Ulster squad additions

First topic message reminder :

Trimble has started following Jacques Botes on Twitter if that means anything...?
#Geoffisbetterthantwitter

"I've heard the Dan Carter thing too, from a well informed rugby guy who told me he'd heard it from a good source"

Does he read the UAFC by any chance?

lol, no, he's an old fashioned rugby guy who gets all his information in the club bar! He defied my mocking when he told me what he heard, promising it came from one of his mates 'on the inside', but it was only a 'ulster are trying for Carter,' rather than 'ulster are getting Carter' story, and I repeat, I still don't believe it it will happen.

logie28 wrote:lol, no, he's an old fashioned rugby guy who gets all his information in the club bar! He defied my mocking when he told me what he heard, promising it came from one of his mates 'on the inside', but it was only a 'ulster are trying for Carter,' rather than 'ulster are getting Carter' story, and I repeat, I still don't believe it it will happen.

I dont see how they can get him if the IRFU are flat out refusing to allow a NIQ 10 and with Peinaar at 9 the chances decrease further unless they sign him as a 12 where he seems to have played most of this season for the Crusaders

It's not outside the realms of reality Logie to be honest despite it going against what was said at the AGM. Smoke and mirrors has been used with big name signings before and if any outside investors were involved perhaps the IRFU would allow it.

That is all only me dreaming by the way, we're allowed to dream

Well Carter isnt coming

Just confirmed O'Connor and Herring are in!

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/10589.php

Humphreys: -

“Niall went away and gained a year’s experience playing with Connacht and he has now come back to challenge Paddy and Ruan for the number 10 jersey."

Interesting he should say that?

I'm sure Ruan will be interested too Rava

I like how both Herring and O'Connor have been described as coming from Western Province

I suspect Geoff will be back soon now!!

red_stag wrote:I suspect Geoff will be back soon now!!

Have we signed him too ?????

Now for the confirmation of Botes and all the excitement will be done and dusted.

Rava wrote:
Humphreys: -

“Niall went away and gained a year’s experience playing with Connacht and he has now come back to challenge Paddy and Ruan for the number 10 jersey."

Interesting he should say that?

Freudian slip?

Does herring want to play for ireland?

Sounds like it Leinster,he's IQ anyways so you'd guess so.

Good signings, happy with those

SUFTUM .

Lets hope Rob Herring is going to be for us what Richardt Strauss is for Leinster.

Artful_Dodger wrote:Lets hope Rob Herring is going to be for us what Richardt Strauss is for Leinster.

I agree Art, understudy to Rory Best

Noc back. Que sera sera. We need a back rower though david! Where are you on that?

From the grapevine on the UAFC there are 2 more signings to come, it's one of the grapevines that's usually pretty spot on, a bit like the UAFC version of Geoff.
Also heard that Herring wasn't much to crow about but then again some were saying Wannenburg was nothing to crow about when we signed him so what do they (whoever they are) know eh?

We have three other hookers; Best has a lot of international commitments whereas Brady is looking at retiring soon. We have nothing to lose with Herring. If he's poor he'll be on his way back to South Africa before too long and if he's good he could really carve out a niche for himself.

Well Carter isnt coming

You don't say!

I don't want to be unfair but O'Connor is a dreadful signing. Ulster are a side that got to the final of the Heineken Cup last season and will be aspiring to at least the same this season. Why then does an out half who would have been third choice at Connaught make our squad? It's absolute lunacy. I'm realistic here, what other options did we have when it came to recruits? I really don't want to be a doom and gloom monger about this but I genuinely fear this season is going to be a huge disappointment. Paddy Jackson is fairly talented, but I don't think he is anywhere near as potentially good as some posters and optimistic fans would have us believe. I shudder to think what might happen if Pienaar gets injured next season.

We had two options and two options only; Jeremy Staunton or Niall O'Connor.

My feelings too Hookisms but I'm trying my very best to get into the optimistic 'believe in Dr Dave' way of thinking. I'm hoping Jackson is something more than I've seen so far and that NOC returns to us a better player. I think we can all only hope because the eggs are all in one basket and Pienaar only wants to play 10 when we're in a hole. A hole we could well find ourselves in but I hope that's just the pessimism speaking.

