# 2017–18 Ulster Rugby season

The 2017–18 season was Ulster's 24th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and Jono Gibbes' only season as head coach. Rory Best was captain. They competed in the inaugural Pro14 (successor competition to the Pro12) and the European Rugby Champions Cup.

## Events
### Competitions

The Pro12 became the Pro14 with the addition of two teams from South Africa. The fourteen teams were arranged in two conferences. Teams played the teams in their own conference and their regional rivals home and away, the teams in the other conference other than their regional rivals home or away. The first placed team in each conference would qualify for the semi-finals, with the second- and third-placed teams playing quarter-finals for the right to join them. The top three teams in each conference, not including the South African teams, would qualify for next season's Champions Cup, with the fourth-placed teams in each conference playing off for the seventh Champions Cup slot.

### Personnel changes

After the departure of Neil Doak, Jono Gibbes joined Ulster as head coach, with Dwayne Peel joining him as assistant coach, replacing Allen Clarke, who had left to join the coaching staff at Ospreys. Aaron Dundon joined as scrum coach, with Niall Malone remaining as skills coach.
Out-half Paddy Jackson and centre Stuart Olding were charged with rape and suspended from playing pending trial (both would be acquitted, but have their contracts revoked). Australian out-half Christian Lealiifano was signed on a five-month loan to cover. Rory Best was restored to the captaincy. The IRFU had blocked South African scrum-half Ruan Pienaar extending his contract as part of their restrictions on foreign players, and he left for Montpellier. John Cooney was signed from Connacht to replace him. Other new arrivals were two South Africans, prop Schalk van der Merwe, signed from the Southern Kings, and loose forward Jean Deysel, signed from the Sharks. Back row forward Roger Wilson retired, lock Conor Joyce and centre Mark Best moved to Jersey Reds, hooker Johnny Murphy went to Rotherham Titans, and lock John Donnan, flankers Lorcan Dow and Stephen Mullholand, and prop Ricky Lutton were released.
Players joining the academy this year were out-half Michael Lowry and centre James Hume, from RBAI's three-time Schools' Cup-winning team; prop Tom O'Toole from Campbell College; lock/back row Matthew Dalton, from BRA, hooker Alexander Clarke (son of former Ulster hooker and assistant coach Allen Clarke), from Ballymena Academy; flanker Joe Dunleavy, from City of Derry R.F.C.; lock John McCusker, from Rainey Old Boys R.F.C.; lock Jack Regan; flanker Greg Jones and prop Eric O'Sullivan. Wing Robert Baloucoune and scrum-half Graham Curtis joined later in the season.

### Season

After a poor run of form, with eighteen tries conceded in four matches over the Christmas period, Director of Rugby Les Kiss left in January, with Gibbes assuming all coaching responsibility of the team for the remainder of the season. Ulster finished third in Pool 1 of the Champions Cup, failing to qualify for the knockout stage. They finished fourth of seven in Conference B of the Pro14, failing to qualify for the playoffs, and having to beat Ospreys in a playoff to qualify for next season's Champions Cup. Gibbes cut short his contract at the end of the season. Former Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll described the province as "a bit of a basket case", facing "Administration issues, senior players retiring, the well documented court case, now no number 10 to build the team around, no coach next year, struggling for Champions Cup rugby next season."
Academy flanker Nick Timoney had a breakthrough season, making twenty appearances and scoring five tries. John Cooney was Ulster's leading scorer with 225 points; he was the Pro14's top scorer with 175 points, and made the Pro14 Dream Team. Wing Craig Gilroy was the team's leading try scorer with eleven. Lock Alan O'Connor was leading tackler with 226. John Cooney was Ulster's Player of the Year.
This was fullback Charles Piutau's last season with Ulster: he moved to Bristol Bears at the end of the season. Wings Tommy Bowe and Andrew Trimble and flanker Chris Henry retired. Centre Jared Payne also retired as a player, and was appointed defence coach.

## Staff

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| Chief executive officer | Shane Logan | Ireland |
| Director of Rugby | Les Kiss | Australia |
| Operations director | Bryn Cunningham | Ireland |
| Head coach | Jono Gibbes | New Zealand |
| Assistant coach | Dwayne Peel | Wales |
| Scrum Coach | Aaron Dundon | New Zealand |
| Skills Coach | Niall Malone | Ireland |
| Head of Strength & Conditioning | Jonny Davis | Ireland |
| Strength & conditioning coach | Kevin Geary | Ireland |

