# 2009–10 Ulster Rugby season

The 2009–10 Ulster Rugby season was Ulster's 16th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and their first under director of rugby David Humphreys and head coach Brian McLaughlin.
Following the departure of previous head coach Matt Williams, Ulster put a new management structure in place. David Humphreys was director of rugby, with overall responsibility for the senior team, the Ulster 'A' team (renamed the Ulster Ravens), the Ulster under-20s and the academy; and Brian McLaughlin was head coach, assisted by forwards coaches Jeremy Davidson and Peter Sharp, and backs coach Neil Doak. However, Ulster couldn't afford to retain Sharp, and he left in September 2009.
Chief Executive Michael Reid announced he was stepping down in September 2009 after twelve years in the job. Shane Logan was appointed as his replacement in early 2010.
They finished second in their Heineken Cup pool, failing to qualify for the knockout stage, and 8th in the Celtic League. Chris Henry was Ulster's Player of the Year. Andrew Trimble won the IRUPA award for Try of the Year.

## Staff

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| Chief Executive Officer | Michael Reid, Shane Logan | Ireland |
| Director of Rugby | David Humphreys | Ireland |
| Head Coach | Brian McLaughlin | Ireland |
| Forwards Coach | Jeremy Davidson | Ireland |
| Defence Coach | Peter Sharp | Australia |
| Skills Coach | Neil Doak | Ireland |

## Squad
### Senior squad

| Ulster Rugby squad |
| Props Tom Court (18 apps, 17 starts, 5 pts) BJ Botha (22 apps, 11 starts, 5 pts) Bryan Young (19 apps, 6 starts) Declan Fitzpatrick (17 apps, 4 starts) Justin Fitzpatrick (1 app) Hookers Nigel Brady (19 apps, 10 starts, 5 pts) Andi Kyriacou (20 apps, 8 starts, 5 pts) Rory Best (c) (6 apps, 6 starts) Locks Ed O'Donoghue (23 apps, 20 starts) Dan Tuohy (20 apps, 17 starts, 10 pts) Ryan Caldwell (17 apps, 11 starts) Neil McComb (4 apps, 1 start) Matt McCullough (no apps) | Back row Chris Henry (18 apps, 17 starts, 5 pts) Willie Faloon (17 apps, 15 starts, 10 pts) Stephen Ferris (14 apps, 14 starts, 15 pts) Robbie Diack* (16 apps, 10 starts) David Pollock (10 apps, 9 starts) T. J. Anderson (12 apps, 3 starts) Tamaiti Horua (4 apps, 1 start) Ali Birch (1 app) Scrum-halves Isaac Boss (23 apps, 20 starts, 10 pts) Paul Marshall (12 apps, 4 starts, 5 pts) Cillian Willis (4 apps) Fly-halves Ian Humphreys (21 apps, 18 starts, 190 pts) Niall O'Connor (12 apps, 6 starts, 64 pts) | Centres Darren Cave (22 apps, 21 starts, 15 pts) Paddy Wallace (16 apps, 14 starts, 15 pts) Ian Whitten (16 apps, 12 starts, 15 pts) Nevin Spence (3 apps, 1 start) Jonny Shiels (2 apps) Wings Andrew Trimble (21 apps, 19 starts, 25 pts) Simon Danielli (22 apps, 18 starts, 45 pts) Timoci Nagusa (17 apps, 13 starts, 20 pts) Mark McCrea (1 app) Fullbacks Clinton Schifcofske (11 apps, 11 starts, 5 pts) Jamie Smith (10 apps, 10 starts, 15 pts) Bryn Cunningham (1 app, 1 start) |
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. Italics denotes academy players who appeared in the senior team. $^*$ denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality. Players and their allocated positions from the Ulster Rugby website. |

### Academy squad

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| High Performance Director | Gary Longwell | Ireland |
| Elite Player Development Officer | Jonny Bell | Ireland |
| Elite Player Development Officer | Niall Malone | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Chris Shiells | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Kevin Geary | Ireland |
| Academy squad |
| Props Adam Macklin (2) Paddy McAllister (2) Hookers Niall Annett (1) John Burns (1) Locks Neil McComb (1) James Sandford (3) | Back row Sean Dougall (1) Paul Pritchard (1) Scrum-halves Michael Heaney (1) Ian Porter (3) Fly-halves James McKinney (1) | Centres Luke Marshall (1) Jonny Shiels (2) Nevin Spence (2) Wings Michael Allen (1) Chris Cochrane (3) Conor Gaston (1) Tommy Seymour (3) Fullbacks Ricky Andrew (2) Jamie Smith (3) |

