Rory Best has returned to Ulster as general manager, six years after retiring from play.
During a distinguished rugby career highlighted by 124 Ireland caps, four Six Nations titles, and a legendary status at Ulster, Rory Best experienced a great deal.
Now, six years after his retirement, Best returns to Ulster as the province’s new general manager, facing significant questions about the direction of Irish rugby and the broader state of the professional game.
Best spoke with BBC Sport NI’s Mark Sidebottom just two days after Stephen Ferris, his former Ulster and Ireland teammate, delivered a critical assessment of rugby’s current health.
Ferris expressed his feeling that the game was “broken” after enduring Ireland’s 132-minute (including stoppages) defeat to South Africa on Saturday.
When presented with Ferris’s comments, Best, a two-time British and Irish Lion, refrained from making any dire pronouncements about the sport he began playing professionally 21 years ago.
“If I believed rugby was broken, I wouldn’t be here,” stated the 43-year-old, who was named as Bryn Cunningham’s successor last month.
“Rugby is a sport I played. Do we need to keep evolving? Of course, we do. Every sport needs to. You need to keep up with, ultimately, the supporters and sponsors. They put the money in that allows us to pay our players and allows our players to train.”
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Having competed at the highest level, Best is familiar with the risks inherent in the sport.
“We have to make sure it’s entertaining, but we’ve also got to make sure it’s safe,” the former hooker added, addressing rugby’s future.
“We’re kind of at a bit of a funny period now where players, their instinct is still to tackle too high.”
“I’m a parent, so I want the game to be safe, but I also want my kids, who play rugby, to have the same enjoyment that I had. We have so many core values in rugby that are so important to your life in general. Whether you play professionally or for your club’s fourth or fifth 15, it’s very important.”
Best, who captained Ireland to their 2018 Grand Slam victory, noted that the governing body, World Rugby, is “always evolving.”
“You see the number of players that are involved in the board, the players’ union have a big voice now within World Rugby.”
“You now have retired professional players who are really in touch and at the sharp end of what rugby is like now compared to 30, 40 years ago, helping to make decisions.”
“We have to make sure that we evolve, but we also need to make sure that as clubs and countries that we are doing the best we can to implement discipline. A lot of those stoppages, don’t get me wrong, it was frustrating, but they’re all discipline on the TMO looking at foul play.”
Best emphasizes the importance of Ulster continuing to develop its international players, such as Stuart McCloskey, who impressed for Ireland during the Autumn Nations Series.
Best’s new role at Ulster involves numerous responsibilities, including player recruitment and retention, oversight of the academy, and fostering pathways to the senior team.
He rejoins the club at a pivotal time, following a turbulent few years marked by the departures of chief executive Jonny Petrie and head coach Dan McFarland in 2024, who have since been replaced by Hugh McCaughey and Richie Murphy, respectively.
Last season, Ulster won only eight of 23 matches across all competitions.
“Because of the nature of how last season finished, of course there are loads of frustrations,” Best acknowledged.
“Everyone has high expectations of this place, and when you don’t deliver it, people want to ask questions. It was good to have that initial meeting [with the fans], but ultimately, we’ll be judged by what we do as an organization on the pitch.”
While recent results have shown improvement, Best is determined to lead the province back to its former glory, competing at the highest levels in Europe and contending for trophies.
This entails achieving positive results on the field and increasing Ulster’s representation in the Ireland squad.
Last week, no Ulster players were included in Ireland’s matchday squad against South Africa. However, with nine players having participated in Ireland XV’s victory over Spain earlier this month, Best aims to support the development of those players on the fringes of Test selection.
“From our point of view, which is what I can comment on, we have to work really hard to make sure we have that next generation of player coming through.”
“But in the immediate term, that we develop the kids in the academy but also the players on that pitch.”
“I know Hendy [Iain Henderson]’s a bit older, but Hendy, Nick Timoney, Stuart McCloskey, and Jacob [Stockdale] that were in that squad [in November] – how can we develop them between now and the Six Nations to make sure they’re in that squad.”
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