## Squad
### Senior squad

| Ulster Rugby squad |
| Props Wiehahn Herbst* (18 apps, 14 starts, 5 pts) Callum Black (18 apps, 13 starts) Andrew Warwick (20 apps, 8 starts) Rodney Ah You (18 apps, 7 starts) Kyle McCall (12 apps, 6 starts) Ross Kane (11 apps, 5 starts)) Tom O'Toole (4 apps, 2 starts) Schalk van der Merwe (2 apps, 1 start) Tommy O'Hagan (no apps) Hookers Rob Herring (24 apps, 15 starts) John Andrew (17 apps, 7 starts, 15 pts) Rory Best (c) (9 apps, 6 starts, 15 pts) Adam McBurney (3 apps) Locks Alan O'Connor (24 apps, 22 starts, 10 pts) Kieran Treadwell (21 aps, 17 starts, 10 pts) Iain Henderson (16 apps, 15 starts, 5 pts) Matthew Dalton (7 apps, 2 starts) Peter Browne* (3 apps, 2 starts) Jack Regan (1 app) | Back row Sean Reidy (22 apps, 19 starts, 20 pts) Nick Timoney (20 apps, 17 starts, 25 pts) Jean Deysel (11 apps, 11 starts) Matty Rea (18 apps, 9 starts) Chris Henry (19 apps, 8 starts) Robbie Diack (13 apps, 8 starts, 5 pts) Clive Ross (8 apps, 4 starts, 5 pts) Greg Jones (3 apps, 2 starts) Marcell Coetzee (1 app, 1 start) Aaron Hall (1 app, 1 start) Scrum-halves John Cooney (25 apps, 22 starts, 233 pts) Paul Marshall (11 apps, 3 starts) David Shanahan (7 apps, 1 start, 10 pts) Johnny Stewart (3 apps, 1 start) Aaron Cairns (1 app, 1 start) Fly-halves Christian Lealiifano (17 apps, 17 starts, 41 pts) Johnny McPhillips (12 apps, 9 starts, 19 pts) Peter Nelson (10 apps, 3 starts, 20 pts) Angus Curtis* (2 apps) Brett Herron* (1 app, 2 pts) Paddy Jackson (suspended) | Centres Stuart McCloskey (24 apps, 24 starts, 35 pts) Luke Marshall (14 app, 13 starts, 5 pts) Darren Cave (16 apps, 9 starts, 22 pts) Stuart Olding (suspended) Jared Payne (no apps) Wings Louis Ludik* (24 apps, 19 starts, 5 pts) Jacob Stockdale (19 apps, 18 starts, 50 pts) Craig Gilroy (13 app, 13 start, 55 pts) Tommy Bowe (17 apps, 11 starts, 15 pts) Andrew Trimble (12 apps, 9 starts, 30 pts) Rob Lyttle (5 apps, 2 starts, 20 pts) Jack Owens (no apps) Fullbacks Charles Piutau (21 apps, 21 starts, 15 pts) David Busby (1 app) |
| (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. |
* Internationally capped players in bold
* Players qualified to play for Ireland on dual nationality or residency grounds*
* Irish Provinces are currently limited to four non-Irish eligible (NIE) players and one non-Irish qualified player (NIQ or "Project Player").

### 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 Peter Cooper (3) Eric O'Sullivan (1) Tom O'Toole (1) (5 apps, 2 starts) Hookers Alexander Clarke (1) Adam McBurney (2) (3 apps) Zack McCall (2) Locks Matthew Dalton (1) (8 apps, 2 starts) John McCusker (1) Jack Regan (1) | Back row Joe Dunleavy (1) Aaron Hall (2) (1 app, 1 start) Marcus Rea (2) Nick Timoney (3) (20 apps, 17 starts, 25 pts) Greg Jones (1) (4 apps, 2 starts) Scrum-halves Johnny Stewart (2) (4 apps, 1 start) Graham Curtis* (1) Fly-halves Angus Curtis* (2) (2 apps) Michael Lowry (1) | Centres Rory Butler (2) James Hume (1) Wings Robert Baloucoune (1) Fullbacks None |
| (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 'A'

The following players, other than players from the senior squad and academy, appeared for Ulster 'A' this season.
| Players used by Ulster 'A' |
| Props Michael Cromie Jonny Simpson Back row Matthew Agnew Azur Allison Caleb Montgomery | Scrum-halves Michael Stronge Centres Stewart Moore Chris Swash Wings Angus Kernohan |

## European Rugby Champions Cup

| Teamvte | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| La Rochelle (5) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 156 | 121 | +35 | 18 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| Wasps | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 154 | 121 | +33 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| Ulster | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 132 | 118 | +14 | 15 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Harlequins | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 106 | 188 | –82 | 15 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 7 |

