# 2015–16 Ulster Rugby season

The 2015–16 season was Ulster's 22nd season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and the second under Director of Rugby Les Kiss and head coach Neil Doak. They competed in the European Rugby Champions Cup and the Pro12.
In the Pro12, Ulster finished fourth, qualifying for the playoffs and for next season's Champions Cup. They lost to Leinster in the semi-final. Ulster won the Fair Play Award, and wing Craig Gilroy made the Pro12 Dream Team. In the Champions Cup, they finished second in Pool 1, missing out on the knockout stage. Academy wing Jacob Stockdale made his senior debut this season. Centre Stuart McCloskey was Ulster's Player of the Year. Out-half Paddy Jackson was Ulster's leading scorer with 200 points. Craig Gilroy was leading try scorer with ten. Lock Franco van der Merwe was leading tackler with 261. At the end of the season, number eight Nick Williams left for Cardiff Blues, and lock Dan Tuohy for Bristol Bears. Out-half Ian Humphreys retired.

## Staff

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| Director of Rugby | Les Kiss | Australia |
| Head Coach | Neil Doak | Ireland |
| Team Manager | Bryn Cunningham | Ireland |
| Forwards Coach | Allen Clarke | Ireland |
| Coach | Joe Barakat | Australia |
| Head of Strength & Conditioning | Jonny Davis | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Kevin Geary | Ireland |
| Head of Physiotherapy | Gareth Robinson | Ireland |
| Physiotherapist | Alan McAldin | Ireland |

## Squad
### Senior squad

| Ulster Rugby squad |
| Props Ricky Lutton (26 apps, 14 starts) Wiehahn Herbst* (15 apps, 14 starts, 5 pts) Callum Black (22 apps, 13 starts, 5 pts) Kyle McCall (21 apps, 10 starts, 5 pts) Andrew Warwick (17 apps, 6 starts) Bronson Ross* (10 apps, 1 start) Ruaidhrí Murphy (no apps) Hookers Rob Herring (27 apps, 15 starts, 10 pts) Rory Best (c) (14 apps, 12 starts, 10 pts) John Andrew (10 apps, 2 starts) Jonny Murphy (6 apps, 1 start) Paul Jackson (1 app) Locks Franco van der Merwe (26 apps, 26 starts, 5 pts) Peter Browne* (14 apps, 10 starts, 10 pts) Alan O'Connor (12 apps, 10 starts) Iain Henderson (9 apps, 9 starts, 5 pts) Dan Tuohy (8 apps, 7 starts, 10 pts) Lewis Stevenson (9 apps, 4 starts, 5 pts) | Back row Sean Reidy (23 apps, 16 starts, 25 pts) Nick Williams (19 apps, 16 starts, 30 pts) Robbie Diack (23 apps, 15 starts, 5 pts) Roger Wilson (26 apps, 14 starts) Chris Henry (18 apps, 14 starts, 10 pts) Willie Faloon (8 apps, 6 starts, 10 pts) Clive Ross (10 apps, 1 start) Stephen Mulholland (2 apps, 1 start) Conor Joyce (no apps) Frank Taggart (no apps) Scrum-halves Ruan Pienaar (21 apps, 18 starts, 19 pts) Paul Marshall (28 apps, 11 starts, 22 pts) David Shanahan (5 apps) Paul Rowley (no apps) Fly-halves Paddy Jackson (24 apps, 20 starts, 193 pts) Ian Humphreys (9 apps, 4 starts, 34 pts) Sam Windsor* (1 app, 1 start) | Centres Stuart McCloskey (23 apps, 21 starts, 39 pts) Luke Marshall (21 apps, 20 starts, 22 pts) Darren Cave (19 apps, 10 starts, 10 pts) Stuart Olding (12 apps, 9 starts, 19 pts) Sammy Arnold (12 apps, 5 starts) Jared Payne (7 apps, 7 starts, 25 pts) Wings Craig Gilroy (26 apps, 25 starts, 60 pts) Andrew Trimble (18 apps, 18 starts, 20 pts) Jacob Stockdale (6 apps, 5 starts) Tommy Bowe (1 app, 1 start, 10 pts) Rory Scholes (no apps) Fullbacks Louis Ludik* (15 apps, 12 starts, 5 pts) Peter Nelson (9 apps, 8 starts, 9 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 |
| Head Coach | Kieran Campbell | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Matthew Maguire | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Matthew Godfrey | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Amy Davis | Ireland |
| Representative Team Performance Manager | Michael Black | Ireland |
| Talent Development Officer | Jonny Gillespie | Ireland |
| Elite Player Development Officer/Head Coach Ulster 'A' | Alex Codling | Ireland |
| Elite Player Development Officer | James Topping | Ireland |
| Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach | David Drake | Ireland |
| Ulster Rugby Academy squad |
| Props Jake Byrne (1) Peter Cooper (1) Ross Kane (1) Michael Lagan (2) Craig Trenier (2) Hookers None Locks John Donnan (3) Alex Thompson (2) | Back row Nick Timoney (1) Lorcan Dow (2) (1 app) Scrum-halves David Shanahan (3) Liam Free (1) Connor Young (2) Fly-halves Andy McGrath (1) Johnny McPhillips (1) | Centres Jacob Stockdale (1) (6 apps, 5 starts) Mark Best Wings Rob Lyttle (1) Jack Owens (2) Fullbacks David Busby (2) |
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players, number in brackets indicates players stage in the three-year academy cycle. $^*$ denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality. Players and their allocated positions from the Ulster Rugby website. |

