Ulsters Mid-Season Blues

It all started so well, but Ulster have had a rocky patch. Ulsters performances have dipped to an utterly unacceptable level in the month of February, with only one win, one draw and 3 bonus points from our last four games- more dropped points in our last four league games than our first thirteen. Why is that? Well, there are a number of very simple and obvious reasons and problems. Some of which every team has to deal with this time of year and some of which are unique to us; these are NOT EXCUSES. Some of them are circumstances and some of them are things we need to improve. There can be no excuses for the last month at Ravenhill, and neither will there be. Anscombe will make sure of that.


1) Too many players missing and squad depth not compensating.
The Six Nations and an extensive injury list have combined to give us between 20 and 25 guys missing during this stretch. Whilst our fringe players have stood up for us during this period, the depth of our squad is beginning to creak. Last night Ricky Andrew had his worst performance in an Ulster jersey- cost us seven points with an inexcusable charge down under the posts, died with the ball everytime he took it to the line and only found Trevisos back three when he kicked, who then caught our makeshift back three out of position and made cheap yards through counter-attacking.

In last nights 29-29 draw, we finished with the makeshift back three of Michael Allen, Chris Cochrane and Ricky Andrew after Caves injury forced Trimble to centre. Defensively we coughed up huge amounts of yards when Treviso spun it wide and eventually leaked a couple of tries in the corner. These back three players have shone at times in the season when they have had experienced players like Bowe, Payne and Trimble alongside them but as a unit they are liable to be exploited. The biggest weakness is at 15, where we miss not only Jared Payne but his two understudies in Adam D'Arcy and Peter Nelson meaning we've had to reach to the Academy for fourth-choice Andrew who is struggling.

But worst of all is the back row situation- Anscombe is trying to implement a multi-phase continuity based game in which a strong strong back row is essential- even more so than their teammates they must carry the ball, run support lines, offload the ball and ruck aggressively. Right now, our backrow is doing none of this. Recognising we needed an understudy for Chris Henry we signed Sean Doyle, but he broke his leg within a few weeks of arriving and now with Henry initially with Ireland and now also injured, we're down to Mike McComish and Ali Birch as our options at 7 who have proven to be lightweight and ineffective. Anscombe tried to remedy this by converting Robbie Diack to a 6/7 and his breakdown work was impressive earlier in the season. However with Roger Wilson and Nick Williams injured he's required at 8, leaving us with a poverty of options at flanker. If we had Ferris back we could compensate for this, but he's missed the entire season leaving Henderson to try and be a one-man backrow when released from Ireland duty. We now have a lightweight back row who are not clearing the rucks effectively, not disrupting opposition ball and not crossing the gainline. The main issues is not the injuries, but the fact the injuries are concentrated in the same areas. i.e. all our flankers, 8s and 15s missing. We need our deep cover to step up and they've failed to do so.

2) Lack of Leadership and Experienced Players Failing to Step Up
On of the most unfortunate aspects of this Six Nations is that it means we've been deprived of our experienced Irish Captains, Chris Henry and Rory Best. In the past we've compensated for this by using the experience of Captain Johann Muller and Jared Payne to compensate, however their injuries are unfortunately timed... this has left us the core of experience of John Afoa, Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Wallace.

Last week we were outplayed by Glasgow, but like Treviso we gifted them easy points. What was most shameful is these came from experienced players failing to step up. Paddy Wallace gifted them a try right after half-time with a careless charge down on an easy clearance kick. Ricky Andrew may have the excuse of inexperience for his similar game-defining lapse against Treviso, but Ulster most capped player can't say that. At 10-6 half-time had we scored first we could have taken control of the match- instead we gifted them first blood after half-time. As it was we nearly did anyway, only for Glasgow to respond at 15-14 to win it. In the first half Ruan Pienaar and Robbie Diack between them inexcusably failed to control the ball at the base of a completely dominant scrum, allowing Matawalu to poach a try from nothing. Pienaar has looked jaded after too much rugby and followed his poor displays against Ospreys and Glasgow with another lacklustre display against Treviso. With him failing to tick, more pressure comes on our 10 and the two defeats we've had we've been missing Paddy Jackson too- showing the lack of depth at 10 after Jackson, who was superb against Treviso. The fact Pienaar isn't getting protected by our enfeebled backrow isn't helping.

