1997–98 Ulster Rugby season

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1997–98 Ulster Rugby season
Ground(s)Ravenhill Stadium (Capacity: 12,500)
Coach(es)Davy Haslett
Captain(s)Stephen McKinty
Top scorerStuart Laing (115)
Most triesJan Cunningham (2)
Stan McDowell (2)
League(s)Heineken Cup (4th in pool)
IRFU Interprovincial Championship (3rd of 4)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 season was Ulster Rugby's third season under professionalism, during which they competed in the Heineken Cup and the IRFU Interprovincial Championship.

The IRFU offered new contracts for provincial players for this season. Full-time players would receive a retainer of £25,000, plus a win bonus of £500 for Heineken Cup matches. Part-time players would be paid a retainer of £7,500, plus a match fee of £400 for Interprovincial matches and £800 for the Heineken Cup, and a win bonus of £450 for both competitions.[1] Each province could have a maximum of 30 contracted players.[2]

Mark McCall was offered a full-time contract, but turned it down and signed for London Irish, making him unavailable for Ulster this season.[3]

Full-time contracts were also offered to Jan Cunningham and Stephen Bell, and part-time contracts to Clem Boyd (Bedford), Sheldon Coulter (Ballymena), Bryn Cunningham (Bective), Stuart Duncan (Malone), Rab Irwin (Ballymena), Stuart Laing (Portadown), Gary Leslie (Dungannon), Gary Longwell (Ballymena), Richard Mackey (Malone), Andrew Matchett (Ballymena), Denis McBride (Malone)' Dean Macartney (Ballymena), Stephen McKinty (Bangor), Tony McWhirter (Ballymena), John Patterson (Dungannon) and Andy Ward (Ballynahinch).[3]

After the departure of Tony Russ, Clive Griffiths was lined up to take over as head coach, but withdrew in the summer. Davy Haslett, a geography teacher at RBAI, was offered the position on the eve of the 1997 Ireland A rugby union tour of Oceania, on which he was assistant coach. Between returning from that tour and a pre-booked famility holiday, he only had four weeks to work with the team before the season started. Charlie McAleese was appointed assistant coach, and John Kinnear team manager.[4]: 10–12 

Players selected

Ulster Rugby squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

  • Ireland Tony McWhirter, Ballymena
  • Ireland Gary Longwell, Ballymena
  • Ireland Murtagh Rea, Malone
  • Ireland Charlie Simpson, Dungannon

Back row

Scrum-halves

  • Ireland Andrew Matchett, Ballymena
  • Ireland Stephen Bell, Dungannon
  • Ireland Kenton Hillman, Instonians

Fly-halves

Centres

Wings

  • Ireland James Topping, Ballymena
  • Ireland Sheldon Coulter, Ballymena
  • Ireland Jan Cunningham, TCD
  • Ireland Andy Park, Ballymena
  • Ireland Graeme McCluskey, Portadown
  • Ireland S. Carroll, Malone

Fullbacks

  • Ireland Robin Morrow, Dungannon
(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players.
* denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality.

1997–98 Heineken Cup

Main article: 1997–98 Heineken Cup

Pool 2

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff Pts
England Wasps 6 6 0 0 31 12 19 243 104 139 12
Scotland Glasgow 6 3 0 3 14 15 −1 132 167 −35 6
Wales Swansea 6 2 0 4 15 16 −1 157 161 −4 4
Ireland Ulster 6 1 0 5 6 23 −17 95 195 −100 2
8 September 1997
19:00
Ulster Ireland12 – 18Scotland Glasgow
Pen: Laing (3)
Drop: Laing		Report[6]Try: Craig, Wallace
Con: Hayes
Pen: Hayes (2)
Ravenhill
Attendance: 2,100
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Richard Mackey, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Gary Leslie, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Stephen McKinty, 7. Keith Gallick, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Stephen Bell, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. Sheldon Coulter, 12. James Topping, 13. Maurice Field, 14. Jan Cunningham, 15. Robin Morrow.
13 September 1997
14:00
Swansea Wales33 – 16Ireland Ulster
Try: Gibbs
H. Thomas
Con: A. Thomas
Pen: A. Thomas (7)		Report[7][8]Try: Gallick
Con: Laing
Pen: Laing (3)
St. Helen's
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: K. McCartney
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Richard Mackey, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Gary Leslie, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Stephen McKinty, 7. Keith Gallick, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Stephen Bell, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. Sheldon Coulter, 12. James Topping, 13. Maurice Field, 14. Jan Cunningham, 15. Robin Morrow.


