Ulster v Leicester HC Pool 4. Friday 13th Jan ko 8.00pm

First topic message reminder :

The provisional Ulster squad to face Leicester Tigers in Friday's crucial Heineken Cup match with Leicester at Ravenhill has been named...

Pedrie Wannenburg (foot) and Ian Humphreys (hamstring) were forced off the field in the win over Edinburgh at the weekend but have both been named in the 33 man panel and are in contention to play in the Pool 4 clash. Young backline trio Luke Marshall, Paddy Jackson and Nevin Spence (all ankle) have returned to training this week and are available for selection if required. Mike McComish is also available after shaking off a shoulder injury.
Meanwhile prop Declan Fitzpatrick’s neck injury was reviewed last week and he is likely to be out of action for 4-6 weeks. Paddy McAllister and Peter Nelson also miss out.

Leicester have been hit by injuries to England internationals Toby Flood, Manu Tuilagi and Louis Deacon who are all ruled out, although Flood’s replacement at flyhalf - Billy Twelvetrees - scored all of his side’s points in the 29-11 win over Wasps on Saturday.

Leicester have a formidable record in the Heineken Cup and have qualified for the knock-out stages ten times. They have contested five finals, winning back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002, but losing the showpiece matches in 1997, 2007 and 2009.

Ulster are currently top of Pool 4 on 14 points, with the Tigers trailing by two going into this crunch match. Defeat for either side would almost certainly end their dreams of reaching the last eight this season. Clermont Auvergne are just one point behind Leicester in the pool standings and will travel to Aironi this weekend before hosting Ulster the following week.

Ulster Team to play Leicester, Fri 13th January, Ravenhill (kick-off 8.00pm):

ULSTER (15-9) S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar (1-8) T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (Captain), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg

Replacements (16-23): N Brady, C Black, A Macklin, L Stevenson, W Faloon, P Marshall, I Whitten, A D'Arcy

Leicester Tigers (v Ulster Rugby, Ravenhill, Friday 8pm)
15 Geordan Murphy (c)
14 Horacio Agulla
13 Matt Smith
12 Anthony Allen
11 Alesana Tuilagi
10 Billy Twelvetrees
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Rob Hawkins
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
4 Steve Mafi
5 Geoff Parling
6 Tom Croft
7 Julian Salvi
8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements
16 George Chuter
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Dan Cole
19 Ed Slater
20 Ben Woods
21 Sam Harrison
22 Jeremy Staunton
23 Scott Hamilton

Tom Croft showed why i dont want him as the England 6....i watched him in the rucks he actually got in to....and he was totally powered out...

Ferris proved how important a real deal powerhouse 6 is to any team.,...

Your spoiler works fine Notch!

No highlights for this anywhere yet?

cough!

PM for you clivemcl

cough!

Any chance I could get one of those please? Only saw the first 20 minutes

I have gone in search of reinforcements lads.

A PM would be lovely for me too please if you would be so kind.

PM for you Rory. Enjoy.

Clermont have scored 7 tries in the 1st half vs Aironi, impressive. Going to have to make sure im off work next Saturday

Looking at the pools, we definitely arent into the quarters yet, need a LBP against Clermont as a minimum, or other results to go our way, like London Irish beating Blues or Gloucester beating Harlequins.

How heart breaking would it be to have managed that win last night and not make the quarters?

Did you listen to what Muller had to say after the match?

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/10073.php

Ryan Caldwell scored two trys for Bath today - why could he not play like that for Ulster

If only Ulster had gotten a lbp in Welford Road and prevented Clermont getting one in Ravenhill. They'd be home and dry now. Shows how important bp's can be. Munster have been masters of it for years.

Thanks for the links guys!

Gotta say Poites some character, he falls on allen when hes down injured, gets thought how to say shoulder by one of leicesters front rows and tells Geordan Murphy he must be enjoying the game when hes 24-7 down.

Its actually scary how good Ferris is. The whole team was excellent, humphreys was the only one who didnt have a very good game imo. He was fairly quiet.

