The 2015–16 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 22nd season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and the second 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 competed 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 ...

. In the Pro12, Ulster finished fourth, qualifying for the playoffs and for next season's Champions Cup. They lost 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 ...

in the semi-final. Ulster won the Fair Play Award, and wing Craig Gilroy made the Pro12 Dream Team. In the Champions Cup, they finished second in Pool 1, missing out on the knockout stage. Academy wing Jacob Stockdale made his senior debut this season. Centre

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 ...

was Ulster's Player of the Year. 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 Ulster's leading scorer with 200 points. Craig Gilroy was leading try scorer with ten. 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 ...

was leading tackler with 261. At the end of the season, number eight Nick Williams left for

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

, and lock Dan Tuohy for

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 ...

. Out-half Ian Humphreys retired.

Staff

Squad

Senior squad

Players In

* Peter Browne from

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

* Willie Faloon from

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 ...

* Stephen Mulholland 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 ...

Adam McKendry
"Ulster Rugby squad 2016/17"
Belfast Live, 24 November 2016 * Paul Rowley from

* Frank Taggart from

* Sam Windsor from

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 ...

Promoted from academy

* John Andrew"Talented Quartet Sign New Ulster Contracts"
Ulster Rugby, 20 March 2015 * Sammy Arnold * Paul Jackson * Alan O'Connor

Players Out

* Ross Adair to

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

* Michael Allen to

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

* Ricky Andrew to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

* Tim Boys to Southland/

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

* Charlie Butterworth to

* Declan Fitzpatrick ''retired'' * Michael Heaney to

Doncaster Knights Doncaster Knights Rugby Football Club ''(formerly, Doncaster RFC)'' are a professional rugby union club representing the city of Doncaster, England. The club play in the 2nd division of English rugby, the RFU Championship. Being the most prom ...

* Mike McComish ''released'' * Neil McComb to

Belfast Harlequins Belfast Harlequins is a multi-sports club located off the Malone Road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. The club name provides the overall umbrella for rugby union, men's and ladies' field hockey, hockey, and Squash (sport), squash. The club i ...

* Dave Ryan to

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 ...

* James Simpson ''released'' * Michael Stanley to Counties Manukau

Academy squad

Players in

* Nick Timoney from

Blackrock College Blackrock College () is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 1860 as a school and later became al ...

* Ross Kane from Ballymena R.F.C. * Johnny McPhillips from

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

* Jake Byrne * Peter Cooper * Liam Free * Andy McGrath

Players out

* Jonny Murphy * Joshua Atkinson * Frank Taggart * Sean O'Hagan

Season record

European Rugby Champions Cup

Pool 1

Pro12

Semi-finals

End of season awards

Wing Craig Gilroy was joint top try scorer with 10, and was named in the Pro12 Dream Team. Ulster won the competition's Fair Play award.

Home attendance

Friendlies

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

2015-16 Women's Interprovincial Series

Ulster Rugby Awards

The Heineken Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the Culloden Estate and Spa, Holywood. Winners were:"Nick Williams Wins The Heineken Ulster Rugby Personality of The Year Award"
''Ulster Tatler'', 13 May 2016 *Bank of Ireland Ulster Player of the Year:

*Heineken Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: Nick Williams *BT Young Player of the Year: Kyle McCall *Rugby Writers Player of the Year:

*Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year:

*Abbey Insurance Academy Player of the Year: Adam McBurney

Season reviews

Ulster: Season Review 2015 – 2016
The Front Row Union, 23 May 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulster 2015-16 2015–16 in Irish rugby union 2015–16 Pro12 by team 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup by team