Ulster

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Utility back Michael Lowry has become the latest player to commit his future to Ulster, signing a three-year extension that will keep him at the club until 2028.

The 26-year-old has made over 100 appearances for the province since his debut in 2018.

His outstanding form during the 2020-21 season earned him a place at full-back in the Pro14 dream team before marking his sole Ireland cap with two tries in the 2022 Six Nations win over Italy.

Lowry said he was "delighted" to extend his deal with Ulster.

"I am excited for the future of this group and looking forward to seeing where we can get to both as a team and individually," he added.

Ulster general manager Bryn Cunningham praised Lowry's "exemplary" attitude and professionalism.

"His versatility is also a huge strength, whether playing on the wing or at full-back, and his competitiveness on the pitch belies his physical stature," added Cunningham.

"With young backs coming through, Michael is the perfect role model for others to follow."

Lowry follows Ben Carson in extending his Ulster deal while on Thursday Ireland Sevens star Zac Ward signed a three-year contract after impressing during his trial period.

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Zac Ward has signed a three-year contract with UIster which will keep the winger at the club until 2028.

The 26-year-old joined Ulster on a trial after impressing for the Ireland Sevens side at the Paris Olympics in the summer.

Ward, whose father Andy won a European Cup with UIster in 1999, made his debut for the province in last week's Champions Cup defeat by Bordeaux.

"After the summer Olympics in Paris, I was ready for a change after some amazing experiences with the Ireland Sevens programme," said Ward, who has retained his starting spot for Friday's United Rugby Championship game with Munster.

"I always dreamed of playing for my home province as a boy, as I watched my dad play in an Ulster jersey growing up."

Ward, whose younger brother Bryn is part of Ulster's academy, added: "I'm also mates with a few of the guys who were already in the side and the others were fantastic in welcoming me into the set-up.

"With the help of the coaches, players and staff here, I want to kick on and hopefully make plenty of good memories playing for Ulster."

Ulster general manager Bryn Cunningham said: "We identified Zac as somebody who could be a good addition to the Senior squad, and we have been impressed with how he has settled into the group.

"Watching his performances in the Sevens game, we felt that he showcased a number of transferable skills for the XVs game, with his strengths in ball-carrying, his speed, aerial skills, and try-scoring ability all strong attributes for playing in the backfield.

"It's also a great example of someone who hasn't come through the traditional route into the senior men's side, so credit to Zac and the journey he has been on."

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Fit-again John Cooney has returned for Ulster's United Rugby Championship game against Munster on Friday (19:35 GMT), while academy fly-half Jack Murphy could make his debut off the bench.

Ireland Under-20 international Murphy, the son of head coach Richie Murphy, joined the Ulster academy from Leinster earlier this year.

The 20-year-old started all five of Ireland's games in this year's Under-20 Six Nations.

Scrum-half Cooney, who missed Ulster's Investec Champions Cup losses to Toulouse and Bordeaux, is recalled to partner Aidan Morgan in the half-backs.

There are four changes in the forwards. Andrew Warwick replaces Eric O'Sullivan at loosehead prop, Alan O'Connor deputises for injured captain Iain Henderson in the second row while James McNabney and Marcus Rea are recalled to the back row.

Zac Ward is retained on the left wing after making his debut in last week's defeat by Bordeaux.

As well as Henderson, Ulster are without Cormac Izuchukwu, Nathan Doak, Ben Carson, Stewart Moore and Jacob Stockdale.

Munster make six changes to the side that lost to Castres in Europe last weekend with Shane Daly, Paddy Patterson, John Ryan, Tom Ahern, Jack O'Donoghue and Gavin Coombes all recalled.

Ireland forwards Peter O'Mahony and Tadhg Beirne are not involved for Munster who, like Ulster, have three wins and four defeats in this season's URC.

Ulster: Michael Lowry; Werner Kok, Jude Postlethwaite, Stuart McCloskey, Zac Ward; Aidan Morgan, John Cooney; Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole; Alan O'Connor (capt), Kieran Treadwell; James McNabney, Marcus Rea, David McCann.

Replacements: John Andrew, Eric O'Sullivan, Scott Wilson, Harry Sheridan, Matty Rea, Dave Shanahan, Jack Murphy, Rory Telfer.

Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Paddy Patterson; John Ryan, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Tom Ahern, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O'Donoghue (capt), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Eoghan Clarke, Dave Kilcoyne, Oli Jager, Evan O'Connell, Alex Kendellen, Ethan Coughlan, Rory Scannell, Brian Gleeson.

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Ulster centre Ben Carson has signed a three-year contract extension which will keep him at the club until 2028.

Carson, 22, made his first senior start in October and scored two tries in Ulster's United Rugby Championship defeat by Leinster at the end of November.

The Lisburn native won a Six Nations Grand Slam with the Ireland Under-20s under current Ulster head coach Richie Murphy in 2022.

"I'm so excited for what the future holds. It's been a dream of mine since I was young to play for Ulster, and this season I have earned more opportunities to stake my claim," said Carson, who missed Ulster's Investec Champions Cup loss to Bordeaux last weekend because of injury.