Clermont really sending a warning today with an 82-0 win away to aironi. Cant wait for next week.

Golden wrote:Gotta say Poites some character, he falls on allen when hes down injured, gets thought how to say shoulder by one of leicesters front rows and tells Geordan Murphy he must be enjoying the game when hes 24-7 down.

Its actually scary how good Ferris is. The whole team was excellent, humphreys was the only one who didnt have a very good game imo. He was fairly quiet.

i was laughing when he fell i on Allen, not the best thing when a player is down with a neck injury.

Northamptons win over Scarlets means we get something from the group- we will have a quarter final in the Amlin even if everything goes wrong.

I just can't help but think of Inspector Clouseau when he speaks.

When he was telling them not to go in with the shoulder this is all that came to mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9MlYKMFl_A&feature=related

Unless Gloucester beat Harlequins - Ulster are gonna need an LBP at Clermont, as I cant see London Irish winning away at Edinburgh or Racing beating Blues, no chance of Connacht beating Harlequins.

MrsP wrote:cough!

PM for you clivemcl

cough!

Isn't someone being extradited to the US for this stuff MmeF?

p.s. you never told me how the field mice got on. I guess that they didn't survive.

That guy setup a website directing people to material breaking copyright laws - sending your mate a url is not quite the same.

Ah well, I hear the weather is fine this time of year!

The little field mice are all still hale and hearty thanks Portnoy.

And we still only have the 4 so I must have got the identification right at least otherwise we would have about 4,000 by now!

What did you make of the match or would you rather forget?

Met some great Tiger fans at Ravenhill and the word on the street is that was the overwhelming if not pretty much universal experience.

Very impressed by the attitude of especially Murphy and Castro when the final whistle sounded.

Gents!

MrsP wrote:Ah well, I hear the weather is fine this time of year!

The little field mice are all still hale and hearty thanks Portnoy.

And we still only have the 4 so I must have got the identification right at least otherwise we would have about 4,000 by now!

What did you make of the match or would you rather forget?

Met some great Tiger fans at Ravenhill and the word on the street is that was the overwhelming if not pretty much universal experience.

Very impressed by the attitude of especially Murphy and Castro when the final whistle sounded.

Gents!

It reminded me of Brive's performance against the Tigers in the final in 1997 - they played out of their skins as well.

I don't mind losing to better sides though. Well done.

Ulster made the Tigers look pathetic. Piennar, Touhy and (of course) Ferris were exemplary. Croft was deeply disappointing.



Pleased about the mice - to be honest I thought that they wouldn't make it.

Portnoy wrote:

MrsP wrote:Ah well, I hear the weather is fine this time of year!

The little field mice are all still hale and hearty thanks Portnoy.

And we still only have the 4 so I must have got the identification right at least otherwise we would have about 4,000 by now!

What did you make of the match or would you rather forget?

Met some great Tiger fans at Ravenhill and the word on the street is that was the overwhelming if not pretty much universal experience.

Very impressed by the attitude of especially Murphy and Castro when the final whistle sounded.

Gents!

It reminded me of Brive's performance against the Tigers in the final in 1997 - they played out of their skins as well.

I don't mind losing to better sides though. Well done.

Ulster made the Tigers look pathetic. Piennar, Touhy and (of course) Ferris were exemplary. Croft was deeply disappointing.



Pleased about the mice - to be honest I thought that they wouldn't make it.

Portnoy . Of the old 606'ers I regret very much not making the Leicester trip 2010 and getting to meet you. I hope the defeat can be taken as a positive and Cockerel looks to the strengts of that team. I thought in the first half (well part of it) that you gave us some trouble when you got the ball wide. Flood was a big loss for you as well.

Portnoy,

Genuine question.

Do you think there was any degree of underestimating the opposition from the Tigers?

MrsP wrote:Portnoy,

Genuine question.

Do you think there was any degree of underestimating the opposition from the Tigers?

