30 September 2003: Stan Hall has been forced to retire through injury from active participation as a rugby referee . His knees can no longer take the Saturday strain of Minor League Rugby. Stan has accepted a new role serving as an assessor responsible for the "New Referees" in their first year development programme . We extend our thanks and appreciation to Stan for his many years of loyal service as a Belfast Harlequins Referee.
"The Ulster Referees Society urgently need new Referees " Can you help?
26 September: The inaugral club quiz was held last night at Deramore and was a great success. Naturally the Prof (and his team) took first prize with other prizes shared amongst several teams. A big thank you to the organisers Jill Harrower and Darren Barbour and to Gilbert who acted as quizmaster on the night. Click here to find out when the next quiz is.
19 September: The Ulster U21s will be hoping for a better performance on their home turf this Saturday following their 27-6 defeat at Munster last weekend.
They will be bolstered by the availability of Tommy Bowe who has been released from duties with this Ulster senior squad this week while winger Paul McKenzie returns from injury.
Scrum-half Stephen Auld and second row Ryan Caldwell will make their first starts in this season's inter-provincial championship while Glenn Moore moves to No. 8 to replace Chris Henry who has a badly bruised bicep following last week's match.
Kick off at Ravenhill is 1.30pm so come out and support the future of Ulster Rugby.
Ulster U21: 15 - Thomas Horner (Belfast Harlequins), 14 - Richard McCarter (QUB), 13 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena), 12 - Tommy Bowe (QUB), 11 - Paul McKenzie (Loughborough University), 10 - Gareth Steenson (QUB), 9 - Stephen Auld (Dungannon), 1 - Niall Conlon (Captain - Dublin University), 2 - Philip Currie (Portadown), 3 - Leslie George (Coleraine), 4 - Lewis Stevenson (B. Harlequins), 5 - Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon), 6 - Michael Willis (Loughborough University), 7 - Oisin Hennessey (Dungannon), 8 - Glenn Moore (QUB)
Replacements: 16 - Gary Maxwell (Dungannon), 17 - John Andress (B. Harlequins), 18 - Simon McCarroll (Dungannon), 19 - Peter McFeely (City of Derry), 20 - Michael Kirkwood (B. Harlequins), 21 - Neil Patterson (Dungannon), 22 - Johnny McLaughlin (B. Harlequins)
17 September 2003: The U20 area league match tonight against Malone has had to be cancelled as we have insufficient props available
16 September 2003: The Ballymena RFC withdrawal of their 3rd XV from Junior league rugby has been accepted by the Ulster Branch Clubs committee .
16September 2003: Harlequins and Ulster prop forward Clem Boyd is to undergo a medical procedure within the next ten days to rectify a minor heart condition, after advice from a specialist. Clem has not been training recently with the Ulster squad. Members of Belfast Harlequins take this opportunity to wish Clem every success with this forth comming procedure and look forward to him being restored to full health and playing rugby again in the very near future.
12 September 2003:
IRFU’s Consultative Document to be Addressed in 3 Separate On-line Sessions.
For the first time ever, the Chief Executive of the Irish Rugby Football Union, Philip Browne, is to answer the rugby public’s questions online through the IRFU’s web-site (www.irishrugby.ie). Browne will address questions relating to the Consultative Document, Taking Irish Rugby Forward, which was published by the IRFU’s Strategic Planning Group in July 2003 as part of the public consultation process on the future of the game in Ireland. He will undertake 3 separate on-line sessions over the next 3 weeks with each one focusing on a different aspect of the Consultative Document.
The main objective of the on-line sessions is to facilitate people who may have queries about aspects of the consultative document. In order to make the most efficient use of the time available, the on-line discussion with the IRFU Chief Executive will be conducted as follows;
Members of the public will be invited to submit questions a few days in advance with the answers posted to the message board section of the web-site on a designated day.
The first round of questions will address the domestic game comprising all aspects of amateur rugby including schools, clubs, coaches and referees. Questions on this aspect of Irish rugby will be accepted through a designated ‘thread’ *** on the message-board of the irishrugby.ie web-site from today, Friday 12th with the answers posted next Tuesday 16th September.
***The designated thread for the first of the on-line discussions is, Philip Browne On The Domestic Game.
Please note, questions must be submitted only through this thread and must deal solely with the subject, (the domestic game comprising all aspects of amateur rugby including schools, clubs, coaches and referees).
Go HERE to view the IRFU Site then select message board (you may need to register) then select Phillip Browne on the domestic game. Top
 11 September 2003: For those of you who enjoy a rugby match with a difference, have we got one for you. Let me paint the picture. We have the 6th XV playing a visiting team of 15 Dutch sailors who have never played rugby before. There will be uncontested scrums and what comes next I will leave to your imagination. The sailors commence pre match training at 1:30pm and the "contest" commences around 3:00pm. Rumours abound that these guys have been at sea for over three months, should make things interesting!!. So if you are free why not come along and be amazed. The team and their 15 supporters look forward to sampling some of the renowned Ulster hospitality after the match. Top
7 September 2003 :
Ulster's Neil Doak was the only uncapped player named in Ireland's 2003 Rugby World Cup Squad when it was announced this (Sunday) morning. The squad will be captained by Keith Wood who will be playing in his third successive World Cup tournament. Neil and fellow Harlequin Simon Best are two of the 5 Ulster players on the squad.
