Ulster Ravens Rugby Union
Founded: 1879
Home Ground: Ravenhill
‘A’ team Head Coach: Allen Clarke
Last Season: Runners up RABO Direct PRO12
A brief history:
The Ulster Ravens side to play Jersey are the ‘A’ side of
the Irish provincial giants. Like last seasons Irish opponents, Leinster, they
play interprovincial matches against each other as well as Munster, and
Connacht, also featuring in the British and Irish Cup matches. The ‘A’ side is
largely made up of their senior players requiring game time, Academy players
and AIL (All-Ireland League) players. The only full time professional sports
side in the whole of Northern Ireland, Ulster has a proud history both
nationally and at European levels. Despite winning the Interprovincial
Championship for the first time in 1976, it was not until the mid to late 80’s
that they enjoyed real sustained success when from 1984-85 they either won
outright, or shared the title every season until the professional era began.
Despite this change into the professional era, a largely amateur side achieved
perhaps Ulster’s greatest achievement, by winning the 1999 European Cup against
French side Colomiers.
Domestically, in 2006 Ulster won the Celtic Championship for
the first and to date only time, but struggled to match the achievements of powerhouse
Irish rivals Leinster and Munster until recently. Their League success has been
limited, but they did top the RaboDirect PRO12 last season playing some
excellent rugby, but once again they were to lose out in the playoff final to
Leinster. In Europe they have become a force once more, losing an all Irish
clash in the 2011 final to Leinster having beaten Munster in the quarter
finals, and then last season they again qualified for the quarter finals,
beaten by high flying Saracens who were coached by a former Ulster Captain,
Mark McCall.
Ulster in the British and Irish Cup:
Ulster’s ‘A’ side has yet to live up to the expectation of
its first team, and thus far has been stuck in the shadows once again of
Leinster and Munster. The inaugural season of the British and Irish Cup began
well, with four wins and a draw from five matches in their group, pitting them
up against Munster in the knockout stages. A slick performance from their
rivals in a 27-3 drubbing, sent a disappointing Ulster out of the competition. The
following season was to be a disaster. Despite an opening day win over Swansea,
they suffered four straight defeats including games against Bedford, London
Welsh and Moseley, all who had been beaten the previous season’s competition,
to leave them second bottom of the group. The 2011-12 campaign offered much more
promise, with four group wins out of four, putting them into the knockout
phase. Once again they came up against rivals Munster, and despite a much
better performance than 2009-10, they again were comfortably defeated 20-9.
Last season they won four from six, only losing home and away to Bristol, and
with only the top side qualifying, Ulster was to miss out again, despite having
23 points, (enough to top four of the other seven groups).
This season they came unstuck against a powerful Cornish
Pirates side, before narrowly beating Jersey at Ravenhill. A shock reverse to
Scottish Champions Ayr followed to ultimately sink their chances of progression
to the next phase, before they gained revenge by beating Ayr in the return
match. But with the Pirates winning all four of their matches with a bonus
point, the Cornishmen will progress from the group. Mathematically Ulster still
have an unrealistic chance to take a best runners-up spot, but it would require
a quite astonishing set of results in other groups and two bonus point wins
against Jersey today, and Pirates next weekend to make the quarter finals,
whilst the home side are just playing for pride, confidence and a chance to
impress Harvey Biljon before the league fixture against Rotherham at the end of
the month.
Any previous:
A much-changed Jersey side travelled to Ravenhill, the
starting XV featured Academy players such as Jack Burroughs, James Voss and
Luke Stratford. It appeared to pay dividends as Jersey dominated the opening
proceedings, scoring an unconverted try by Captain Alex Rae after some powerful
forward play. Sadly that would be Jersey’s only score of the half as the initiative
was lost, and after a successful penalty got Ulster a foothold in the match,
they would not relinquish their advantage until late in the match. Worse was to
follow for Jersey as the Ulster fullback McIlwaine, somehow evaded four tackles
to score a fine individual try with the Ulsterman going virtually the length of
the pitch giving them a somewhat fortuitous lead in the wet and blustery
conditions. Another penalty gave the home side an 11-5 lead at half time, and this
was extended on the hour mark as a second, superbly converted try, gave the
Ravens a 21-5 lead, and in the wet windy conditions it was one they would not
relinquish, despite a rally from the Islanders. With a glut of changes giving
the initiative, and power back to The Reds in the final quarter, Jersey scored
two penalty tries in rapid succession, both converted, to bring themselves
within two points with only minutes remaining. A late penalty from Ulster gave
them a narrow 24-19 win, only after a late charge by full-back Jack Burroughs
was denied. Despite the defeat, the losing bonus point put Jersey temporarily
on top of the group, and in with a great chance of progression to the knock-out
stages ahead of the back to back games with the Cornish Pirates.