Notch wrote:We had two options and two options only; Jeremy Staunton or Niall O'Connor.

Don't get me wrong about this Notch, I totally understand this. I did say he was our only option. Doesn't make it a good one. I was talking about it with one of my friends before the irish match at the weekend and he said he was the lesser of two evils. I feel he is the evil of two lessors.
I think it says a lot about the the paucity of Irish 10s at the moment. I also have to wonder if Shane Geraghty ever regrets his decision to declare for England. I always thought he was a talented player, though has more or less disappeared in the past couple of years.

Notch wrote:We had two options and two options only; Jeremy Staunton or Niall O'Connor.

Thats a bit like choosing between the gas chamber and the electric chair....

Seriously though, its a no brainer...O'Connor is home grown, committed and still young enough to improve. Good squad player and well capable at Rabo level. I'm happy enough to see him back.

My doubts and concerns would lie more with the players in front of him, who'll be lining out in the HEC and crunch games. Pienaar is not a great fly-half and Jackson has a lot to prove and now with no proven competition at 10, very little time to prove it.

I'm trying to be positive though and hope that between these 3 we can get through the season and that Jackson and O'Connor will continue to improve to the level needed.

Pienaar is not a great fly-half compared to how he is at 9. There are a number of teams who would take your hand off if you offered him to them as a 10. He's more than competent even though its clearly not his most natural position.

The last thing I wanted to hear was Pienaar being linked with the 10 shirt, he's our star scrum half, it's the position he came here to play and to waste his talents by having to force him into the 10 shirt just peeves me. I'm still going to be optimistic though, we have Jackson and O'Connor to battle it out and if they can bring out the best in eachother with the guidance of some of the undoubted talent surrounding them then happy days. I will have my fingers firmly crossed and optimism on high volume.

Pienaar is one of the best scrum halves in the world right now, we are so fortunate that the man upstairs told him to come to Ulster ...

..playing him at fly-half is such a waste of his talents and exposes limitations in his game that aren't there at 9.

Its not a good option, the less we see of it the better. Its akin to signing Rob Kearney and then playing him at centre. Its an impact/emergency option and nothing more imo.

I happen to agree, but it wouldn't be a disaster for us. He's there in case of an emergency. We have two young Ulster 10s who will be given every chance before we turn to the emergency option. Have a little faith in this pair. They can do it!

Believe

Feic I hate Ulster being in Crisis!

On another note isn't it great to see Ravenhill hosting the Crusaders v Liverpool pre-season soccer friendly.

Rava wrote:Feic I hate Ulster being in Crisis!

I love it, it gives me something to rant about and takes my mind of Irelands woes.... ... SUFTUM ....

Rava wrote:On another note isn't it great to see Ravenhill hosting the Crusaders v Liverpool pre-season soccer friendly.

A share of the gate will go to Ulster I assume? Logan has been very savvy about this sort of thing.

Rava wrote:Feic I hate Ulster being in Crisis!

Gotta love it. Having a guy who's played a lot of international rugby at outhalf as our second/third choice 10 is Ulster in crisis

Was Steenson ever an option, I know he's under contract with Chiefs, but a player who can get them into a H-cup spot must have been worth looking at

Kingshu wrote:Was Steenson ever an option, I know he's under contract with Chiefs, but a player who can get them into a H-cup spot must have been worth looking at

I don't think he was responsible for that Kings. He was never first choice this season.

Kingshu wrote:Was Steenson ever an option, I know he's under contract with Chiefs, but a player who can get them into a H-cup spot must have been worth looking at

Ignacio Mieres has been first choice for most of this season, Kingshu - I think that he has at least another year left on his contract, plus his wife from memory has a very good job in the local teaching hospital and they've only recently had their first nipper

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Kingshu wrote:Was Steenson ever an option, I know he's under contract with Chiefs, but a player who can get them into a H-cup spot must have been worth looking at

Ignacio Mieres has been first choice for most of this season, Kingshu - I think that he has at least another year left on his contract, plus his wife from memory has a very good job in the local teaching hospital and they've only recently had their first nipper

Aaaargh putting the wife and family first, what is the world coming to

Still I think he's better than NoC, but I'm still happy with NoC, got an unfair time last time by some Ulster fans that expected to much from him an dlost confidence, hopefully he can do a good solid, consistant job. I wouldn't be expecting him to ever be ma of the match, but just to keep doing the simple things right.

