While in terms of results the Ulster 'A' team might not have set the British and Irish Cup competition alight, it has been a proving ground for players and coaching staff.
And the value of the side, sponsored by CD Group, taking on teams such as Bristol, Bedford and the Scarlets Select has already demonstrated itself on many fronts.
Head Coach Alex Codling, the former England lock, says the Hughes Insurance Ulster Rugby Academy at Kingspan Stadium has benefited, the senior side has been able to ‘blood’ some outstanding performers, and Ulster ‘A’s unique pool of talent, drawn from within the Ulster structure and from the Province’s clubs, is going to increase in importance.
“Les Kiss, the Director of Rugby, is extremely keen on the B&I Cup, he sees it having a big future, and the rest of the staff take a real, hands-on interest in the A side’s other games, treating us all as a key part of the Ulster player development system”, says Codling, an enthusiastic coach with experience at a tranche of English, Welsh and continental clubs.
“It’s been a truly rewarding time for me since I joined the Academy last summer, and the role as Head Coach of the ‘A’s has been challenging, yes, but that’s just what I relish.
“But more important the squad – and we’ve used 43 players this season to date – has a real identity, there’s the character and spirit of a team with a determination to improve itself as collective unit, and for individuals to fulfil
their potential, and to expose themselves at a higher level of this great game.
“That’s an achievement, down to the players who wanted to play, didn’t feel it was a step down, but knew it offered opportunities and the preparation and game time to make an impression,” says Codling.
He joined Kieran Campbell’s team of coaches at the Ulster Academy in May last year, and it was almost like ‘coming home’. “Ten or eleven years ago I almost joined Ulster as a player, and my partner is from Fermanagh, so it’s been really exciting being part of a club which is so professional, has such skilled players and staff in every area”.
Injury curtailed a career which took him to the very top of the English game, playing for Harlequins, Saracens, Northampton, Neath and for Montpellier in France.
“In the ‘A’ team we have many roles to play, to be a vehicle for players returning to fitness and to the senior squad is one of them. That brings some issues which is up to us to resolve, how to keep the team’s DNA when quite rightly rotating our selection to ensure, for instance, that Stuart Olding most recently gets valuable competitive action before joining the players Les, Neil Doak, Allen Clarke and Niall Malone are primarily working.
“But it is a side too where players can improve and add to the skills and potential identified by our talent ID team,” says Codling, who clearly brings a rare energy and his own strong character to bear with the side and in his other ‘job’ as the Hughes Insurance Academy specialist forwards coach.
“And when players who’ve been playing with Ulster in the PRO12 or in Europe are rested, perhaps, or replaced, coming into the ‘A’ fold is not at all a demotion, it’s very much another stage on which to impress and respond.
“And from the clubs, where we bring in good, promising players to join our Academy and returning senior players, we’ve had people like Ballymena’s Stephen Mulholland shine, so much that they’ve been thrust into the Ulster side in important PRO12 games,” says Codling.
Warming to the themes of how positive and constructive the ‘A’ side is as part of the whole Ulster rugby structure, Alex points to how prop Kyle McCall had been an eager and developing pillar of the team before earning ‘rave’ reviews after Les Kiss and Head Coach Neil Doak confidently chose him to anchor the front row at loose-head.
“It’s not surprising the accolades Kyle has been winning, he was learning his trade with us and playing the sort of rugby which demanded he be included in the Ulster side,” he says. “Les shows such interest in everything Ulster ‘A’ does, in training and in matches, his support has been massive and, I can tell you, hugely appreciated.
“Andy Warwick, Rory Scholes, Sammy Arnold, Johnny McPhillips, Sam Windsor, they’re just some of the boys who have featured for Ulster ‘A’, and are familiar figures when Ulster is chasing trophies in Europe and in the Pro 12. The
environment they all buy into is one about a team with its own ambitions, its own targets, but is part of – not below, not apart from – the Ulster Rugby experience.
“Everything is now so professional, it replicates the way the senior squad is treated, whether that be in access to what are the best training facilities of any club in Europe, or the quality of our travel and accommodation arrangements. Maybe it was different once, but what we know is that we are dealt with as professionals, and human beings, it’s first-rate conditions and we are expected to respond with performance and development!”
Alex Codling’s enthusiasm for his job as Ulster ‘A’ coach, assisted by Academy boss Kieran Campbell, is palpable and infectious, and he’s convinced that so thorough are the support systems that the squad, despite having to take on wholly professional clubs – as in the case of Bristol this season – will prove not just gifted but competitive as a unit, as a team.
“The base is so well-built, the links with clubs, the Academy and the senior squad so strong, there’ll be a really effective campaign in the pools next year.
