Ulster

There have been a number of new additions to the coaching and playing staff for Ulster ahead of the new campaign as they aim to muscle their way back into the top eight.

Juarno Augustus has been signed from Northampton while Australia prop Angus Bell will join the squad after the autumn internationals.

Mark Sexton has arrived as attack coach, with Willie Faloon now in permanent charge of the defence.

Henderson is enthused by the impact Augustus and Sexton have already had and believes the team are already in a better shape to compete with younger players now having a tough year of senior rugby under their belts.

“Mark Sexton has been working wonders with our attack, it feels fresh and new,” added the 33-year-old.

“A handful of older guys leaving last year have lifted the ceiling of those young guys who have been stepping into shoes and there are a couple of new players kicking around, I can’t wait to see them cause a bit of disruption.

“Watching him [Augustus] in training, there’s no doubt in my mind he is going to cause a bit of damage and that is exciting.

“There is so much there to cause excitement and the excitement they [young players] bring rejuvenates me, I feel like my body has been brilliant in pre-season and I want to be part of this new Ulster coming through with the freshness I feel.”

Ulster edged past Dragons 34-30 at Rodney Parade last season, but Henderson added that both teams’ summer business means Friday’s game at the Affidea Stadium will be a different proposition.

“They caused us loads of issues over there last year, but they have signed a heap of new players and will be a different team and how we have progressed in pre-season, we are a different team to last year.”

Bell will return to Waratahs after his sabbatical, with his contract running through to the end of 2027.

Waratahs head coach Dan McKellar said the club were “supportive” of his decision to join Ulster to continue his “personal growth”.

“He’s a young man, who came straight out of school into the Waratahs system, and we think the time at Ulster will be good for his development on and off the field, which ultimately will help the Waratahs long term,” he said.

Bell’s arrival later this year will continue the trend of southern-hemisphere players joining Irish provinces on short-term deals.

New Zealand international Jordie Barrett is nearing the end of his stint with Leinster having joined in December, with his All Blacks team-mate Rieko Ioane set to arrive at the end of 2025.

The announcement of Bell’s short-term deal comes on the same day Ulster confirmed the departure of New Zealand-born fly-half Aidan Morgan by “mutual consent”.

Ulster have already signed South African back row Juarno Augustus from Northampton Saints before next season, while loose-head Andy Warwick was among several departures at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

The province pulled off a major coup in 2022 when they landed South Africa’s World Cup-winning loose-head Steven Kitshoff, but he left after just one season.

Murphy’s side are hoping to bounce back after a miserable season in which they missed out on the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-offs and qualification for next season’s Investec Champions Cup.