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Ulster sign unnamed 'primary' target for headcoach job and it's one of two men

Ulster have appointed a new CEO

Ulster rugby revealed this weekend that they have signed a new headcoach for next season, but are currently refusing to say who it is.

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The club say that they were successful in acquiring their “primary” candidate for the job in what is a rare piece of good news for the embattled club.

Current Head Coach Jono Gibbes will leave Ulster at the end of the season to return to New Zealand.

Operations director Bryn Cunningham said: “It’s signed and sealed. We’re not in a position to announce it just yet but it was the primary candidate so we are happy.”

Speculation is rife as to who landed the job, with two firm favourites emerging according to the BBC: Jim Mallinder and Glenn Moore.

Many believe that former Northampton Saints Director of Rugby Jim Mallinder is set to be announced, with the Rugby Pod’s Andy Goode and Jim Hamilton tipping him for the position all of two weeks ago on the podcast.

Moore on the other hand is something of an unknown. Having coached the New Zealand Women’s team to the Rugby World Cup victory last year, he recently extended his contract with the NZR and is contracted to helm the Black Ferns’ until the end of 2019. A theoretical move to Ulster suggests a buy out of a contract or at the very least, the NZR releasing him from said contract.

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Ulster’s hopes of playing in Europe next season also remain firmly alive.

Having finished fourth in Conference B of the Guinness PRO14, Ulster now look likely to take on Ospreys in a play-off match for Champions Cup qualification, although it’s still possible that they could qualify automatically.

The most likely scenario at this stage is that Ulster would have to play Ospreys in a play-off match for the 7th PRO14 place in the competition. This would be played at Kingspan Stadium on the weekend of 18-20th May.

However, there is a possibility that Ulster could qualify for the Champions Cup without having to play the play-off match, based on the criteria outlined above.

For this to happen, Ulster would need PRO14 Rugby to earn an eighth spot in the Champions Cup. This is possible if Leinster win the Champions Cup and all of the Challenge Cup semi-finalists qualify for the Champions Cup on merit by finishing in the top six of their respective leagues.

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Cardiff and Newcastle have already qualified, while Gloucester currently occupy sixth place in the Aviva Premiership and Pau sit in seventh in the TOP 14. Gloucester travel to Saracens next week and Pau host Toulon.

Were PRO14 Rugby to have an eighth place, Benetton Rugby would play Ospreys in a play-off match.

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fl 1 hour ago
What is the future of rugby in 2025?

Smith generally isn't well connected to his forward pods; doesn't do a great job of distributing to those around him; and has inferior positional and contestable kicking games than Ford and Fin.


When England have had success over the past few years, its been either through (i) defensive rugby backed up with smart tactical kicking or (ii) high possession attacking phase play based on quick ruck ball. George Ford was key to the implementation of (i) in the RWC, and in the 6N win over Wales, and to the implementation of (ii) in the 6N games against Ireland and France. Smith did great at (ii) when running at tired defenders at the end of the Ireland match, but has never successfully implemented that gameplan from the start of a test because he doesn't distribute or support his forwards enough to create consistent fast ball and build attacks over multiple phases. Instead, his introduction to the starting side has resulted in much more playmaking responsibilities being forced onto whoever plays 9. Alex Mitchell copes ok with that, but I think he looks better with a more involved playmaking 10 outside him, and it really isn't a gameplan that works for JVP or Spencer. As a result of that the outside backs and centres have barely touched the ball when Smith has been at 10.


This might not have been too much of a disaster, as England have seemed to be moving slightly towards the sort of attacking gameplan that France played under Labit and Quins play (I think this was especially their approach when they won the league a few years ago - but its still a part of their play now), which is based on kicking to create broken field rugby. This is (i) a sharp departure from the gameplans that have worked for England in the past few seasons; (ii) bears very little relation to the tactical approaches of the non-Quins players in the England team; and (iii) is an absolute disaster for the blitz defence, which is weak in transition. Unsurprisingly, it has coincided with a sharp decline in England's results.

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