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Ulster announce McFarland as new head coach
By Online Editors
Ulster have finally announced a full-time successor Les Kiss, who was sacked last January.
Dan McFarland will take over as Head Coach next season on a three-year contract.
Jonno Gibbes, who had been in temporary charge had already announced that he was moving home to New Zealand and it led Ulster to a lengthy search.
They've plumped for Englishman McFarland, who is currently working with the Scottish national team as Assistant Coach to Gregor Townsend.
He made a seamless transition from playing to coaching at Connacht in 2006, taking up the Forwards Coach role before becoming their Assistant Coach in 2010.
During his time with Connacht he also held Head Coach positions with Emerging Ireland and the Ireland Wolfhounds.
McFarland took over as Assistant Coach at Glasgow Warriors in 2015 and he worked alongside Townsend before the pair took up posts with the national side in May 2017.
Commenting on his move to Belfast, McFarland said:
"I am really excited that I will be taking on the Ulster Head Coach role. I know first-hand from my years visiting with Connacht and Glasgow the passion and fervour that makes playing in front of Ulster fans so special.
"It's a club with a great history and I welcome the challenge of being a part of their future."
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Bryn Cunningham, Ulster Rugby's Operations Director, welcomed the appointment.
"Dan was our number one candidate so we're obviously very happy to have secured his services for the next three years. Dan’s CV is hugely impressive and he commands great respect within the game.
"He enjoyed successful spells with Connacht and Glasgow, and the fact that Gregor brought him into the Scotland set-up speaks volumes for how highly he rates him.
"Our priority in this process was to identify and recruit the best possible candidate first and foremost. With the confirmation of Dan’s appointment, we will be announcing at least one further addition to the coaching team in the near future to ensure that we have a strong unit in place in advance of pre-season."
Shane Logan, Ulster’s Chief Executive added:
"I’d like to congratulate Bryn and our Professional Game Board for conducting such a thorough process that has led to this appointment.
"We have worked closely with the IRFU and are very pleased with the outcome."
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Latest Comments
Were you shocked by Sexton trying to rip Barrett's head off when he scored that final try in that return game?
Sexton once again the beneficiary of incredible double standards. Some of the rules simply didn't apply to him. The referee even watched that replay about 5 times in slow motion to see if he grounded the ball. If an NZ player had made that tackle it would have been a yellow card.
Ireland led by Sexton were the biggest bunch of whingers to ever play the game. NZ's dislike of Ireland was not caused by losing to them, it was caused by the Irish players, commentators and media being such giant crybabies.
I genuinely think Ireland are the best team in the world, and I think they will beat the ABs on Friday, but they are by some distance the team I like the least, and I know many people, not just from NZ, who feel the same.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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