# 2011–12 Ulster Rugby season

The 2011–12 Ulster Rugby season was Ulster's 18th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and their third under head coach Brian McLaughlin. They competed in the Heineken Cup and the inaugural Pro12, successor competition to the Celtic League.
They finished sixth in the Pro12, and qualified for next season's Champions Cup as the third highest placed Irish team. Scrum-half Ruan Pienaar, lock Dan Tuohy and prop BJ Botha made the Pro12 Dream Team. They finished second in their pool in the Heineken Cup, beat Edinburgh in the semi-final, and lost to Leinster in the final. Out-half Ian Humphreys was Ulster's top scorer with 168 points. Wings Andrew Trimble and Craig Gilroy were joint top try scorers with six each. Flanker Chris Henry was Player of the Year. Craig Gilroy won the IRUPA Try of the Year award.
Brian McLaughlin, who was coaching Ulster while on sabbatical from his regular job as a teacher at Royal Belfast Academical Institution, stood to lose his teaching position and pension if he extended his contract with Ulster any further, and as head coach risked losing his job at any time. Director of rugby David Humphreys decided to offer him the security of a full-time position coaching the academy, and to replace him as head coach with Mark Anscombe.

## Staff

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| Chief Executive Officer | Shane Logan | Ireland |
| Director of Rugby | David Humphreys | Ireland |
| Head coach | Brian McLaughlin | Ireland |
| Assistant coach (backs) | Neil Doak | Ireland |
| Defence coach | Jonny Bell | Ireland |
| Head of strength and conditioning | Jonny Davis | Ireland |
| Team doctor | David Irwin | Ireland |
| Team physiotherapist | Gareth Robinson | Ireland |
| Physiotherapist | Alan McAldin | Ireland |
| Performance analyst | Alex McCloy | Ireland |
| Team manager | David Millar | Ireland |
| Team administration co-ordinator | Sarah Sherry | Ireland |
| Resource Manager | Mick Ennis | Australia |

## Squad
### Senior squad

| Ulster Rugby squad |
| Props Tom Court (21 apps, 18 starts, 15 pts) John Afoa (17 apps, 17 starts, 5 pts) Paddy McAllister (21 apps, 9 starts) Declan Fitzpatrick (11 apps, 9 starts) Jerry Cronin (7 apps, 6 starts) Callum Black (9 apps, 2 starts) Adam Macklin (21 apps, 1 start, 5 pts) Hookers Rory Best (13 apps, 13 starts, 5 pts) Nigel Brady (9 apps, 5 starts) Andi Kyriacou (5 apps, 3 starts) Niall Annett (2 apps) Locks Dan Tuohy (28 apps, 27 starts, 15 pts) Lewis Stevenson (25 apps, 13 starts) Johann Muller (c) (18 apps, 18 starts, 5 pts) Tim Barker (9 apps, 3 starts) Neil McComb (5 apps, 2 starts) Iain Henderson (2 apps, 1 start, 5 pts) | Back row Pedrie Wannenburg (25 apps, 25 starts, 20 pts) Chris Henry (24 apps, 24 starts, 10 pts) Willie Faloon (21 apps, 14 starts) Robbie Diack* (21 apps, 10 starts, 15 pts) Stephen Ferris (9 apps, 8 starts, 15 pts) Mike McComish (8 apps, 4 starts) Ali Birch (5 apps, 1 start) Conor Joyce (1 app) Scrum-halves Ruan Pienaar (19 apps, 17 starts, 167 pts) Paul Marshall (24 apps, 16 starts, 20 pts) Ian Porter (5 apps) Blane McIlroy (2 apps) Fly-halves Ian Humphreys (26 apps, 22 starts, 155 pts) Paddy Jackson (14 apps, 7 starts, 43 pts) James McKinney (2 apps, 1 start, 10 pts) | Centres Darren Cave (21 apps, 20 starts, 25 pts) Nevin Spence (18 apps, 17 starts) Ian Whitten (20 apps, 14 starts, 5 pts) Paddy Wallace (15 apps, 14 starts, 15 pts) Luke Marshall (7 apps, 2 starts, 5 pts) Chris Farrell (2 apps, 1 start) Michael Allen (1 app, 1 start) Stuart Olding (1 app) Wings Craig Gilroy (29 apps, 27 starts, 30 pts) Andrew Trimble (17 apps, 17 starts, 30 pts) Simon Danielli (7 apps, 5 starts) Chris Cochrane (3 apps, 2 starts, 10 pts) Conor Gaston (2 apps, 1 start) Fullbacks Stefan Terblanche (17 apps, 15 starts, 15 pts) Adam D'Arcy* (26 apps, 13 starts, 15 pts) Jared Payne (3 apps, 3 starts) Peter Nelson (2 apps, 1 start) Ricky Andrew (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. |

