2007–08 Ulster Rugby season

2007–08 Ulster Rugby season
Ground(s)	Ravenhill Stadium (Capacity: 12,500)
Coach(es)	Mark McCall; Steve Williams; Matt Williams
Top scorer	Paddy Wallace (74)
Most tries	Tommy Bowe (8)
League(s)	Heineken Cup (4th in pool); Celtic League (9th)
1st kit	2nd kit
← 2006–07	2008–09 →

The 2007–08 Ulster Rugby season was Ulster's 14th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union.

After a poor run of results, Mark McCall resigned as head coach in November 2007. Steve Williams took over on an interim basis,[1] and Matt Williams was appointed as his replacement.[2] Ulster finished bottom of their pool in the Heineken Cup, and second from bottom in the Celtic League.

Squad

Ulster Rugby squad
Props Simon Best Jarlath Carey Niall Conlon Tom Court Declan Fitzpatrick Justin Fitzpatrick Bryan Young Hookers Rory Best Nigel Brady Neil Hanna Matt Miles Stuart Philpott Locks Tim Barker Ryan Caldwell Carlo Del Fava Justin Harrison Matt McCullough	Back row Neil Best Kieron Dawson Stephen Ferris Chris Henry Neil McMillan David Pollock Grant Webb Roger Wilson Scrum-halves Isaac Boss Kieran Campbell Paul Marshall Fly-halves Kieran Hallet David Humphreys Niall O'Connor	Centres Darren Cave Rob Dewey Adam Larkin Seamus Mallon Paul Steinmetz Andrew Trimble Paddy Wallace Wings Mark Bartholomeusz Tommy Bowe Simon Danielli Mark McCrea Paul McKenzie Fullbacks Bryn Cunningham Mark Kettyle

(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. ^* denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality. Players and their allocated positions from the Ulster Rugby website.

Player transfers

Players in (Season 2007/2008)

Neil Hanna from Rotherham Titans
Jarlath Carey from Rotherham Titans
Seamus Mallon from Northampton Saints
Carlo Del Fava from Bourgoin
Simon Danielli from Border Reivers
David Pollock from Ulster Academy
Darren Cave from Ulster Academy
Rob Dewey from Edinburgh
Kieran Hallet from Bedford Blues
Grant Webb from Toyota Verblitz

Players Out (Season 2007/2008)

Heineken Cup

Pool 2

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Gloucester (3)	6	5	1	24	13	+11	184	119	+65	4	0	24
Ospreys (8)	6	5	1	16	9	+7	164	102	+62	1	0	21
Bourgoin	6	1	5	12	19	−7	118	174	−56	1	3	8
Ulster	6	1	5	13	24	−11	102	173	−71	0	1	5

9 November 2007
20:00

Ulster	14–32	Gloucester
Tries: McCullough 29' c Wallace 40' c Con: Wallace (2)	Report	Tries: Vainikolo 7' m Tindall 9' m Lamb 18' c Simpson-Daniel 22' m Balshaw 26' c Con: Lamb (2) Pen: Lamb 67'

Ravenhill, Belfast
Attendance: 13,000
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

16 November 2007
21:00

Bourgoin	24–17	Ulster
Tries: Tchougong 56' c Coux 64' m Con: Boyet Pen: Boyet 15', 28', 39', 80+4'	Report	Tries: Dawson 12' c Danielli 23' c Con: Wallace (2) Pen: Wallace 31'

Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin-Jallieu
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

7 December 2007
20:00

Ospreys	48–17	Ulster
Tries: Parker 4' m Marshall 19' c A.W. Jones 44' c Tiatia 46' c Walker (2) 64' c, 80+3' c Byrne 72' m Con: Hook (5) Pen: Hook 12'	Report	Tries: Boss 52' c Danielli 68' c Con: Wallace (2) Pen: Wallace 21'

Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Attendance: 8,082
Referee: Chris White (England)

14 December 2007
20:00

Ulster	8–16	Ospreys
Try: Danielli 38' m Pen: O'Connor 17'	Report	Try: Marshall 54' c Con: Hook Pen: Hook (3) 12', 15', 56'

