2022–23 Ulster Rugby season

The 2022–23 season was Ulster Rugby's 29th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union. They competed in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. It was Dan McFarland's fifth season as head coach.

Ulster made a strong start to the URC season, going into the autumn international break second in the table, having beaten the Lions and Munster away and only lost to Leinster at home. Their away match against the Sharks was postponed after an outbreak of E.coli and norovirus. After comfortable win against Zebre, Ulster opened up a halftime lead away to Leinster, before the 14-man Leinster came back to win. There followed an abject 36–0 away defeat to Sale Sharks in the Champions Cup, after bad weather disrupted travel. The following week's home tie against La Rochelle was subject to a last-minute relocation to Dublin's Aviva Stadium, behind closed doors, because of a frozen pitch at Ravenhill. La Rochelle built up a 29-0 haltime lead, but Ulster recovered enough for a losing bonus point. After an away win against Connacht, Ulster lost to Munster and Benetton, lost to La Rochelle, and finally beat Sale and an under-strength Stormers at home, going into the Six Nations break third in the URC and in the round of 16 in the Champions Cup. After defeating the Sharks in the rearranged fixture, Ulster became the first European team in the URC to win all four fixtures against South African opposition by beating the Bulls at home. They lost their Champion's Cup knockout match against Leinster, but secured second spot in the URC table with five straight wins. That would have guaranteed a home semi-final had they won the quarter-final, but they lost it to Connacht.

Ulster's top scorer was scrum-half John Cooney with 154 points. Hooker Tom Stewart was top try scorer with 17 in all competitions, including a record 16 in the URC. He was named Ulster's player of the year, supporters club player of the season, and the URC Next-Gen Player of the Season. Stuart McCloskey was rugby writers' player of the season, and Stewart Moore was young player of the season. Lock Harry Sheridan and centre Jude Postlethwaite made their debuts this season. Hooker Rob Herring became the most-capped Ulster player, reaching 229 appearances for the province.

Ulster women finished last in the IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series. Centre Kelly McCormill was Ulster women's player of the year, and prop Sadhbh McGrath was young women's player of the year.

In the All-Ireland League, City of Armagh were promoted after topping Division 1B, Queen's University were promoted after topping Division 2A, and Instonians were promoted after topping Division 2C. Banbridge and Malone were both relegated from Division 1B. Ulster junior champions Clogher Valley were promoted to senior level after winning the provincial playoffs.

Personnel changes
Ulster appointed a new defence coach, Jonny Bell, returning to his home province from a spell at Worcester Warriors, in place of the departing Jared Payne.

New signings include Irish-qualified flanker Sean Reffell, from Saracens, lock Frank Bradshaw Ryan from French club Nevers, out-half Jake Flannery from Munster, former All-Black tighthead prop Jeffery Toomaga-Allen from Wasps, and fullback Shea O'Brien from City of Armagh RFC, on a development contract. Hooker Declan Moore, who was signed as temporary injury cover from Munster last season, made his move to Ulster permanent. Academy centre Jude Postlethwaite signed a development contract, to be upgraded to a full senior contract after a year.

After the collapse of Worcester Warriors, Scotland and Lions international loosehead prop Rory Sutherland joined until the end of the season.

Hooker Bradley Roberts, now a Wales international, left for the Dragons, prop Ross Kane and lock David O'Connor left for Ealing Trailfinders, and lock Mick Kearney, prop Jack McGrath and flanker Sean Reidy were released.

Five new players joined the academy: last season's Ulster Schools Player of the Year, Campbell College lock Joe Hopes; QUB flanker Lorcan McLaughlin; Cambridge House Grammar flanker James McNabney; Coleraine Grammar fullback Rory Telfer; and Wallace High School prop Scott Wilson.

Summer internationals
Seven Ulster players were selected for Ireland's tour to New Zealand: hooker Rob Herring, prop Tom O'Toole, locks Iain Henderson and Kieran Treadwell, flanker Nick Timoney, centres Stuart McCloskey and James Hume, and fullback Michael Lowry. Treadwell, Herring and O'Toole made test appearances. Hume, Timoney, Lowry and McCloskey appeared in non-test matches against the Māori All Blacks. Henderson injured his knee before the opening match, and Hume injured his groin in the opening match against the Māori All Blacks.

