# 2003–04 Ulster Rugby season

The 2003–04 season was Ulster Rugby's ninth under professionalism, and their third under head coach Alan Solomons. They competed in the Heineken Cup, the Celtic League and the inaugural Celtic Cup.
Ulster introduced a new logo this season, featuring a red hand surrounded by the outline shapes of two crossed rugby balls in red and black, which remains in use. A proposal to rebrand the team the "Ulster Knights" was discussed, but rejected.
The numbers of teams in the Celtic League was reduced from sixteen to twelve in a single league table, with a full home and away schedule increasing each team's fixture list from seven to 22 matches. There would be no playoffs to determine the league's champions, but a knockout competition, the Celtic Cup, was introduced alongside the league. This meant that the Irish provinces could now operate as full-time professional clubs, with provincial players no longer able to play for clubs in the All-Ireland League. Ulster finished second in the table. Tyrone Howe was the league's joint third leading try scorer with nine. In the Heineken Cup, they came third in Pool 1, not qualifying for the knockout stage. They won the Celtic Cup, defeating Edinburgh in the final.
Making their debuts for the province this season were props Bryan Young and Simon Shawe, lock Tim Barker, back row forward Roger Wilson, scrum-half Reece Spee, wing Tommy Bowe and centre Seamus Mallon. New signings were props Ronan McCormack and Rod Moore, locks Rowan Frost and Matt Mustchin, and centre Paul Steinmetz.
James Topping became only the second player, after Gary Longwell, to make 100 appearances for Ulster. Tommy Bowe was named IRUPA Young Player of the Year. Roger Wilson was Ulster's Player of the Year.
Head coach Alan Solomons and forwards coach Adrian Kennedy left at the end of the season to join Northampton Saints. Backs coach Mark McCall was named as the new head coach.

## Staff

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| Chief Executive | Michael Reid | Ireland |
| Director of Rugby | Alan Solomons | South Africa |
| Team manager | John McComish | Ireland |
| Forwards coach | Adrian Kennedy | Ireland |
| Backs coach | Mark McCall | Ireland |
| Assistant conditioning coach | John McCloskey | Ireland |
| Physiotherapist | Gareth Robinson | Ireland |

## Squad
### Senior squad

| Ulster Rugby squad |
| Props Rod Moore (27 apps, 21 starts) Simon Best (17 apps, 14 starts, 10 pts) Robbi Kempson (13 apps, 12 starts) Ronan McCormack (15 apps, 9 starts, 5 pts) Bryan Young (10 apps, 6 starts) Simon Shawe (2 apps) Clem Boyd Hookers Matt Sexton (25 apps, 20 starts, 10 pts) Paul Shields (26 apps, 11 starts, 15 pts) Nigel Brady Locks Matt Mustchin (26 apps, 18 starts) Matt McCullough (21 apps, 17 starts, 5 pts) Rowan Frost* (25 apps, 16 starts, 10 pts) Gary Longwell (13 apps, 11 starts) Tim Barker (2 apps) | Back row Andy Ward (c) (30 apps, 30 starts, 30 pts) Neil Best (30 apps, 26 starts, 25 pts) Roger Wilson (26 apps, 20 starts, 5 pts) Tony McWhirter (10 apps, 9 starts, 10 pts) Neil McMillan (13 apps, 8 starts, 20 pts) Warren Brosnihan (8 apps, 10 pts) Gary Brown Scrum-halves Neil Doak (21 apps, 17 starts) Kieran Campbell (17 apps, 11 starts) Reece Spee* (3 apps) Fly-halves David Humphreys (15 apps, 15 starts, 204 pts) Adam Larkin (22 apps, 15 starts, 165 pts) | Centres Shane Stewart (24 apps, 22 starts, 20 pts) Paul Steinmetz (21 apps, 20 starts, 5 pts) Ryan Constable (12 apps, 10 starts, 45 pts) Seamus Mallon (12 apps, 7 starts, 5 pts) Jonny Bell Wings James Topping (25 apps, 23 starts, 10 pts) Tyrone Howe (21 apps, 21 starts, 60 pts) Scott Young (20 apps, 17 starts_ Tommy Bowe (2 apps, 1 start, 5 pts) Andy Maxwell Fullbacks Bryn Cunningham (27 apps, 26 starts, 25 pts) Paddy Wallace (19 apps, 9 starts, 70 pts) |
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. $^*$ denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality. |

## 2003–04 Heineken Cup
### Pool 1

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Stade Français | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 134 | 80 | 54 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Leicester Tigers | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 137 | 115 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| Ulster | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 109 | 106 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Newport Gwent Dragons | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 16 | −11 | 67 | 146 | −79 | 0 | 1 | 9 |

## 2003-04 Celtic League

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Pts |
| 1 | Llanelli Scarlets | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 597 | 385 | +212 | 57 | 39 | 7 | 3 | 76 |
| 2 | Ulster | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 617 | 363 | +254 | 67 | 29 | 8 | 4 | 72 |
| 3 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 590 | 449 | +141 | 59 | 41 | 7 | 1 | 72 |
| 4 | Celtic Warriors | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 560 | 451 | +109 | 48 | 37 | 5 | 4 | 65 |
| 5 | Neath-Swansea Ospreys | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 582 | 512 | +70 | 55 | 60 | 5 | 4 | 55 |
| 6 | Cardiff Blues | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 570 | 467 | +103 | 73 | 54 | 7 | 3 | 54 |
| 7 | Munster | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 422 | 456 | −34 | 45 | 49 | 6 | 5 | 51 |
| 8 | Leinster | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 523 | 580 | −57 | 51 | 65 | 4 | 5 | 47 |
| 9 | Connacht | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 479 | 550 | −71 | 50 | 59 | 5 | 3 | 44 |
| 10 | Edinburgh | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 454 | 622 | −168 | 52 | 69 | 6 | 2 | 44 |
| 11 | Glasgow | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 442 | 614 | −172 | 52 | 61 | 3 | 3 | 32 |
| 12 | Borders | 22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 363 | 750 | −387 | 42 | 88 | 1 | 5 | 22 |
| 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 22 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine ||||||||||||||

## Celtic Cup
### 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 |
| 2003–04 Celtic League | 12• | 6,863 | 12,000 | 5,041 | 2003–04 Heineken Cup | 3 | 11,489 | 12,300 | 10,243 | 116,819 | 7,788 |

## Ulster Rugby Awards

The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the Ramada Hotel on 20 May 2004. Winners were:
* Ulster Rugby personality of the year: Alan Solomons
* Ulster player of the year: Roger Wilson
* Club Ulster supporters' player of the year: Andy Ward
* Schools player of the year: John McCall, Royal School, Armagh
* Coach of the year: Kenny Hooks, Royal School, Armagh
* Club of the year: Belfast Harlequins
* Team of the year: Belfast Harlequins 2nd XV
* Youth player of the year: Neville Farr, Banbridge RFC
* Dorrington B. Faulkner Award: Brian Banks
* Merit award: Bob Montgomery and Brian Elliott, Ravenhill grounds staff
* Media liaison of the year: John Dickson, Ballynahinch RFC