Ulster Rugby: Province appoints former All Black prop Clark Dermody as forwards coach

Ulster have confirmed the appointment of former New Zealand international Clarke Dermody as the province’s new forwards coach.

The 46-year-old, who will join this summer ahead of the 2026-27 season, replaces Jimmy Duffy.

Dermody will move to Ulster from Super Rugby side Highlanders, where he has held a number of posts, including a two-year stint as head coach between 2022 and 2024.

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said, “While we are sad to say goodbye to Jimmy Duffy, who is moving on, as a coaching team we are very excited to welcome Clarke to Ulster this summer.”

“He is an experienced coach with a strong track record of developing top talent. We look forward to implementing his approach and philosophy with our squad next season.”

During his playing career, loose-headed prop Dermody played for Southland, Highlanders and London Irish, where he made over 100 appearances before injury forced his retirement in 2012.

He played three Tests for the All Blacks, including two against Ireland in 2006.

His coaching career began at Southland Stags in 2014, when he was the Highlanders’ scrum coach during their 2015 Super Rugby win.

As co-coach with current Ireland attack coach Andrew Goodman, Dermody won back-to-back national provincial championship titles with Tanman Mako in 2019 and 2020.

Having impressed as the Highlanders forwards coach, Dermody was appointed head coach in 2022 following Tony Brown’s move to Japan before transitioning to assistant coach two years after Jamie Joseph returned to the Dunedin-based franchise.