Ahead of John Cooney‘s 100th appearance for Ulster in their crunch URC quarter final match against Munster on Friday night, I take a look at the other Ulster Centurions and answer the question: Do Ulster always lose when someone makes their 100th appearance?
I count a total of 41 players to have reached three figures for the province since the game turned professional in 1995, with the first being Gary Longwell in October 2001.
Breakdown of 100 Appearances by Decade
| Decade | Games | W | L | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-2009 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 |
| 2010-2019 | 25 | 20 | 5 | 0 |
| 2020-2022 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 42 | 30 | 11 | 1 |
Twice have multiple players won their 100th cap in the same match – Paul Shields and Neil Best won theirs against the Dragons in February 2007 while Robbie Diack and Chris Henry appeared for the 100th time against Cardiff in May 2013.
Once-capped All Black Paul Steinmetz was the first non-Irish qualified player to reach the landmark in December 2008 while Springbok World Cup winner and all-round legend Ruan Pienaar would join him in an unsurprising freezing cold defeat to Leinster in November 2015.
Breakdown of 100 Appearances by competition
| Decade | Games | W | L | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic League | 27 | 20 | 6 | 1 |
| PRO14 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| European Cup | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Totals | 42 | 30 | 11 | 1 |
Five players have scored on night they reached the milestone. Isaac Boss (Edinburgh, January 2010) was the first; followed by Robbie Diack (Cardiff, May 2013) and Craig Gilroy who scored a brace (Benetton, February 2015); Callum Black scored his first try for the province on his 100th appearance (Glasgow, February 2016); and Stuart McCloskey the most recent (Ospreys, February 2019).
The majority of matches in which an Ulster player makes their 100th appearance generally go the way of the centurion with an overall record of 30W 11L and 1D. A full breakdown is available below.
BONUS STAT: Darren Cave is the only player who has lost on his 100th, 150th and 200th appearance while Rob Herring is only one to have won on his 100th, 150th and 200th appearance.
Match Results by Centurion
| win | lose | draw |
|---|---|---|
| Gary Longwell (Wasps, October 2001) | Andy Ward (Leinster, December 2005) | Bryn Cunningham (Scarlets, May 2005) |
| James Topping (Border Reivers, April 2004) | Simon Best (Biarritz, January 2006) | |
| David Humphreys (Connacht, September 2004) | Roger Wilson (Glasgow, April 2007) | |
| Justin Fitzpatrick (Cardiff, October 2006) | Kieran Campbell (Edinburgh, November 2007) | |
| Paul Shields & Neil Best (Dragons, February 2007) | Matt McCullough (Ospreys, December 2007) | |
| Paddy Wallace (Scarlets, February 2008) | Darren Cave (Edinburgh, March 2013) | |
| Paul Steinmetz (Scarlets, December 2008) | Tommy Bowe (Saracens, April 2013) | |
| Bryan Young (Leinster, October 2009) | Ruan Pienaar (Leinster, November 2015) | |
| ISAAC BOSS (eDINBURGH, jANUARY 2010) | PADDY JACKSON (GLASGOW, MARCH 2016) | |
| Andrew Trimble (Edinburgh, April 2010) | ALAN O’CONNOR (LEINSTER, DECEMBER 2019) | |
| Rory Best (Glasgow, October 2010) | NICK TIMONEY (STADE TOULOUSAIN, APRIL 2022) | |
| Nigel Brady (Leicester, January 2012) | ||
| Tom Court (Glasgow, August 2012) | ||
| Stephen Ferris (Munster, September 2012) | ||
| Paul Marshall (Connacht, April 2013) | ||
| Robbie Diack & Chris Henry (Cardiff, May 2013) | ||
| Dan Tuohy (Benetton, December 2013) | ||
| Craig Gilroy (Benetton, February 2015) | ||
| Ian Humphreys (Scarlets, February 2015) | ||
| Callum Black (Glasgow, February 2016) | ||
| Rob Herring (Scarlets, September 2016) | ||
| Luke Marshall (Dragons, March 2017) | ||
| Iain Henderson (Leicester, January 2019) | ||
| Stuart McCloskey (Ospreys, February 2019) | ||
| Sean Reidy (Dragons, March 2019) | ||
| Andrew Warwick (Ospreys, September 2019) | ||
| Louis Ludik (Scarlets, November 2019) | ||
| Kieran Treadwell (Glasgow, February 2021) |
Players in line to make their 100th appearances over the next season: John Andrew (94), Jacob Stockdale (83), Eric O’Sullivan (84)
Let me know if you notice any mistakes!
