Saints v Ulster Friday HEC 7th December

First topic message reminder :

So the big double header kicks off at Franklin's Gardens on Friday evening. Both teams will believe a win is possible but who will prevail?

Ulster coach Mark Anscombe says Ulster will need to improve on the current form. I would agree, though the disruption of Autumn Internationals wouldn't have helped.

http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/news/19701.php#.ULyVo-RWySo

Interesting interview with Pat Lam (Former Saints captain) who actually thinks these sides could face each other in the Final next May.

http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/matchdaytv?play=media&id=13581

Ulster XV & replacements to face Northampton Saints, Heineken Cup, Friday 7th December, Franklin's Gardens (8.00pm):
(15-9): J Payne; T Bowe, D Cave, P Wallace, A Trimble; P Jackson, R Pienaar;
(1-8): T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (c), D Tuohy, I Henderson, C Henry, R Wilson;
Replacements (16-23): N Brady, C Black, R Lutton, R Diack, N Williams, P Marshall, L Marshall, C Gilroy.

Northampton XV.

(15-9): B Foden; K Pisi, G Pisi, D Waldouck, J Elliott; R Lamb, M Roberts;

(1-8): S Tonga'uiha, D Hartley (c), B Mujati, S Manoa, C Lawes, C Clark, T Wood, G van Velze;

Replacements (16-23): M Haywood, A Waller, P Doran-Jones, M Sorenson, P Dowson, L Dickson, S Myler, T May.

Connacht win.. LBP on the last kick of the game and he fluffs it...

What a night for the provinces

Jared Payne is a magician.

Ulster have been fantastic, they just get better and better.

Northampton on the other hand, very poor. Hate to agree with Barnes but they've gone backwards if anything. I've never been a huge fan of Mallinder, but I think they look stale under him now.

2/2 for the Irish teams so far. 2 to go

If we can beat Saints again at Ravenhill next week, and I wouldn't bet against this group of players when the chips are down, then Castres will emerge as our main rivals in this pool.

They will surely beat Glasgow next week. We must get 4, we could get 5 but no big celebrations after this match for Ulster. Because the job is only halfway done.

Biarritz score a last minute try. But Yachvilli misses the conversion

Final whistle

Connacht 22-14

Superb Result for the men int he west. Second in the table.

Jared Payne easily deserved MOTM for that performance, epic stuff from the New Zealander. Everything he does comes off.

Saints need a 10 asap or else they will continue to go backwards.

Well done Ulster!

Great result for Connacht too!

Have to say that result came as no surprise,.
star man Tom Wood really struggled,maybe he should only play against teams with a virus

What a performance. Great to see them playing with smiles on their faces.
Paddy Payne was immense - if he was already irish qualified, he would be a certain starter.

Chris Henry - Midweek lions captain?

That WILL do nicely. Glad we got the extra point. Fully deserved it.
Just an incredibly excellent performance. Full of brilliant personal performances. Chris Henry was my MOM.
Tom Who?

What an absolute tonking.

SUFTUM.

Afou made mice meat of that Saints scrum and to bring a player like Nicky Williams off the bench is just scary.
Best was awesome.

We have to do the same again next week. Getting greedy- means very little if we don't back it up with a similar scoreline at home!

We are in a great position. Top of the pool and our next two games are at Ravenhill. Must make home advantage count, I know the atmosphere is going to be immense and the team will be full of belief so I cannot wait.

My only concern after the match is Muller, did he injured his thumb again?

Artful_Dodger wrote:My only concern after the match is Muller, did he injured his thumb again?

Looked like his ribs this time. Hopefully just a stinger.

Rava wrote:That WILL do nicely. Glad we got the extra point. Fully deserved it.
Just an incredibly excellent performance. Full of brilliant personal performances. Chris Henry was my MOM.
Tom Who?

Tom that MASSIVELY over hyped 6 who did a solid job and then got over hyped by Barnes (the twit). Don't hold Sky's idiotic behaviour against a player who probably doesn't want to be anywhere near the limelight.

Typical off Hartley to get violent when the going gets tough, the lad isn't fit enough to shine Best's boots.

Barnes talking up Hartleys Lions chances

viewtothegym wrote:Typical off Hartley to get violent when the going gets tough, the lad isn't fit enough to shine Best's boots.

Barnes talking up Hartleys Lions chances

He is just a physical moron!

Was probably getting peed off with all Rorys turnovers - extra flanker

Northhampton haven't been the same side since Leinster Demolished them in the Second half come back. There is something not there mentally. That's not to take away from Ulster i dont think their is a club side in Europe who could of lived with them tonight. Full credit to all the lads their Definitely a squad now not just a 15. Will go very close this season.

Notch wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Credit to Best no retaliation whatsoever just took it.

I think Hartley could learn a lot from Best. He's one of the toughest players around and he doesn't need all this posing and illegal play and handbags to prove it. Just gets on with it. Hartley tends to lose his head.

Yeah, 'cos it's not as if Best did anything to instigate it. Hopefully they'll both be cited, Best for dropping his knee and Hartley for the punch and then forearm smash, the game doesn't need that sort of thing.

Great win for Ulster, superlative!

WOW!!!!
What a grand performance by the lads.I had a few MOTMs for goodness sake. The Saints were given a lesson in how to play the game, how to manage the game and what muscle really is. WOW!!!