"For me, I want to keep developing my game and establish myself within the team in the months ahead."

Ulster general manager Bryn Cunningham said the club are "delighted" and are "excited to see how he grows in the Ulster jersey".

"He is a tenacious centre, who is busy around the park and has undoubtedly been one of the biggest improvers in our squad over the last 6-12 months," said Cunningham.

"That growth has translated into strong recent performances and Ben putting his hand up for selection every week."

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Forwards coach Jimmy Duffy says there has been a "lot of niggle" in training as Ulster look to end their disappointing run of form.

Ulster have lost their last four matches as they prepare to host inter-provincial rivals Munster in the United Rugby Championship on Friday.

Richie Murphy's side lost to Cardiff and Leinster in the URC either side of the autumn internationals, before heavy defeats by Toulouse and Bordeaux in Europe.

The defeat by Bordeaux in Belfast was particularity painful as the French side scored 26 unanswered points after Ulster worked their way into a first-half lead.

Duffy said he was focusing on the positives, rather than the negatives, and "all the signs are pointing in the right direction".

"The lads care which is the big thing," said Duffy.

"You can see it on their faces and there's been a lot of niggle in training over the last number of weeks, which is good - niggle in the right way.

"People want to get better and they want to win, so it'll come. It will come."

Despite the difficult run of form, albeit three of those matches were against some of the best teams in Europe, Duffy added that "it's not doom and gloom" within the squad.

"We've spoken about it being a young group and giving it time, but they're still ambitious.

"They've played the European champions and French finalists in the past two weekends, that is where you get burnt and get better.

"The lads are enjoying each other's company and working hard in there.

"We're on a journey as a club and we're trying to build pathways to make these guys as good as they can be."

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Stormers and South Africa prop Steven Kitshoff has revealed a neck injury he sustained in a scrum earlier this year left him "two millimetres from death".

The 32-year-old, who spent the 2023-24 season with Irish province Ulster, did not initially realise the severity of the issue sustained in a Currie Cup match for Western Province against Griquas in September.

He had surgery on the injury last month and faces a long recovery before he can return to playing.

"It was just another scrum, then three cracking noises - pop, pop, pop," Kitshoff told Rapport newspaper.

"I kept playing, thinking it was a pulled muscle. But now I know, I was two millimetres away from catastrophe, from death.

"The first thing the specialist said to me was 'listen, you're lucky we didn't bury you in a week', because the vertebra that shifted is so close to my brain canal."

Kitshoff's most recent Test appearance for South Africa came in the World Cup final against New Zealand last year but he has not given up hope of adding to his 83 international caps.

"Without the operation, I'd never play rugby again," he added.

"If my neck holds up, I'm going for it. If I have to retire, I'll be satisfied but I'm not done yet. I've always been a warrior for my team.

"Rugby's a dangerous sport, but I'll give my all because I'm fighting for my team."

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Ulster have a long list of injury doubts for Friday night's United Rugby Championship encounter against Irish rivals Munster at Kingspan Stadium.

Iain Henderson, Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney, Werner Kok, Nathan Doak and Aidan Morgan all picked up injuries in the Investec Champions Cup defeat by Bordeaux on Saturday.

Ulster said on Monday that the six players will be "monitored through training this week to ascertain their fitness to play in Friday's fixture".

Ben Carson and Stewart Moore, who were injured in Ulster's opening Champions Cup game against Toulouse, are "ongoing doubts" for the inter-provincial showdown.

However, there was some good news for Ulster with scrum-half John Cooney available for selection after resuming full team training.

Munster's weekend defeat by Castres also came at a cost with Craig Casey needing surgery after he sustained a meniscus injury.

Thaakir Abrahams dislocated his shoulder and will have scans to determine whether he requires surgery.

Dian Bleuler was removed after failing his head injury assessment and is following the return-to-play protocols while Diarmuid Barron passed his HIA and will be monitored following a shoulder injury.

Peter O'Mahony is a doubt with a calf contusion and Jean Kleyn is seeing a specialist for a thigh injury.

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Zac Ward enjoyed his first appearance for Ulster despite the 40-19 defeat by Bordeaux in the Investec Champions Cup on Saturday.

Ulster led 19-14 at the break in Belfast before the French visitors hit 26 unanswered points in the second half.

Ward impressed for Ireland Sevens in the Paris Olympics before joining the Ulster squad on a trial at the start of this season.

"Yeah, very conflicting [emotions] - I was personally really happy to get my first cap, it was a bit of a boyhood dream come true," said the 26-year-old wing.

"But obviously it would have been quite nice to top it off with a win. We started really well, we had a really good first 40 minutes. We stuck to our gameplan, we imposed ourselves well and cause Bordeaux a lot of trouble.

"In the second half - I'm not too sure what happened - the next thing we knew we were 30 odd points to 19 down so we'll have to look back and try to fix what went wrong for next week against Munster."

It was a fourth straight defeat for Ulster as they prepare to face their Irish rivals at Kingspan Stadium on Friday night.

