# 2008–09 Ulster Rugby season

The 2008–09 Ulster Rugby season was Ulster's 15th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and their only full season under head coach Matt Williams.
David Humphreys, who retired at the end of last season, was appointed to the newly created role of operations director, reporting to chief executive Michael Reid. Peter Sharp joined as defence coach in August 2008. Current player Paul Steinmetz was appointed backs coach. Former Ulster players Jonny Bell and Niall Malone joined the academy as Elite Player Development Officers.
New signings included Humphreys' younger brother Ian, who had been playing for Leicester Tigers since 2005. Fijian winger Timoci Nagusa joined from Tailevu Knights.
Ulster finished third in their Heineken Cup pool, and eighth in the Celtic League. One highlight of an otherwise disappointing season was a win over Munster at Thomond Park in January, the first time Munster had lost at home in European competition. Three of Ulster's five tries came from Ian Humphreys' assists. Ulster qualified for next season's Heineken Cup as one of Ireland's top three teams, finishing ahead of Connacht in the league. Matt Williams left by mutual consent at the end of the season. Assistant coach Steve Williams also left after his contract was not renewed. For the following season, Ulster put a new management structure in place. Michael Reid was chief executive; 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 appointed head coach, assisted by forwards coaches Jeremy Davidson and Peter Sharp, and backs coach Neil Doak.
Rory Best was Ulster's Player of the Year, and flanker Stephen Ferris was selected for the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

## Staff

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| Chief executive officer | Michael Reid | Ireland |
| Operations director | David Humphreys | Ireland |
| Director or coaching | Matt Williams | Australia |
| Assistant coach (forwards) | Steve Williams | Wales |
| Defence Coach | Peter Sharp | Australia |
| Backs coach/player | Paul Steinmetz | New Zealand |
| Skills coach | Neil Doak | Ireland |
| Scrum co-ordinator | Reggie Corrigan | Ireland |
| Team manager | David Millar | Ireland |
| Head of strength and conditioning | Jonny Davis | Ireland |
| Medical co-ordinator | Dr. David Irwin | Ireland |
| Assistant team doctor | Dr. Michael Webb | Ireland |
| Head physiotherapist | Gareth Robinson | Ireland |
| Physiotherapist | Alan McCaldin | Ireland |
| Performance analyst | Alex McCloy | Ireland |
| Resources manager | Mick Ennis | Australia |
| Team administration co-ordinator | Sarah Sherry | Ireland |

## Squad
### Senior squad

| Ulster Rugby squad |
| Props BJ Botha (22 apps, 22 starts, 5 pts) Tom Court (22 apps, 11 starts, 5 pts) Justin Fitzpatrick (16 apps, 8 starts) Bryan Young (8 apps, 5 starts) Declan Fitzpatrick (3 apps, 2 starts) Daniel Roach (1 app) Jarlath Carey Hookers Rory Best (c) (20 apps, 19 starts) Nigel Brady (14 apps, 5 starts, 10 pts) Stuart Philpott (3 apps) Neil Hanna (1 app) Locks Ed O'Donoghue (22 apps, 20 starts) Ryan Caldwell (21 apps, 18 starts) Matt McCullough (20 apps, 12 starts) Carlo Del Fava (15 apps, 7 starts) Filo Paulo (2 apps) | Back row Robbie Diack* (20 apps, 19 starts) David Pollock (20 apps, 16 starts, 15 pts) Stephen Ferris (13 apps, 13 starts, 5 pts) Chris Henry (9 apps, 8 starts) Kieron Dawson (14 apps, 7 starts, 5 pts) T. J. Anderson (4 apps) Willie Faloon (1 app) Scrum-halves Isaac Boss (23 apps, 16 starts, 10 pts) Cillian Willis (11 apps, 6 starts) Paul Marshall (7 apps, 4 starts, 5 pts) Fly-halves Niall O'Connor (17 apps, 12 starts, 30 pts) Ian Humphreys (17 apps, 11 starts, 113 pts) | Centres Darren Cave (21 apps, 21 starts, 35 pts) Paddy Wallace (16 apps, 15 starts, 23 pts) Andrew Trimble (11 apps, 11 starts, 15 pts) Ian Whitten (8 apps, 5 starts) Paul Steinmetz (10 apps, 4 starts, 5 pts) Rob Dewey (7 apps, 3 starts) Seamus Mallon (no apps) Wings Simon Danielli (13 apps, 12 starts, 35 pts) Timoci Nagusa (13 apps, 10 starts, 20 pts) Mark McCrea (8 apps, 2 starts, 10 pts) Paul McKenzie (no apps) Fullbacks Clinton Schifcofske (19 apps, 17 starts, 60 pts) Bryn Cunningham (13 apps, 9 starts, 5 pts) |
| (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 | Aaron Peck | England |
| Academy squad |
| Props Paul Karayiannis (2) Adam Macklin (1) Paddy McAllister (1) Hookers Stephen Douglas (3) David McGregor (1) Locks James Sandford (2) | Back row Willie Faloon (3) Scrum-halves David Drake (3) Ian Porter (2) Fly-halves none | Centres Ian Whitten (2) Jonny Shiels (1) Nevin Spence (1) Wings Chris Cochrane (2) Tommy Seymour (2) Fullbacks Ricky Andrew (1) Jamie Smith (2) |

## Heineken Cup
### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Harlequins (3) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 144 | 115 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| Stade Français | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 131 | 109 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Ulster | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 113 | 134 | −21 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Scarlets | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 124 | 154 | −30 | 0 | 2 | 8 |

## Celtic League

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Pts |
| 1 | Munster | 18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 405 | 257 | +148 | 49 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 63 |
| 2 | Edinburgh | 18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 416 | 296 | +120 | 40 | 30 | 6 | 5 | 55 |
| 3 | Leinster | 18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 401 | 270 | +131 | 38 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 52 |
| 4 | Ospreys | 18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 397 | 319 | +78 | 39 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 52 |
| 5 | Scarlets | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 376 | 395 | −19 | 41 | 46 | 3 | 1 | 40 |
| 6 | Cardiff Blues | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 322 | 361 | −39 | 31 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 38 |
| 7 | Glasgow Warriors | 18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 349 | 375 | −26 | 36 | 41 | 4 | 5 | 37 |
| 8 | Ulster | 18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 298 | 331 | −33 | 30 | 33 | 2 | 6 | 36 |
| 9 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 305 | 429 | −124 | 26 | 39 | 1 | 4 | 33 |
| 10 | Connacht | 18 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 224 | 460 | −236 | 20 | 54 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
| 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) ||||||||||||||
| Source: RaboDirect PRO12 Archived 2013-11-22 at the Wayback Machine ||||||||||||||

## 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 |
| 2008–09 Celtic League | 9 | 9,085 | 13,500 | 7,368 | 2008–09 Heineken Cup | 3 | 9,329 | 10,397 | 8,729 | 109,752 | 9,146 |

## Ulster Rugby Awards

The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held on 14 May 2009 at the Ramada Hotel, Belfast. Winners were:
* Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Stephen Ferris
* Rugby Writers Player of the Year: Stephen Ferris
* Ulster Player of the Year: Rory Best
* Young Ulster Player of the Year: Darren Cave
* Academy Player of the Year: Willie Faloon
* Schools' Player of the Year: Niall Annett, Methodist College Belfast
* Club of the Year: Ballynahinch RFC
* Club Player of the Year: Chris Stevenson, Ballynahinch RFC
* Youth Player of the Year: Stephen Irvine, Banbridge RFC
* Dorrington B. Faulkner Award: William Davidson, Armagh