The 2000–01 season was

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 of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won ...

's sixth since the advent of professionalism, and their third under coach Harry Williams. 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

IRFU Interprovincial Championship The IRFU Interprovincial Championship was a rugby union competition between the four provinces of Ireland – Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht – and, for a brief period the Irish Exiles, run by the Irish Rugby Football Union. History Or ...

. Williams announced in August 2000 that he would leave at the end of the season. The

IRFU IRFU or Irfu may refer to: * Irish Rugby Football Union, The Irish rugby football union (IRFU), is the national rugby association of Ireland *Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a four-team league that merged with the Westerm Interprovincial Rugb ...

rejected a proposal for a

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

involving three of the Irish provinces, two Scottish super-districts and seven Welsh clubs, each playing 22 matches. The IRFU argued that the structure proposed would add too many games and leave provincial players unable to play for their clubs, and made a counter-proposal of an eleven-game season, which the Welsh and Scottish unions rejected. Discussions continued, and a format was finally agreed for the following season. They were bottom of their pool in the Heineken Cup, failing to qualify for the knockout stage. They finished second in the Interprovincial Championship, qualifying for next season's Heineken Cup. The average crowd at Interprovincial matches was 7,000, comparing favourably to 3,000 in the English first division.

Tyrone Howe Tyrone Gyle Howe (born 2 April 1971, Newtownards, Northern Ireland) is a former rugby player who played on the wing for University of St Andrews RFC, Ulster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. Howe was brought up in Dromore, attended Banb ...

was Ulster's Player of the Year, and was selected for the

2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a series of matches played by the British & Irish Lions rugby union team in Australia. The Lions squad was captain (sport), captained by Martin Johnson (rugby union), Martin Johnson, the firs ...

Player transfers

Players in

Clem Boyd A list of players who have appeared for Ulster Rugby since rugby union was declared open to professionalism on 26 August 1995. Current players Jacob Boyd Loosehead prop. Son of former Ulster prop Clem Boyd. Captained RBAI to the Ulster Schools' ...

from

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

* John Campbell from

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is a middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6 and D6W postal districts. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Terenure was 17,972 as of the 2022 ce ...

Ryan Constable Ryan Constable (born 20 October 1971) is a South African-born Australian former professional rugby union player. Constable, born in Durban, left South Africa aged 11 and attended Coolum High School on the Sunshine Coast. A speedy three-quarter, ...

from

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 ...

* Brad Free from

Bective Rangers Bective Rangers Football Club is a rugby union club in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1881. The Club is affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union and played in Division 1A of the Leinster League until the 2024-25 Season. H ...

* Grant Henderson from

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

Richard Bullick, "Ulster sign Springboks", ''News Letter'', 23 June 2000 * Russell Nelson from

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament and the United Rugby Championship. They are governed by their second team t ...

Jonathan McConnell
"Ulster recruit South Africans"
ESPN Scrum, 23 June 2000 * Shane Stewart from

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

Players out

* Simon Mason to

Stade Francais Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...

* Eric Miller 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 ...

* Spencer Bromley to

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

* Riaz Fredericks (released) *

Joeli Veitayaki Joeli Veitayaki (born 12 January 1967 in Matuku, Fiji) is a Fijian former rugby union player. His usual position was Prop. He debut for against the New Zealand Maori in Christchurch on 4 June 1994. He played at the 1999 and 2003 Rugby World Cup ...

(released)

Squad

Season record

2000–01 Heineken Cup

2000-01 IRFU Interprovincial Championship

Home attendance

Friendlies

Ulster Rugby Awards

The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held on 24 May 2001. Winners were:"Honours for Howe and Longwell"
BBC Sport, 25 May 2001 *Ulster Rugby player of the year:

*Supporters' Club player of the year:

*Guinness personality of the year:

Gary Longwell Gary Longwell (born 30 July 1971 in Belfast) is an Irish international rugby player. His usual position is as a lock, or second row. He spent his entire career playing for Irish provincial side Ulster, making his debut aged 19 in 1991. He was par ...

*Coach of the year: Willie Anderson,

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 ...

*Schools player of the year: Glen Telford, RBAI *Youth player of the year: Wayne Dougan,

Banbridge RFC Banbridge Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the province of Ulster. It plays in Division 2A of the Energia All-Ireland League since gaining promotion in 2017, and Division 1 of the ...

*Club of the year: Clogher Valley RFC *PRO Award: Terry Jackson,

*Dorrington B Faulkner Memorial Award: Roy McGarvey, Coleraine

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulster 2000-01 2000–01 in Irish rugby union 2000–01 Heineken Cup