Ulster’s Best Ever Players
Whilst Six Nations success ultimately eluded Ireland this year, rugby in the country is still in great shape. The national team, coached by Andy Farrell has high hopes ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup and domestically, things are going well too.
Leinster, Ulster and Munster all find themselves in the top four of the United Rugby Championship this season. The Ulstermen’s exploits this season have fans dreaming of glory and rushing to back their team in their rugby bets.
If Dan McFarland can lead Ulster to success this season, he and his players will write themselves into the province’s storied history books. Let’s take a look then, at some of Ulster’s best players from the professional era.
Jared Payne
The 6ft2 Centre joined Ulster from Auckland Blues in 2011 as a project player and saw his first year in Belfast ruined by injury. It was a sickener for Payne as he missed out on his side’s run to the Heineken Cup Final.
In the following season though he showed just why Ulster had brought him over from New Zealand with a number of dazzling performances from full-back. His creativity helped Ulster to build a reputation as one of the most attacking teams on the continent.
Ultimately Payne would go on to play Centre for Ireland after gaining nationality through residency. He ended up winning a Six Nations with Ireland and played at the 2017 World Cup before representing the British and Irish Lions.
(The People Behind the Province feature on Jared Payne.)
Ruan Pienaar
That run to the 2011 Heineken Cup Final would not have been possible without the performances of Springbok World Cup winner Ruan Pienaar. When he arrived in Ulster from South African outfit Sharks the buzz in Belfast was palpable.
Unlike other foreign imports to have arrived on these shores, Pienaar showing his class right from the very start. Over the course of 141 appearances in 7 years, Pienaar would score 877 points for the Ulstermen.
His final game against Leinster was an emotional affair and one that was tinged with real disappointment as the lack of knock-out rugby that season was incongruous with the impact that the South African had had on the province.
Rory Best
The M12 used to be the best thing to have come out of Craigavon, but every Ulster fan knows that the town holds a special place in the heart of rugby lovers as the birthplace of Rory Best. The 39-year-old began his career with Ulster in 2004.
In a 15-year spell at Ravenhill, Best amassed over 200 appearances for Ulster with many of them coming as captain. Best who was an accomplished and talented player, really excelled in the mental side of the game forging a reputation for himself as a fearless leader.
Beyond Ulster, he captained Ireland to two wins over the All Blacks, the 2018 Grand Slam and a victory on South African soil.
Stephen Ferris
Born in Maghaberry in 1985, Stephen Ferris would go on to become a generational talent in Irish rugby at blindside flanker. Graduating from the Ulster Academy, Ferris joined the senior set up at the start of the 2005-2006 season. A year later he was selected as part of the Ireland squad for the 2007 World Cup and would go on to earn 35 caps for his country over a 6 year spell. The most memorable spell of Ferris’ career came in 2011 though when he played a pivotal role in Ulster’s Heineken Cup run. In Ulster’s 41-7 thrashing of Leicester Tigers, Ferris was head and shoulders the best player on the park. Later in the tournament he was man of the match in his side’s unexpected win over Munster a performance which helped him earn a nomination for the European Player of the Year in 2012.
Justin Fitzpatrick
Okay, so this is a selection that perhaps straddles the line between the amateur and the professional era but so what? Justin Fitzpatrick deserves a mention on here as he was a prominent member of the 1998-1999 side that beat Colomiers 21-6 in the Heineken Cup Final. In a run that would make the Ulstermen seem unfairly prejudiced against the French, Fitzpatrick and his teammates dispatched of Toulouse, Stade Francais and ultimately Colomiers to bring glory to the province. After a spell away from Ulster, Fitzpatrick returned to Ravehill in 2005, helping the side to win the Celtic League. The now 48-year-old hung up his boots in 2010 but will forever be remembered as a great of the game here in Ulster.