Ravenhill, Belfast
Attendance: 9,665
Referee: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)

11 January 2008
19:30

Ulster	25–24	Bourgoin
Tries: Bowe 44' c Marshall 55' c Trimble 78' m Con: Humphreys (2) Pen: Humphreys (2) 6', 13'	Report	Tries: Coux 2' m Denos 20' m Vigneaux 40' c Petrilli 47' c Con: Parra (2)

Ravenhill, Belfast
Attendance: 8,340
Referee: James Jones (Wales)

20 January 2008
13:00

Gloucester	29–21	Ulster
Tries: Qera (2) 7' c, 59' m Strokosch 34' c Balshaw 71' m Narraway 80' m Con: Paterson (2)	Report	Tries: Bowe (2) 21' c, 77' c Trimble 44' c Con: Wallace (2) O'Connor

Kingsholm, Gloucester
Attendance: 12,480
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Celtic League

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Pts
Leinster	18	13	1	4	428	283	+145	44	30	4	3	61
Cardiff Blues	18	12	0	6	395	315	+80	48	31	6	2	56
Munster	18	10	1	7	330	258	+72	33	26	2	4	48
Edinburgh	18	9	3	6	313	285	+28	35	29	3	3	48
Glasgow Warriors	18	10	1	7	340	349	−9	31	38	1	3	46
Llanelli Scarlets	18	7	0	11	403	362	+41	45	38	6	5	39
Ospreys	18	6	1	11	321	255	+66	24	24	2	9	37
Newport Gwent Dragons	18	7	1	10	282	394	−112	31	44	1	3	34
Ulster	18	6	1	11	278	407	−129	33	41	2	1	29
Connacht	18	5	1	12	214	396	−182	16	39	0	2	24
Under the standard bonus point system, points are awarded as follows: 4 points for a win 2 points for a draw 1 bonus point for scoring 4 tries (or more) (Try bonus) 1 bonus point for losing by 7 points (or fewer) (Losing bonus)
Source: RaboDirect PRO12

21 September 2007
18:30

Ulster	17–16	Ospreys
Try: Danielli Pen: O'Connor (4)	Report	Try: Bishop Con: Connor Pen: Connor (3)

Ravenhill
Attendance: 8,142

28 September 2007
19:30

Edinburgh	24–10	Ulster
Try: Turnbull Houston Con: Godman (2) Warnock Pen: Warnock	Report	Try: Bartholomeusz Con: O'Connor Pen: O'Connor

Murrayfield
Attendance: 1,389

6 October 2007
17:30

Newport Gwent Dragons	31–11	Ulster
Try: Wyatt Charteris Davies Con: Sweeney (2) Pen: Sweeney (4)	Report	Try: Court Pen: O'Connor (4)

Rodney Parade
Attendance: 4,139

12 October 2007
19:10

Llanelli Scarlets	32–8	Ulster
Try: Watkins Jones Manu Edwards Con: Priestland (3) Pen: Priestland (2)	Report	Try: Bowe Con: Wallace

Stradey Park
Attendance: 6,480

26 October 2007
19:30

Ulster	16–16	Leinster
Try: Trimble Con: Humphreys Pen: Humphreys (2) Drop: Humphreys	Report	Try: D'Arcy Con: Sexton Pen: Sexton (3)

Ravenhill
Attendance: 13,132

2 November 2007
19:30

Glasgow Warriors	25–6	Ulster
Try: Henderson Con: Parks Pen: Parks (6)	Report	Pen: Humphreys (2)

Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 2,631

23 November 2007
19:30

Connacht	13–30	Ulster
Try: Riordan Con: Donnelly Pen: Dunne Donnelly	Report	Try: Dawson Wilson Del Fava Con: Wallace (3) Pen: Wallace (3)

Sportsground
Attendance: 2,541

30 November 2007
19:30

Ulster	14–20	Edinburgh
Try: Bowe Pen: Wallace (3)	Report	Try: Dey Cairns Con: Godman (2) Pen: Godman (2)