21 September 1997
15:00
London Wasps England56 – 3Ireland Ulster
Try: Mitchell, Wood, King, Logan (3), Greenstock
Rosier
Con: Rees (5)
Pen: Rees		Report[9][10]Pen: Laing
Loftus Road Stadium
Attendance: 4,120
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Richard Mackey, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Rab Irwin, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Stephen McKinty, 7. Keith Gallick, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Andrew Matchett, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. Jan Cunningham, 12. Maurice Field, 13. Stan McDowell, 14. James Topping, 15. Robin Morrow. Replacements: C. O'Kane (for Ritchie, 12–24), Roger Wilson (for Gallick, 63), Bryn Cunningham (for Laing, 70), Murtagh Rea (for Longwell, 12–16; for McWhirter, 74), Stephen Bell (for Field, 75)


27 September 1997
14:30
Ulster Ireland28 – 20Wales Swansea
Try: Penalty try, Jackson, McWhirter
Con: Laing (2)
Pen: Laing (3)		Report[11]Try: Rees (2), Williams
Con: Williams
Pen: Williams
Ravenhill
Attendance: 2,500
Referee: George Hughes
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Rab Irwin, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Gary Leslie, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Stephen McKinty, 7. Keith Gallick, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Andrew Matchett, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. Jan Cunningham, 12. Maurice Field, 13. Michael Jackson, 14. James Topping, 15. Robin Morrow.


3 October 1997
19:30
Ulster Ireland21 – 38England London Wasps
Try: Jan Cunningham (2)
Con: Laing
Pen: Laing (3)		Report[12][13]Try: Henderson, Rosier, White, Greenstock, Dallaglio
Con: Rees (5)
Pen: Rees
Ravenhill
Attendance: 3,250
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Gary Lesie, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Rab Irwin, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Stephen McKinty, 7. Keith Gallick, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Andrew Matchett, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. Jan Cunningham, 12. Maurice Field, 13. Michael Jackson, 14. James Topping, 15. Stan McDowell. Replacements: Murtagh Rea (for McWhirter, 60), Roger Wilson (for Gallick, 60).
12 October 1997
15:00
Glasgow Scotland30 – 15Ireland Ulster
Try: Penalty try, Stott, Hayes
Con: Hayes (3)
Pen: Hayes (3)		Report[14]Pen: Laing (5)
Scotstoun Stadium
Attendance: 4,000
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Gary Lesie, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Rab Irwin, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Stephen McKinty, 7. Keith Gallick, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Andrew Matchett, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. Jan Cunningham, 12. Maurice Field, 13. Michael Jackson, 14. James Topping, 15. Stan McDowell. Replacements: Roger Wilson (for Gallick, 56), Murtagh Rea (for McWhirter, 64).

1997–98 IRFU Interprovincial Championship

Main article: IRFU Interprovincial Championship
Team P W D L F A BP Pts Status
3 2 0 1 61 46 - 8 Champions; qualified for next season's Heineken Cup
3 2 0 1 56 43 - 8 Qualified for next season's Heineken Cup
3 1 0 2 59 65 - 4 Qualified for next season's Heineken Cup
3 1 0 2 42 64 - 4

Top three teams qualify for next season's Heineken Cup.

