The 2010–11 Ulster Rugby season was Ulster's 17th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and their second under head coach Brian McLaughlin. This season marked the debuts of two South Africans, scrum-half Ruan Pienaar (replacing Isaac Boss, who had moved to Leinster) and second row forward Johann Muller. Ulster were quarter-finalists in the European Rugby Champions Cup, and semi-finalists in the Celtic League. Ruan Pienaar was Player of the Year. Nevin Spence was IRUPA Young Player of the Year."Nacewa scoops IRUPA award", ESPN Scrum, 4 May 2011, archived 8 May 2011
Forwards coach Jeremy Davidson left at the end of the season."Jeremy Davidson To Leave Ulster", Ulster Rugby, 16 May 2011
Staff Position Name Nationality Chief Executive Officer Shane Logan Director of Rugby David Humphreys Head Coach Brian McLaughlin Forwards Coach Jeremy Davidson Backs Coach Neil Doak
Squad Senior squad
Players in (Season 2010/2011) Johann Muller: from Sharks Tim Barker: from Glasgow Warriors Ruan Pienaar from Sharks Pedrie Wannenburg: from Bulls Adam D'Arcy from Manly RFC Paul Emerick from Overmach Parma Jerry Cronin from Ballynahinch"Player Profile: Jerry Cronin", Ulster Rugby, 7 October 2011 Alan Whitten from Instonians (short-term injury cover)Niall Crozier, "Whitten called in to prop up Ulster", Belfast Telegraph, 30 September 2010
Promoted from academy Adam MacklinMicheal McGeary, "New deals for Ulster quartet", Belfast Telegraph, 13 January 2010 Paddy McAllister Neil McComb Ian Porter Nevin Spence Tommy Seymour"All About Tommy", Ulster Rugby, 22 September 2010 Jamie Smith
Players out (Season 2010/2011) Isaac Boss to Leinster Ed O'Donoghue to Leinster Timoci Nagusa to MontpellierBrendan Fanning, "Italians add life to party", Sunday Independent, 29 August 2010 Justin Fitzpatrick retired"Ex-Ireland prop Fitzpatrick embedded in US rugby's exciting rise", The 42, 13 January 2019 Tamaiti Horua released"Magners League – Ins And Outs", Irish Rugby, 23 July 2010 Matt McCullough retired Cillian Willis to Connacht Rugby David Pollock retired Bryn Cunningham retired"Bryn Cunningham Announces Retirement", Ulster Rugby, 4 October 2010 Clinton Schifcofske to Celtic Crusaders (rugby league)"Ulster Rugby Announce Release of Clinton Schifcofske", Ulster Rugby, 2 April 2010
Ulster Rugby squadAppearances and scoring stats from ItsRugby.co.ukProps Tom Court (21 apps, 18 starts, 5 pts) BJ Botha (14 apps, 12 starts) Declan Fitzpatrick (15 apps, 11 starts, 5 pts) Bryan Young (19 apps, 10 starts) Paddy McAllister (19 apps, 8 starts) Jerry Cronin (11 apps, 1 start) Alan Whitten (1 app) Adam Macklin (no apps)
Hookers Rory Best (17 apps, 15 starts, 10 pts) Andi Kyriacou (17 apps, 12 starts) Nigel Brady (16 apps, 10 starts)
Locks Johann Muller (c) (26 apps, 26 starts) Dan Tuohy (20 apps, 15 starts) Tim Barker (9 apps, 3 starts) Ryan Caldwell (6 apps, 3 starts) Neil McComb (5 apps)Back row Pedrie Wannenburg (29 apps, 26 starts, 25 pts) Chris Henry (29 apps, 22 starts, 5 pts) Robbie Diack* (22 apps, 16 starts, 5 pts) Willie Faloon (23 apps, 14 starts, 5 pts) Stephen Ferris (9 apps, 8 starts, 10 pts) T. J. Anderson (4 apps, 2 starts, 5 pts) Ali Birch (no apps)
Scrum-halves Ruan Pienaar (23 apps, 23 starts, 138 pts) Paul Marshall (19 apps, 9 starts) Ian Porter (3 apps)
Fly-halves Ian Humphreys (20 apps, 19 starts, 159 pts) Niall O'Connor (6 apps, 5 starts, 59 pts) Paddy Jackson (1 app, 1 start)Centres Nevin Spence (21 apps, 20 starts, 25 pts) Paddy Wallace (21 apps, 19 starts, 30 pts) Darren Cave (12 apps, 10 starts, 20 pts) Ian Whitten (19 apps, 10 starts, 10 pts) Luke Marshall (7 apps, 3 starts, 5 pts) Paul Emerick (2 apps, 2 starts)
Wings