James McCormick, Adam McNamee, Reuben Crothers, Josh Hanlon, Charlie Irvine, Lorcan McLaughlin, James McNabney, Reece Malone, Scott Wilson and Joseph Mawhinney all appeared for Ireland U20s in the summer.

Pre-season
Ulster's pre-season campaign opened on 2 September with a home friendly against Exeter Chiefs, which they won 31–12. Jacob Stockdale scored a try on his return from injury, and new scrum-half Michael McDonald was named man of the match.

A second friendly, away to Glasgow Warriors, arranged for 9 September, was cancelled following the death of Queen Elizabeth II the day before.

Emerging Ireland tour
Ten Ulster players were selected for the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa for the Toyota Challenge at the end of September: wings Robert Baloucoune and Ethan McIlroy; centre Stewart Moore; out-half Jake Flannery; scrum-halves Nathan Doak and Michael McDonald; loosehead prop Callum Reid; hooker Tom Stewart; lock Cormac Izuchukwu; and flanker David McCann.

First block
The team opened the season with a 36–10 home victory over Connacht in the URC. Hooker Tom Stewart made his first senior start, scored a try and was named Player of the Match. After a high-scoring away win against Scarlets, in which John Cooney scored 30 points, Ulster lost at home to Leinster in heavy rain. There followed a 47–17 win over Ospreys, in which Luke Marshall and Sam Carter scored two tries each. Ulster then became the first northern hemisphere team to win in South Africa this season, beating the Lions in Johannesburg. Their next match, against the Sharks in Durban, was postponed after an outbreak of E. coli and norovirus meant they were unable to field a team. Ulster narrowly beat Munster away, with Rory Sutherland making his debut and John Andrew making his 100th appearance for the province, both off the bench, and went into the international break second in the URC table.

Autumn international break
Eight Ulster players were called up to the Ireland squad for the 2022 end-of-year internationals: Robert Baloucoune, Rob Herring, Michael Lowry, Stuart McCloskey, Tom O'Toole, Jacob Stockdale, Nick Timoney and Kieran Treadwell. Two more, James Hume and Marty Moore, were selected for the panel for Ireland 'A' to play a New Zealand XV.

Second block
After the international break, Ulster had a comfortable home win over Zebre Parma, with Tom Stewart scoring two tries. They then travelled to Leinster, and led the league leaders at half time, before Leinster fought back to win the game 38–29. This began a three-game losing streak, as Ulster lost their opening two games in the Champions Cup. After poor weather caused travel disruption, they capitulated 39–0 away to Sale Sharks. A frozen pitch at Ravenhill meant Ulster's home game against reigning champions La Rochelle had to be relocated to Dublin's Aviva Stadium at the last minute, with the match played behind closed doors. La Rochelle built a 29-0 half-time lead, but Ulster improved enough in the second half to earn two bonus points in a 29–36 defeat. Returning to the URC, Ulster halted their losing streak with a close away win against Connacht, featuring another two-try display from Tom Stewart. After last-minute defeats to Munster (during which flanker Sean Reffell made a URC record 42 tackles, and tighthead prop Marty Moore's season was ended by an anterior cruciate ligament injury) and Benetton in the URC and La Rochelle in the Champions Cup, Ulster secured qualification for the last 16 of the Champions Cup with a home win over Sale. They reached the Six Nations break with a bonus point home win against the Stormers, sitting at third in the URC table and second in the Irish shield.

Academy lock Harry Sheridan made his senior debut in the away defeat to La Rochelle.

Six Nations international break
Five Ulster players were called up to the initial Ireland squad for the 2023 Six Nations Championship: Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole, Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale. Tom Stewart was later added to the squad as cover for the injured Ronan Kelleher, Nick Timoney was added to the squad ahead of the fourth match against Scotland, and Kieran Treadwell was called up for the fifth match against England.

James McNabney, Rory Telfer and Joe Hopes all featured for Ireland in the U20 Six Nations.

During the Six Nations, Ulster played three away games, losing to Glasgow Warriors, before travelling to Durban to defeat the Sharks in a fixture rearranged from October, and then defeating Cardiff. This left Ulster in third.

Centre Jude Postlethwaite made his senior debut in the away win against Cardiff.

