| Club: | Ulster Rugby |
| Season: | 2015–16 |
| Manager: | Neil Doak |
| Mgrtitle: | Head Coach |
| Chairman: | Les Kiss |
| Chrtitle: | Director of Rugby |
| Captain: | Rory Best |
| League: | Pro12 |
| League Result: | Semi-final |
| Cup1: | European Rugby Champions Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 2nd in Pool 1 |
| Points Scorer: | Paddy Jackson (200) |
| Try Scorer: | Craig Gilroy (10) |
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| Socks1: | FFFFFF |
| Pattern La2: | _whiteborder |
| Pattern B2: | _whitecollar |
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| Prevseason: | 2014–15 |
| Nextseason: | 2016–17 |
The 2015–16 season was Ulster's 22nd season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and the second under Director of Rugby Les Kiss and head coach Neil Doak. They competed in the European Rugby Champions Cup and the Pro12.
In the Pro12, Ulster finished fourth, qualifying for the playoffs and for next season's Champions Cup. They lost to Leinster in the semi-final. Ulster won the Fair Play Award, and wing Craig Gilroy made the Pro12 Dream Team. In the Champions Cup, they finished second in Pool 1, missing out on the knockout stage. Academy wing Jacob Stockdale made his senior debut this season. Centre Stuart McCloskey was Ulster's Player of the Year. Out-half Paddy Jackson was Ulster's leading scorer with 200 points. Craig Gilroy was leading try scorer with ten. Lock Franco van der Merwe was leading tackler with 261.[1] At the end of the season, number eight Nick Williams left for Cardiff Blues, and lock Dan Tuohy for Bristol Bears. Out-half Ian Humphreys retired.
| Position | Name | Nationality | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director of Rugby | Les Kiss |  Australia | |
| Head Coach | Neil Doak |  Ireland | |
| Team Manager | Bryn Cunningham | Ireland | |
| Forwards Coach | Allen Clarke | Ireland | |
| Coach | Joe Barakat | Australia | |
| Head of Strength & Conditioning | Jonny Davis | Ireland | |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Kevin Geary | Ireland | |
| Head of Physiotherapy | Gareth Robinson | Ireland | |
| Physiotherapist | Alan McAldin | Ireland |
Sam Windsor from Worcester Warriors[5]
Tim Boys to Southland/Crusaders[10]
Agen[15] Counties Manukau| Ulster Rugby squad[16] | ||
|---|---|---|
Props
Hookers
Locks
| Back row
Scrum-halves
Fly-halves
| Centres
Wings
Fullbacks
|
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. Italics denotes academy players who appeared in the senior team. * denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality. Players and their allocated positions from the Ulster Rugby website.[17] [18] |
| Position[22] | Name | Nationality | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head Coach | Kieran Campbell | Ireland | |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Matthew Maguire | Ireland | |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Matthew Godfrey | Ireland | |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Amy Davis | Ireland | |
| Representative Team Performance Manager | Michael Black | Ireland | |
| Talent Development Officer | Jonny Gillespie | Ireland | |
| Elite Player Development Officer/Head Coach Ulster 'A' | Alex Codling | Ireland | |
| Elite Player Development Officer | James Topping | Ireland | |
| Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach | David Drake | Ireland |
| Ulster Rugby Academy squad[23] | ||
|---|---|---|
Props
Hookers
Locks
| Back row
Scrum-halves
Fly-halves
| Centres
Wings
Fullbacks
|
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players, number in brackets indicates players stage in the three-year academy cycle. * denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality. Players and their allocated positions from the Ulster Rugby website. |
The following players, other than players from the senior squad and academy, appeared for the Ulster Ravens this season.
See main article: 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup.
See main article: 2015–16 Pro12.
Wing Craig Gilroy was joint top try scorer with 10,[24] and was named in the Pro12 Dream Team. Ulster won the competition's Fair Play award.[25]
| Domestic League | European Cup | Total | ||||||||||
| League | Fixtures | Average Attendance | Highest | Lowest | League | Fixtures | Average Attendance | Highest | Lowest | Total Attendance | Average Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 Pro12 | 11 | 15,310 | 17,332 | 12,640 | 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup | 3 | 16,111 | 17,108 | 15,108 | 216,740 | 15,481 | |
See main article: 2015–16 British and Irish Cup.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 166 | 144 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |||||
| Bristol | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 200 | 112 | 88 | 3 | 0 | 19 | ||||
| Ulster Ravens | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 143 | –31 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||||
| Scarlets Premiership Select | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 114 | 193 | –79 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||
| Source : Updated: Points breakdown: *4 points for a win *2 points for a draw *1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less *1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match | ||||||||||||||
See main article: IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | BP | Pts | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 10 | 0 | 10 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 20 | 1 | 9 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 35 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 96 | 3 | 3 |
The Heineken Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the Culloden Estate and Spa, Holywood. Winners were:[26]