Simon Danielli (21 apps, 19 starts, 15 pts) Andrew Trimble (18 apps, 17 starts, 30 pts) Craig Gilroy (14 apps, 13 starts, 40 pts) Tommy Seymour (7 apps, 3 starts, 5 pts) Connor Gaston (3 apps, 2 starts) Mark McCrea (2 apps, 2 starts) David McIlwaine (3 apps, 1 start)
Fullbacks Adam D'Arcy* (24 apps, 23 starts, 20 pts) Jamie Smith (5 apps, 5 starts) (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 Iain Henderson Paddy Jackson Kyle McCall Ali Birch Conor Carey Craig Gilroy David McGuigan Stephen Lecky Blane McIlroy David McIlwaine
Players out James Sandford to Rotherham Titans Sean Dougall Pal Pritchard Jonny Shiels
Position"Ulster Rugby Academy", Ulster Rugby, archived 23 January 2011 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 Conor Carey (Ballymena) (1) Kyle McCall (Ballynahinch) (1)
Hookers Niall Annett (Belfast Harlequins) (2) John Burns (Ballymena) (2)Locks Iain Henderson (QUB) (1)
Back row David McGuigan (QUB) (1) Ali Birch (Dungannon) (1) Stephen Lecky (Glasgow Hawks) (1)
Scrum-halves Blane McIlroy (Ballymena) (1) Michael Heaney (2)
Fly-halves Paddy Jackson (Dungannon) (1) James McKinney (QUB) (2)Centres Luke Marshall (2)
Wings Chris Cochrane (4) Michael Allen (2) Conor Gaston (2) Craig Gilroy (1)
Fullbacks Ricky Andrew (3) David McIlwaine (QUB) (1)
Season record Competition Played Won Drawn Lost PF PA PD TF TA 2010-11 Heineken Cup 7 5 0 2 158 116 42 16 10 2010-11 Celtic League 23 15 1 7 483 436 47 44 37 Total 30 20 1 9 641 552 89 60 47
Heineken Cup
Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Biarritz (4) 6 4 0 2 16 9 +7 140 85 +55 4 2 22 Ulster (8) 6 5 0 1 15 8 +7 145 93 +52 2 0 22 Bath 6 2 0 4 20 8 +12 147 108 +39 2 4 14 Aironi 6 1 0 5 4 30 −26 65 211 −146 0 0 4
Biarritz won the tiebreaker over Ulster with a 6–4 advantage in head-to-head competition points.
Quarter-final
Celtic League
TeamPldWDLPFPAPDTFTATry bonusLosing bonusPts 1 Munster 22 19 0 3 496 327 +169 44 22 5 2 83 2 Leinster 22 15 1 6 495 336 +159 50 25 5 3 70 3 Ulster 22 15 1 6 480 418 +62 44 35 3 2 67 4 Ospreys 22 12 1 9 553 418 +135 56 29 6 7 63 5 Scarlets 22 12 1 9 503 453 +50 49 43 5 7 62 6 Cardiff Blues 22 13 1 8 479 392 +87 37 33 3 3 60 7 Newport Gwent Dragons 22 10 1 11 444 462 −18 47 49 3 4 49 8 Edinburgh 22 9 0 13 421 460 −39 39 44 2 5 43 9 Connacht 22 7 1 14 394 459 −65 32 44 3 6 39 10 Benetton Treviso 22 9 0 13 374 502 −128 29 58 0 2 38 11 Glasgow Warriors 22 6 1 15 401 543 −142 33 48 1 6 33 12 Aironi 22 1 0 21 247 517 −270 21 52 0 8 12Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places.Correct as of 7 May 2011. Source: RaboDirect PRO12
Semi-final
Home attendance Domestic LeagueEuropean CupTotal League Fixtures Average Attendance Highest Lowest League Fixtures Average Attendance Highest Lowest Total Attendance Average Attendance2010–11 Celtic League118,47611,4266,6512010–11 Heineken Cup38,863 10,5667,777119,8298,559
Friendlies
Ulster Women 2011-12 Women's Interprovincial Series
Ulster Rugby Awards The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held on 10 May 2011 at the Culloden Hotel, Holywood. Winners were:Niall Crozier, "Boks bag top gongs at awards", Belfast Telegraph, 11 May 2011
Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Johann Muller Ulster Player of the Year: Ruan Pienaar Supporters Club Player of the Year: Johann Muller Young Ulster Player of the Year: Nevin Spence Ulster Academy Player of the Year: Craig Gilroy Most Improved Ulster Player of the Year: Adam D'Arcy Youth Player of the Year: Conall Doherty, City of Derry R.F.C. Club of the Year: City of Armagh RFC Club Player of the Year: Paul Pritchard, Ballymena RFC Schools Player of the Year: John Creighton, Campbell College Dorrington B. Faulkner Award: Ronnie Clements, Limavady RFC
Season reviews "Review of Ulster's Season", Ulster Rugby, 1 June 2011
References