Ulster's 2014/2015 Squad

[Russ]

50% wow, that's high....

Wasps apparently achieve 90%

http://www.wasps.co.uk/aboutacademy.ink

If your kpi is how many people come out of your academy are offered pro contracts in your team then it is not too hard to fix your numbers

Plus, Wasps players are tom kite

Anscombe Out

[Bayern]

50% from the academy is not high.

But all those players are not going to make the academy. So if they could convert most of those who do into at the very least good pro 12 level players depth will begin to be created.

It will take some luck(injuries) and a lot of hard work but it should be the aim.
I'll be interested to see which of this year's under-20's will make the academy assume Taggart and Busby but I wonder will any others.. Heard rumours they may try to take a few forwards Leinster have not offered an academy spot too.

[Bring Humph On!!]

What is most important for the development of young forwards post school?

For what it's worth, I think our young men who have potential need, not only good coaching & the proper nutrition/S&C, but they need game time. They need exposure to the hard world of gnarly experienced forwards who know a few old dog tricks. This brings me back to what has been discussed many times before ... What do you do with the Ravens? How do we expose young potential in the best way to full time rugby?

More support for teams to gain promotion into AIL1? I've kinda lost touch with AIL over the last few yrs, is it a good breeding ground for young forward hopefuls?

I'm interested to hear people's thoughts. The above is more medium/long term. I fear for next seasons forwards as we certainly appear to lack depth, especially during International camps.

[Rooster]

There are somewhere in excess of 250 players in the 15 to 19 age groups that McGlocks is working with and I would expect in the future the academy will be more elite as he will have seen those who get through are of a proper standard and mentality.

[Bayern]

What is most important for the development of young forwards post school?

For what it's worth, I think our young men who have potential need, not only good coaching & the proper nutrition/S&C, but they need game time. They need exposure to the hard world of gnarly experienced forwards who know a few old dog tricks. This brings me back to what has been discussed many times before ... What do you do with the Ravens? How do we expose young potential in the best way to full time rugby?

More support for teams to gain promotion into AIL1? I've kinda lost touch with AIL over the last few yrs, is it a good breeding ground for young forward hopefuls?

I'm interested to hear people's thoughts. The above is more medium/long term. I fear for next seasons forwards as we certainly appear to lack depth, especially during International camps.

gametime and avoiding serious injury..

Munster and Leinster have developed their forwards through their A teams and the AIL.
Dave Kilcoyne and James Cronin who are top young Looseheads developed in recent years by Munster were not underage stars(neither played for ireland under-20) but they were developed in the academy and at their AIL clubs(UL Bohs/Dolphin) to the point that they are now with Ireland for the summer tour.
Jack McGrath and Martin Moore who have broken through for Leinster in the past two seasons were underage stars but they spent at least two seasons in the AIL(St. Marys/Lansdowne) developing combined with A team rugby for Leinster.

Various other examples in both of those provinces in how they used the AIL and A team to develop their forwards before exposing them to the Pro 12 and higher.

Ulster have been very unlucky with injury which should be noted, but hopefully their luck can change.

[UlsterNo9]

Ulster have been very unlucky with injury which should be noted, but hopefully their luck can change.

Nip over to babbling brook or turnipstan and ask how many they've lost early, you'll find they've lost just as many young hopefuls.... we just think Ulster have been unlucky as you're closer to it than you are other clubs.

Strange McGlocks seems to allowed more time to produce at academy level than some on this board would allow Anscombe at 1st team

[Blackskulllad]

I was beginning to think McGlock was moved to the academy wasn't because he was doing a bad job with the first team. But actually more to do with the growing importance placed upon the academy.

[Dan Dare]

The academy is getting more priority now I think. The truth is that we need the best young talent that we can get our hands on and they need to be Irish Qualified, this has been evident recently with the rise of Exiles coming here, if we are not producing enough quality in the schools and clubs then others will come in and surpass them. The schools is our life blood really and McGlock will be tasked with seeing big improvements there. The thing with the Exiles tho is that some of these lads have strong family connections with Ulster and that will always count in decisions to come here.

The interesting thing for me will be the role of Nucifora from the IRFU and how he intends to distribute talent and get relevent game experience for young Irish players in this country. The imbalance of young talent in the national system towards Leinster will have to be addressed so that opportunities are given to the best players.

[Bayern]

Can't force lads to leave Leinster if they don't want to leave.. It should be Ulster's aim to develop players from within the province.. It's very achievable just look at the backs being produced by Ulster in recent years, this development just needs to be translated to forwards being developed.
It saddens me to read other provinces are looking at the players developed by Leinster and asking why can't we take him?
Would you be happy to see Leinster come in and take an Ulster lad? I wouldn't.
Do you really want to watch an Ulster team that is made up of lads born and raised and developed in Dublin?
Where is the incentive to develop your own homegrown talent if they will just be poached from the province at the first opportunity?
Ulster are desperate for a young talented backrow and Leinster let a very talented backrow leave this summer, he ended up going to London Irish, you have to ask why Ulster were not interested in him?

