ULSTER HAVE CONFIRMED that current Connacht attack coach Mark Sexton will join the northern province in the same role from next season, while current interim defence coach Willie Faloon will continue on a full-time basis.

The signings of Sexton and Faloon mean that head coach Richie Murphy will reunite a Grand Slam-winning Ireland U20s coaching lineup, with the incumbent Jimmy Duffy completing the set as forwards coach.

Dan Soper, meanwhile, will start the 2025/26 season in a new role with Ulster, that of ‘development and transition coach’, as confirmed by the province last month.

Dubliner Sexton, the younger brother of former Ireland captain Johnny, began his coaching career with his alma mater St Mary’s College over a decade ago. He also coached Leinster U19s before pursuing his badges and landing an academy role with Connacht.

Sexton joined Murphy’s 20s coaching ticket as assistant attack and skill coach in 2022, winning back-to-back Grand Slams, and was appointed Connacht’s senior attack coach under Pete Wilkins in 2023.

Former Ulster player Faloon is more familiar to the province and, like Sexton at Connacht, was previously an elite development officer in the club’s academy.

Armagh native Faloon, who has head coaching experience with City of Armagh and took over the Ireland U20s for the 2024 World Cup when Murphy departed for Ulster, will continue as the province’s forwards and contact-skills coach.

“Mark and Willie will be great additions to the coaching team here at Ulster Rugby,” said head coach Murphy.

“Knowing Mark from our time together in the Irish U20 setup, I could see first-hand that he is a talented young coach who knows how to drive an attack. He has built up a great reputation at Connacht and we’re getting a hungry coach who is excited to work with the talent we have here.

“Willie Faloon is also a very talented coach with a growing reputation in the game. He’s a good example of someone coming up through the Ulster coaching pathway and we look forward to seeing what impact he can make on the team.”

Ulster said that Soper’s primary focus in his new developmental role will be “maximising the individual development of all players with a particular focus on the younger talent already in the senior squad and the successful transition of academy graduates.”

General manager Bryn Cunningham added: “Dan Soper’s role is new and extremely important for our strategy. With a young team, our future success will be determined by how well we can develop our players.

“In this role we now have a coach fully focused on maximising the potential of our up-and-coming talent, and there are few coaches with a better track record of nurturing young players in Ulster than Dan.”