Third block
Ulster finished the URC regular season with three home games. In the first of these three, they defeated the Bulls, with Tom Stewart scoring a hat-trick. This result made them the first European team in the URC to beat all four South African sides in the same season. The following week they went out of the Champions Cup in the round of 16, losing 30–15 to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium. Back in the URC, they moved into second with a bonus point win against the Dragons 40–21, with Tom Stewart scoring another hat-trick. The following week they secured second place with a home win over Edinburgh, earning a home quarter-final against Connacht, which they lost 10–15. Wing Jacob Stockdale made his 100th appearance for the province, and hooker Rob Herring equalled the all-time appearance record with 229, alongside Andrew Trimble and Darren Cave.

URC awards
Tom Stewart was the URC's Top Try Scorer with 16, a record for the competition - beating the 14 scored by Edinburgh's Tim Visser in 2010-11 and the Cheetahs' Rabz Maxwane in 2018-19, and the Next-Gen Player of the Season award for players under 23 who have fewer than five international caps.

Ulster Rugby Awards
The 2023 Ulster Rugby Awards were announced online on 1 June. Winners were:


 * Men's player of the year: Tom Stewart
 * Supporters' club player of the year: Tom Stewart
 * Rugby writers' player of the year: Stuart McCloskey
 * Young men's player of the year: Stewart Moore
 * Women's player of the year: Kelly McCormill, Cooke RFC
 * Young women's player of the year: Sadhbh McGrath, Cooke RFC
 * Club player of the year: George Pringle, Ballynahinch RFC
 * Referee of the year: Peter Martin
 * Boys' youth player of the year: Ben Neely, Coleraine RFC
 * U18 girls' player of the year: Ruby Starrett, Larne RFC
 * Boys schools' player of the year: Jacob Boyd, RBAI
 * Girls schools' player of the year: Scarlett Keys, Enniskillen Royal Grammar School

Future
Signings announced for next season include South African prop Steven Kitshoff, from the Stormers, and flanker Dave Ewers, from Exeter Chiefs.

Flanker Jordi Murphy announced his retirement at the end of the 2022–23 season. Lock Frank Bradshaw Ryan left for Montauban. Wings Rob Lyttle and Craig Gilroy announced they would leave at the end of the season. Hooker Declan Moore and scrum-half Michael McDonald will move to Connacht on a season-long loan.

Five academy players will join the senior squad on development contracts: lock Harry Sheridan, scrum-half Conor McKee, hooker James McCormick, back row forward Reuben Crothers and centre Ben Carson.

Players in

 * Frank Bradshaw Ryan from 🇫🇷 Nevers
 * Jake Flannery from Munster
 * Michael McDonald from 🇦🇺 Western Force
 * Shea O'Brien from City of Armagh
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sean Reffell from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Saracens
 * Rory Sutherland from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Worcester Warriors
 * 🇳🇿 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Wasps

Promoted from academy

 * Jude Postlethwaite

Players out

 * Ross Kane to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ealing Trailfinders
 * Mick Kearney retired
 * Jack McGrath retired
 * David O'Connor to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ealing Trailfinders
 * Sean Reidy released
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Bradley Roberts to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Dragons

Players in

 * Joe Hopes from Regent House
 * Lorcan McLoughlin from QUB
 * James McNabney from Cambridge House
 * Rory Telfer from Coleraine Grammar School
 * Scott Wilson from Wallace High School.

Players out

 * Lewis Finlay to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ampthill
 * Azur Allison
 * Conor Rankin to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ampthill

Ulster 'A'
The following players, other than players from the senior squad and academy, appeared for Ulster 'A this season.

All-Ireland League
Ballynahinch were Ulster's only club in Division 1A, finishing fifth. City of Armagh achieved promotion by finishing first in Division 1B; Banbridge finished 9th and Malone were tenth, and both were relegated. Queen's University were promoted after finishing first in Division 2A; Ballymena were seventh. In Division 2B, Dungannon were third, Rainey Old Boys sixth, and Belfast Harlequins seventh. And in Division 2C, Instonians finished first and were promoted; Bangor were sixth and Omagh Academicals 7th.

Clogher Valley were promoted to the All-Ireland League for the first time after finishing top of the Ulster Rugby Championship and winning playoffs against Leinster's Bective Rangers and Munster's Richmond.