“After all, it is the ‘A’ team,” he jokes.
And the value of the side, sponsored by CD Group, taking on teams such as Bristol, Bedford and the Scarlets Select has already demonstrated itself on many fronts.
Head Coach Alex Codling, the former England lock, says the Hughes Insurance Ulster Rugby Academy at Kingspan Stadium has benefited, the senior side has been able to ‘blood’ some outstanding performers, and Ulster ‘A’s unique pool of talent, drawn from within the Ulster structure and from the Province’s clubs, is going to increase in importance.
“Les Kiss, the Director of Rugby, is extremely keen on the B&I Cup, he sees it having a big future, and the rest of the staff take a real, hands-on interest in the A side’s other games, treating us all as a key part of the Ulster player development system”, says Codling, an enthusiastic coach with experience at a tranche of English, Welsh and continental clubs.
“It’s been a truly rewarding time for me since I joined the Academy last summer, and the role as Head Coach of the ‘A’s has been challenging, yes, but that’s just what I relish.
“But more important the squad – and we’ve used 43 players this season to date – has a real identity, there’s the character and spirit of a team with a determination to improve itself as collective unit, and for individuals to fulfil
their potential, and to expose themselves at a higher level of this great game.
“That’s an achievement, down to the players who wanted to play, didn’t feel it was a step down, but knew it offered opportunities and the preparation and game time to make an impression,” says Codling.
He joined Kieran Campbell’s team of coaches at the Ulster Academy in May last year, and it was almost like ‘coming home’. “Ten or eleven years ago I almost joined Ulster as a player, and my partner is from Fermanagh, so it’s been really exciting being part of a club which is so professional, has such skilled players and staff in every area”.
Injury curtailed a career which took him to the very top of the English game, playing for Harlequins, Saracens, Northampton, Neath and for Montpellier in France.
“In the ‘A’ team we have many roles to play, to be a vehicle for players returning to fitness and to the senior squad is one of them. That brings some issues which is up to us to resolve, how to keep the team’s DNA when quite rightly rotating our selection to ensure, for instance, that Stuart Olding most recently gets valuable competitive action before joining the players Les, Neil Doak, Allen Clarke and Niall Malone are primarily working.
“But it is a side too where players can improve and add to the skills and potential identified by our talent ID team,” says Codling, who clearly brings a rare energy and his own strong character to bear with the side and in his other ‘job’ as the Hughes Insurance Academy specialist forwards coach.
“And when players who’ve been playing with Ulster in the PRO12 or in Europe are rested, perhaps, or replaced, coming into the ‘A’ fold is not at all a demotion, it’s very much another stage on which to impress and respond.
“And from the clubs, where we bring in good, promising players to join our Academy and returning senior players, we’ve had people like Ballymena’s Stephen Mulholland shine, so much that they’ve been thrust into the Ulster side in important PRO12 games,” says Codling.
Warming to the themes of how positive and constructive the ‘A’ side is as part of the whole Ulster rugby structure, Alex points to how prop Kyle McCall had been an eager and developing pillar of the team before earning ‘rave’ reviews after Les Kiss and Head Coach Neil Doak confidently chose him to anchor the front row at loose-head.
“It’s not surprising the accolades Kyle has been winning, he was learning his trade with us and playing the sort of rugby which demanded he be included in the Ulster side,” he says. “Les shows such interest in everything Ulster ‘A’ does, in training and in matches, his support has been massive and, I can tell you, hugely appreciated.
“Andy Warwick, Rory Scholes, Sammy Arnold, Johnny McPhillips, Sam Windsor, they’re just some of the boys who have featured for Ulster ‘A’, and are familiar figures when Ulster is chasing trophies in Europe and in the Pro 12. The
environment they all buy into is one about a team with its own ambitions, its own targets, but is part of – not below, not apart from – the Ulster Rugby experience.
“Everything is now so professional, it replicates the way the senior squad is treated, whether that be in access to what are the best training facilities of any club in Europe, or the quality of our travel and accommodation arrangements. Maybe it was different once, but what we know is that we are dealt with as professionals, and human beings, it’s first-rate conditions and we are expected to respond with performance and development!”
Alex Codling’s enthusiasm for his job as Ulster ‘A’ coach, assisted by Academy boss Kieran Campbell, is palpable and infectious, and he’s convinced that so thorough are the support systems that the squad, despite having to take on wholly professional clubs – as in the case of Bristol this season – will prove not just gifted but competitive as a unit, as a team.
“The base is so well-built, the links with clubs, the Academy and the senior squad so strong, there’ll be a really effective campaign in the pools next year.
“After all, it is the ‘A’ team,” he jokes.