Anderson and Young to join the Academy

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ADM
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Anderson and Young to join the Academy

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[tag=image]https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Me15 ... 2&pid=15.1[/tag][tag=content]Ulster Rugby have announced that Willie Anderson and Bryan Young will join the Hughes Insurance Academy as Elite Player Development Officer and Talent Development Officer respectively.

Anderson, a former Ulster and Ireland captain, will start his role in July 2016 and will operate as a forwards specialist for the Academy and in conjunction with the Ulster A team as well.

He won 27 caps for Ireland between 1984-1990, after which he started a coaching career which saw him spend spells with Leinster, London Irish and also the Scottish national team.

The 61-year old has coaching history within the province too, both at schools and club level having coached at Grosvenor GS, Sullivan Upper School, Rainey Old Boys RFC and Dungannon RFC.

“I’m really excited about the prospect of working in the Academy and the challenge that it will bring,” Anderson commented on his new role. “I’m looking forward to working with Les Kiss and Kieran Campbell, and hopefully bringing through some top quality young players over the next few years.

“My role is primarily going to be with the forwards, working with them on what it takes to be a complete professional.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have experience working in a similar environment with the Irish Academy that developed players such as Paul O’Connell and Peter Stringer, so hopefully we will be able to unearth our own golden generation in Ulster.”


Head of the Academy, Kieran Campbell, expressed his delight at having someone of Anderson’s calibre enter the Academy system.

“We are delighted to be welcoming Willie on board,” he said. “He has developed players to realise their potential at the top echelons of the game and this will be invaluable in contributing to the advancement of indigenous forwards to play at Guinness PRO12, Champions’ Cup and international standard.

“In addition, Willie’s experience will help support the development of a number of excellent young local coaches who are presently working very well within the Academy.”


Ulster’s Director of Rugby Les Kiss also commented on how excited he was to see Anderson come on board to help with the Academy.

“For someone of Willie’s experience to come in and work with our young forwards is going to be fantastic for us,” he claimed. “Willie has been through every level of the game, both as a player and a coach, so his experience will certainly enhance our programme.

“We have a lot of young players that we would like to accelerate through to a higher level of rugby, so when you have someone like Willie who has been there and done it himself, and also coached it, I think that will help us immensely.”


Bryan Young has been promoted to his new role from a consultancy role within the Academy which was to work with developing the forwards and leading the scrum programme within the high performance pathway.

In his playing days Young was a prop for both Ulster and Ireland, making 132 appearances for his province and 8 for his country.

Commenting on Young’s promotion to Talent Development Officer, Kieran Campbell paid tribute to what Young has already done and highlighted what he can further bring to the Academy set-up.

He said, “Bryan’s experience within the Academy to date, coupled with his wealth of playing experience at international and provincial level will make him a very valuable member of the team.

“He will be integral to the development of a significant number of identified indigenous forwards within the Ulster player pathway.”
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