# 2014–15 Ulster Rugby season

The 2014–15 season was Ulster's 21st season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and their first under Director of Rugby Les Kiss and head coach Neil Doak. They completed in the European Rugby Champions Cup and the Pro12.
New signings for this season included out-half Ian Humphreys, returning from his spell at London Irish, lock Franco van der Merwe, flanker Sean Reidy and fullback Louis Ludik. Rory Best was reinstated as captain, following the retirement of Johann Muller at the end of the previous season.
In June 2014, David Humphreys left his post as the province's Director of Rugby, joining English Premiership side Gloucester. Later that month, head coach Mark Anscombe also left the province "with immediate effect". Ireland assistant coach Les Kiss filled the role of Director of Rugby on an interim basis. In October 2014, Kiss returned to his position with the Ireland team, with Neil Doak taking the role of head coach. Kiss would return to his role with Ulster on a full-time basis following the 2015 World Cup. Bryn Cunningham was appointed the new team manager, responsible for recruiting players and negotiating contracts. Defence coach Jonny Bell left at the end of the season to become assistant coach at Gloucester, replaced by Joe Barakat.
Ulster entered the season with their home stadium, Ravenhill, redeveloped, with the stadium's capacity having been increased to 18,196, and renamed the Kingspan Stadium after its sponsor.
The Heineken Cup was reorganised as the European Rugby Champions Cup. Rather than three Irish provinces qualifying as of right, the top team from each country in the Pro12, and the top three in the league table other than those four qualified. Ulster qualified by league position, and finished third in their pool.
Ulster finished fourth in the Pro12, qualifying for the semi-finals and next season's Champions Cup. They lost the semi-final to Glasgow Warriors. Ulster led the league in scrums. Franco van der Merwe and wing Craig Gilroy made the Pro12 Dream Team, and Gilroy's try against Scarlets was named Try of the Year.
Scrum-half Ruan Pienaar was Ulster's top scorer in all competitions with 121 points. Craig Gilroy was top try scorer with twelve, and was named Ulster's Player of the Year.
Ulster's second team, the Ulster Ravens, competed in the British and Irish Cup, finishing third in their pool.
Prop Declan Fitzpatrick retired at the end of the season.

## Staff

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

## Squad

| Ulster Rugby squad |
| Props Wiehahn Herbst* (24 apps, 23 starts, 5 pts) Callum Black (26 apps, 20 starts) Andrew Warwick (22 apps, 8 starts, 5 pts) Declan Fitzpatrick (12 apps, 3 starts, 5 pts) Ricky Lutton (2 apps, 2 starts) Bronson Ross* (20 apps, 1 start) Ruaidhrí Murphy (3 apps, 1 start) Kyle McCall (1 app) Dave Ryan (no apps) Hookers Rory Best (c) (18 apps, 17 starts, 15 pts) Rob Herring (23 apps, 12 starts, 5 pts) John Andrew (2 apps) Locks Franco van der Merwe (27 apps, 26 starts, 15 pts) Dan Tuohy (12 apps, 12 starts, 15 pts) Lewis Stevenson (18 apps, 8 starts) Iain Henderson (9 apps, 8 starts, 5 pts) Alan O'Connor (11 apps, 6 starts) Neil McComb (4 apps, 1 start) Charlie Butterworth (no apps) James Simpson (no apps) | Back row Roger Wilson (27 apps, 22 starts) Robbie Diack (24 apps, 20 starts, 5 pts) Clive Ross (18 apps, 13 starts) Nick Williams (16 apps, 13 starts, 15 pts) Chris Henry (13 apps, 12 starts, 10 pts) Mike McComish (6 apps, 4 starts, 10 pts) Sean Reidy* (8 apps, 3 starts) Tim Boys (no apps) Charlie Butterworth (no apps) Conor Joyce (no apps) Scrum-halves Ruan Pienaar (17 apps, 16 starts, 121 pts) Paul Marshall (20 apps, 12 starts, 10 pts) Michael Heaney (8 apps, 1 start) Fly-halves Paddy Jackson (17 apps, 16 starts, 94 pts) Ian Humphreys (21 apps, 13 starts, 92 pts) | Centres Darren Cave (26 apps, 23 starts, 40 pts) Stuart Olding (17 apps, 12 starts, 12 pts) Jared Payne (12 apps, 11 starts, 5 pts) Stuart McCloskey (15 apps, 9 starts, 5 pts) Luke Marshall (11 apps, 6 starts, 5 pts) Sammy Arnold (2 apps, 1 start) Michael Stanley (2 apps, 1 start) Wings Craig Gilroy (23 apps, 21 starts, 65 pts) Tommy Bowe (17 apps, 16 starts, 40 pts) Michael Allen (11 apps, 10 starts, 5 pts) Andrew Trimble (6 apps, 4 starts, 20 pts) Rory Scholes (4 apps, 2 starts) Ross Adair (1 app, 5 pts) Fullbacks Louis Ludik* (25 apps, 24 starts, 20 pts) Peter Nelson (8 apps, 4 starts) Ricky Andrew (3 apps, 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 |
| Elite Performance Development Manager | Allen Clarke | Ireland |
| Representative Team Performance Manager | Michael Black | Ireland |
| Academy Schools Coach | Brian McLaughlin | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | David Drake | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Amy Davis | Ireland |
| Sub-Academy Fitness Coach | Matthew Maguire | Ireland |
| Physiotherapist | David Minion | Ireland |
| Ulster Rugby Academy squad |
| Props Michael Lagan (1) Craig Trenier (1) Hookers John Andrew (2) Paul Jackson (1) Jonny Murphy (4) Locks John Donnan (2) Alan O'Connor (3) Alex Thompson (1) | Back row Joshua Atkinson (1) Lorcan Dow (1) Frank Taggart (1) Scrum-halves David Shanahan (2) Connor Young (1) Fly-halves Sean O'Hagan (1) | Centres Sammy Arnold (1) Jacob Stockdale (1) Back three Jack Owens (1) David Busby (1) |
| (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' |
| Lock/back row Ronald Raaymakers Scrum-halves John Creighton J. Fullerton | Out-halves Josh Bingham Back three R. Campbell C. McKee Ritchie McMaster A. Liddell |

