Ahead of John Cooney‘s 100th appearance for Ulster in their crunch URC quarter final match against Munster on Friday night, I take a look at the other Ulster Centurions and answer the question: Do Ulster always lose when someone makes their 100th appearance?

I count a total of 41 players to have reached three figures for the province since the game turned professional in 1995, with the first being Gary Longwell in October 2001.

Twice have multiple players won their 100th cap in the same match – Paul Shields and Neil Best won theirs against the Dragons in February 2007 while Robbie Diack and Chris Henry appeared for the 100th time against Cardiff in May 2013.

Once-capped All Black Paul Steinmetz was the first non-Irish qualified player to reach the landmark in December 2008 while Springbok World Cup winner and all-round legend Ruan Pienaar would join him in an unsurprising freezing cold defeat to Leinster in November 2015.

Five players have scored on night they reached the milestone. Isaac Boss (Edinburgh, January 2010) was the first; followed by Robbie Diack (Cardiff, May 2013) and Craig Gilroy who scored a brace (Benetton, February 2015); Callum Black scored his first try for the province on his 100th appearance (Glasgow, February 2016); and Stuart McCloskey the most recent (Ospreys, February 2019).

The majority of matches in which an Ulster player makes their 100th appearance generally go the way of the centurion with an overall record of 30W 11L and 1D. A full breakdown is available below.

Players in line to make their 100th appearances over the next season: John Andrew (94), Jacob Stockdale (83), Eric O’Sullivan (84)

Let me know if you notice any mistakes!