Ulster Rugby have announced that current assistant coach Dan Soper will take up a new position within the organisation.
From next season New Zealander Soper will become the province’s Development and Transition coach.
Soper first joined the Ulster rugby coaching ticket ahead of the 2018/19 season as a skills coach. He was also in charge for one game last season following Dan McFarland’s exit before the post was filled by Richie Murphy.
Before joining Ulster, Soper enjoyed success as head coach of Belfast College RBAI, and the former Banbridge coach led them to a hat-trick of School’s Cup wins from 2015 to 2017.
Players to emerge from that era include current Ulster players Mike Lowry, James Hume and Corrie Barrett. It’s a CV like this that makes Soper a perfect fit for the role, but as he explains, it’s something that has been in the pipeline for quite some time.
“That’s been in discussions with Bryn (Cunningham) over the last couple of years. His vision for how he saw the program within Ulster and what was the best way to go about pushing our own talent on,” said the former Otago Sharks player.
“It possibly would have happened sooner but with last season and Dan moving on and all the turmoil that caused at the time, it all sat on the backburner for a wee period.”
As well as helping academy players make the step up to the senior grade, the new position will also see Soper work with coaches from all over the province from both the club and school games.
By widening the net, it’s hoped that a greater talent pool can be unearthed and developed into the future Ulster and Ireland stars.
“The opportunity’s there and, working with Bryn, this is a clear path for the long-term plan,” continued the Kiwi.
“As a province, we have to maximise the potential that we have within the province. We don’t have the luxury of having an endless supply of players where we can spit them out and, if they’re not good enough, we just get the next one.
“We need to make sure we’re making the most of what we’ve got. We’ll be working with the whole squad but there’ll be a real focus on the guys coming out of the Academy.
“The young guys in the senior group now like James McNabney and making sure that in two or three years time James, who is getting a taste of Irish camp now, but how do we make sure he’s consistently in that Ireland camp and we’re getting the best out of him here at Ulster.
“It’s putting a spotlight on that.”
While confirming that he’s still very much part of the senior set-up, Soper did confirm that his role day-to-day role will be with the younger members of the squad.
“As it’s a new role that hasn’t existed, there’ll be a wee bit of finding our feet around that, but it’ll be very much attached to the senior group week to week.
“Training today, I’ll be on the pitch with the seniors, I’ll be working with those players during the week, just the focus will be on the young guys in the group. It’s James McCormick and Scott Wilson and in the backs, we have Jack (Murphy) and even Jude (Postlethwaite) and Carsy (Ben Carson) who’s been around a little longer, make sure we push those lower-end guys on.
“It’ll be very much attached to the senior group but there’ll be windows during the week where I’ll be out working in the pathway with domestic coaches and supporting them if there’s areas they need support.”
