Dan Soper
Daniel Soper is a rugby union coach from New Zealand who has been assistant coach at Ulster since 2021.
Born in Alexandra,[1] he played for Otago Sharks, setting a club scoring record of 260 points in 1997,[2] and represented North Otago in the National Provincial Championship.[3] He first came to Northern Ireland in 1998 to play for Banbridge RFC,[1] and had a season in Italy, playing for Petrarca Padova in the 1999–2000 Heineken Cup. Returning to Northern Ireland, he played and coached at Ballynahinch RFC and Banbridge RFC while working as a schoolteacher at Wallace High School, Lisburn,[1] Sullivan Upper School,[3] Ballyclare High School, and Royal Belfast Academical Institution.[1]
In club rugby, he coached Ballynahinch to the "grand slam" of the Ulster Senior Cup, the All-Ireland Cup and the Ulster Senior League in 2009.[3] He became head coach of Banbridge in 2010, and led them to two promotions in the All Ireland League.[4] In schools rugby, he coached future Irish international Darren Cave at Sullivan Upper,[4] and led the RBAI rugby team, featuring future internationals James Hume and Michael Lowry, to three consecutive Ulster Schools' Cup titles between 2015 and 2017.[1] He also coached the Ulster under-18 schools team.[3] He joined Ulster as skills coach ahead of the 2018–19 season,[3] and was promoted to assistant coach, in place of the departing Dwayne Peel, before the 2021–22 season.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e Jonathan Bradley, "'It's never about him': How Dan Soper won over the Ulster squad and guided Banbridge and RBAI to unheralded success", Belfast Telegraph, 17 March 2020
- ^ "Rugby: Pride restored to region", Otago Daily Times, 29 July 2022
- ^ a b c d e "Banbridge coach Daniel Soper 'excited' to join Ulster backroom staff", Irish Independent, 4 June 2018
- ^ a b Cian Locke, "Daniel Soper confirmed as new Ulster skills coach", Irish Examiner, 5 June 2018
- ^ "Dan Soper: Ulster skills coach to become assistant to Dan McFarland next season", BBC Sport, 3 February 2021