1
ULSTER
RUGBY
IRFU
ULSTER BRANCH
Kingspan Stadium,
85 Ravenhill Park,
Belfast, BT6 0DG
T
//
+44 (0)28 9049 3222
ulsterrugby.com
OFFICERS
John Kinnear
// President
Bobby Stewart
// Senior Vice President
John McKibbin
// Junior Vice President
John McKibbin
// Honorary Secretary
Michael Boyd
// Honorary Treasurer
Denis Gardiner
// Competitions Secretary
EXECUTIVE TEAM
Shane Logan
// Chief Executive
Chris Webster
// Domestic Rugby Manager
Audrey Robinson
// Financial Controller
Fiona Hampton
// Head of Sales & Marketing
Les Kiss
// Director of Rugby (Interim)
PRESIDENT’S
WELCOME
I would like to welcome in particular
our friends from Glasgow: directors,
players, supporters and coaches.
Glasgow will be without doubt the
toughest side that we have faced so far
this season. Last year’s finalists, they
are top of the PRO12 and are unbeaten
with five wins out of five.
Gregor Townsend and his team have
done an outstanding job at Scotstoun
and we look forward to a fantastic
match between these two sides.
Last week, we defeated Edinburgh
by 30 points to nil here at Kingspan
Stadium. That result, against a
dogged Scottish side, demonstrated
the tremendous character that exists
among these Ulster players and bodes
well for the three huge matches that we
have coming up, starting with Glasgow
this evening.
This week it was announced that Neil
Doak has been appointed Ulster Rugby
Head Coach and that Les Kiss will be
returning in a year’s time as Director of
Rugby.
I would like to wish both Neil and Les
my wholehearted congratulations. Neil
has been at Ulster Rugby for the best
part of two decades. He has coached
at every level within the professional
game at the Province and I am
delighted that he has been appointed
as Head Coach.
The IRFU kindly lent us Les after the
departures of David Humphreys and
Mark Anscombe and he has made a
huge impact in recent months. While
we might be sorry to see him go in the
short term, the priority for Les and for
everyone involved in the Irish set-up is
the Rugby World Cup next autumn.
We wish him well as he leaves us and
look forward to him returning next
November to begin his full time role with
Ulster Rugby.
The Ravens began their British and Irish
Cup match this afternoon. If you are free
next Saturday afternoon, why not warm
up for Ulster’s Champions Cup game
against Leicester Tigers by watching
their second game in the competition,
against Yorkshire Carnegie, here at
Kingspan Stadium kick off 2.30pm?
I would like to thank our host
broadcaster for this evening, Sky
Sports. The ‘Sky treatment’ is a phrase
that is often used to describe the
fantastic coverage that they give sport
in the UK and Ireland. We welcome
Sky’s cameras to Kingspan Stadium
and thank them for their support of the
Guinness PRO12.
Finally, Tonight is a special night for our
partnership with our Charity of the Year,
Mencap. Fans have been urged to wear
wacky socks and shoes and bucket
collectors will be around the ground.
Please donate as much as you can to
this fantastic cause and help support
Mencap’s ‘Big Step Forward’ appeal.
I hope that you enjoy the game. Good
Luck to Ulster and Stand up for the
Ulstermen!
Yours in Rugby.
John Kinnear
//
President
IRFU (Ulster Branch)
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all here
to Kingspan Stadium for this Guinness PRO12
match against Glasgow Warriors.
