Rugby Daily | Ulster says Joe, Samoa facing four-year ban, Wafer named captain
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This has just drastically improved my life, all the little things and I'm even more excited for my kids now to put on their Mayo jersey and be so proud to represent the values of what the county is.
Join in the obsession. Subscribe now at offtheball.com forward slash join. Off the balls, Rugby Daily. With Bank of Ireland, a proud sponsor of Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster Rugby. Never stop competing. You're very welcome to Rugby Daily. I'm Cameron Hill. Now coming up for you today, Joe Schmitz returned to Irish rugby with a new role at Ulster. Aoife Wafer gets the captaincy at Harlequins for next season. And why Samoa is facing a four-year ban from international rugby. First up today, Ulster have confirmed the appointment of Joe Schmidt as coach development advisor. The former Leinster and Ireland head coach will spend the next few months at Ravenhill working with Richie Murphy and his squad.
Murphy served as an assistant coach under Schmidt at Ireland. The 60-year-old only recently left the Australia hot seat with Les Kiss, himself a former Ulster head coach, now taking the reins. The province said in a statement yesterday that Schmidt will work both on-site and remotely over the next 12 months and will work closely with coaching staff at all levels, providing mentorship, guidance and strategic support. Ulster have shown marked improvement since Murphy came in as head coach, firstly on an interim basis in 2024 before signing a permanent deal that May. In January he extended his tenure at the Affidavit Stadium with a new two-year contract alongside assistant coaches Mark Sexton and Willie Falloon.
The province did miss out narrowly on the URC playoffs last season and were soundly beaten by Montpellier in the Challenge Cup final in Bilbao. A few weeks ago, Ulster legend Andrew Trimble joined Susanna Mollen and Dara Smith-Nocton for a debrief on the Ulster season, and he believes the young team still has a bit to go in their development.
My sense of Ulster this time last year was that they're They're not a mature side. They're not a side that can really... There's a huge amount of accountability. They look at each other and they know what they're going to be able to deliver. I thought that changed as the season went on. I thought they looked like they grew up. I think Nathan Doak's a perfect example of it. He looked like this... kind of established he looks like an established international nine I thought when he got his chance for Ireland he looked incredible as well he looks like a leader in that team I thought that's a reflection of where that Ulster side got as the season went on and then the Connacht came at home just undermined that for me it just looked like they were shell shocked Lancaster did a job on them and it was very disappointing from their perspective and it made a dent in their season big time
Now that's just one of the many great interviews you can catch up on from the season just gone. Unlock all of the best rugby insights and analysis from the biggest names in the game by heading over to offtheball.com forward slash join and click follow in your OTB rugby feed so you don't miss a second of the action. This is Rugby Daily on Off the Ball with Bank of Ireland, a proud sponsor of Irish rugby, never stop competing. Ireland star Aoife Wafer has been appointed club captain for Harlequins ahead of next season. The 23-year-old takes the skipper's armband from the recently retired Jade Conkle. She joined the Premiership women's rugby side last summer and scored seven tries across the league campaign.
Wafer was named on the PWR Team of the Season for the term just gone. It caps a brilliant 2026 for Wafer so far. She scored five tries for Ireland during the Six Nations and became the first player to be named Player of the Championship in back-to-back campaigns. Speaking to Quinn's in-house media, Wafer described the appointment as an incredible honour and paid tribute to the outgoing conchal.
I think there's something really special about it and I think we have the potential to do really good things this season.
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