The 2013–14 season was

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

's 20th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and their second under head coach

Mark Anscombe Mark Anscombe (born 1957) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, having played rugby spanning across 15 years. Anscombe (father of Welsh international Gareth Anscombe) has been a rugby union coach since 1994, coaching various ages and styles in bot ...

. They competed in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

and the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

. They finished fourth in the Pro12, qualifying for the semi-finals and next season's Champions Cup. They lost the semi-final to

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

. Ulster and

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

jointly won the Fair Play Award, and wing Andrew Trimble and lock Johann Muller made the Pro12 Dream Team. They topped their pool in the Champions Cup, qualifying for the quarter-final, which they lost to

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

, after Jared Payne saw an early red card. Out-half

Paddy Jackson David Patrick Lindsay James "Paddy" Jackson (born 5 January 1992) is a professional rugby union player from Northern Ireland who plays for Lyon OU; in the Top 14, in France. He primarily plays at fly-half and previously played for Irish provin ...

was leading scorer with 239 points. Andrew Trimble, wing

Tommy Bowe Thomas John Bowe (born 22 February 1984) is an Irish television presenter and former rugby union player from County Monaghan, Ireland. He played on the wing for Ulster, Ospreys, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. After his playing career ...

and centre Luke Marshall were joint leading try scorers with six each. Andrew Trimble was Ulster's Player of the Year, and IRUPA Players' Player of the Year. Johann Muller, flanker

Stephen Ferris Stephen Ferris (born 2 August 1985) is a retired Irish rugby union player who played for Ulster and represented Ireland internationally. Ferris played club rugby with Dungannon. He is from Maghaberry and attended Friends' School Lisburn. He p ...

and utility back Paddy Wallace retired at the end of the season. Props

John Afoa Ioane Fitu "John" Afoa (born 16 September 1983) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player. His position of choice is at prop. Afoa currently plays for the Crusaders in Super Rugby. Personal life Afoa was a student at Auckland's Papakura ...

moved to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, and

Tom Court Tom Court (born 6 November 1980) is an Australian-born former rugby union footballer. He most recently played for London Irish as a loosehead prop (rugby union), loosehead prop. He primarily played at tighthead in his early career at Ulster Rugb ...

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

. David Humphreys left as director of rugby to take up the same post at

. A few weeks later, head coach Mark Anscombe resigned.

Les Kiss Les Kiss (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian former rugby league coach and player and professional rugby union coach who is the current head coach of Super Rugby Pacific side the Queensland Reds. Prior to this he was head coach of London I ...

took over as director of rugby, and

Neil Doak Neil George Doak (born 21 June 1972) is a Northern Irish former cricketer and rugby union player. He is currently head coach of the Ireland U20 rugby union team. He has served as attack and backs coach with English club side Worcester Warrior ...

as head coach.

Staff

Squad

Senior squad

Players in (Season 2013/2014)

* David McIlwaine from

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

James McKinney James McKinney (April 14, 1852 – September 29, 1934) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. Biography Born in Oquawka, Illinois, McKinney attended the public schools of Lewis County High School and was given the nickname of "Downey" from ...

from Rotherham TitansDavid Kelly
"Fortunes in hands of foreign legion"
''Irish Independent'', 5 August 2013 * Ian Porter ''returning from sabbatical''

Promoted from academy

* Ricky Andrew * Chris Farrell *

Stuart Olding Stuart Olding (born 11 March 1993) is a rugby union rugby player from Northern Ireland. He plays at centre and fullback. Olding played for Ulster from 2011 until 2018. In 2017 Olding was charged with rape, and in 2018 he was tried and acquitted. ...

Players out (Season 2013/2014)

* Ali Birch to Rotherham Titans * Nigel Brady to Stade Aurillacois * Niall O'Connor to

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds was a rugby union club based in Jersey, Channel Islands. On 28th September 2023, the club ceased trading and shortly thereafter went into liquidation following the withdrawal of financial support from a key investor. Until seaso ...

* Adam D'Arcy to

* Neil Walsh (released)

Academy squad

Players in

Stuart McCloskey Stuart McCloskey (born 6 August 1992) is a professional rugby union player from Northern Ireland, who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Ulster and the Ireland national team. He has been Ulster's player of the year twice, an ...

from

Dungannon RFC Dungannon RFC (Dungannon Football Club) is a rugby union club from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. History The 5th Earl of Ranfurly, who was President of Dungannon Football Club for 24 years an ...

Gerry Thornley
"Stuart McCloskey eager to add to his sole Ireland cap"
''The Irish Times'', 28 October 2018 * Andrew Warwick from Ballymena R.F.C. * David Shanahan from

Belvedere College Belvedere College Society of Jesus, S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a fee-paying voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. Formally established in 1832 at Hardwicke Street in north inner city Dublin, the school was ...

* John Andrew from

Ballymena Academy Ballymena Academy is a mixed gender, voluntary Grammar schools in the United Kingdom, grammar school in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1828 as a small provincial school for children in the tow ...

* Bronson Ross from

Coventry R.F.C. Coventry Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club based in Coventry, England. The club enjoyed great success during the 1960s and 70s, with many players representing their countries. Coventry's home ground is the Butts Park Arena, ...

* John Donnan

Players out

* Conor Carey * Neil Faloon * Sean O'Connell

Season record

Heineken Cup

Pool 5

Quarter-final

Pro12

Semi-final

End-of-season awards

Ulster and

jointly won the Fair Play award. Wing Andrew Trimble and lock Johann Muller were named in the Pro12 Dream Team.

Home attendance

Ulster Ravens

The following players, other than players from the senior squad and academy, appeared for the Ulster Ravens this season.

British and Irish Cup

Pool 6

Friendlies

Ulster Women

2013-14 Women's Interprovincial Series

Ulster Rugby Awards

The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the

Europa Hotel, Belfast The Europa Hotel is a four-star hotel in Great Victoria Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It is known as the "most bombed hotel in the world" after having suffered 36 bomb attacks during the Troubles. History The Europa Ho ...

, on 5 May 2014. Winners were:Richard Mulligan, "Trimble celebrates hat-trick", ''News Letter'', 5 May 2014 *Bank of Ireland Ulster Player of the Year: Andrew Trimble *Heineken Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Johann Muller *BT Young Player of the Year:

*Rugby Writers Player of the Year: Andrew Trimble *Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year: Andrew Trimble *Abbey Insurance Academy Player of the Year:

*Ulster Carpets Youth Player of the Year: Adam McBurney *Danske Bank Ulster Schools Player of the Year: Jacob Stockdale, Wallace High

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulster 2013-14 2013–14 in Irish rugby union 2013–14 Pro12 by team 2013–14 Heineken Cup by team