The 2014–15 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 21st season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and their first under Director of Rugby

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 ...

and head coach

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 ...

. They completed in the

European Rugby Champions 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 pr ...

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 ...

. New signings for this season included out-half

Ian Humphreys Ian Humphreys (born 24 April 1982 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a retired Irish rugby union footballer, who played at fly-half for the Pro12 team Ulster Rugby and English sides Leicester Tigers and London Irish. He joined Ulster in 2008 from ...

, returning from his spell at

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 ...

, lock

Franco van der Merwe Franco van der Merwe (born 15 March 1983 in Paarl) is a South African rugby union footballer. His regular playing position is lock, although he can also operate as a flanker. Previous clubs include Irish side Ulster in the Pro12, London Irish ...

, flanker

Sean Reidy Sean Reidy (born 10 May 1989) is a New Zealand-born Irish rugby union player who played Flanker (rugby union), flanker for Ulster Rugby from 2014 to 2022, and has two caps for Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland. Born in Auckland, New Ze ...

and fullback

Louis Ludik Louis Ludik (born 8 October 1986) is a South African rugby union player who played for Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool ...

Rory Best Rory David Best (born 15 August 1982) is an Irish former rugby union player who was the captain of the Ireland national team from 2016 to 2019. He played hooker for Ulster and was registered for Banbridge RFC. Best earned 124 caps for Irelan ...

was reinstated as captain, following the retirement of Johann Muller at the end of the previous season. In June 2014, David Humphreys left his post as the province's Director of Rugby, joining English Premiership side

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 ...

. Later that month, 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 ...

also left the province "with immediate effect". assistant coach

filled the role of Director of Rugby on an interim basis. In October 2014, Kiss returned to his position with the Ireland team, with

taking the role of head coach. Kiss would return to his role with Ulster on a full-time basis following the 2015 World Cup. Bryn Cunningham was appointed the new team manager, responsible for recruiting players and negotiating contracts."Cunningham appointed new team manager", ''News Letter'', 31 October 2014 Defence coach Jonny Bell left at the end of the season to become assistant coach at

, replaced by

Joe Barakat Joe Barakat (born 23 February 1963) is an Australian rugby union Coach. He has just returned home from two years in Japan as a forwards and defense coach for the NTT Communications Shining Arcs in Tokyo, Japan after an extensive national and int ...

. Ulster entered the season with their home stadium, Ravenhill, redeveloped, with the stadium's capacity having been increased to 18,196, and renamed the

Kingspan Stadium Ravenhill Stadium (known as the Kingspan Stadium for sponsorship reasons until June 2025) is a rugby stadium located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home of Ulster Rugby. With the opening of a new stand for the 2014 Heineken Cup quarter ...

after its sponsor. The Heineken Cup was reorganised as the

. Rather than three Irish provinces qualifying as of right, the top team from each country in the Pro12, and the top three in the league table other than those four qualified. Ulster qualified by league position, and finished third in their pool. Ulster finished fourth in the Pro12, qualifying for the semi-finals and next season's Champions Cup. They lost the semi-final to

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

. Ulster led the league in scrums. Franco van der Merwe and wing Craig Gilroy made the Pro12 Dream Team, and Gilroy's try against

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby c ...

was named Try of the Year. Scrum-half

Ruan Pienaar Ruan Pienaar (born 10 March 1984) is a retired South African professional rugby union player who played either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half for the in the Currie Cup. Pienaar is the son of former Springbok fullback Gysie Pienaar. Ru ...

was Ulster's top scorer in all competitions with 121 points. Craig Gilroy was top try scorer with twelve, and was named Ulster's Player of the Year. Ulster's second team, the Ulster Ravens, competed in the

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009� ...

, finishing third in their pool. Prop Declan Fitzpatrick retired at the end of the season.

