Ulster's young guns to determine season's fortunes

Ulster endured a tumultuous 2023/24 season in which they lost head coach of more than five years Dan McFarland, while chief executive Jonnie Petrie, in place in that role since 2019, departed in March.

McFarland, who had been the longest serving head coach at the club, was a steady hand after taking over in 2018.

December wins over Leinster and Racing 92 had appeared to set Ulster on an upward trajectory but the sword fell after a string of poor results at the start of the year.

In hindsight, there was an element of fire-fighting going on behind the scenes and new personnel at the top were deemed necessary.

The victory over then Top14 leaders Racing was their only win in four Champions Cup outings and they were eighth in the URC standings when McFarland left.

Assistant coach Dan Soper took charge prior to Richie Murphy's arrival at the end of the Ireland U20s Six Nations campaign in March and he was made permanent in mid-May.

There were a couple of unconvincing yet morale-boosting home wins over Cardiff and Benetton in April that set Ulster up with a shot at Leinster in their second last league game and after winning that, there was a real feel-good factor around the place.

ULSTER PLAYER PROFILES

While they lost to Munster and Leinster in their final two games, there was a sense that something had been salvaged from what threatened to be a disastrous year.

They finished sixth in the table and secured qualification for the Champions Cup.

Operating under financial constraints, Ulster lost marquee signing Steven Kitshoff, who returned to Stormers. In addition, Billy Burns moved south to Munster and incoming Aidan Morgan, an Ireland-qualified Kiwi, is an unknown quantity.

But Murphy, who brought in Jimmy Duffy to replace Dan Soper