Castres V Ulster match thread

[neilthom7]

First topic message reminder :

So we are into the final round of group matches and this Saturday 19th January at 1.35pm Castre will take to the field V Ulster. Now Ulster are already guaranteed to qualify from the group and Castre are out but there is plenty riding on this for Ulster namely a home QF. If Ulster were to win and get the try bonus point they would definitely get a home Quarter final anything else and then it is down to other teams results as well. The biggest thing for Ulster will be to avoid any QF trips to France. The biggest worry for Ulster going into the match is now a big injury list. It is possible Ulster if all of their doubtful players don't make it will not be able to field 3 backs on the bench. So what are your predictions guys?
The match will be on Sky Sports 3 and I will update this thread with teams as we know them.

Ulster
(15-9): Gilroy; Trimble, Cave, Wallace, Allen; Pienaar, Marshall;
(1-8): Court, Best, Afoa, Stevenson, McComb, Diack, Henry (capt), Wilson;
Replacements (16-23): Herring, Black, Fitzpatrick, Henderson, McComish, Heaney, Jackson, Cochrane.

Castres
P Bernard, M Evans, S Bai, R Lamerat, M Garvey, R Tales, R Kockott; Y Forestier, M-A Rallier, A Peikrishvili, M Rolland, C Samson, M Babillot, P Faasalele, P Wannenburg.

Replacements: B Mach, S Taumoepeau, M Lazar, I Tekori, T Lacrampe, J Bornman, P Bonnefond, M Andreu.

[MrsP]

Unless Tigers beat Toulouse but the French team score 4 tries in which case they would get the last runners up spot.

Come on you Gunners!!!!!

[neilthom7]

Toulouse would need to finish within 7 points as well

[MrsP]

They would indeed. Let's just hope we get the three through again. That could set up a repeat of our quarter final last year except in Belfast!

[neilthom7]

That would be nice, Edinburgh are kind of due a win lol

[Notch]

It's not gonna happen, question for us is can they keep the score down enough. Gut instinct says no in truth, they are fairly lamentable.

[Standulstermen]

Not a great performance but given the amount of injuries and the fact that Nigel is as scared of yellow as the green lantern I thought any win was a good result. Delighted to see Jackson and Henderson show up so well. Gilroy I thought did well too.

Henry and Trimble are IMO the form Irish players provincially. So consistently excellent. We look likely to have avoided a trip to France at any rate which is positive

[Notch]

No tries for Saracens yet after 20 mins, they have taken three shots at goal instead of going for the big play. Edinburgh are 9-0 down, so if that lead grows will their heads go down?

The conditions are poor, snowing and very cold.

[WillyGilly]

Ha edinburgh just scored.

[Notch]

Saracens one try at halftime.

[neilthom7]

2nd try for sarries just after half time come on Edinburgh hold out

[clivemcl]

Thats an away quarter for Ulster then thanks to Edinburgh lightweights....

[WillyGilly]

It's marginally unfair of us to blame Edinburgh, we did lose at home to saints...


... But let's blame them anyway sure...

[MrsP]

Nah. It was losing to Saints at Ravenhill. No one to blame but...

Tommy Bowe!

[Standulstermen]

If we are looking to blame Edinburgh then we are no better than whoever it was started the 'castres should apologise' thread. We should have won at ravenhill, we probably should have got the BP at home to Glasgow. No ones fault but our own.

I still think with our first team back we are superior to Saracens and if we have the carrot of a home semi and then the final at Lansdowne we need to show how badly we want it, in wembley or New York or Cape Town or wherever Saracens decide to play it

[HammerofThunor]

Sarries will have there proper home by then. May well be at Wembly if allowed

[Standulstermen]

Allianz is too small unless they get temporary stands. Will they fill wembley?

[MrsP]

When do they make the draw for which quater final winners get home country advantage in the semis? Is it today?

[Standulstermen]

Should be I think

[profitius]

Thats an away quarter for Ulster then thanks to Edinburgh lightweights....

And Saracens getting a losing bonus point against Munster thanks to the joke of a ref.

[MrsP]

Now now lads.

Let's not stoop to that sort of talk.

It was our own fault.

[Notch]

Now now lads.

Let's not stoop to that sort of talk.

It was our own fault.

We lost at Ravenhill in Europe. It's just not allowed to happen. We played great rugby in the first three games and put ourselves in position to earn the home quarter-final by Round 5 with 2 BP wins. Instead we only scored three tries in our next three games, all against Glasgow, and played poorly in each of them. Missing chance after chance to beat Saints at home was an all-time low point of our European history. It was a performance we have been punished for. However, Saracens away looks likely and that is a very winnable game in truth.

[Glas a du]

CRISIS!

[Notch]

CRISIS!

It's disappointing that we have underachieved in Europe so far this season, but from now on it's knockout rugby and we have a lot of guys to come back.

[Glas a du]

That's the hammer! Moderate pessimism...

[WillyGilly]

Saries it is then. Nice wee away qf trip could be in order, if the funds can be arranged.

