A shortlist of five candidates will be interviewed for the coaching director's job at Ulster by a panel of IRFU and Ulster Branch officials on Monday in Dublin. It is believed that the five in question are Dungannon coach Willie Anderson, Ballynahinch coach Mark McCall, Ballymena coach Andre Bester, the former Springbok assistant Alan Solomons and the St Mary's coach Brent Pope.
As the three Ulster-based coaches were always expected to be on the shortlist to succeed Harry Williams at the end of this season, the more surprising candidates are Pope and in particular Solomons. Nick Mallett's assistant until this year and the Western Province coach, Solomons will be interviewed by video link-up on Monday.
Williams has signalled his intention to retire at the conclusion of his three-year contract, his second stint as Ulster coach, and with Ulster effectively out of contention for the knockout stages of the European Cup, this affords the province the opportunity to have the new man in place before the end of the season.
The union's initial preference for overseas coaches has been swayed by the relative success of indigenous coaches at Ulster and Munster. In that scenario, and even when comparing his CV with those of the other candidates, Anderson would seem the logical choice. Despite not making his international debut until he was 29, Anderson went on to win 27 caps as lock and number eight, captaining Ireland three times, before becoming a regional development officer with the IRFU for six years.
He was also the unofficial assistant Ireland coach with specialist responsibilities for the forwards for two seasons with Gerry Murphy. They were relatively successful campaigns in the otherwise grim 1990s for Irish rugby, the highlights being the 1993 and 1994 wins over England. Anderson is in the second of two spells as full-time coach of Dungannon. In between he had a two-year stint at London Irish.
McCall is the bright young thing of Ulster rugby in coaching terms. The former Irish centre is only in his first full season as the province's assistant coach and is in his second season as coach at Ballynahinch.
An Anderson-McCall ticket could well be seen as the dream pairing. They worked together as coach and player when Anderson brought McCall to both Dungannon and London Irish. The advantage of this option is that McCall could then be groomed to succeed Anderson.
Bester, recommended to Ballymena by their former coach and fellow South African Nellie Smith, alienated many of that club's Ulster contingent in a volatile first season but then turned things around with a more modified approach off the pitch and far more attractive style on it. Nevertheless, he remains relatively inexperienced.
Pope, given his success in taking Clontarf from the third division to the first of the AIB League, and then keeping them there before guiding St Mary's to the title last season, is a dark horse. Solomons, who falls into the same category, is still tied to Western Province and has no working knowledge of Ulster rugby.
A decision is expected this side of Christmas.
