# 2005–06 Ulster Rugby season

In the 2005–06 season, Ulster were Celtic League champions for the first time. This was their eleventh season under professionalism, and their second under head coach Mark McCall. They also competed in the Heineken Cup.
In pre-season, Gary Longwell replaced Maurice Field as head of the academy. Scrum-half Neil Doak retired as a player and became a High Performance Coach with the academy. Flanker and captain Andy Ward also retired. New signings included Australian international lock Justin Harrison, and Irish-qualified New Zealand-born scrum-half Isaac Boss. Prop Justin Fitzpatrick returned from Castres Olympique.
Ulster finished top of the table in the Celtic League. Tommy Bowe was the league's top try scorer with ten. David Humphreys was second top points scorer with 229, and second leading marksman with 81 successful goal kicks. Justin Harrison was joint top of the appearances table with 20. In the Heineken Cup, they finished third in Pool 4, failing to qualify for the knockout stage.
Players who made their debuts this season include flanker Stephen Ferris, prop Declan Fitzpatrick, centre Andrew Trimble, and lock Ryan Caldwell, Andrew Trimble was Ulster's Player of the Year, and IRUPA Newcomer of the Year. Neil Best won the IRUPA Unsung Hero award.

## Staff

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| Director of Coaching | Mark McCall | Ireland |
| Assistant coach (forwards) | Allen Clarke | Ireland |
| Assistant coach (defence) | Neil Kelly | England |

## Squad
### Senior squad

| Ulster Rugby squad |
| Props Simon Best (22 apps, 22 starts, 5 pts) Bryan Young (23 apps, 17 starts) Justin Fitzpatrick (19 apps, 11 starts) Declan Fitzpatrick (4 apps, 2 starts) Rod Moore (1 app) John Andress (no apps) Hookers Rory Best (23 apps, 21 starts, 15 pts) Nigel Brady (9 apps, 3 starts) Paul Shields (8 apps, 2 starts) Locks Justin Harrison (26 apps, 26 starts, 10 pts) Matt McCullough (23 apps, 23 starts, 10 pts) Rowan Frost* (11 apps, 2 starts) Ryan Caldwell (8 apps, 1 start) Henry Head (1 app) Lewis Stevenson (no apps) | Back row Roger Wilson (26 apps, 26 starts, 20 pts) Neil Best (25 apps, 24 starts, 30 pts) Neil McMillan (25 apps, 16 starts, 10 pts) Stephen Ferris (17 apps, 11 starts, 5 pts) Campbell Feather (4 apps, 1 start) Oisin Hennessy (no apps) Scrum-halves Isaac Boss* (21 apps, 14 starts, 15 pts) Kieran Campbell (19 apps, 12 starts) Reece Spee* (1 app) Fly-halves David Humphreys (22 apps, 22 starts, 267 pts) Adam Larkin (7 apps, 3 starts) | Centres Andrew Trimble (22 apps, 22 starts, 42 pts) Kevin Maggs (18 apps, 16 starts, 5 pts) Paul Steinmetz (17 apps, 15 starts, 48 pts) Paddy Wallace (11 apps, 7 starts, 24 pts) Jonny Bell (8 apps, 5 starts) Shane Stewart (no apps) Wings Tommy Bowe (23 apps, 23 starts, 55 pts) James Topping (15 apps, 11 starts, 10 pts) Andy Maxwell (12 apps, 11 starts, 45 pts) Tyrone Howe (5 apps, 5 pts) Fullbacks Bryn Cunningham (21 apps, 21 starts, 10 pts) Scott Young (no apps) |
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. $^*$ denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality. |

### Academy squad

| Academy squad |
| Props John Andress Niall Conlon Hookers Stuart Philpott (1) Locks Lewis Stevenson | Back row Chris Henry Oisin Hennessy David Pollock (1) Scrum-halves Paul Marshall (1) Fly-halves Gareth Steenson | Centres Darren Cave (1) Stuart Megaw Glen Telford (3) Wings Paul McKenzie Fullbacks Mark Kettyle (1) |

## 2005–06 Heineken Cup
### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Biarritz (2) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 10 | +14 | 182 | 93 | +89 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Saracens | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 128 | 129 | −1 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Ulster | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 126 | 111 | +15 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| Benetton Treviso | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 28 | −15 | 104 | 207 | −103 | 2 | 1 | 3 |

## 2005-06 Celtic League

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Pts |
| 1 | Ulster | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 510 | 347 | +163 | 49 | 31 | 3 | 2 | 75 |
| 2 | Leinster | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 545 | 427 | +118 | 59 | 45 | 8 | 2 | 74 |
| 3 | Munster | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 439 | 372 | +67 | 49 | 42 | 7 | 3 | 66 |
| 4 | Cardiff Blues | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 475 | 389 | +86 | 51 | 38 | 6 | 5 | 63 |
| 5 | Edinburgh Gunners | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 418 | 415 | +3 | 48 | 45 | 5 | 3 | 60 |
| 6 | Llanelli Scarlets | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 418 | 402 | +16 | 49 | 37 | 3 | 4 | 57 |
| 7 | Ospreys | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 381 | 409 | −28 | 33 | 38 | 1 | 2 | 55 |
| 8 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 355 | 456 | −101 | 40 | 51 | 2 | 7 | 45 |
| 9 | Border Reivers | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 386 | 501 | −115 | 39 | 59 | 1 | 7 | 44 |
| 10 | Connacht | 20 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 325 | 466 | −141 | 28 | 51 | 1 | 4 | 37 |
| 11 | Glasgow Warriors | 20 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 371 | 439 | −68 | 39 | 47 | 2 | 7 | 37 |
| 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) ||||||||||||||
| Due to the uneven number of participating teams, each team had two free weekends and were awarded 4 match points each time. ||||||||||||||
| Source: RaboDirect PRO12 Archived 22 November 2013 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 |
| 2005–06 Celtic League | 10 | 9,181 | 12,300 | 6,487 | 2005–06 Heineken Cup | 3 | 12,284 | 12,300 | 12,252 | 128,665 | 9,897 |

## Ulster Rugby Awards

The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the Ramada Hotel on 18 May 2006. Winners were:
* Bank of Ireland Ulster Player of the Year: Andrew Trimble
* Guinness Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Justin Harrison
* UTV Young Player of the Year: Stephen Ferris
* Northern Bank Schools Player of the Year: Stephen Douglas, RBAI
* Kukri Sportswear Club of the Year: Rainey Old Boys
* Calor Gas Youth Player of the Year: William Stewart, Ballyclare
* Dorrington B. Faulkner Award: Ian Beggs, Carrickfergus
* First Trust Club Player of the Year: Glenn Moore, QUB