## European Rugby Champions Cup
### Pool 3

| Teamvte | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| Toulon (2) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 181 | 89 | +92 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Leicester Tigers | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 108 | 126 | −18 | 12 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Ulster | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 116 | 146 | −30 | 16 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| Scarlets | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 90 | 134 | −44 | 8 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 8 |

## Pro12

Pro12 Table
watch · · discuss :
| | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Tries For | Tries Against | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Glasgow Warriors (CH) | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 540 | 360 | +180 | 63 | 33 | 9 | 0 | 75 |
| 2 | Munster (RU) | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 581 | 367 | +214 | 68 | 31 | 8 | 3 | 75 |
| 3 | Ospreys (SF) | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 546 | 358 | +188 | 53 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 74 |
| 4 | Ulster (SF) | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 524 | 372 | +152 | 59 | 34 | 6 | 3 | 69 |
| 5 | Leinster | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 483 | 375 | +108 | 54 | 39 | 8 | 4 | 62 |
| 6 | Scarlets | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 452 | 388 | +64 | 43 | 39 | 4 | 3 | 57 |
| 7 | Connacht | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 447 | 419 | +28 | 49 | 48 | 3 | 5 | 50 |
| 8 | Edinburgh | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 399 | 419 | −20 | 41 | 48 | 3 | 3 | 48 |
| 9 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 393 | 484 | −91 | 38 | 55 | 4 | 6 | 42 |
| 10 | Cardiff Blues | 22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 430 | 545 | −115 | 46 | 57 | 3 | 2 | 35 |
| 11 | Benetton Treviso | 22 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 306 | 641 | −335 | 34 | 81 | 2 | 3 | 19 |
| 12 | Zebre | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 266 | 639 | −373 | 27 | 80 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 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) are play-off places, and earn a place in the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places, that earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top team from each country will qualify. Yellow background indicates the team that advances to a play-off semi-final against Aviva Premiership side Gloucester, who qualified for the play-off as the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup winners. Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup. |||||||||||||||

### End of season awards

Wing Craig Gilroy and lock Franco van der Merwe made the Pro12 Dream Team.

## 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 |
| 2014–15 Pro12 | 11 | 16,037 | 17,139 | 13,501 | 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup | 3 | 16,179 | 16,931 | 15,659 | 224,946 | 16,068 |

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

| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts |
| Rotherham Titans | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 204 | 104 | 100 | 4 | 1 | 25 |
| Yorkshire Carnegie | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 208 | 110 | 98 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Ulster Ravens | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 121 | 162 | –41 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Aberavon | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 89 | 246 | –157 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Source : BBC Updated: 13 December 2014 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
### 2014-15 Women's Interprovincial Series

| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Munster | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 7 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | Leinster | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 21 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | Connacht | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 54 | 29 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Ulster | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 88 | 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: Craig Gilroy
* Heineken Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Rory Best
* BT Young Player of the Year: Stuart McCloskey
* Rugby Writers Player of the Year: Craig Gilroy
* Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year: Darren Cave
* Abbey Insurance Academy Player of the Year: Sammy Arnold
* Danske Bank Ulster Schools Player of the Year: Rob Lyttle