With the emphasis for Ulster quite rightly
on their huge Heineken Cup clash with French side Montpellier, the side to play
Jersey will be shorn of a number of fringe first team players who will have
been seconded to the first team squad for a match that looks set to decide who
will progress to the Quarter finals of rugby’s premier club tournament.
Whilst the first team takes preference, the
A side still take the British and Irish Cup seriously. Elite Performance
Director and Head Coach for the A side, Allan Clarke said, ‘We value the
tournament, it’s because of the exposure for the players in the squad who do
not get regular game time in the professional game, it’s important for us to
further assess and provide opportunity for players to put their hand up for
senior selection.’
Clarke was more than pleased that his side
hung on for a 24-19 win in the game at Ravenhill earlier in the season. ‘We
were very inexperienced, Jersey had a significant upper hand in the pack, and it
needed a lot of character for us to get the win, we were very pleased with the
result and the character the team displayed.’
Despite the fact that effectively both
teams are out of the tournament with this and one other match still to play,
Clarke believes it will be anything but friendly when the teams take the field
on Saturday. ‘The game of rugby by its very nature is competitive,’ he said. ‘I
don’t expect any player to take the field in either of the two teams, expecting
just to turn up and throw the ball around. You have to earn the right to do
that. We will have to defend well, look after the ball, and see what comes out
of that on the day. We believe, and are preparing for a tough battle.’
Clarke was positive in talking up his side’s
chances of registering an away win that could cement second spot in the pool. ‘There
is a lot of enthusiasm in the group; we have a lot of young players who have
ambition. If that is harnessed in the right way it can make any group of
players dangerous.’
The task facing Clarke is harder than one
would imagine, as he will have some of his better players cherry picked the
night before. But he is fully supportive of what the club has to do in what he
describes as a huge match for the first team. ‘That is our priority this week,
to beat Montpellier, and that makes it difficult to for the player underneath
(the first team) as we have a role to ensure that we beat Montpellier, but also
to remain competitive at Jersey on Saturday. We know it will be a very
difficult encounter this weekend.’
Ulster: Ones to watch
Mike
McComish
DoB:
7th December 1983
Height:
1.88 m
Weight:
106kg
Position:
Back Row
McComish
joined Ulster from Connacht at the start of the 2011-12 season. He is an
accomplished Number Eight but can play anywhere in the back row. A former development player within the
Ulster Squad, he had spells with both Rotherham and Otley in England before
joining Connacht ahead of the start of the 2009-10 season. McComish attended Campbell College and has
played for Ballymena in the All-Ireland League. The 27 year old has played for
Ireland at under 21 level and has also represented the Ireland 7’s side. He runs his own Sports Management Company,
CornerFlag Management Limited, who list an impressive array of clients from the
Lions and the Irish National side, as well as our own Mark McCrea and Niall
O’Conner.
David
McIlwaine
DoB:
9th May 1989
Height:
1.91m
Weight:
92kg
Position:
Wing
McIlwaine
is equally comfortable at fullback or on the wing and returned to Ulster in the
summer of 2013 having spent two years playing in England. First for Doncaster
where he scored 96 points before injury curtailed his season, and then a year
at Bristol, making eight appearances, scoring nine points from four kicks in
the 39-16 win over Jersey at the Memorial Ground last season. He is a graduate
of the Hughes Insurance Ulster Academy having started there in the summer of
2010. Surprisingly he didn’t play rugby at school, and instead learnt the game
at his local club, Larne. Playing at full-back in the game at Ravenhill he
scored a fine try, evading several tackles having started on his own ten-metre
line.
Ricky
Andrew
DoB:
2nd December 1989
Height:
1.83m
Weight:
80kg
Position:
Full Back
Full-back
Andrew spent one season in the academy of current Top 14 champions Castres,
while on a year abroad during a French and Spanish degree at Queen's University
and credits his southern sojourn as a crucial period in his rugby development.
With another year of his studies to complete, Andrew returned to the Ulster
Academy, turning out for Ballymena after his time at Queen's came to an end. He
went on to make a bit of club history for the Braidmen when alongside brothers
Joel and John; he became part of the first trio of brothers to represent the
club in a league game. A try scorer against Ayr in their win last time out, he
has played both centre and on the wing for the Ravens.
James
McKinney
DoB:
3rd January 1991
Height:
1.80m
Weight:
86kg
Position:
Fly Half
A
distinguished schools career, playing for Campbell College and representing
Ulster and Irish Schools preceded progression into the Ulster Rugby Academy. Selection
for the Ravens followed, playing in the 2010 British and Irish Cup semi-final against
Munster. McKinney has the distinction of representing Ireland U20′s in
consecutive World Cups, 2010 in Argentina and Italy in 2011. During 2010 he
illustrated his accuracy from the kicking tee with an 83% strike rate. He had a
one-year stint with Rotherham in 2012 and his strong performances and glowing
reputation that emerged from that year saw him re-sign for his native province,
Ulster, in 2013. This will be his third match versus Jersey, having been
involved twice last season with the Titans.
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