Staff

Squad

Senior squad

Players in

* Ross Adair from Ballynahinch * Tim Boys from Southland * Charlie Butterworth from Lansdowne *

Wiehahn Herbst Wiehahn Jovan Herbst (born 5 July 1988) is a South African rugby union player for the Tel Aviv Heat in Rugby Europe Super Cup. His regular playing position is prop and he previously played for the in Super Rugby and the Currie Cup, and for Iri ...

from *

from

David Kelly
"Connacht signings trump rival provinces’ purchases"
''Irish Independent'', 23 August 2013 *

from

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

Ruaidhrí Murphy Ruaidhrí Murphy is a former professional rugby union player who last played for Ulster Rugby in the 2015–16 season. Ruaidhrí's position of choice is prop. Ruaidhri is a former pupil of Castleknock College in Dublin and represented Leinster S ...

from

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

from Counties Manukau * Clive Ross from Lansdowne * Dave Ryan from

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

Michael Stanley Michael Stanley (born Michael Stanley Gee; March 25, 1948 – March 5, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and radio and television personality. As a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band (MSB), and Michael Stanley and t ...

from Counties Manukau *

from

Promoted from academy

* Conor Joyce * Kyle McCall *

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 ...

* Peter Nelson * Bronson Ross * Rory Scholes * James Simpson * Andrew Warwick

Players out

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 ...

Niall Annett Niall Annett (born 7 May 1991) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays for Bath, having previously played for Worcester Warriors and Ulster Rugby. His favoured position is hooker. In the 2011 junior Rugby Championships, Annett capta ...

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

* Chris Cochrane ''retired'' *

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 ...

* Sean Doyle to

* Chris Farrell to

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

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 ...

''retired'' * Adam Macklin to

Rotherham Titans Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans is a rugby union club from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, currently playing in the third tier of the English rugby union league system, following their promotion from the National League ...

* Paddy McAllister to

Aurillac Aurillac (; ) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. Geography Aurillac is at above sea level and located at the foot of the Cantal mountains in a small sedimentary basin. The city is b ...

* David McIlwaine to

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 whe ...

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 ...

* Johann Muller ''retired'' * Ian Porter to

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 ...

* Paddy Wallace ''retired''

Squad

Academy squad

Players in

* Jacob Stockdale from Wallace High School"Jacob Stockdale has signed a new deal with Ulster"
''The Irish Times'', 21 February 2018 * Sammy Arnold * Jack Owens * David Busby * Michael Lagan * Craig Trenier * Paul Jackson * Alex Thompson * Joshua Atkinson * Lorcan Dow * Frank Taggart * Connor Young * Sean O'Hagan

Players out

* Jack Caulfield

Season record

European Rugby Champions Cup

Pool 3

Pro12

Semi-final

End of season awards

Wing Craig Gilroy and lock

made the Pro12 Dream Team.

Home attendance

Friendly

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 2

Ulster Women

2014-15 Women's Interprovincial Series

Ulster Rugby Awards

The Heineken Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the Culloden Estate and Spa, Holywood. Winners were:"Best, Gilroy And Cave Among The Ulster Award Winners"
Irish Rugby, 1 May 2015 *Bank of Ireland Ulster Player of the Year: Craig Gilroy *Heineken Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year:

*BT Young Player of the Year:

*Rugby Writers Player of the Year: Craig Gilroy *Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year:

Darren Cave Darren Cave (born 5 April 1987) is a retired professional Irish rugby union player who played centre for Ulster, sharing the province's appearance record with Andrew Trimble and Rob Herring with 229, and won eleven caps for Ireland. Early care ...

*Abbey Insurance Academy Player of the Year: Sammy Arnold *Danske Bank Ulster Schools Player of the Year:

Rob Lyttle Rob Lyttle (born 28 January 1997) is a rugby union player from Donaghcloney, County Down, Northern Ireland. He plays wing for Banbridge RFC and Ulster. Born in Donaghcloney, County Down, he played mini rugby at Dromore RFC as a child. He atten ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulster 2014-15 2014–15 in Irish rugby union 2014–15 Pro12 by team 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup by team