Connacht lost NoC and got Dan Parks, personally I'm happier with NoC, if Dan was IQ it may have been different.

Notch wrote:

Rava wrote:On another note isn't it great to see Ravenhill hosting the Crusaders v Liverpool pre-season soccer friendly.

A share of the gate will go to Ulster I assume? Logan has been very savvy about this sort of thing.

Maybe he can get us an Ireland game sometime in the next 20 years hard I know with the IRFU paying for Lansdownes redevelopment

Marty, we had Italy in 2007 in the WC warm up games. Hopefully when the new stands are built and the capacity is increased we might get an Autumn International against one of the smaller nations.

Ireland are playing three games in the autumn but only two are full tests. One is an A game versus Fiji. Those might get moved around the country.

Should be a full test, but then we'd have to play it in the national stadium as per the deal...

I'm not a NOC fan, but I'd take him over Steenson every day of the week. Gareth's tackling makes Ian Humphreys look like Brian Lima.

However I'd have taken Staunton over NOC, because of his experience and versatility from the bench. It would also have allowed NOC more game time at Connacht and that is the only way he will get better, especially under someone like Parks.

I also would have kept James McKinney over NOC, as he has a lot more potential (and arguably as much as PJ). Having those two rotating in the team pushes both of them on.

I'd have seriously considered trying to get Peter Stringer instead of NOC. I see no problem with Pienaar to 10, but if he gets injured I am very edgy about a Marshall/Jackson combo. A Stringer/Jackson partnership would look a lot more solid, and it wouldn't do Paul Marshall any harm to have that sort of competition.

Anyway NOC is coming back, and there is no doubting his commitment to Ulster, so here's hoping he's learned how to be a 10 in his year away.

I think Stringer will play a fairly big role for Munster next season.

Rava I remember the game but it was the first time in a long time

Notch playing a game here and thee in Galway and Belfast would be good for the future of Irish Rugby and help draw new fans to the provinces

Yeah I'd love an A game to be in Galway. Would build on the good work being done by Connacht over the last year or two and the interest the Heineken Cup has drummed up.

I alway thought the 3 test should be alternatnated around Ravenhill, Sportsground and Thomond. IRFU should really be showing international rugby that everyone in Ireland can access.

I wouldn't want Stringer, (still has plenty to offer) however I think Pieneer, stringer then Marshall, means Marshall wouldn't get enough gametime and not even be on bench for big games.

Hope Munster do use him this year because I would have liked to have seen him give 2 years to Connacht, esp since there are in the H-Cup. mind you Stringer/Parks you'd have can't tackle won't tackle in the half backs.

Just to keep things ticking over in here. Theres been chat on UAFC about a young IQ saffer out-half. The poster says he vaguely overheard a name like Sean or something.

The only saffer out-half with a name even close is a 19 year old called Shane Gates.

Doesnt get much more vague than that, but sure its something!

Also, what is Geoff's name over there again?

Kingshu, I think with O'Leary leaving and Murray involved internationally we will see plenty of him for Munster. I think we will see him used also the way he was used for Ireland in 2009. Brought on after 60 minutes in the big matches to speed up the tempo of the game.

Clive the name I am hearing is "John" which to be fair sounds very like Sean and probably more likely given its SA.

Where are you hearing Ulster rumours Stag? You are a bit like the boy who cried wolf! I dont know whether to take yous seriously or not!

I genuinely did hear the name John on boards.ie.

However it was literally the name "John" and I would not take it seriously. It is probably as reliable as "Sean" joining

So a Sean/John maybe Shane outhalf maybe joining Ulster.

God we're getting desperate for rumors,

I'll add the name James as it can sound a bit like Shane, or John.

Kingshu wrote:So a Sean/John maybe Shane outhalf maybe joining Ulster.

God we're getting desperate for rumors,

I'll add the name James as it can sound a bit like Shane, or John.

Could be a surname as well should we list possibilities for that too?