Ravenhill
Attendance: 9,750

26 December 2007
15:00

Leinster	29–0	Ulster
Try: Heaslip Healy Con: Contepomi (2) Pen: Contepomi (5)	Report

Royal Dublin Society
Attendance: 18,230

15 February 2008
19:30

Ulster	38–13	Newport Gwent Dragons
Try: R. Best Cunningham Danielli Wallace Boss Caldwell Con: O'Connor (4)	Report	Try: Dollman Con: Thomas Pen: Sweeney

Ravenhill
Attendance: 9,246

29 February 2008
19:30

Ulster	20–8	Llanelli Scarlets
Try: McCullough N. Best Boss Con: O'Connor Pen: O'Connor	Report	Try: Priestland Pen: Priestland

Ravenhill
Attendance: 8,869

22 March 2008
19:30

Munster	42–6	Ulster
Try: O'Gara O'Driscoll Buckley O'Leary Howlett Coughlan Con: O'Gara (4) Warwick	Report	Pen: O'Connor (2)

Musgrave Park
Attendance: 7,500

28 March 2008
19:10

Ospreys	32–7	Ulster
Try: Williams (2) Walker Hook Con: Hook (3) Pen: Hook (2)	Report	Try: Dawson Con: O'Connor

Liberty Stadium
Attendance: 9,087

11 April 2008
18:30

Ulster	18–6	Connacht
Try: McCullough Court Con: Wallace Pen: Wallace O'Connor	Report	Pen: Dunne Nathan

Ravenhill
Attendance: 9,248

19 April 2008
17:30

Cardiff Blues	30–17	Ulster
Try: Thomas Williams Roberts Con: Blair (3) Pen: Blair (2) Flanagan	Report	Try: Bowe Caldwell Con: O'Connor (2) Pen: O'Connor

Cardiff Arms Park
Attendance: 6,500

30 April 2008
19:30

Ulster	19–9	Munster
Try: Dewey Trimble Caldwell Con: Wallace (2)	Report	Pen: Warwick (3)

Ravenhill
Attendance: 12,300

3 May 2008
15:00

Ulster	24–35	Glasgow Warriors
Try: Bowe Danielli Wilson Boss Con: Wallace (2)	Report	Try: Beattie T. Evans Fa'atau M. Evans Con: Parks (3) Pen: Parks (3)

Ravenhill
Attendance: 6,592

9 May 2008
19:30

Ulster	17–26	Cardiff Blues
Try: Bowe Danielli Wallace Con: Wallace	Report	Try: Molitika (2) Down Davies Con: Halfpenny (3)

Ravenhill
Attendance: 9,672

Ulster Rugby Awards

The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held on 15 May 2008 at the La Mon House Hotel outside Belfast. Winners were:[3]

Guinness Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year: David Humphreys
Bank of Ireland Ulster Player of the Year: Tommy Bowe
Vodafone Young Ulster Player of the Year: Niall O'Connor
Kukri Sportswear Club of the Year: City of Armagh RFC
First Trust Club Player of the Year: Ian Porter, QUB
Ken Goodall Award for Oustanding Player at the Sports Institute: Ian Whitten, QUB
Special Merit Award: Latimer Adair, Ballynahinch RFC
Calor Gas Youth Player of the Year: James Simpson, Ballynahinch RFC
Northern Bank Schools Player of the Year: Jonathan Shiells, Coleraine Academical Institution

References

"Ulster coach quits", Sky Sports, 13 November 2007
"Ulster confirm Matt Williams as new Head Coach", Irish Examiner, 30 December 2007
Richard Mulligan, "Humphreys steals the limelight while Monaghan boy Bowe bows out in style", News Letter, 16 May 2008

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[1] "Ulster coach quits", Sky Sports, 13 November 2007

[2] "Ulster confirm Matt Williams as new Head Coach", Irish Examiner, 30 December 2007

[3] Richard Mulligan, "Humphreys steals the limelight while Monaghan boy Bowe bows out in style", News Letter, 16 May 2008