3) Players Coming In and Out of the side due to international commitments, moving players around positionally
The main difference I see between Ulster now and Ulster before Christmas is before Christmas our defence was remorselessly organised and we smothered teams. A far cry from the Ulster side that has leaked 9 tries in 4 games- 8 in the last two. Our main defensive organisers have all been affected either by injury or international commitments. Johann Muller and Jared Payne are injured. Rory Best hasn't played for Ulster since Castres. Like almost all of our internationals, the now injured Chris Henry and Darren Cave have been in and out of international camps- when released by Ireland they've joined up with Ulster on the day of the match after not training with us all week. Ferris is obviously a long-term injury. This has left us without the players who generally organise and lead in defence, especially Henry. Caves early exit with possible concussion will have done nothing to help last night either. As we've also had to make do and mend, we've had to shift players around positionally- players being asked to learn different roles than they are used to leads to a lack of organisation.

As a team we've begun to look disorganised and conceded far too manly linebreaks. The absence of the above may be the reason, but it's not good enough to see us failing to a) get kicking from hand right and b) allowing the counter-attack through a poor chase. It's not good enough to see us failing to clear the breakdown or get across the gainline. It's not good enough that we have begun missing tackles in wide channels. It's not good enough that the players left haven't shown enough nous and cannyness to see out tight games at Ravenhill like the Ospreys and Treviso- those two wins being seen out as they should have been would see us 5 points better off in the league table. The three week break is welcome, so that we can start getting players back and have some time to work on getting basics right again. Because when it comes to tackling, getting the defensive systems right, the breakdown and continuity- we've lost our grasp on the basics. And that, regardless of who is missing, is inexcusable.

Ulsters Month of Horror
Ulster 12-14 Ospreys
Ulster 26-3 Zebre
Glasgow 20-14 Ulster
Ulster 29-29 Treviso

Top 4 as of Saturday 2nd March
Glasgow 61
Ulster 61
Leinster 59
Scarlets 50

Ulsters Remaining Fixtures
Edinburgh (a) Pro12
Leinster (a) Pro12
Saracens (a) HC
Dragons (h) Pro12
Connacht (a) Pro12
Cardiff (h) Pro12

Where do you think they'll finish now Notch? And would you really care if they won the HC but went out in the PRO12 semi?

Yes, the Pro12 is only slightly less important than the HC to me. The Pro12 is your bread and butter and if you're willing to write it off completely for the HC, well, I don't believe in that. I would still prioritse the HC over it of course, but its the domestic league that is the true measure of consistency, depth and dominance. Had we won the HC last year, we would have still have underachieved that season as we failed to reach the playoffs. I felt Ulster did underachieve last year for that reason.

If we won the HC I would be very happy, but really the target is still a double or as close to it as possible.

I think we can still finish first- we need to win four of our last five and pick up a few bonus points. It's very achievable when you look at the fixtures. But, in honesty, whether or not we win anything this season depends on whether we start getting injured players back and available. There's a lot we could be doing better with the players we have, but those key players would lift us to another level if we got them back fit and in form. A level we desperately need to find. Saracens are favourites against us whilst we have so many absentees and that means the league is important.

Excellent provincial self-analysis there Notch, as per.

Can I ask a question without starting a row? Do you think Ulster have the right coaching staff in place? Or is it too early to tell yet? They are being severely tested and are presently failing their remit now. They made hay while the Sun shone, early on in the season, but this is where they really need to earn their geld. No matter what resources they have at their disposal. These are the storms a good coaching setup can ride through and build from.