[Dan Dare]

Can't force lads to leave Leinster if they don't want to leave.. It should be Ulster's aim to develop players from within the province.. It's very achievable just look at the backs being produced by Ulster in recent years, this development just needs to be translated to forwards being developed.
It saddens me to read other provinces are looking at the players developed by Leinster and asking why can't we take him?
Would you be happy to see Leinster come in and take an Ulster lad? I wouldn't.
Do you really want to watch an Ulster team that is made up of lads born and raised and developed in Dublin?
Where is the incentive to develop your own homegrown talent if they will just be poached from the province at the first opportunity?
Ulster are desperate for a young talented backrow and Leinster let a very talented backrow leave this summer, he ended up going to London Irish, you have to ask why Ulster were not interested in him?

Feel Sad away there fella, I do not want to see Leinster players coming up here and never said that I did !!!! I would much prefer Ulster players born and bred. I do see some of the Exiles as good source for us, especially the ones with Ulster connections, we seem to be tapping into the Exiles a bit more than other provinces. That might be to do with relationships between Ulster and the Exiles, but provinces like Leinster do not need to look for Irish Exiles.

The good young back row that you refer to is Conor Gilsenan I would presume. How do you know that Ulster were not interested? Connacht were obviously interested, but he did not want to go there. He has gone to England now, like lots of the talent that gets rejected by Leinster. If they were showing enthusiasm in going to other provinces they would probably get interest, but most who don't make it with you are off to England. The only point that I was making was the majority of Irish underage teams are loaded with Leinster players followed by Munster for the last few years, what do you do with all these players? Nucifora will have that problem. Someone said that the Irish Schools team last year or the year before was a 23 man squad with 19 of them from Leinster, are they all going into your academy? The problem is Leinsters not ours what happens with these boys. I am happy that we are making good strides with McGlock and Clarkey at the helm and will get our academy and age grade boys coming up to push Leinster over the next few years. I don't want to see Leinster boys playing up here, but professional set ups want the best players and Nucifora will have a job to develop the game for every player in the country and give them opportunities.

We are not taking lots of your Dublin boys up here, try looking in Galway, you might find a few heading there over the next few years.

[Bayern]

Galway take a lot of players who Leinster do not offer academy places, this will likely continue into the future. Ulster already have two Leinster lads who were not offered contracts by Leinster in their academy, O'Connor and Shanahan. This number may increase next season.

Last exile to be at Leinster was Rhys Ruddock and they haven't went near them again since. Munster/Connacht/Ulster to actively scout exiles and they all have ex-exiles in their academies which is a smart move if they don't have the same level talent coming from their youth/school systems.

Players not offered academy spots by Leinster would be foolish to not look elsewhere for an academy spot. But the idea of Leinster's academy players being sent to another province for gametime isn't appealing. Would it be appealing to Munster/Ulster to see their talented academy graduates that they've invested heavily in developing being sent to another province? Hardly.

Among the best things about Irish rugby is the provincial loyalty and rivalries, long may it continue and any talent distribution from one province to another would only weaken that in my opinion.

Anyway enough on that topic, hopefully the hard work being put in at schools and youth levels will pay off in the next few years..

[Don_Alfonso]

While i agree that we need our academy to be doing a better job, before we get carried away, Leinster, that great exporter of talent, rely heavily on Cronin, Ross, Mccarthy, Reddan and Boss. Munster have Dougall and could have fielded an all-Leinster back line this season. The difference is our non-local IQ players have English accents. But they're no less Ulster than Ross is Leinster.

[Lurgan Lad]

I don't know for me if one province has e.g. two outstanding out halfs coming through I'm not sure if makes sense for Ireland or for the two players to stay at the same province. I've no problem with players playing for different provinces from where they were born, I mean if you look at our full squad how many where actually born in Ulster, I'm guessing the majority but not hugely.

[Dave]

Squad looking good in the backs, but the pack is still a worry. We are now well into June and there has been no official word of an additional IQ backrow signing. It is at this point when I would say in Humph we trust. With no one really knowing what the feck is going on, I am not filled with confidence on this one.

We may need a bolter from the Academy. We have a couple of second rows in the academy and hopefully one of them can step up if they can stay injury free. Otherwise it could be Christmas all season for MacCoooomash. Speaking of Christmas, that is when our season may end unless we acquire some additional cover or some Academy hopefuls turn out to be the business. As it stands, with our injury luck, the squad as it is will not give us adequate cover to be competitive in both competitions. Sad but accurate in my view.

[Russ]

Seemingly we have some decent back rows in the academy who have already played under Maaaak

Anscombe Out