Ulster Women’s Rugby and Belfast Harlequins Ladies lost their Team Manager at the end of 2011 when Natalie Bryant returned to Australia after four and a half years in the Province. We caught up with Natalie before she left to find out how things have changes in the Women’s game in Ulster during that time.

What brought you over here?

“Came over with Grandparents who had been thirty years in Australia. I came over to use Belfast as a base to explore Europe from and didn’t expect to stay as long as I did, maybe a year or two, but fell in love with Belfast and the people, got involved in Rugby and stayed for 4 1/2 years!“

How did you get involved with rugby?

“Always found the easiest way to meet people was to join a team and I was involved with rugby in Australia with the University in Canberra. I rang up Queens and went along to their training and a couple of the girls took me along to Harlequins, who were playing in the AIL, whereas Queens were in development at that stage. So I went along to Harlequins and the rest is history!

“Never been one to sit quietly in the background so I got involved in the organisation of Quins quite early. Nathan, the coach at Quins, and I got on really well and he asked me to help him out. When I hurt my knee and couldn’t play any more I didn’t want to miss out on the social side so the team manager thing sort of just developed from there. I enjoy bossing people about really :lol:.”

What’s your most memorable moment at Quins?

“As a manager there are two great memories that stand out. When we won the Ulster Shield in 2009 and when we made the final of the Carrick 10’s last season and very nearly beat Cooke – it was a big thing for a division 2 team to do.”As a manager there are two great memories that stand out. When we won the Ulster Shield in 2009 and when we made the final of the Carrick 10’s last season and very nearly beat Cooke – it was a big thing for a division 2 team to do.“

How have you seen the game develop in Ulster at club level?

“When I started at Queens they were literally only training and the only other clubs you could have joined were Cooke and Belfast Harlequins who had just started.

“Now in Belfast you have Queens and Malone active in the Development League, Quins are very strong in AIL2 and Cooke are holding their own in AIL1. Outside of Belfast you have Cavan, Carrick, Enniskillen and of course City of Derry all in AIL2 and new teams popping up in Newry, Ards, Clogher Valley and Ballymoney, who’ve been active for a few years now. Malone and Quins both have an active youth set up. Women’s rugby at club level has exploded, but we need to maintain and support this.“

How does the standard of Women’s Club Rugby in Ulster compare to Australia? 

“I would say when I first arrived that the Australian club game would have been stronger up front but now I think they would be very evenly matched at club level.“

During the last two seasons you were also the team Manager for Ulster Women. How did that come about?

“In 2009 all the coaches in the Ulster Women’s set up resigned en-mass so all the positions opened up and I applied. I was lucky enough to get selected.“

How have Ulster Women developed in that time? 

“We won our first game in three seasons in our last game against Connacht. We had a tough first season. There were a lot of new faces in the squad but we were lucky to have Grace Davitt coming in from Leinster which was a massive boost and we had a lot of quality players who weren’t playing together and hadn’t played under the previous management but wanted t ogive it a go now.

“Our first season was tough and we did lose all our games. The play off game, which we thought we would have won against Connacht, was cancelled due to weather. In our second season we were unlucky against Leinster with injuries during the game but we were very good against Munster. If that game had went on for five more minutes the result might have been different. There was a bit of inexperience, with such a young squad but it was a big turning point for the team. We did beat Connacht, who were playing well at the time and it was a great achievement for such a young team.

“I think the average age, when we worked it out, was 22. It’s been a steady improvement under Benjy (van der Byl, Head Coach) and Bronty (Gareth Bronte, Assistant Coach).“

You must have been pleased to see so many Quins girls involved with Ulster.

“I think the only way for Ulster, as a Province, to move forward is to have roughly equal representation from a lot of clubs. It’s fantastic to have a Division 1 club in the Province but the only way the girls are going to improve, and the only way Ulster’s going to improve is through competition for places and the players from other clubs have to push for places. We had fantastic representation from City of Derry, Cavan and Enniskillen as well this year and we had girls from development clubs like Ards in the extended squad and the development games played alongside the Inter Provincials were very important giving the girls quality game time.“

I’m sure that having nine Ulster girls going on to Ireland training this season has been a big boost? 

“I think we were all expecting a higher representation in the Ireland Squad but we were surprised to have so many, nine girls, through! We’re very pleased, and very proud, for the girls, especially the young ones, like Ashleigh (Baxter) and Nikki (Caughey), and Glenda (Mellon) who all worked so hard to get their first call up. Three new faces in the mix is brilliant.“

How do you think Ulster will progress over the next few seasons? 

“I think they can only continue to improve. As I said, the average age of the squad is only 22. If you look at the likes of Nikki and Ashleigh and Gemma McCutcheon, these girls are only 18/19 and have massive carers ahead of them. They will only improve with time and experience at that level.

“The key thing is to keep improving the clubs, to get more players involved and expand the game at grass roots level. Unfortunately the Women’s game is the bottom of the pecking order in rugby in general. If the IRFU want to improve the game they have to increase the numbers. The provinces are buying into that but maybe some of the older heads at Ulster (Branch) don’t necessarily see the Women’s game as a priority.

“We’re not a professional team like the men but we are the highest level in Women’s sport and maybe should be treated some where between the men’s age grade and the professional men’s side. More support for strength and conditioning at the clubs and better coaching support would be a great step but somebody needs to throw a bit of money at it!”

So what will you be doing when you return to Australia? 

“I put in too much into Harlequins over the years so I don’t think I’l be getting involved with a team for a while anyway in Australia.

“With Nikki and Ashleigh getting into the Ireland set up I would love to come back in February March and see them play, which would be fantastic. Of course I’ll still be in touch with everybody at Harlequins.“