## Pro14

2017–18 Pro14 tables
view · watch · · discuss :
| Conference A ||||||||||||||
| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TBP | LBP | PTS |
| 1 | Glasgow Warriors (SF) | 21 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 614 | 366 | +248 | 81 | 38 | 12 | 2 | 76 |
| 2 | Munster (SF) | 21 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 568 | 361 | +207 | 78 | 42 | 10 | 5 | 69 |
| 3 | Cheetahs (QF) | 21 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 609 | 554 | +55 | 75 | 68 | 10 | 5 | 63 |
| 4 | Cardiff Blues | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 502 | 482 | +20 | 56 | 59 | 5 | 5 | 54 |
| 5 | Ospreys | 21 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 390 | 487 | −97 | 44 | 60 | 5 | 3 | 44 |
| 6 | Connacht | 21 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 445 | 477 | −32 | 53 | 54 | 5 | 6 | 39 |
| 7 | Zebre | 21 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 408 | 593 | –185 | 50 | 78 | 4 | 4 | 36 |
| Conference B ||||||||||||||
| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TBP | LBP | PTS |
| 1 | Leinster (CH) | 21 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 601 | 374 | +227 | 83 | 46 | 10 | 2 | 70 |
| 2 | Scarlets (RU) | 21 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 528 | 365 | +163 | 69 | 43 | 9 | 3 | 70 |
| 3 | Edinburgh (QF) | 21 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 494 | 375 | +119 | 62 | 44 | 7 | 1 | 68 |
| 4 | Ulster (PO) | 21 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 538 | 482 | +56 | 68 | 61 | 8 | 2 | 62 |
| 5 | Benetton | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 415 | 451 | −36 | 51 | 55 | 6 | 5 | 55 |
| 6 | Dragons | 21 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 378 | 672 | −294 | 43 | 94 | 4 | 4 | 20 |
| 7 | Southern Kings | 21 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 378 | 829 | −451 | 48 | 119 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 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 indicates teams that competed in the Pro14 play-offs, and also earned a place in the 2018–19 European Champions Cup (excluding South African teams who are ineligible) Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places that earned a place in the 2018–19 European Champions Cup, including the winner of the play-off between the two fourth-ranked European teams in each conference Yellow background indicates the loser of the play-off between the two fourth-ranked European teams in each conference, that earned a place in the 2018–19 European Rugby Challenge Cup. Plain background indicates teams that earned a place in the 2018–19 European Rugby Challenge Cup. (CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. (QF) Losing quarter-finalists. (PO) Champions Cup play-off winners. ||||||||||||||

### Play-off for the 7th Champions Cup place

The South African teams cannot compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top three eligible teams in each conference automatically qualify for following year's Champions Cup. The fourth ranked eligible team in each conference meet in a play-off match with the winner taking the seventh Champions Cup place.
Ulster had home advantage against Ospreys by virtue of finishing with the greater number of points accumulated during the PRO14 regular league (62, as opposed to Ospreys’ 44). The match was played on Sunday 20 May, at the Kingspan Stadium.

### End of season awards

John Cooney was the competition's top scorer with 175 points, and was named at scrum-half on the Pro14 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 |
| 2017–18 Pro14 | 12* | 14,026 | 17,631 | 7,014 | 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup | 3 | 15,314 | 15,646 | 15,004 | 214,247 | 14,283 |

## Ulster A
### British and Irish Cup
#### Pool 5

| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts |
| Ulster A (Q) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 143 | 111 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Cornish Pirates (Q) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 162 | 86 | 76 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| Scarlets Premiership Select | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 107 | 158 | -51 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Hartpury College | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 124 | 180 | -56 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Source: Updated: 3 February 2018 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 |||||||||||

#### Quarter-final
## Ulster Women
### 2017-18 Women's Interprovincial Series

| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Munster | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 58 | 29 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Leinster | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 29 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | Connacht | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 39 | 0 | 8 |
| 4 | Ulster | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 95 | 0 | 0 |

## Ulster Rugby Awards

The Heineken Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the La Mon Hotel and Country Club, Castlereagh, on 10 May 2018. Winners were:
* Ulster Player of the Year: John Cooney (nominees: Nick Timoney, Stuart McCloskey)
* Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Paul Marshall
* Young Player of the Year: Nick Timoney (nominees: Matty Rea, Johnny McPhillips)
* Rugby Writers Player of the Year: John Cooney (nominees: Jacob Stockdale, Nick Timoney)
* Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year: John Cooney (nominees: Rory Best, Jacob Stockdale)
* Academy Player of the Year: Nick Timoney (nominees: Tom O'Toole, Angus Curtis)
* Ulster A Player of the Year: Tom O'Toole (nominees: Clive Ross, Matthew Agnew)
* Community Rugby Champions: Patrick Baird, Malone RFC; Noel Brown, Cooke RFC (nominees: Clem Bassett, Ballynahinch RFC; Liam Foley, Bangor RFC)
* Referee of the Year: Chris Busby
* Women's Player of the Year: Larissa Muldoon, Railway Union RFC (nominees: Beth Cregan, Cooke RFC; Brittany Hogan, Cooke RFC)
* U18 Girls Player of the Year: Bethany McDowell, Malone RFC (nominees: Kelly McCormill, Monaghan RFC; Lucinda Kinghan, Monaghan RFC)
* Youth Player of the Year: Conor McMenamin, Letterkenny RFC (nominees: Seif Eldin Abd El Gawad, Carrickfergus RFC; Charlie Clarke, Rainey Old Boys R.F.C.)
* Schools' Player of the Year: Aaron Sexton, Bangor Grammar School (nominees: John McKee, Campbell College; Nathan Doak, Wallace High School)
* Dorrington B Faulkner Award: Mark Orr
* Club Player of the Year: Matthew Agnew, Ballymena RFC (nominees: Andrew Morrison, Banbridge RFC; Peter Cromie, Banbridge RFC)
* Club of the Year: City of Armagh RFC (nominees: Malone RFC, Grosvenor RFC)
* Special Recognition Award: Norman Pollock

## Season reviews

* Ulster Rugby: Who did what 2017-18, The Front Row Union, 25 June 2018