Springbok No8 Duane Vermeulen is not the first South African to be an influential part of an Ulster team, with several rugby people from this country playing a role in the success of the Irish province during the professional era.
Of course, the name that immediately springs to mind when you think of Ulster is that of Springbok World Cup winner Ruan Pienaar, who moved to Belfast and the Irish province in the 2010/11 season and was part of many an Ulster triumph over several seasons. Another former Sharks Bok, Johann Muller, captained Ulster for a long time, and more recently, before Vermeulen arrived, current Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee was a both a stalwart and the team’s kingpin.
But the man that was given the credit for guiding Ulster properly into the professional era and who started them on the road to success was former Western Province and Stormers head coach Alan Solomons, who also of course served as Nick Mallett’s assistant at the Springboks between 1997 and 2000.
Solomons took over in 2001 and was in charge until 2004. In that time he coached Ulster to a three-year unbeaten home record in the Heineken Cup. In the 2003–04 season, Ulster finished second in the Celtic League, only overtaken by Llanelli on the final day of the campaign. Two of Ulster's most impressive achievements in this period were a 33–0 win over English giants Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Cup in January 2004, and winning the inaugural Celtic Cup on 20 December 2003, beating Edinburgh in a rain-soaked Murrayfield final.
In July 2004, Solomons departed for Northampton Saints and Mark McCall, former captain of the province and a member of Ulster's European Cup winning squad, took over as Ulster Rugby head coach with European Cup teammate Allen Clarke as his assistant.
Ulster went into a bit of a decline in the following years but picked up again towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Although Leinster have been the top Irish team for some time now, Ulster have always vied with Munster to be their top challengers, and this season they are making a good fist of their Vodacom United Rugby Challenge as they are at the top of the log with Leinster and have beaten Leinster both home and away in the competition.
Ulster were the first Irish province to win the Heineken Cup (European Cup), a feat they achieved in the 1999/1998 season. In the amateur era Ulster was the dominant province in the Irish competitions, winning the Irish Interprovincial Championship, which was first staged in the 1946/47 season, 26 times. Their best success was achieved in the 1980s and 1990s, and they won 10 titles in a row at one point.
Ulster last featured in a major final when they played Leinster in the 2019/2020 decider after a tight away semi-final win over Edinburgh at Murrayfield. They are coached by former Scotland assistant coach Dan McFarland and captained by Irish international lock Iain Henderson.
