At the start of the 2010/11 season there was huge focus on Ulster rugby. The arrivals of high profile Springboks Ruan Pienaar, Pedrie Wannenburg and Johann Muller at Ravenhill was expected to make the northern side more competitive. Indeed the addition of that trio to a side which contained fellow South Africans BJ Botha and Robbie Diack certainly gave the province a hard abrasive edge which may have been missing in past seasons. Their success in reaching the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup and the playoffs of the Magners League is no small achievement given where they were 18 months ago. And to say that that success is purely down to the influx of foreign, or non Irish qualified players, would be doing a great disservice to guys such as Chris Henry, Dan Touhy, Rory Best and Tom Court. What has impressed me most though about this Ulster side this season was the young players. In players like Luke Marshall, Craig Gilroy, Nevin Spence, Conor Gaston and Paddy McAllister Ulster have the nucleus of a strong team for the future. Gilroy in particular caught the eye with eight tries from fourteen appearances; this guy appears to have the requisite skill levels allied with great strength and pace to become a top international player in the future. Qualification for the knock out stages of the Heineken Cup was a particular highlight, for it was the first time since they won the competition back in 1999 that they got out of their group. In that match against Northampton, the eventual finalists, for 50-60 minutes they gave as good as they got. The signs for next season are also hugely positive, further investment in the team through the signings of top class talent such as All Black prop John Afoa and his fellow New Zealander utility back Jared Payne will further improve this young Ulster squad. The departure of Botha to Munster at the moment appears to be good business for Ulster as he has shown signs of age and in Afoa they are not only replacing Botha, they are possibly strengthening their hand. Payne has been one of the standout performers in a very strong Auckland Blues team which has been scoring tries for fun in this season’s Super 15. For Ulster a backline of Pienaar, Humphreys, Trimble, Spence, Payne, Gilroy and D’Arcy has the potential to be devastating in attack. There are also rumours circulating the province that another major signing in the backline may be announced over the summer, All Black speedster Cory Jane has been mentioned, if this were to come to fruition Ulster would be in possession of a fearsome backline and the targeting of major silverware would be expected.
