Winning the European Cup Does Not......

......make you the best team in Europe, as was demonstrated by Chelsea last night.


However Leinster are indeed the best team in European Rugby, and huge congratulations to them. It is now up to the rest of us to improve and stop them becoming the first team to win the HC for a third season in a row.

I cannot wait till the draw is made.

True, well done to leinster but I said yesterday beating Cardiff Clermont and Ulster hardly makes them world beaters

No but winning 3 HEC in 4 years and making the RABO final and IMO probably winning that too and looking utterly invincible does

They are the best side in Europe. Only two sides have retained the HC. That Leicester side were great, this current Leinster side are great. Between the manner they won last year with that extremely tough group and playing Toulouse,Leicester and Northampton, to blitzing nearly everyone they played.

Well done Leinster.

viewtothegym wrote:True, well done to leinster but I said yesterday beating Cardiff Clermont and Ulster hardly makes them world beaters

They don't claim to be nor do they get the title of 'World Beaters' - that title is reserved for International sides for now. But they do claim to be, and most definately are Europe beaters. Best side in Europe. That's the only thing they entered into and the only thing for now they can win. Super 15 sides can't claim that 'World Beaters' tag either yet btw But I'm sure some would still throw the compliment their way regardless of proof.

Leinster are by far the best side in Europe at the moment. That's not to say they can't be beaten in one-off games.

Shame it was such a one-sided final. Leinster were good to watch but it wasn't exactly a thriller.

Doesn't this seem a bit silly? The point of the Heineken Cup competition is to see which team is the best in Europe for each season? Leinster won, therfore the wear the crown that goes along with being the best in Europe.

viewtothegym wrote:True, well done to leinster but I said yesterday beating Cardiff Clermont and Ulster hardly makes them world beaters

Cardiff maybe but Clermont and ulster are without doubt the second and third best teams in Europe this year plus Leinster are the first team to win the Hcup undefeated in all rounds. Whatever way you look at it Leinster are the best team in Europe.

To the op, Chelsea would bore even the most ardent football fan to tears. They seem to have some fairly unsavoury characters in their team, Terry anyway so it's hard to be too excited for them.Though they did win fair and square.

Ulster feiced up in a lot of ways yesterday, we disappointingly played quite far below our full potential, but few sides could have lived with what we saw yesterday.

We still created a lot of chances yesterday but in defence, attack and at the breakdown Leinster have few weaknesses to exploit. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out next year.

Winning the HC as regularly as Leinster have in the last five years makes them a pretty special team in my book.

What does world beaters mean anyway?
You beat who is in front of you and if that means you beat team that doesn't class you as worldbeaters then hey, it is something others can complain about

Notch wrote:Ulster feiced up in a lot of ways yesterday, we disappointingly played quite far below our full potential, but few sides could have lived with what we saw yesterday.

We still created a lot of chances yesterday but in defence, attack and at the breakdown Leinster have few weaknesses to exploit. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out next year.

I agree I was a bit disapointed with ulster. They can play much better. They certainly were much better when they played Clermont of when they thrashed leicester.

leinsterbaby wrote:

Notch wrote:Ulster feiced up in a lot of ways yesterday, we disappointingly played quite far below our full potential, but few sides could have lived with what we saw yesterday.

We still created a lot of chances yesterday but in defence, attack and at the breakdown Leinster have few weaknesses to exploit. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out next year.

I agree I was a bit disapointed with ulster. They can play much better. They certainly were much better when they played Clermont of when they thrashed leicester.

Yes. We never did ourselves justice and thats the hardest thing to take. Our best rugby was played when attacking teams in the tight channels in this tournament. We didn't quite get the tactics or preparation right.

Leinster are a fantastic team, love watching them.

But i think they're also far greater than the sum of their parts, for that, the coaching team needs a HUGE amount of praise. Players like Cullen are excellent club performers (IMO), they've got them playing more like very strong international players. Very, very impressed by that.

It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but i think the coaching level at the English teams is far far below that of the Irish teams.