16 August 1997
Leinster Leinster26-25Ulster Ulster
Try: Rolland, Hickie, O'Mahony
Con: Rolland
Pen: Governey (3)		Report[15]Try: Laing
Con: Laing
Pen: Laing (6)
Donnybrook
Referee: David McHugh
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Richard Mackey, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Gary Leslie, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Roger Wilson, 7. Stephen McKinty, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Kenton Hillman, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. Graeme McCluskey, 12. Stan McDowell, 13. Sheldon Coulter, 14. Jan Cunningham, 15. Robin Morrow. Replacements: Rab Irwin (for Leslie).
23 August 1997
Connacht Connacht27-17Ulster Ulster
Try: McEntee, Murphy, Charlie
Con: Elwood (3)
Pen: Elwood (2)		Report[16]Try: McDowell (2)
Con: Laing (2)
Pen: Laing
Galway Sportsgrounds
Referee: L. Mayne
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Richard Mackey, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Gary Leslie, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Stephen McKinty, 7. Roger Wilson, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Stephen Bell, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. Jan Cunningham, 12. Stan McDowell, 13. Sheldon Coulter, 14. Andy Park, 15. Robin Morrow.
30 August 1997
Ulster Ulster22-12Munster Munster
Try: Park
Con: Laing
Pen: Laing (4)
Drop: Laing		Report[17]Pen: O'Gara (4)
Ravenhill
Referee: M. White
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Richard Mackey, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Gary Leslie, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Stephen McKinty, 7. Keith Gallick, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Stephen Bell, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. Sheldon Coulter, 12. Maurice Field, 13. Jan Cunningham, 14. Andy Park, 15. Robin Morrow.

Friendlies

9 August 1997
Ulster Ireland22-12England Richmond
Report[18]
Palace Grounds, Armagh
Referee: M. White
Ulster lineup
  • 1. Richard Mackey, 2. Stephen Ritchie, 3. Gary Leslie, 4. Tony McWhirter, 5. Gary Longwell, 6. Stuart Duncan, 7. Stephen McKinty, 8. Andy Ward, 9. Stephen Bell, 10. Stuart Laing, 11. S. Carroll, 12. Sheldon Coulter, 13. Michael Jackson, 14. Andy Park, 15. Jan Cunningham. Replacements: Murtagh Rea, Kevin McKee, Rab Irwin, Dean Macartney, Roger Wilson, Kenton Hillman, M. Patton, Charlie Simpson, Bryn Cunningham, R. Collins.

Ulster Rugby Awards

The inaugural Guinness Ulster Rugby Awards dinner was held on 20 May 1998 at the Balmoral Conference Centre. Winners were:[19]

References

  1. ^ "Seventy six players win IRFU contracts", Irish Independent, 17 July 1997
  2. ^ Barry Coughlan, "IRFU brings home the message with provincial contracts", Irish Examiner, 1 May 1998
  3. ^ a b Jim Stokes, "Mark off to join Exiles", Belfast Telegraph, 17 July 1997.
  4. ^ Jonathan Bradley, The Last Amateurs: The Incredible Story of Ulster Rugby's 1999 European Champions, The Blackstaff Press, 2018
  5. ^ Note: not the Roger Wilson who played for Ulster from 2003 to 2008, and from 2021 to 2017.
  6. ^ "Ulster throw away victory", Irish Independent, 9 September 1997
  7. ^ "Thomas gives Ulster the boot", Sunday Independent, 14 September 1997
  8. ^ "Thomas sends Ulster packing", Evening Herald, 13 September 1997
  9. ^ "Ulster badly stung", Irish Independent, 22 September 1997
  10. ^ Peter Llewellyn, "Rugby Union: Wasps bring lasting pain as Logan runs riot", The Independent, 21 September 1997
  11. ^ Micheal McGeary, "Ulster Thriller", Sunday Life, 28 September 1997
  12. ^ Jim Stokes, "Wasps have to fight for Ulster win", Belfast Telegraph, 4 October 1997
  13. ^ "Wasps take sting out of Ulster", Irish Independent, 4 October 1997
  14. ^ "Flat Ulster fail to learn hard lesson", Belfast Telegraph, 13 October 1997
  15. ^ Michael McGeary, "Adding Insult to Injury", Sunday Life, 17 August 1997
  16. ^ Michael McGeary, "Ulster Shamed in Wild West", Sunday Life, 24 August 1997
  17. ^ Micheal McGeary, "Ulster enjoy a field day at last", Sunday Life, 31 August 1997
  18. ^ "Ulster 19 Richmond 41", Sunday Independent, 10 August 1997
  19. ^ Jim Stokes, "Handy Andy is tops", Belfast Telegraph, 21 May 1998
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