[MrsP]

All 3 provinces in London the first weekend in April?

[Standulstermen]

What a carrot. Win the QF and you will be the home team all the way (most likely). We need a Saints away performance but i am confident.

SUFTUM!

romain Poite our ref according to PlanetRugby

[Dave.]

I'll take a trip to Sarries ANY day. Very winnable, then Aviva all the way.... SUFTUM!

[MrsP]

Can you imagine if Ulster and Leinster both got to their respective semis?

It could work out as 3 Provinces playing their quarters in London and then 2 semis and 2 finals in Dublin with Irish teams!

I know there is a lot of rugby to be played but....wouldn't that be grand?

Mind you, if that happened the others might never let us play again!

[Glas a du]

Ideally both finals would have an Irish side.

[MrsP]

Wouldn't that be something Glas?

Especially if we had semis in Dublin too.

[PenfroPete]

[quote="Standulstermen"]What a carrot. Win the QF and you will be the home team all the way (most likely). We need a Saints away performance but i am confident.

SUFTUM!

romain Poite our ref according to PlanetRugby[/quote]

Stand, could you post a 'link' ? I can't seem to find it on Planet Rugby nor on the ERC site. Thanks

[Notch]

He probably means the forum.

Which means wait and see.

[neilthom7]

they dont even know which day yet I doubt they know which ref

[Standulstermen]

Yeah it was the forum. Only noticed because people were moaning Owens got the Munster game

[Kingshu]

set up for Ulster V Munster final, and Leinster V Toulouse, Almin final.

If only it would happen......

[rodders]

Who will we play in the SF if we get past Saracens?...and where?

[whocares]

Who will we play in the SF if we get past Saracens?...and where?

Winner of Toulon/Leicester and at home

[Sin é]

Well, look, Sin - here's the thing -

Howlett is a wing. It's marvellous that he hasn't stymied Jones' development, but Jones is a fullback, Luke O'Dea is a winger, however, a speedy and potent one, and I asked about him specifically. You've ducked that question. Fair enough. I'm going to draw my own conclusions about how uncomfortable you are in addressing it.

Not uncomfortable at all about Luke O'Dea - he has been injured and is just coming back now. He played in the B+I Cup at the weekend and apparently was a bit out of sorts and was substituted.

You can say the only "blockage" on the wings at Ulster was Andrew Trimble, but it just shows up your ignorance of the Ulster team - during those five years we have also had Danielli and Nagusa. So I have to ask whether you know enough about the Ulster team to make useful comparisons.

If they were being blocked by those two, I doubt if they would become international wingers. Definitely no better than Johnny Murphy or Fionn Carr.

But my main point would be this - the provinces are not only geographically different. Short-term success in Ulster will benefit both the province and Ireland in a way that short-term success in Munster or Leinster wouldn't. (Connacht are probably similar to Ulster.)

You might not like to address it, for fear of offending or because you don't feel you know enough, but rugby has only really stopped being a "Protestant" sport in the last decade, when we have been doing poorly. (It's not even that popular amongst Protestants - especially the Protestant working class.) As much as Ulster have been doing superb work to reach out to the Catholic community, a number of well-run initiatives outside rugby's traditional rugby hotspots will not, on their rown, counteract the cultural legacy of the Troubles. What does do a better job, as normalisation progresses, is success. There is no Ulster bandwagon, in the way there has been a Munster and Leinster one. We need success, we need a bandwagon. It is a fantastic dovetail that as the sport starts to be shown live on BBC NI, we start becoming more successful. We are a million miles further from "saturation point" than Munster or Leinster. Our untapped potential, in terms of supporters, bums on seats, ticket revenues and young players, is much greater than either of the Big Two. Let's get them on board. Having marquee foreign players, the envy of other teams, makes that both easier and more high-profile.

Having Pienaar to boost our success over the next couple of years will raise the sport's popularity and appeal to a much wider demographic, whcih will benefit Ulster and Ireland. We might start to see players from Christian Brothers schools who now find the sport acceptable, or even West Belfast (of either denomination).[/quote]

I think Ulster did the right thing bringing in Pienaar & Co. to get Ulster off the mark. All I'm saying is that I hope these guys (in particular Pienaar) change from being an aid to a crutch.[/quote]

I think Tommy Bowe could probably do more for Ulster rugby than Ruan Pienaar in the CBS schools!

Weirdly, I think Nick Williams will be massively useful over the next few years, and not just on the pitch. If you watch a game on TV, or go to Ravenhill, and you are not from a rugby background, are dipping your toes into the sport and not quite sure of the rules, the visceral thrill of Nick Williams shoving Leo Cullen and Devin Toner out of the way one-handed will bring you back in a way that a well-worked lineout won't. Gilroy will be valuable in that way as well - you might not know how exactly a scrum works, but watching him side-step and hand off four opposing players should still get you on your feet.

Anyway - SUFTUM!

I hope Nick Williams can stay on the straight and narrow now that he is injured! That was his downfall when with Munster.

[rodders]

Who will we play in the SF if we get past Saracens?...and where?

