Duo return to Ulster

Editor

Willie Anderson and Bryan Young will join Ulster's Academy as Elite Player Development Officer and Talent Development Officer respectively.

Former Ulster and Ireland captain Anderson will start work with the province in July 2016 and will operate as a forwards specialist for both the Academy and the Ulster 'A' team.

Anderson enjoyed an outstanding playing career that yielded 27 international caps between 1984-1990, before embarking on a coaching path that saw him work with Leinster, London Irish and the Scottish national team.

He also has extensive experience within the school and club game in Ulster having coached at Grosvenor GS, Sullivan Upper School, Rainey Old Boys RFC, and Dungannon RFC.

Renowned as an inspirational figurehead on the pitch, Anderson is keen to get stuck into his new role.

"I'm really excited about the prospect of working in the Academy and the challenge that it will bring. I'm looking forward to working with Les Kiss and Kieran Campbell, and hopefully bringing through some top quality young players over the next few years," he said.

"My role is primarily going to be with the forwards, working with them on what is takes to be a complete professional. I've been fortunate enough to have experience working in a similar environment with the Irish Academy that developed players such as Paul O'Connell and Peter Stringer, so hopefully we will be able to unearth our own golden generation in Ulster."

Following an impressive playing career that yielded 132 appearances for Ulster and eight international caps for Ireland, Young has been working within the Hughes Insurance Academy programme for the last two years in a consultancy capacity, where his focus has been on the development of forwards and leading the scrum programme within the high performance pathway.

Campbell feels that Young will also be a great addition to the Academy setup.

"Bryan's experience within the Academy to date, coupled with his wealth of playing experience at International and Provincial level will make him a very valuable member of the team and he will be integral to the development of a significant number of identified indigenous forwards within the Ulster player pathway," he said.