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."Top dog: Kearney named Players' Player of the Year", The 42, 10 May 2012
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."It's Grim Up North - Ulster's Malaise", Digging Like a Demented Mole, 4 March 2018
Staff Position Name"Team Management", Ulster Rugby, archived 9 October 2011 Nationality Chief Executive Officer Shane Logan Director of Rugby David Humphreys Head coach Brian McLaughlin Assistant coach (backs) Neil Doak Defence coach Jonny Bell Head of strength and conditioning Jonny Davis Team doctor David Irwin Team physiotherapist Gareth Robinson Physiotherapist Alan McAldin Performance analyst Alex McCloy Team manager David Millar Team administration co-ordinator Sarah Sherry Resource Manager Mick Ennis
Squad Senior squad
Players in (Season 2011/2012) John Afoa from Auckland Blues Callum Black from Worcester Mike McComish from Connacht Jared Payne from Auckland Blues Lewis Stevenson from Harlequins Stefan Terblanche from Sharks (On 3 Month Deal)
Promoted from academy Niall Annett Paddy Jackson Luke Marshall James McKinney
Players out (Season 2011/2012) T. J. Anderson to Connacht"Connacht sign Anderson from Ulster", The Irish Times, 7 March 2011 BJ Botha to Munster Rugby Ryan Caldwell to Bath Paul Emerick to Wasps Mark McCrea to Connacht Niall O'Connor to Connacht Tommy Seymour to Glasgow Warriors Jamie Smith to Newport Gwent Dragons Bryan Young to Cavalieri
Ulster Rugby squadAppearances and scoring stats from ItsRugby.co.ukProps 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
Players in Stuart Olding Chris Farrell Jonny Murphy Peter Nelson Ryan Jablonski David O'Mahony James Simpson Neil Faloon Conor Joyce Sean O'Connell
Players out Dominic Gallagher Stephen Lecky David McIlwaine to Doncaster KnightsDebbie Kaplan, "Knights capture young duo", Sky Sports, 17 May 2011
Position"Ulster Rugby Academy", Ulster Rugby, archived 14 January 2012 Name Nationality High Performance Manager Gary Longwell Elite Player Development Officer Jonny Bell Elite Player Development Officer Niall Malone Strength & Conditioning Coach Chris Shiells Strength & Conditioning Coach Kevin Geary
Academy squadProps 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)
Season record Competition Played Won Drawn Lost PF PA PD TF TA 2011-12 Heineken Cup 9 6 0 3 216 164 52 19 15 2011-12 Pro12 23 15 1 7 483 436 47 44 37 Total 32 21 1 10 699 600 99 63 52
Heineken Cup
Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Clermont Auvergne 6 4 0 2 26 5 +21 215 69 +146 2 2 20 Ulster 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
Quarter-final
Semi-finals
Final
Pro12
End-of-season awards 2011–2012 Dream Team Pos Player TeamSH 9 Ruan Pienaar UlsterLL 4 Dan Tuohy UlsterTP 3 BJ Botha Ulster
Home attendance Domestic LeagueEuropean CupTotal League Fixtures Average Attendance Highest Lowest League Fixtures Average Attendance Highest Lowest Total Attendance Average Attendance2011–12 Pro12118,25811,3796,2962011–12 Heineken Cup39,593 11,9007,494119,6208,544
Friendlies
Ulster Women 2011-12 Women's Interprovincial Series
Team P W D L PF PA BP Pts 1 3 3 0 0 62 8 0 12 2 3 2 0 1 51 55 1 9 3 3 1 0 2 30 56 2 6 4 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.Niall Crozier, "Ulster's big winners to be unveiled at glitzy awards night", Belfast Telegraph, 10 May 2012 Winners were:"Ferris lost for words as he scoops top Ulster award", News Letter, 12 May 2012
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
References