Northern | US

Ulster raid Irish rivals for scrum-half Matthew Devine

Galway , Ireland - 27 December 2025; Matthew Devine of Connacht before the United Rugby Championship match between Connacht and Ulster at Dexcom Stadium in Galway. (Photo By Ben McShane/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Comments
Comment

Ulster have confirmed the signing of Connacht scrum-half Matthew Devine on a one-year deal for the 2026/27 season.

The 23-year-old came through Connacht’s academy and has made 26 appearances for the province, scoring nine tries.

ADVERTISEMENT

Devine is familiar with the Ulster’s coaching staff, having played a key role in Richie Murphy’s Irish U20 team who won the 2022 Six Nations Grand Slam and having worked with Mark Sexton during his stint with the Western province.

VIDEO

“I’m delighted to sign with Ulster Rugby and can’t wait to make the move up North,” Devine said.

“It’s a brilliant opportunity for me to join a team who are making great strides forward and playing some of the most exciting, attacking rugby in the URC.

“Having worked with the coaching staff before with the U20s, I have a great relationship with them, and I feel their style suits my game. I’m looking forward to meeting my new teammates and the Ulster supporters!”

Ulster Rugby’s General Manager, Rory Best, added: “We are very pleased to reach an agreement with Matty and look forward to welcoming him into the squad next season.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We feel we have secured one of the most talented young scrum-halves in Ireland, who has a strong desire to kick on in his career and develop with his high potential.

“He will add strong competition to our scrum half positions moving forward.”

Related

Get the RugbyPass App 📱

Follow the biggest matches with live scores, line-ups, news and analysis, all in the RugbyPass App.

Download Here
On Apple IOS, Android, and Tablet.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

E
EvilMockingJay 7 minutes ago
Antoine Dupont missing for now as Galthie names 33-man France squad

8 is more than Dupont if i’m not mistaken (being a draw with the final to come), that’s why I put Couilloud (but yeah, i did hesitate to put him, but he’s one of the best player at Lyon, and him being out of the field is probably why Lyon is so bad in the classement.

When i said destroyed i did not mean by playing better. I mean some random player from a “really weaker nation” going to his head, or knee in what seems to be a contract placed by “better” teams we will encounter a bit later, with a Dupont injured. Like you know, during the World Cup where nothing was prepared to face both Dupont and NTK injuries. Galthié was even in tears about NTK not being there (so great for MJ's self-confidence…). Let’s not lie, Galthié really want his “Dupont NTK”. Like, always. French gameplan seems to be really dependant on that. It need to change. We must turn our gameplan to be about our best available players at the time. Not just “Dupont NTK” always ad nauseum, even when it’s not the best or when they are litteraly NOT AVAILABLE (man, Galthié made Dupont played before a facial fracture had time to heal, like seriously ?). + NTK ain't that good without Dupont doing everything for him, during the season NTK was really… transparent while playing with Graou or Saito, who are playing real 9, while Dupont is playing 9 AND 10, leaving NTK to “shine” as a 2nd 12. We have a lot of international 9 and two 10 (3 with Ramos ?). Let’s use them, and not to play as “Dupont NTK” because they are not them. We need to adapt to every situation.



...

95 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Copied to clipboard

Share Article close