In a move which reflects both the preference for overseas coaches within Irish rugby and Ulster's strong links with South Africa, the province has announced that the Western Stormers coach Alan Solomons will succeed Harry Williams from next season, in preference to the small crop of home-based coaches, headed by Willie Anderson.

The news is something of a surprise, but then again not that surprising either, if that doesn't sound too Irish. As a native Ulster coach of some repute, Anderson would have appeared a prime candidate. However, the provincial appointments in general have swayed toward overseas coaches (even those who didn't take up offers), even though the only two indigenous coaches in charge of provinces, Williams and Declan Kidney, have been by some distance the most successful in the professional era.

Granted, the 50-year-old Solomons has an impressive C.V., having been assistant coach to Nick Mallett with the Springboks for three years, during which time they constructed their record-equalling 17 Test wins in a row, and he is currently coach of the Super 12 side the Western Stormers.

Explaining the Ulster Branch's decision, chief executive Michael Reid stated: "It's been a long process, through from the first interview to this decision, but we're pretty happy that we've the best man for Ulster rugby. Aside from his cv with the Springboks and currently with the Stormers, we did a lot of personality profiles, from the likes of Roger Young and John Robbie, to satisfy ourselves that he would be able to fit in with the Irish and Ulster psyche.

"He's a big picture man," Reid said. "He sees his role as also developing talent, both coaching and players, which is important, as in Ulster we don't currently have the depth of talent that, say, Leinster have. He majored in that in the interviewing process, and impressed us with his long-term vision. He really is a proper director of rugby as opposed to a coach. "He impressed the interview panel big-time and took a pay-cut to fit in with the IRFU's hierarchical pay structure."

The choice of Solomons was unanimous by an Ulster Branch committee comprising Neil Jackson, the branch president; Joe Eagleson, next year's president; Cecil Watson, the chairman of the provincial management committee, and Reid.

As Reid admitted, they were also influenced by the views of the influential Dion O'Cuinneagain and Russell Nelson, who have played under Solomons. Mark McCall, currently assistant to Williams and another of the five contenders short-listed for the job, is expected to accept the full-time post of assistant coach.

Nevertheless, to many within Irish rugby, the decision to prefer Solomons over Anderson is merely a continuation of a process in which indigenous coaching has been grossly neglected and underdeveloped by the IRFU for many years. Certainly, one has to wonder what kind of message this conveys to aspiring Irish coaches.

As things stand, 11 of the 16 first division AIB League clubs, and henceforth three of the four provincial coaches, plus the national coach if not the assistant coach, are all from overseas. Admittedly, most have undoubtedly been beneficial to Irish rugby and the best choice at the time. Furthermore, this trend is merely a reflection of the times, and the security of employment within the Celtic Tiger as opposed to the relatively insecure and often less financially rewarding career path of professional rugby coaching.

Yet Anderson is the only home-based club coach who has been willing or, more pertinently, able to devote his time to coaching on a professional basis. The former Irish captain also has a proven record as a former IRFU development officer, who was unofficial assistant coach to Gerry Murphy in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons, when Ireland recorded back-to-back wins over England, not to mention his subsequent years as coach with London Irish and Dungannon. He also has an insider's working knowledge of the Ulster scene and most of its players. So if he can't emulate Kidney and Williams by breaking into the provincial coaching tier, which Irish coach can?

Granted, this was an Ulster Branch decision, made purely on what they saw as the needs of this specific job, and the IRFU merely ratified it. Eddie Wigglesworth, the IRFU's director of rugby, admitted: "We are actively looking very closely at developing a structure which will allow indigenous Irish coaches to develop within the game with some sort of security of tenure. That's not there at the moment, but we have to look at it."

Contrary to Ulster's stated objective of having the new man close at hand before assuming the reins from Williams, Solomons will come into his new job "cold" on June 1st (save for a fleeting visit during a Super 12 break in March), and no matter what way you look at this decision, to some degree it has to be interpreted as a slight on Anderson.

"Everybody's entitled to interpret it whatever way they want," said Reid. "Willie has people who sing his praises, but he also has his detractors amongst alickadoos and players, and a lot of views were taken on board from the playing side of things.

"Willie has very strong fans but also people who feel his style isn't right," added Reid. "Also, he hasn't got a huge success record as a coach. He was very much part of our thoughts, but the branch's view was that the best man to serve Ulster and Irish rugby in the long-term is Alan Solomons. Time will tell if they were right."