ULSTER HEAD COACH Mark Anscombe has agreed a one-year extension to his contract with the northern province.
The New Zealander is widely regarded as a success in his 18 months at Ravenhill after guiding his side to the summit of the Pro12 last season. This year Ulster earned top seed in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals and their first home tie in the last eight since the 1998/99 season.
The new contract will see the Kiwi remain with Ulster until at least the summer of 2015.
“I have enjoyed my time at Ravenhill so far,” Anscombe said in today’s statement.
“We have made good progress, we have a great squad and some excellent young players coming through, so I am pleased to be committing for a further year.
“I said when I started at Ulster that I believed that this would be a three-year project. We are half way through that now. We have a home Heineken Cup quarter-final and we are competing for a play-off place in the RaboDirect Pro12 once again.
“My focus over the next year and a half will be to finish the job that I have started and to bring some silverware back to Ravenhill.”
Director of Rugby, David Humphreys, added:
“We believe that Mark is the right person to deliver immediate success through winning trophies and also long term success through the development of future Ulster and Ireland players.
“Over the past 18 months Ulster Rugby has made huge progress on and off the pitch. Through his coaching, knowledge of the game and experience, Mark Anscombe has taken team performance to a new level and we are delighted he has committed to the Province for a further 12 months.”
