Ulster CEO Hugh McCaughey never doubted province would bounce back from poor season to challenge for silverware

The CEO believes Ulster’s success this season hasn’t just come on the pitch, but also from the behind-the-scenes work at the club.

Last season Ulster finished 14th in the United Rugby Championship, the club’s lowest ever league position as the province missed out on qualification for the Champions Cup for the first ever time in the province’s history.

This season it has been a different story on the pitch as Richie Murphy’s side have won seven from 10 games and currently sit fourth in the URC table with a match in hand over the top two, while in Europe Ulster won three of their four Challenge Cup games in the pool stage to secure a top-three seeding and are guaranteed home advantage at least to the semi-final stage.

“We had the faith that we had the right foundations in place to build a really good team, we have the players, we have the young, real, high-quality young players, but we have to make sure that they develop,” McCaughey said.

“We're happy not just because of the results, but we're also seeing that generation of young players now starting to step up but also playing well, bringing an energy to the squad, but also getting the recognition at national level, whether that be for the national team or for the ‘A’ team.

“What is success for Ulster? Of course, we want to do well in the competitions, but we also want to see more Ulster players playing in the Irish team.

“The success this year, I think having the coaching team, which really functions as a team [has been important]. They're tight, they work together in a way which I think is stronger than anything I've seen in the last 15 years.

“There's a lot of stuff off the pitch as well, we're building and strengthening our age grade, which I think in 10 years’ time people will look back and think it was one of the biggest things we did.

“Leinster have 10-12 private schools, they're investing as far as we can see something in the region of 4-5 million euros, we have a publicly funded education system where there's a minuscule amount of money going into rugby.”

McCaughey believes it is important that rugby in Northern Ireland is “built from the bottom up”.

“Schools and clubs are raising money, but it's a fraction of what the Dublin schools have; we need to invest in our young player development,” he added.

“I think some of the things we're doing there now with our age grade support programme, working with schools and clubs to try and strengthen the coaching, the rugby programmes [is beneficial]. You're seeing a little bit of what's possible with what Ciarán Campbell's doing in Coleraine, we have to extend that.

“We have to look at the foundations of our sport in Ulster and build from that bottom up. I think those things will take much longer, but we start them now and we'll get the results in five to 10 years' time.”

Ulster recently unveiled a plaque at Ravenhill to Jack Kyle, who was voted Ireland’s greatest ever player in 2002, and McCaughey believes it is right to honour the heroes and legends of the past.

“It's a reminder of our roots, our heritage, our history,” he said. “Those aren't just players of the past, they are about our culture, our values, even the way we play.

“Jack Kyle played with pace, he played with speed, he played with flair, he had great footwork and skill and that you could become the best through that approach.

“The modern game is so heavily focused on physicality, but I think we're seeing in our team this season that actually with speed and pace and flair, you can counter the very large forwards in physicality.

“Of course you need physicality at breakdown in your forwards, you need a strong set piece, you need to be resilient in defence, but actually putting a premium on the Ulster way, the way that Jack Kyle signalled, it's important to us.”