Ward has settled well at Ulster and hopes to keep his spot in the team for the Munster showdown.

"I'm loving it - I was definitely ready for the change off the back of the Olympics and ever since I've come into Ulster I've felt really welcomed.

"I was relatively happy with how I played [against Bordeaux] and I thought I played to my strengths which was with ball in hand.

"So hopefully I can get in the team against for next week and try to do more of the same."

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Kingspan Stadium

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy was left frustrated after his side failed to take advantage of a strong first-half performance in Saturday's Investec Champions Cup defeat by Bordeaux.

The Irish province scored three tries to lead 19-14 at the break but were cut open in the second half as Bordeaux scored 26 unanswered points to secure a bonus-point victory.

"[I'm] definitely frustrated," said Murphy, who refused to comment on Yoram Moefana's yellow card for a high tackle on Nick Timoney.

"Looking at the first half first, I thought we put some good stuff together and put a very good team under a lot of pressure. There were a couple of breakdowns we missed and they take the ball off you if you're not accurate in the outside channels, obviously that was disappointing.

"The territory and possession that we had in the first half, we probably didn't make a good enough impression with what we had.

"The second half, their bench came on, the physicality of the game just went up and we couldn't survive it."

Ulster have now lost their past four games - Cardiff, Leinster, Toulouse and Bordeaux - but Murphy insists his side are "getting better".

"I think the first half shows that," added Murphy.

"But in order to be able to play against these types of teams, you need to be able to last 80 minutes and at the moment we're not quite able to do that."

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Bordeaux Begles fly-half Joey Carbery is looking forward to a "special" trip to Ulster in the Champions Cup on Saturday afternoon.

The 29-year-old former Leinster and Munster player will be taking on Irish opposition for the first time since he switched to the Top 14 side this summer and gets the nod in the 10 jersey after coming off the bench in last week's win over Leicester Tigers.

Having won 37 Ireland caps between 2016 and '22, Carbery has played with a number of those who will be in opposition at Kingspan Stadium, while he has plenty of experience of visiting Belfast with his previous employers.

"That rivalry is always there," Carbery said.

"It'll be interesting to see what it's like going over with UBB.

"It's very special for me to be going over with UBB to play in Ireland. I'll have family coming up to it, so I'm looking forward to it."

Carbery is not the only Irishman involved with Bordeaux. County Clare native Noel McNamara is also the side's attack coach.

Both offered their insights to the wider panel this week, including warning that Ulster will be a different proposition to the side who conceded 61 points in defeat to Toulouse last week when back at Kingspan Stadium.

"With Munster, I only went up there once or twice when we won," Carbery added.

"It's a difficult place to go and win, they're always on top of their game there.

"I tried to get that across, that no matter what happened last week, they'll be a different team this week."

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Zac Ward will make his senior debut for Ulster as part of a much-changed team for Saturday's Investec Champions Cup game against Bordeaux-Begles at Kingspan Stadium.

Ward, who shone for Ireland sevens in the Paris Olympics before joining the Ulster squad at the start of this season, starts on the left wing.

His inclusion is one of 10 personnel changes from the side that began last week's 61-21 defeat by holders Toulouse in France.

Jude Postlethwaite is drafted in at centre, with Michael Lowry moving to full-back.

Head coach Richie Murphy has opted to change his entire pack, with seven Ireland internationals named among the forwards.

Hooker Rob Herring makes his first Ulster start of the campaign and is joined in the front row by Eric O'Sullivan and Tom O'Toole.

In the second row Iain Henderson returns to captain the side for the Pool 1 fixture as he makes his 50th European appearance, where he is joined by Kieran Treadwell.

Cormac Izuchukwu and Nick Timoney are the flankers, with David McCann selected at number eight.

Aidan Morgan and Nathan Doak again make up the half-back partnership.

Academy utility back Rory Telfer is in line for his senior debut off the bench while James Humphreys could make a maiden Champions Cup appearance if he is called upon.

Ulster: Lowry; Kok, Postlethwaite, McCloskey, Ward; Morgan, Doak; O'Sullivan, Herring, O'Toole; Henderson (capt), Treadwell; Izuchukwu, Timoney, McCann.

Replacements: Andrew, Warwick, Wilson, Sheridan, Marcus Rea, Shanahan, Humphreys, Telfer.

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Former Ulster scrum-half Neil Doak has been named the new head coach of the Ireland Under-20s.

The 52-year-old succeeds another former Ulster player in Willie Faloon, who had led the group to the semi-finals of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship during the summer.

Doak, a former Ireland cricket international, worked with Faloon as a senior coach at that tournament in South Africa having joined the ticket after previous head coach Richie Murphy departed to take the top job at Ulster in March.

He previously served as both attack coach and interim head coach with Ulster, and has also worked with Worcester Warriors, Georgia and Emerging Ireland.

Doak's first game in charge will be a friendly against Italy on 20 December in Dublin as part of the side's preparations for the 2025 Six Nations.

Ireland's championship begins against England in Cork on 30 January before a trip to Scotland on 8 February.

They will also face visits to Wales and Italy, with the hosting of France in between.