The 30 – strong squad is made up of 17 forwards and 13 backs with coach Eddie O’Sullivan happy under the circumstances with the strength of the squad,
"In spite of some untimely injuries to Geordan Murphy and Rob Henderson, I am happy that we have a particularly strong squad with a good mix of experience and skill. This is borne out by the fact that difficult decisions had to be made in the selections of many positions.
"We have now taken the first formal step in the road to Rugby World Cup 2003 by naming the squad and we know we do so with the full support of the Irish public."
The Ireland Rugby World Cup 2003 Squad.
Forwards (17)
Simon Best (Ulster/Grafton Belfast Harlequins)
Shane Byrne (Leinster/Blackrock College)
Reggie Corrigan (Leinster/ Greystones)
Victor Costello (Leinster/St. Mary’s College)
Simon Easterby (Llanelli)
Anthony Foley(Munster/Shannon)
Keith Gleeson (Leinster/St.Mary’s College)
John Hayes (Munster/Shannon)
Marcus Horan (Munster/Shannon)
Gary Longwell (Ulster/Ballymena)
Eric Miller (Leinster/Terenure College)
Donncha O’Callaghan(Munster/Cork Constitution)
Paul O’Connell (Munster/Young Munster)
Malcolm O’Kelly (Leinster/St. Mary’s College)
Frank Sheahan (Munster/Cork Constitution)
Alan Quinlan (Munster/Shannon)
Keith Wood (Munster/Garryowen).
Backs (13)
Jonathon Bell (Ulster/Dungannon)
Girvan Dempsey (Leinster/Terenure College
Neil Doak (Ulster/Grafton Belfast Harlequins)
Guy Easterby (Rotherham)
Denis Hickie (Leinster/St. Mary’s College)
Anthony Horgan (Munster/Cork Constitution)
Shane Horgan (Leinster/Lansdowne)
David Humphreys (Ulster/Dungannon)
John Kelly (Munster/Cork Constitution)
Kevin Maggs (Bath)
Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster/Blackrock College)
Ronan O’Gara (Munster/Cork Constitution)
Peter Stringer (Munster/Shannon).
5 September 2003: Ulster U21s came into to match on the back of a good win agains Connahct last weeked but could only draw with the Leinster side after a scrappy game at Ravenhill that Ulster team manager David Millar described as error-strewn with a lot of tunrover ball.
Thomas Horner, who came on as a replacement for Paul McKenzie was the Ulster try-scorer with out-half Gareth Steenson converting and adding two penalties.
Leinster will take the advantage of try count from tonight's match with their 13 points coming from two tries (one more than Ulster) and a penalty.
5 September 2003: I.R.F.U. Domestic Committee at its meeting of the 5/9/03 confirmed that the Under 19 Law Variation in relation to the scrum will NOT apply to Under 20 Rugby. This scrum variation still applies to the 3rd Team of A.I.B. League clubs and the 2nd team of other Clubs.
5 September 2003: Michael Scott DC Gillespie reports that Mike was able, with the aid of crutches, to board his flight to Majorca today. We wish him well - he will miss the Salsa dancing ! No doubt Mark McGrath and Andrew McIlwaine's 'bar' experience will help Michael to keep the pain at bay. DC would like to record his thanks to the Cooke U20 coaches for their support following Mike's serious injury during last Wednesday's U20 game - it was very much appreciated. Mike had returned to rugby after previous knee injuries and worked hard during pre-season training. This is a very disappointing set back for him and his parents. Top
4 September 2003: The Ulster U21s take on their Leinster counterparts at Ravenhill on Friday Evening, the match kicks off at 6:30pm. The starting line up contains the following Grafton Belfast Harlequin Players. Johnny McLaughlin, Michael Kirkwood and Lewis Stevenson. Also named on the bench are John Andress and Thomas Horner. If you are at a loose end why not go along and give your support and encouragement to the team.
3 September 2003: U20s lost their opening match in the round robin league tonight. The score against Cooke was 7 - 13. The big down side was that Michael Scott dislocated his knee quite badly and was taken to hospital. Our best wishes go to Mike and we wish him a speedy recovery.
2 September 2003:
The Ireland team to play Scotland is:
15 – Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
14 – Anthony Horgan (Munster – Cork Constitution)
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster – Blackrock College)
12 – Kevin Maggs (Bath)
11 – Denis Hickie (Leinster – St. Mary’s College)
10 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster – Cork Constitution)
9 - Peter Stringer (Munster – Cork Constitution)
1 – Marcus Horan (Munster – Shannon)
2 – Keith Wood (Munster) Captain
3 - Reggie Corrigan (Leinster – Greystones)
4 – Malcolm O’Kelly (Leinster – St. Mary’s College)
5 – Paul O’Connell (Munster – Young Munster)
6 - David Wallace (Munster – Garryowen)
7 – Eric Miller (Leinster – Terenure College)
8 – Victor Costello (Leinster – St. Mary’s College)
Replacements:16 – Shane Byrne (Leinster – Blackrock College), 17 – Simon Best (Ulster – Grafton Belfast Harlequins), 18 – Simon Easterby (Llanelli), 19 – Kieron Dawson (London Irish), 20 – Guy Easterby (Rotherham), 21 – David Humphreys (Ulster – Dungannon), 22 – Girvan Dempsey (Leinster – Terenure College). |