Winner of Toulon/Leicester and at home

Cheers! Haven't had time to catch up with this weekends results yet! Feic tough draw!

[neilthom7]

Could be worse, at home I would back us to win that semi with something approaching our full squad, we need to make it through a tough away tie first

[rodders]

Ah we'll be at home!...ok feel happy now. SUFTUM.

[Don Alfonso]

If they were being blocked by those two, I doubt if they would become international wingers. Definitely no better than Johnny Murphy or Fionn Carr.

What's that got to do with the price of fish? I was merely explaining that you don't really seem to know what's going on at Ulster, or who plays for them at any given time.

I think Tommy Bowe could probably do more for Ulster rugby than Ruan Pienaar in the CBS schools!

That's overly simplistic. Those kids might want to be Tommy, they might empathise with and like him a lot more than Ruan, but he's only just back on the team. Pienaar has done infinitely more in the last few years to put Ulster on the map. Tommy Bowe played no part in winniing a QF in Thomond, or a SF in Dublin which saw seemingly vast swathes of Ulster folk run to get the train down south. You cannot overestimate how much that did to raise Ulster Rugby's profile. It laso helped considerably that the team was happily and eagerly playing in Dublin as well, in terms of showing that rugby doesn't have anything approaching the sectarianism issue that football does.

I hope Nick Williams can stay on the straight and narrow now that he is injured! That was his downfall when with Munster.

Ha ha - such touching faux-concern! Nah. he has a fiancée and a young daughter now - he'll be fine.

Your point about Pienaar being needing to be an aid rather than a crutch (if that's what you meant), I think is absolutely fair enough. But in that he's no different from Howlett or Botha, whatever the period of time spent at a team.

Anyway, hope to see youse in the final!

SUFTUM / SUAF! Everybody just SU!!

[MrsP]

Just struck me that the quarter final could end up as the battle of the different versions of "Stand up"

We will have the real SUFTUM while the home team will have that inferior version SUFTS.

No contest!

[Don Alfonso]

Wannabes.

[UlstermaninGlasgow]

Let's just hope the PA man at the Allianz Park or wherever Sarries decide to hold this one has a bit more respect than against Munster... If the opposition wants to sing, let 'em sing man!

[Dave.]

Just struck me that the quarter final could end up as the battle of the different versions of "Stand up"

We will have the real SUFTUM while the home team will have that inferior version SUFTS.

No contest!

They are like our brother. Wonder if they'll play it in Cape Town so it will a home game for both sides.......

[beshocked]

If you could educate me on the Ulster squad I would appreciate it.

I know quite a few of your players like Best,Court,Afoa,Ferris,Pienaar,Bowe,Wallace,Trimble etc but a squad overview would be great.

Whose been your form players? Etc.

Plus I like that most of you are writing Saracens off. Good to hear.

[Sin é]

[quote="Don Alfonso"]

If they were being blocked by those two, I doubt if they would become international wingers. Definitely no better than Johnny Murphy or Fionn Carr.

What's that got to do with the price of fish? I was merely explaining that you don't really seem to know what's going on at Ulster, or who plays for them at any given time.

I was pointing out that the only real competition would have been Trimble on the wings (and thats why I didn't mention anyone else). Since Ulster generally send a B team to Munster, we do get to see your squad depth. We also played Ulster in the B&I Cup last year.

I think Tommy Bowe could probably do more for Ulster rugby than Ruan Pienaar in the CBS schools!

That's overly simplistic. Those kids might want to be Tommy, they might empathise with and like him a lot more than Ruan, but he's only just back on the team. Pienaar has done infinitely more in the last few years to put Ulster on the map. Tommy Bowe played no part in winniing a QF in Thomond, or a SF in Dublin which saw seemingly vast swathes of Ulster folk run to get the train down south. You cannot overestimate how much that did to raise Ulster Rugby's profile. It laso helped considerably that the team was happily and eagerly playing in Dublin as well, in terms of showing that rugby doesn't have anything approaching the sectarianism issue that football does.

It might be overly simplistic, but if you are thinking of attracting a GAA audience, they would relate more to Tommy Bowe than Ruan Pienaar. GAA would be fairly tribal in that its where you come from is fairly important (players players (mostly) wouldn't dream of representing any other county but their own. You have to get permission to move clubs (and its a big deal).

I hope Nick Williams can stay on the straight and narrow now that he is injured! That was his downfall when with Munster.

Ha ha - such touching faux-concern! Nah. he has a fiancée and a young daughter now - he'll be fine.

It isn't faux-concern - for his own sake at least I'd hope he can keep it together.

Your point about Pienaar being needing to be an aid rather than a crutch (if that's what you meant), I think is absolutely fair enough. But in that he's no different from Howlett or Botha, whatever the period of time spent at a team.

Anyway, hope to see youse in the final!

SUFTUM / SUAF! Everybody just SU!!

According to L'Equipe - BJ Botha is going to Toulon on a 2 year contract. (Munster could only offer him a 1 year one).

[neilthom7]

Now agent McCall you know what to do

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