One question for Ulster fans - is Anscombe coming in for McLaughlin? If so, what are the reasons and how do you feel about this?

Hood83 wrote:Leinster are a fantastic team, love watching them.

But i think they're also far greater than the sum of their parts, for that, the coaching team needs a HUGE amount of praise. Players like Cullen are excellent club performers (IMO), they've got them playing more like very strong international players. Very, very impressed by that.

It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but i think the coaching level at the English teams is far far below that of the Irish teams.

One question for Ulster fans - is Anscombe coming in for McLaughlin? If so, what are the reasons and how do you feel about this?

Coaching and foreign players kept changing over the years but Leinster grew and grew....Always based on fast, attacking back play. They played it because the Province produces players who want to play it that way but they won nothing whilst they remained too light in the forwards department. Now they have the forward base to work their custom back play off. It's more effective now but it's certainly not new or an imported philosophy. It didn't come with the present coach and it didn't suddenly arrive at Leinster's door as their new trademark.

Leinster were always a fast, quick thinking back orientated side. The team IS the sum of its parts. What Leinster do is choose well in finding coaches that can emphasise their continuing trademark style whilst bringing extras to strengthen that brand. Leinster will always be Leinster and will always churn out players wanting to excite and be creative with the ball in hand - coaches will come and go to either help that along or impede it.

I feel good about it Hood. It's obviously difficult because I love McLaughs; he has such a passion for Ulster Rugby and he's really put the foundations in place for the next man to build on. I feel that;

a) McLaughlin has changed the culture of Ulster; he's restored the pride and determination the best Ulster teams have had over the years and he's got everyone buying into the team ethic. So I have got the utmost respect and gratitude towards him, speaking as an Ulster fan.

b) McLaughlin is an excellent motivator and technical coach, but not quite the best tactician or selector. Maybe some weaknesses were exposed in how we approached and prepared for the game.

-It was great we played with width, we stretched Leinster a lot at times, but it's not a style we played all the time this season. We've flitted between different styles without ever really landing on one that we can adapt to any situation. We just seem a bit predictable, a bit telegraphed. We haven't had the telepathic support play and class ball handling of Leinster to clinically finish those chances we did well to create whilst our tactical kicking is rather one dimensional. All good teams vary their game depending on the opposition but pick five different games this year at random and you could see five totally different approaches.
-Also, the width we put on the game left us vulnerable at the breakdown. Turnovers killed us in the end. What was such a strength in the quarter-final became an unfortunate weakness.
-In terms of selection and preparation, we didn't quite prepare Paddy Jackson for what he was walking into. He was backed at the end, but we delayed and delayed the decision to drop Humphreys until his poor form left us with no other choice and by then Jackson only had 3 or 4 games to prepare for the game of his life aged 20.

c) He is not leaving Ulster, he's going to the Academy- which is huge, because knowledgable homegrown coaches with a genuine passion for Ulster and a pedigree of developing talent to the highest level are indispensable. Genuinely, he is indispensable to Ulster. Remember, we can only have 5 NIQ players at the moment and that number is set to decrease as the IRFU forces the provinces into focusing on promoting young talent. If Ulster want to keep up with the giants of Europe we need a production line of young talent. From the Schools we are getting talented players who have gotten this far on innate talent. We need to improve basic skills across the board in our younger players and McLaughlin will raise standards immensely.

d) A lot of the coaching has fallen to senior players like Johann Muller (acting forwards coach and club captain), John Afoa and Stefan Terblanche. He delegates a lot to the men around him- thats a good thing. Good leaders delegate and we brought those guys in to use their expertise on and off the pitch. But those guys aren't here forever. We need to shift the bulk of the coaching from the senior players back to the coaching staff long-term.

So- all in all I think McLaughlin is a good coach and a good man. It's hard to see him disappointed, because I have so, so much respect for him. But, I really do feel a new coach coming in to build on those foundations he's laid can take us forward as a side. At the same time McLaughs moving to the Academy really will help Ulster as an organisation move on to the next level over the next five years.