Wow delighted by that performance... the best yet for me, better than anything last year.

The pack and defence were incredible... relentless, ferocious, brutal.. Chris Henry, Rory Best, Roger Wilson, Henderson, Court, Afoa..just fantastic...Wallace and Cave and midfield... wow... Pienaar just genius... and that back 3 were just sensational...Jared Payne!

for the Saints fans.

....and Connacht won too! ...If Carlesberg made Fridays!

Don't forget Andy T... he can't be dropped! Unluckly to not get a 2nd and what a line and WHAT a pass for Payne

Absolutely!

Well done Connacht. Especially with all the injuries they have just now.



And Muller's injury looked like a stinger to me. His arm wasn't working going in to tackle Elliot despite what Barnes said about how fantastic Elliot was breaking through the tackle.

I told you all you were fretting about nothing during the week.

That was one brutal show of strength! The hits were sharper than a woodsman's hatchet. Bang - stopped. Bang - sliced. Bang - decapitated. There'll be headaches tomorrow all round but they'll be happy ones.

Great performance. Congratulations.

Good night for Provinces.............. hope the hell you didn't use up all the good fortune though!!!

Nope I didn't forget Trimbs! Brilliant game from him!

He and Payne seem to bring the best out of each other....

Chris Henry! What a player!

Get down there and win fly!

4 out of 4 this weekend would be awesome believe

Cant believe how good we were. To a man everyone stood up. I thought saints were cheating like mad at the scrum (through mujati) but fair play the lads kept going. Henry or Afoa my personal motm but congrats to Payne and trimble was amazing! Love it!
H

Cracking Ulster performance. They're looking about as strong as anyone this year. I'd be far from surprised to see them the top finishing Irish side in Europe, if not outright winners.

Ulster would have most likely won against whoever Saints selected, but Mallinder all but conceded the match starting Roberts & Lamb, an indication I feel that Saints lack clarity of thought and need new leadership at the top.

Congrats Ulster. I watched the game in my usual 'rugby pub'. Most impressed with your defence, which rarely looked like being breached.

Defence wins trophies, but the tries were smartly taken too.

I don't think Saints coaching staff could have done too much analysis beforehand. Second best in all but the line out (Best's throwing was a bit off).

Your pool to lose I reckon.

Good result for Connacht too. Biarritz are still a top 6 ERC ranked team I believe.

Ulster look the real deal. gonna be hard for anyone to beat them

Hound_of_Harrow wrote:Congrats Ulster. I watched the game in my usual 'rugby pub'. Most impressed with your defence, which rarely looked like being breached.

Defence wins trophies, but the tries were smartly taken too.

I don't think Saints coaching staff could have done too much analysis beforehand. Second best in all but the line out (Best's throwing was a bit off).

Your pool to lose I reckon.

Good result for Connacht too. Biarritz are still a top 6 ERC ranked team I believe.

What i like about ulster is how hardnosed they are this year. Totally professional no egos.

They look a more complete side this season TJ. Clermont v Leinster on Sunday will be instructive.

Hound_of_Harrow wrote:They look a more complete side this season TJ. Clermont v Leinster on Sunday will be instructive.

Game of the round

Whilst I haven't been able to wipe the silly grin off my face I like what Mark Anscombe said after the game.

"We have to go out and do it again next week or this will count for nothing."

I can't celebrate these wins like I used to.

They still make me very, very happy but in the past I would be delirious as a result like this would be us hitting way above our weight. Now, with this team, every win is just another small step towards fulfilling our potential.

And if we don't win silverware we won't have done that. Big one off wins aren't enough. Until we have a big shiny trophy it'll always be "Great performance, now we need to back it up next week".

Yeah...it sounds simple. The hard part is over, now the easier one is doing it again but this time at home.

Well, that's the idea Saints had and it went to seed! So they've proven that home isn't as safe as it's talked up to be - not at this level. It'll be another bonebreaker effort next week.

Bad news on Muller though, could be a broken arm.

When did it happen, like Mrs P I think it happened before that hit that was talked up by the Sky guys. It was limp even before that visible hit that supposedly took him off.

I've just seen that Notch.

That would be very disappointing for him and us.

SecretFly wrote:Yeah...it sounds simple. The hard part is over, now the easier one is doing it again but this time at home.

Well, that's the idea Saints had and it went to seed! So they've proven that home isn't as safe as it's talked up to be - not at this level. It'll be another bonebreaker effort next week.

Saints have been off the boil for few weeks now. The result was not a surpise for me.

I've just been watching the tries again. Man, Jared Payne is a class rugby player. I know Ben Foden bought his dummy very cheaply but he is so classy- and not just at the flashy stuff, his kicking from hand tonight was superb. His assist for the BP try and his interplay with Bowe capped it all off.

Next weekends game is going to be brilliant at Ravenhill, I can't wait.

Is the suggestion here really that Muller had potentially a broken arm and attempted to make a tackle anyway? WOW!

Allso, seems like as good a time as any to let yous know the wife and I had our first baby there last month.

We named him ... wait for it...

Ruan.

Yep. i know how it seems, and trust me I'm not a crazy obsessed stalker we just genuainly like the name. Heck, the missus doesnt give a stuff about rugby.

SUFTUM

Ah brilliant stuff Clive!! Huge Congrats.

Hope he takes after his namesake on the pitch!