Ulster v Scarlets 2nd December 2011 at Ravenhill KO 7.05pm

First topic message reminder :

Ulster
(15-9): A D'Arcy; A Trimble, D Cave, N Spence, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, P Marshall;
(1-8): T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg;

Replacements (16-23): N Brady, P McAllister, A Macklin, L Stevenson, R Diack, R Pienaar, P Jackson, I Whitten

Scarlets:

15-9 Dan Evans, Iongi, Reynolds, Warren, Lamont, Jones, Gareth Davies
1-8 John, Owens, Manu, Reed, Powell, Gilbert, McCusker, Murphy

16-23 Phillips, Iestyn Thomas, Gardiner, Welch, Edwards, Rhodri Williams, Newton, Iolo Evans.

If there is something wrong with our club there is something wrong with many many clubs - as 3 month injury cover contracts have been quiet common in recent years.

My assessment is simply based on what I have seen on his play for the Sharks in recent years - how else are you supposed to judge a player.

The coaches believe D'Arcy is not good enough to see us through games against Leicester and Clermont - I agree with them. Tereblanch is.
We should give the younger players a chance in games at the end of the season not now during the HC campaign. We need to put out our best possible team to maximize our chance of qualifying - that is why Terblanch has been signed.

In a year or two Nelson/Gaston will start to develop and come through the ranks.
D'Arcy is an exciting player but make no mistake at 26 and limited experience he is no more than a stop gap.

Afternoon Geoff! thought i'd pop in to the new land!!! totally agree with your assessment there.

geoff998rugby wrote:
The coaches believe D'Arcy is not good enough to see us through games against Leicester and Clermont - I agree with them. Tereblanch is.

If D'arcy hadn't have came on we'd have lost the 1st game to Clermont and we'd be out of the HEC now. Why did we resign D'arcy if he isn't good enough?

I think it may be slightly harsh on D'arcy but i dont have too many issues with the signing.

THe biggest thing for me is having someone with a great boot at the back. Too often this season and in seasons past we have lost the kicking battle purely because we didnt have a big boot.

I would still start D'arcy this weekend. We need 4 tries and he gives us the best chance of that. Having said that i would like to see Terblanche in the team for the Leinster game as i expect us to rest plenty of guys for that one. If having Terblance in the team means we are more disposed to giving Jackson and Marshall significant gametime then i think it is a winner.

a backline of

Pienaar, Jackson, Gilroy, Marshall, Spence, Danielli?, Terblanche

against Leinster would be likely

Yeah I don't have an issue with the signing although I'd have liked to see us work with what we have (and I don't mean Danielli).

If Terblanche ends up being a central player for us then that is not a good thing IMO as he is only here on the short term. That is the issue.

Signing a player as short term injury cover is one thing but expecting that player to be a key player is another.

Theres so many people getting defensive and harsh on players. Is it at all possible for a player to be a top quality squad player and be happy with that role.

Why the attitude of either 1stXV, or leave the club. I WANT great backups like Faloon Diack and Darcy. If they are committed to the team and have a passion regardless of if they play every single week then that makes for a great team spirit.

Is it too much to fathom that D'arcy might be glad to have Terblanche in for both the teams success and his learning process???

clivemcl wrote:
Is it too much to fathom that D'arcy might be glad to have Terblanche in for both the teams success and his learning process???

If you went from 1st choice to 4th choice 15 without playing a match then I doubt you'd be too happy about it.

I suspect D'arcy (or Spence, Faloon etc) will learn more from actually being on the pitch and playing big games than by sitting in the side lines watching other players.

roddersm wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:
The coaches believe D'Arcy is not good enough to see us through games against Leicester and Clermont - I agree with them. Tereblanch is.

If D'arcy hadn't have came on we'd have lost the 1st game to Clermont and we'd be out of the HEC now. Why did we resign D'arcy if he isn't good enough?

The reason we would have lost against Clermont was because the guy selected was worse. D'arcy is a better 15 than Danielli.

A team need a squad not 15 players - that has been/is Ulster trouble.

D'Arcy, like Humphreys, is a good impact bench player.
He, like Humphreys, is not good enough for the first XV, that is if we are serious about competing at the highest level.

Sorry Geoff I disagree. There shouldn't be a single player on the payroll that the coaches don't have faith in to play.

Obviously when everyone is fit some guys have to miss out but if there are injuries and we have to parachute short term signings into the 1st XV then our coaches don't know what they are doing.

I've opened a new topic on Fridays game guys so if you want you can carry on the discussion over there. I have posed a couple of questions for you to ponder.