I know you directed this at Portney, but well i'm going to give you my opinion! lol

Personally i don't think there was, even most of the fans were not looking forward to this match. It pretty much sums up our season. Let's just hope we can get somewhere in the jeff.

It wasn't intended as a criticism, just wondered what the fans thought.

Some of the Tiger's players looked shell shocked from a reasonably early stage and that is what put the question in my head.

Let's be honest, even the most frevent Ulster fans couldn't have dreamed of that scoreline. Not that we didn't think the lads capable, just that I think that was pretty much unforseeable.

I think the fans were in trepidation a little bit, but the Tigers themselves seemed surprised we didn't crack in the first half after they scored and turned the screw in possession terms. I think they thought we would be easier to break down.

When they realised not only were we not cracking we were outscoring them, surprise turned to panic. And as Pienaar chipped away at them, panic turned to petulance. And when that earned them a yellow, it was like King Canute trying to hold back the white tide.

Rewatched the game fully there.

Underlines just how impressive Wallace and Cave are as a pairing. Any word on Caves injury as that has surely given Deccie some food for thought. Barnes called it right, Caves running lines and awareness of where his support is, is fantastic.

Terblanche had a much better game than I thought watching in the ground and Gilroy delivered a complete performance. he is so much better in the tackle than he was a year ago.

Looks like we have to get something in France (probably win/draw) to guarantee a QF but the belief will be there even if logic says home win. Leicester gone and whisper it quietly but if Toulouse lose next week to Gloucester (unlikely) they will most likely be gone too.

Just rewatched the game....it was an even more awesome a performance than I first thought!

The pack were awesome. What a signing Afoa has been. The set piece was superb and Ferris and Henry were everywhere. Pedrie had a great game and I hope we can keep him...Kaino feck off you're out of your depth sir!

Trimble was magnificant and a well deserving motm. Paddy Wallace take a bow son...I'll eat a bit of humble pie because he had a cracker although Whitten had a real impact when he came on too. Ruan Pienaar should get the freedom of Belfast.

The Tigers fans in the Promenade were great craic. Gave out the stick when they arrived and took it on the chin when they were going. Great bunch and a credit to their club.

Fantastic night, now we just need to go and stuff Clermont! SUFTUM!

p.s. time to put the Ferris v Croft debate to bed I think

Yeah I don't even know why Croft vs Ferris was debated in the first place honestly.. one is world class and one is far from it. Croft shouldn't even start for England, there are much better flankers than him atm. Also going to say this here and not the other thread, all this crap about Earls being the best option must also be put to rest. Earls was not great today with some terrible passes and awareness - the exact opposite of Cave. Spence must watch and learn from Cave or he will be benching for a long time.

However take back the Kaino comment if we kept Pedrie that would be great, but if we don't, Kaino would be the best addition possible! However Pedrie shown the sort of things Diack is applauded for, with his silky handling skills and great awareness. All in all, every ulsterman should feel very very proud!

Pedrie was great but then so was everyone. We must replicate that next week. Im not certain clermont are as good as scrum time as the tigers. Certainly they have a couple of injuries i think.

Standulstermen wrote:Pedrie was great but then so was everyone.

I agree with Rory (for once) Pedries off loading on Friday was top drawer. If only he had been doing that all season.

My opinion of Croft - the best winger ever to wear No 6.

Rava wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:Pedrie was great but then so was everyone.

I agree with Rory (for once) Pedries off loading on Friday was top drawer. If only he had been doing that all season.

My opinion of Croft - the best winger ever to wear No 6.

Well.. thanks?

MrsP wrote:Portnoy,

Genuine question.

Do you think there was any degree of underestimating the opposition from the Tigers?

I don't really think so. I think that most fans from both sides thought that it would be a close match with home advantage to be decisive.

As it panned out, Ulster played incredibly well and the Tigers were poor at the breakdown and in midfield where they missed Flood and Manu desperately. Plus there was no dog at all and went belly-up from the first half. Twelvetrees is no fly-half.