### Ulster Ravens/friendly squad

Players, other than members of the senior or academy quad, who appeared for the Ulster Ravens or in friendlies.
| Academy squad |
| Props Alan Whitten Hookers Ryan Fisher Paul Karayannis David McGregor Locks Andew Linton Neville Magee | Back row Stephen Dougall Scott LaValla Stuart McKenzie Chris Napier Scrum-halves Fly-halves Michael Pyper | Back three Craig Gilroy David McIlwaine |

## Heineken Cup
### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Stade Français (6) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 124 | 95 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Ulster | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 127 | 94 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| Edinburgh | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 64 | 94 | −30 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Bath | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 84 | 116 | −32 | 0 | 3 | 7 |

## Celtic League

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Pts |
| 1 | Leinster | 18 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 359 | 295 | +64 | 27 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 55 |
| 2 | Ospreys | 18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 384 | 298 | +86 | 37 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 52 |
| 3 | Glasgow Warriors | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 390 | 321 | +69 | 31 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 51 |
| 4 | Munster | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 319 | 282 | +37 | 33 | 20 | 3 | 6 | 45 |
| 5 | Cardiff Blues | 18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 349 | 315 | +34 | 33 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 44 |
| 6 | Edinburgh | 18 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 385 | 391 | −6 | 40 | 40 | 4 | 5 | 41 |
| 7 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 333 | 378 | −45 | 32 | 37 | 3 | 2 | 39 |
| 8 | Ulster | 18 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 357 | 370 | −13 | 39 | 35 | 4 | 2 | 36 |
| 9 | Scarlets | 18 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 361 | 382 | −21 | 35 | 35 | 1 | 8 | 29 |
| 10 | Connacht | 18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 254 | 459 | −205 | 20 | 53 | 0 | 4 | 26 |
| Under the standard bonus point system, points are awarded as follows: 4 points for a win 2 points for a draw 1 bonus point for scoring 4 tries (or more) (Try bonus) 1 bonus point for losing by 7 points (or fewer) (Losing bonus) ||||||||||||||
| Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places. Source: RaboDirect PRO12 ||||||||||||||

## Home attendance

| Domestic League | Domestic League | Domestic League | Domestic League | Domestic League | European Cup | European Cup | European Cup | European Cup | European Cup | Total | Total |
| League | Fixtures | Average Attendance | Highest | Lowest | League | Fixtures | Average Attendance | Highest | Lowest | Total Attendance | Average Attendance |
| 2009–10 Celtic League | 9 | 8,863 | 11,800 | 7,334 | 2009–10 Heineken Cup | 3 | 10,509 | 11,000 | 8,262 | 109,947 | 9,162 |

## Ulster Ravens
### British and Irish Cup
#### Pool C

| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TB | LB | Pts |
| Ulster Ravens | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 165 | 62 | 103 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 21 |
| London Welsh | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 137 | 78 | 59 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| Bedford Blues | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 92 | 94 | -2 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Aberavon | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 51 | 131 | -80 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Llanelli | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 106 | 117 | -11 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Moseley | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 69 | 138 | -69 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Points breakdown: *4 points for a win *2 points for a draw *1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less *1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match ||||||||||||

#### Semi-final
## Ulster Rugby Awards

The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held on 20 May 2010. Winners were:
* Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Chris Henry
* Rugby Writers Player of the Year: Chris Henry
* Supporters Club Player of the Year: Chris Henry
* Ulster Player of the Year: Andrew Trimble
* Young Ulster Player of the Year: Jamie Smith
* Youth Player of the Year: Jonny Murphy, Banbridge RFC
* Schools Player of the Year: Charlie Simpson, Ballymena Academy
* Academy Player of the Year: Nevin Spence
* Club of the Year: Ballymoney RFC
* Dorrington B. Faulker Award: Hal Burnison, Malone RFC
* Club Player of the Year: Mark Robinson, Queen's University RFC
* Special Merit Award: Joe Eagleson, Honorary Secretary of the IRFU Ulster Branch