The 2014–15 season was

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 Kin ...

'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 professional rugby union coach who is the head coach of London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership. He is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the Brisbane Rugby League and ...

and head coach Neil Doak. They completed in the

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken 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. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. New signings for this season included out-half Ian Humphreys, returning from his spell at

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

, 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 for Ulster Rugby from 2014 to 2022, and has two caps for Ireland. Born in Auckland, New Zealand,Brendan Crossan"Century man Sean Reidy ready fo ...

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, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rug ...

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

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 The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

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

. Later that month, head coach Mark Anscombe 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 Neil Doak 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 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 Kingspan Group plc is a building materials company based in Ireland trading in over 70 countries with 159 factories employing over 15,000 people. The company operates with five divisions; Insulated Panels, Insulation, Light & Air, Water & Energy ...

after its sponsor. 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 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 became t ...

. Ulster led the league in scrums. Franco van der Merwe and wing

Craig Gilroy Craig Gilroy (born 11 March 1991) is an Irish rugby union player who wing for Ulster, and is a former Ireland international. he was Ulster's player of the year in 2014–15, and was named in the Pro12 Dream Team twice. Born in Bangor, County D ...

and 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 the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

was named Try of the Year. They finished third in their pool in the Champions Cup. Scrum-half

Ruan Pienaar Ruan Pienaar (born 10 March 1984) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays 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. Ruan ...

was Ulster's top scorer 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 2 ...

, 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 Ballynahinch may refer to: Northern Ireland * Ballynahinch, County Armagh, a townland *Ballynahinch, County Down, a town Republic of Ireland * Ballynahinch (barony), in County Galway *Ballynahinch, County Galway, a townland in County Galway * Ball ...

Tim Boys Tim Boys (b. in Oamaru, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union player that plays provincial rugby for Southland, and is in the Super Rugby team the Crusaders (rugby union). Career Boys first played for Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtāko ...

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 Iris ...

from * Ian Humphreys from

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

from

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department of ...

* Ruaidhrí Murphy from

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 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 inhab ...

from Counties Manukau *

Clive Ross Clive Ross (born 14 June 1989) is a former Irish rugby union player who was educated at Midleton College and played for Ulster as a flanker until 2020. Ulster Ross joined Ulster in Summer 2014 after playing for two seasons at Lansdowne Lansdo ...

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 b ...

Michael Stanley Michael Stanley (born Michael Stanley Gee; March 25, 1948 – March 5, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, radio and television personality. Both as a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band (MSB), his brand of heartland r ...

from Counties Manukau *

from

Promoted from academy

* Conor Joyce *

Kyle McCall Kyle McCall (born 2 January 1992) is an Irish professional rugby union player who played for Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provin ...

* Stuart McCloskey * Peter Nelson * Bronson Ross * Rory Scholes * James Simpson *

Andrew Warwick Andrew Warwick is an Irish rugby union player who plays loosehead prop for Ulster Rugby. He started out playing for Ballymena in the All-Ireland League, while working as a lorry driver for his father's engineering firm. He was involved with Uls ...

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 Crusaders in Super Rugby. Personal life Afoa was a student at Auckland's Papakura Hi ...

* Niall Annett to

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

Chris Cochrane Chris Cochrane (born 18 December 1988) is an Irish former professional rugby union player, who played wing for Ulster Rugby from 2008 to 2014. He was educated at Coleraine Academical Institution, leaving in 2007.Tom Court to

* Sean Doyle to

Chris Farrell Christopher Robert Eric Farrell (born 16 March 1993) is an Irish rugby union player for United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup side Munster and, internationally, for Ireland. He plays as a centre and represents Young Munster in the All-I ...

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

* Stephen Ferris ''retired'' *

Adam Macklin Adam Macklin (born 26 July 1989) from Belfast is a rugby union footballer. He previously played at the position of prop for the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby. Early life Macklin lived in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. He was ed ...

Rotherham Titans Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans is a professional rugby union team from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, currently playing in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system, following their relegation from t ...

Paddy McAllister Paddy McAllister (born 20 July 1989) is an Irish rugby union player and coach who played professionally as a prop for Ulster, Aurillac, Gloucester and Connacht. Born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, McAllister grew up in the Democratic Republic o ...

Aurillac Aurillac (; oc, Orlhac ) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aurillacois'' or ''Aurillacoises''. Geography Aurillac is at above sea le ...

* 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 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it ...

* James McKinney to

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

Paddy Wallace Patrick Wallace (born 27 August 1979) is an Ireland rugby union player who played for Ireland's national team and played for Ulster. A native of Belfast, he attended Rockport School and Campbell College. He was a member of the Ireland U19 side ...

''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 David Busby (born 3 February 1994) is an Irish rugby union player, currently playing for the Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby. He plays as a wing or fullback. Busby was born in Portadown, Northern Ireland and attended Portadown Col ...

* Michael Lagan * Craig Trenier * Paul Jackson * Alex Thimpson * Joshua Atkinson * Lorcan Dow * Frank Taggart * Connor Young * Sean O'Hagan

Players out

* Jack Caulfield

European Rugby Champions Cup

Pool 3

Pro12

Semi-final

End of season awards

Wing

and lock

made the Pro12 Dream Team.

Ulster Ravens

British and Irish Cup

Pool 2

Home attendance

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:

*Heineken Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year:

*BT Young Player of the Year: Stuart McCloskey *Rugby Writers Player of the Year:

*Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year: Darren Cave *Abbey Insurance Academy Player of the Year: Sammy Arnold *Danske Bank Ulster Schools Player of the Year: Rob Lyttle

References

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