highest level might just be beyond reach, but effective,
successful club rugby can be regenerated by the influx
of players who’ve been well-coached, experienced the
best disciplines and improved basic skills through careful
development by an army of motivated coaches.
And an important part of the formula to sustain Ulster,
and to provide what Les Kiss regards as integral
nourishment of the Kingspan operation is an increasing
focus on the ‘A’ side, and all the functions it provides, the
opportunities it offers, and the invaluable links it has with
the senior set-up, the Academy group, and with the club
game in the Province.
He’s been a regular spectator at the team’s games this
season, and his staff’s tangible guidance and practical
help, and the full panoply of resources expended on the
PRO12 and European squads, are full extended to the
players involved with the ‘A’s.
While in terms of results the Ulster ‘A’ team might not
have set the British and Irish Cup competition alight, it
has been a proving ground for players and coaching staff.
And the value of the side, sponsored by the CD Group,
taking on teams such as Bristol, Bedford and the
Scarlets Premiership Select has already demonstrated
itself on many fronts.
In May last year, Alex Codling was recruited to the
Hughes Insurance Ulster Rugby Academy, a key part
of the responsibilities of the much-travelled English
international lock’s was as Head Coach of the Ulster
‘A’ team. He maintains that the Academy at Kingspan
Stadium has benefited, the senior side has been able
to ‘blood’ some outstanding performers, and Ulster
‘A’s unique pool of talent, drawn from within the Ulster
structure and from the Province’s clubs, is going to
increase in importance.
“Les Kiss, the Director of Rugby, is extremely keen on
the B&I Cup, sees it having a big future, and he and
the rest of the staff take a real, hands-on interest in the
‘A’ side’s other games, treating us all as a key part of
the Ulster player development system”, says Codling,
an enthusiastic coach with experience at a tranche of
English, Welsh and continental clubs.
Having used 43 players to date this season there
is perhaps an indication of the challenges the ‘A’
management faces, but Codling sees it as exciting and
fulfilling a truly critical role in blending and blooding
Academy youth alongside some experienced, familiar
names and drawing from the clubs, offering a serious
platform for talent there to shine.
But those who have studied the ‘A’s this year have been
struck by its very real identity, it is not what some might
have seen as a somewhat disjointed unit, useful for those
returning from injury to thrust themselves back into the
senior panel.
There’s the character and spirit of a team with a
determination to improve itself as a collective unit, and
for individuals to fulfil their potential, and to expose
themselves at a higher level of this great game.
That was a quite deliberate ambition by Ulster to ‘up’ the
profile and the meaningful role of the ‘A’ side, and with
Academy Manager, Kieran Campbell, deeply involved in
the coaching management, there is no doubt about what
is now expected – a team which is to be truly competitive,
and a key conduit in drawing talents from all the various
playing pools across the Province.
“That’s an achievement, down to the players who wanted
to play, didn’t feel it was a step down, but knew it offered
opportunities and the preparation and game time to
make an impression,” says Codling.
Injury curtailed a career which took him to the very top
of the English game, playing for Harlequins, Saracens
and Northampton, then playing and coaching in Wales at
Neath and for Montpellier in France.
“In the ‘A’ team we have many roles to play, to be a
vehicle for players returning to fitness and to the senior
squad is one of them. That brings some issues which are
up to us to resolve, how to keep the team’s DNA when
quite rightly rotating our selection to ensure, for instance,
that Stuart Olding most recently got valuable competitive
action before making his welcome return to the senior
team so successfully”.
But Ulster ‘A’ is a side too where players can improve and
add to the skills and potential identified by Ulster’s talent
ID team.
And Kiss, Neil Doak, Allen Clarke and Niall Malone
recognise that only a well-organised and properly
resourced ‘A’s, offering well-drilled coaching and
experiencing good competitive rugby prepares the up-
and-coming for an even greater test.
And when players who’ve been playing with Ulster in the
PRO12 or in Europe are rested, perhaps, or replaced,
coming into the ‘A’ fold is not at all a demotion, it’s very
much another stage on which to impress and respond.
The thoroughly modern structures of a professional rugby club means the
public isn’t always aware of just how complex strands are drawn together
to bolster the present on the pitch, and secure the future.