Daniel Soper is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

who has been assistant coach at

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

since 2021. Born in

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

, he played for Otago Sharks, setting a club scoring record of 260 points in 1997, and represented

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

in the National Provincial Championship. He first came to Northern Ireland in 1998 to play for

Banbridge RFC Banbridge RFC (Banbridge Rugby Football Club) is a rugby union club based in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the province of Ulster. It currently plays in Division 1B of the Energia All-Ireland League after gaining promotion in 201 ...

, and had a season in Italy, playing for

Petrarca Padova Petrarca Rugby is a rugby union club from Padua, Italy, currently competing in the top tier of the Italian rugby union, the Top10. Founded in 1947, the team is the rugby union branch of the Unione Sportiva Petrarca, an omnisport club that inclu ...

in the

1999–2000 Heineken Cup The 1999–2000 Heineken Cup was the fifth edition of the Heineken Cup of rugby. Teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, England and Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of th ...

. Returning to Northern Ireland, he played and coached at Ballynahinch RFC and Banbridge RFC while working as a schoolteacher at

Wallace High School, Lisburn The Wallace High School is an 11–18 co-educational voluntary grammar school and sixth form in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History It was founded in 1880 by a bequest from the estate of Sir Richard Wallace, local landowner, ...

, Sullivan Upper School, Ballyclare High School, and Royal Belfast Academical Institution. In club rugby, he coached Ballynahinch to the "grand slam" of the

Ulster Senior Cup The Ulster Senior Cup is a knock-out competition for senior rugby union teams in the province of Ulster. It is administered by Ulster Rugby. The most successful club is Queen's University with 23 wins. The current holders are City of Armagh RF ...

, the All-Ireland Cup and the Ulster Senior League in 2009. He became head coach of Banbridge in 2010, and led them to two promotions in the All Ireland League. In schools rugby, he coached future Irish international

Darren Cave Darren Cave (born 5 April 1987) is a retired professional rugby union player who played centre for Ulster in the Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup. A real attacking talent, Cave was another young player who has come up through the Ulster Ac ...

at Sullivan Upper, and led the RBAI rugby team, featuring future internationals James Hume and

Michael Lowry Michael Lowry (born 13 March 1953) is an Irish Independent politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) since 1987, currently for the Tipperary constituency. He previously served as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications from 1 ...

, to three consecutive

Ulster Schools' Cup The Ulster Schools' Challenge Cup is an annual competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Rugby, Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The Schools' Cup has the distinction of being the world's second-oldest rugby competitio ...

titles between 2015 and 2017. He also coached the Ulster under-18 schools team. He joined Ulster as skills coach ahead of the 2018–19 season, and was promoted to assistant coach, in place of the departing Dwayne Peel, before the 2021–22 season. When McFarland left midway through the 2023–24 season, Soper took charge temporarily until the end of the

Six Nations Under 20s Championship The Six Nations Under 20s Championship is an international rugby union tournament. It is the under-20s equivalent of the Six Nations Championship. Originally the tournament was in an under-21 format but changed to under-20s in 2008. England wer ...

, after which Ireland under-20 coach Richie Murphy would take over until the end of the season."Dan McFarland departs Ulster Rugby"
Ulster Rugby, 21 February 2024

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soper, Dan New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players North Otago rugby union players Petrarca Rugby players Ballynahinch RFC players Ulster Rugby non-playing staff Living people 1977 births New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland Expatriate rugby union players in Northern Ireland New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Italy Rugby union players from Alexandra, New Zealand University of Otago alumni