### Academy squad

| Position | Name | Nationality |
| High Performance Manager | Gary Longwell | Ireland |
| Elite Player Development Officer | Jonny Bell | Ireland |
| Elite Player Development Officer | Niall Malone | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Chris Shiells | Ireland |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Kevin Geary | Ireland |
| Academy squad |
| Props Ryan Jablonski (Instonians) (1) Conor Carey (Ballymena) (2) Kyle McCall (Ballynahinch) (2) Hookers Jonny Murphy (Banbridge) (1) John Burns (Ballymena) (3) Locks Iain Henderson (QUB) (2) David O'Mahony (TBA) (1) James Simpson (Ballynahinch) (1) | Back row Ali Birch (Dungannon) (2) Neil Faloon (Armagh) (1) Conor Joyce (Malone) (1) David McGuigan (QUB) (2) Sean O'Connell (Instonians) (1) Scrum-halves Blane McIlroy (Ballymena) (2) Michael Heaney (3) Fly-halves Stuart Olding (Belfast Harlequins) (1) | Centres Chris Farrell (Dungannon) (1) Wings Michael Allen (Belfast Harlequins) (3) Chris Cochrane (Dungannon) (5) Conor Gaston (Dungannon) (3) Fullbacks Ricky Andrew (Ballymena) (3) Peter Nelson (Dungannon) (1) |

## Heineken Cup
### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Clermont Auvergne [5] | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 5 | +21 | 215 | 69 | +146 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
| Ulster [8] | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 158 | 87 | +71 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| Leicester Tigers | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 123 | 117 | +6 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Aironi | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 38 | −34 | 51 | 274 | −223 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Final
## Pro12

Pro12 Table :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Leinster (F) | 22 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 568 | 326 | +242 | 48 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 81 | Play-off place |
| 2 | Ospreys (C) | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 491 | 337 | +154 | 44 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 71 | Play-off place |
| 3 | Munster (SF) | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 489 | 367 | +122 | 45 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 67 | Play-off place |
| 4 | Glasgow Warriors (SF) | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 445 | 321 | +124 | 34 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 65 | Play-off place |
| 5 | Scarlets | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 446 | 373 | +73 | 43 | 30 | 5 | 5 | 62 | |
| 6 | Ulster | 22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 474 | 424 | +50 | 53 | 41 | 5 | 3 | 56 | |
| 7 | Cardiff Blues | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 446 | 460 | −14 | 43 | 45 | 5 | 5 | 50 | |
| 8 | Connacht | 22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 321 | 433 | −112 | 27 | 36 | 0 | 7 | 37 | |
| 9 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 370 | 474 | −104 | 27 | 41 | 1 | 5 | 36 | |
| 10 | Benetton Treviso | 22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 419 | 558 | −139 | 41 | 57 | 3 | 5 | 36 | |
| 11 | Edinburgh | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 454 | 588 | −134 | 42 | 65 | 2 | 4 | 32 | |
| 12 | Aironi | 22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 289 | 551 | −262 | 22 | 54 | 1 | 5 | 22 | |
* 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. (C) Champions; (F) Lost in the final; (SF) Lost in the semi-finals Notes:
* ↑ Qualification for the Heineken Cup is based on each country's allocation, i.e. three highest-ranked Irish teams, three highest-ranked Welsh teams, both Italian teams and both Scottish teams. Because Leinster won the 2012 Heineken Cup Final, Ireland earned an extra Heineken Cup place, which will go to Connacht. Aironi were denied a licence for the 2012–13 season due to financial issues; the newly established Zebre side replaced Aironi in the Pro12 and Heineken Cup.

### End-of-season awards

2011–2012 Dream Team
| Pos | | Player | Team |
| SH | 9 | Ruan Pienaar | Ulster |
| LL | 4 | Dan Tuohy | Ulster |
| TP | 3 | BJ Botha | Ulster |

## 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 |
| 2011–12 Pro12 | 11 | 8,258 | 11,379 | 6,296 | 2011–12 Heineken Cup | 3 | 9,593 | 11,900 | 7,494 | 119,620 | 8,544 |

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

Pool 6 :
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TB | LB | Pts |
| Ulster Ravens | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 115 | 60 | 55 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| Nottingham | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 79 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Leeds Carnegie | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 77 | 61 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Swansea | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 64 | 106 | -42 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 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
### 2011-12 Women's Interprovincial Series

| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Leinster | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 8 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | Munster | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 51 | 55 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | Ulster | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 56 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Connacht | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 54 | 3 | 3 |

## Ulster Rugby Awards

The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the Culloden Hotel on 10 May 2012. Winners were:
* Ulster Player of the Year: Chris Henry
* Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Stephen Ferris
* Young Player of the Year: Craig Gilroy
* Supporters Club Player of the Year: Pedrie Wannenburg
* Academy Player of the Year: Chris Farrell
* Most Improved Player of the Year: Paul Marshall
* Dorrington B. Faulkner Award: John Wilson
* Youth Player of the Year: Russell Blair
* Schools Player of the Year: James Harrison
* Club Player of the Year: Richard Lutton
* Club of the Year: Malone RFC