Now that Ulster have a head coach sorted, the focus will turn to his backroom staff and strengthening the squad further.
One of those spots in the squad may yet be filled by another Leinster player, with Joey Carbery and Ross Byrne mulling a move up the M1.
Ulster will have John Cooney, Marty Moore and Jordi Murphy all playing at Ravenhill next season, while Nick Timoney is from Dublin and Clive Ross was signed from Lansdowne. What odds another southern brogue, even if there is a trace of Kiwi?
Former Ulster and Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris joined The Hard Yards and [from 19:00 below] addressed the current situation regarding Carbery and Byrne.
Carbery has been placed in an extremely tough position. Joe Schmidt, his coach with Ireland, is suggesting that his career may be better served by heading north. With New Zealand coming to Dublin later this year, a Grand Slam to defend and a World Cup campaign in Japan on the horizon, pleasing the national coach could pay off in a big way.
“Joey Carbery is getting no game-time for Leinster,” says Ferris, “and, when he is, it is as second fiddle or as fullback.
“For Joey Carbery to retain that spot [for Ireland] of being Johnny Sexton’s back-up, he needs to be getting regular rugby. Is that going to be at Leinster? No, because Johnny Sexton is going to be there.
“Eddie O’Sullivan has said that it’s not like he is moving to Eastern Mongolia or anything, he’s only going 100 miles up the road. It’s not that big of a change and, going forward, Carbery could go to Ulster.
“But is he any better than Johnny McPhillips? Johnny McPhillips is only a young kid. Again, the IRFU are putting a lot of pressure on this to make sure they have all their options covered.”
Former Munster and Ireland centre James Downey maintains that Byrne is the best option for Ulster as he is a good goal-kicker and a reliable No.10.
Sexton makes the good point, however, that Sexton may be retiring in the next season or two so Leo Cullen may have to take a long-term view of the matter. While retaining Byrne may make sense right now – Ireland will be asking for a lot of Sexton’s time over the next 18 months – some would argue that letting Carbery go to a provincial rival could well come back to bite the Blues.