### Ulster Ravens

The following players, other than players from the senior squad and academy, appeared for the Ulster Ravens this season.
| Players used by Ulster 'A' |
| Props James Simpson Jonny Simpson Back row Conall Boomer Matty Rea | Scrum-halves Aaron Cairns Josh Pentland Centres Callum Patterson Back three Adam Liddell Roger McBurney |

## European Rugby Champions Cup
### Pool 1

| Teamvte | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| Saracens (1) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 220 | 73 | +147 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 28 |
| Ulster | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 169 | 109 | +60 | 21 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| Oyonnax | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 99 | 218 | –119 | 10 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Toulouse | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 85 | 173 | –88 | 11 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 5 |

## Pro12

2015–16 Pro12
watch · · discuss :
| | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Diff | Tries For | Tries Against | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Leinster (RU) | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 458 | 290 | +168 | 51 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 73 |
| 2 | Connacht (CH) | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 507 | 406 | +101 | 60 | 46 | 8 | 5 | 73 |
| 3 | Glasgow Warriors (SF) | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 557 | 380 | +177 | 68 | 37 | 8 | 6 | 72 |
| 4 | Ulster (SF) | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 488 | 307 | +181 | 61 | 29 | 8 | 5 | 69 |
| 5 | Scarlets | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 477 | 458 | +19 | 45 | 54 | 2 | 5 | 63 |
| 6 | Munster | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 459 | 417 | +42 | 56 | 36 | 6 | 5 | 63 |
| 7 | Cardiff Blues | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 542 | 461 | +81 | 62 | 53 | 5 | 7 | 56 |
| 8 | Ospreys | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 490 | 455 | +35 | 55 | 49 | 6 | 3 | 55 |
| 9 | Edinburgh | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 405 | 366 | +39 | 41 | 36 | 2 | 8 | 54 |
| 10 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 353 | 492 | −139 | 33 | 57 | 0 | 10 | 26 |
| 11 | Zebre | 22 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 308 | 718 | −410 | 35 | 99 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| 12 | Benetton Treviso | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 320 | 614 | −294 | 35 | 79 | 0 | 8 | 20 |
| If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: number of matches won; the difference between points for and points against; the number of tries scored; the most points scored; the difference between tries for and tries against; the fewest red cards received; the fewest yellow cards received. |||||||||||||||
| Green background (rows 1 to 4) were play-off places, and earned places in the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places that earned places in the European Rugby Champions Cup. To facilitate the 2015 Rugby World Cup, there were no play-offs for the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup; the 20th place went to the winner of the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup if not already qualified. Because Challenge Cup winner Montpellier qualified via the Top 14, its place passed to the top team from that league not already qualified. Plain background indicates teams that earned a place in the 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup. |||||||||||||||

### End of season awards

Wing Craig Gilroy was joint top try scorer with 10, and was named in the Pro12 Dream Team. Ulster won the competition's Fair Play award.

## 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 |
| 2015–16 Pro12 | 11 | 15,310 | 17,332 | 12,640 | 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup | 3 | 16,111 | 17,108 | 15,108 | 216,740 | 15,481 |

## Ulster Ravens
### British and Irish Cup
#### Pool 2

| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts |
| Bedford Blues | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 166 | 144 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Bristol | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 200 | 112 | 88 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| Ulster Ravens | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 143 | –31 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Scarlets Premiership Select | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 114 | 193 | –79 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Source : Updated: 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 |||||||||||

## Ulster Women
### 2015-16 Women's Interprovincial Series

| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Munster | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | Leinster | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 20 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | Connacht | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 35 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Ulster | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 96 | 3 | 3 |

## Ulster Rugby Awards

The Heineken Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the Culloden Estate and Spa, Holywood. Winners were:
* Bank of Ireland Ulster Player of the Year: Stuart McCloskey
* Heineken Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Nick Williams
* BT Young Player of the Year: Kyle McCall
* Rugby Writers Player of the Year: Franco van der Merwe
* Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year: Paddy Jackson
* Abbey Insurance Academy Player of the Year: Adam McBurney

## Season reviews

* Ulster: Season Review 2015 – 2016, The Front Row Union, 23 May 2016