When on the day, one team plays out of their skin and the other one just doesn't turn up then these results will occur.

Additionally can I re-post my response to you (page 3) when you asked before the game what the prospects were:

"
by Portnoy on Tue 10 Jan 2012, 9:24 pm
Dunno Mrs P.

I don't see Tigers playing as poorly as at WR.

But this is your patch.

Whichever way it goes, I hope for a good, fair game. That's the best anyone can hope for.

Whoever loses is a gonner. Not much to play for.

And
to my mind (before the teams are announced) that's most likely the
Tigers. In my experience of watching Billy 12T, I've rarely seen him
play well in two consecutive games. And his long-range and difficult
kicks are somehow seem to be more reliable than his 'easy' shots a bit
like Gavin Henson but without (as yet, anyway) the obvious character
flaws. Plus he's only a kid and as yet hasn't convinced me of his
ability to handle the pressure of the big game - but like Sexton, that
will come I suspect.

I desperately hope for a classic but I suspect that I will be disappointed.

Who's reffing?

"

Rava wrote:My opinion of Croft - the best winger ever to wear No 6.

Until he ran into Paddy Wallace and was dumped into touch that is... ...best moment of the match for me..until I rewatched Ferris' scud missile hit on Ben Youngs on the replay anyways

Everyone was fantastic but two try assists and winning a crucial penalty on the deck should be enough to earn Pedrie a new contract for me.

What a game from Trimble!... sure he has to start at 14 for Ireland now?

Is that the first time Swing Low Sweet Chariot has been sung by the Ulster faithful or is it a regular anthem? At least it gave the speakers on my TV a rest from the SUFTUM - Id say you could have heard it 20 miles away the atmosphere was so good.

Atmosphere was amazing bluemuff...1st time I heard swing low...I presumed it was a bit tongue in cheek?.

Certainly not a regular anthem- more like a pisstake on those rare occasions we get to put an English side to the sword. Think it was sung in 2004 by visiting Leicester fans, only to be ironically reclaimed by the home fans as we romped to a 33-0 win.

Maybe it was the Tigers fans started it and everybody joined in

You could argue now that Ulster are now Irelands no 2 team after that performance on Friday night.

Will be some game next week in Clermont but well capable of winning if they put in another 80 minutes like that.

Here's how it is;

If Harlequins, Cardiff or Edinburgh lose next week we are in a quarter final. If Toulouse lose without a losing bonus point we are through. We also want Saracens to beat Biarritz and Leinster to beat Glasgow today.

BUT. If they all win, a losing bonus point will do us no good. We need to beat Clermont to be sure of a place in the next round, bottom line. We need to go over there and win now.

BlueMuff wrote:You could argue now that Ulster are now Irelands no 2 team after that performance on Friday night.

You could but I'd rather argue that Ireland have 3 top teams now rather than two.

Agree Notch that we'll have to beat Clermont to ensure we qualify. If we play like that then we shouldn't fear anyone though. It will take a massive performance but it isn't mission impossible. Munster and Leinster have been pulling of wins like that for years and now its our turn.SUFTUM!

Dont you just love the HC. Personally I way prefer it to 6Ns. Cant wait for next already still so much to be decided.



Thats well put Rodders

There's nothing better than beating a team and then rubbing thier noses in it by singing thier own song.

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!

Mickado wrote:There's nothing better than beating a team and then rubbing thier noses in it by singing thier own song.

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!

I hope we don't hear a Glaswegian rendition of Cockles and Mussels later then Mickado

Ha! Fingers crossed Cari!

Hope you're well, long time no chat.

Bluemuff,



I'm fairly sure it wasn't the Tiger fans who started it!

It was hilarious. I didn't realise it was a reprise of 2004 but it certainly confused the living daylights out of the Tiger fans near us.

Now the ones who were on their second visit will be thinking it's an Ulster anthem!

When leicester came over in 2004 england had just won the RWC and Johnson was lauded the world over (rightly so). It was just a wee playful dig back then as it was last night.