Treviso had most of their (far lesser equipped), team with Italy. Yet, they should have won that game yesterday in the end.

Thoughts?

God, I just know I'm going to be sorry I even asked that question. But phookit. It has to be asked.

Addendum:

I think the HC Final last year has set expectations far too high. I believe Ulster will take another 2 years before they can realistically challenge on both the PRO12 and HC fronts.

God, how well do I know that.

Gibson wrote:Excellent provincial self-analysis there Notch, as per.

Can I ask a question without starting a row? Do you think Ulster have the right coaching staff in place? Or is it too early to tell yet? They are being severely tested and are presently failing their remit now.

I think the jury is still out of course, being not even a year in, but I think we've shown significant improvement and I think that Anscombe has done very well so far. Remember last year we had less players with Ireland and a LOT less players injured. Not to mention the psychological challenge of dealing with Nevins untimely death. But we still have a better winning percentage than last year despite all that. If we had to deal with this last season, I think we would have been kicking around the bottom half of the table.

Ultimately we've had to deal with a lot more adversity this season and still are in a better place now than we were last year. There's been significant progress made- a few bad games is a wobble, not a crisis.

I think over the next couple of years you guys will reap the benefit of all the playing time your fringe players are getting.It's far from an ideal way of doing it but the depth of player available to you who have experience at Rabo level is increasing hugely because of the injury crisis.

Ulster are a club on the way up and this is only a temporary blip imo,Leinster fans know only too well what a crippling injury list can do to a team.

Gibbo, on the Treviso result- you can't blame the coaches at all. We conceded four tries. The first try we conceded a stupid yellow card they kicked to the corner and scored after some great pressure, the second try we conceded ANOTHER stupid yellow card they kicker to the corner etc. The third try we had a simple clearance kick charged down. The fourth try we failed to gather a restart in the 22.

We've heard the old chestnut with regards to Ireland; "Coaches don't make players make mistakes'. My problem with Ireland is what we're NOT doing not the mistakes we're making. Ulster last night basically got it right but some terrible execution at key moments and a ref who was quick to the pocket allowed Treviso to have those four chances to score tries in the game and they took the maximum amount of points from them, they were the more clinical side.

We still would have won if we had gathered that f*cking restart. Or cleared that kick- or if we kept our hands to ourselves in the ruck.

It was such a hard one to take, not winning it, because we gifted them their crucial scores through individual errors. It was more on the players than the coaches. Indiscipline and individual errors undermined a lot of the good stuff we did.

The upside of these past four weeks is the emergence of Stuart Olding. Whilst our 21-year old 10 most likely secured his Ireland place with an assured display, the 19-year old outside him is reckoned to be as big a talent and will provide competition at 10 to Jackson for a generation

Jackson is a classic 10; more of a link man and game controller. He does play on the gainline and interest defences, but his game is more about putting others into space whereas Olding is more of an attacking threat himself, a very good linebreaker. Jackson is more like Humphreys Snr. in style whereas Olding is like the younger Humphreys. He might end up at 12 or 15 with Paddy Jackson at 10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1hlTNMJFgA

He's looked very impressive for 19 years old. He has the right stuff. For years I've been saying Paddy Wallace is a key man for Ulster in the backs; without him we've lacked creativity and vision in the midfield. But now, with Jackson (21), Olding (19) and Marshall (21) I think Paddy Snr. is nearly surplus to requirements. With Paddy Jnr. and Luke Marshall getting test match experience that'll soon be out 10-12 axis full time with the even younger Stuart Olding nipping at their heels.

Fair analysis Notch - except I think you're being a bit hard on Wallace. He did his cruciate in the first half, so it was little wonder he took an age to clear that kick!

McComish can fill in and do a job - provided he has frontliners around him. Henderson has had to learn on his feet and done well, but he's inexperienced.

I wouldn't question Anscombe or the coaches but it is worth asking about the recruitment policy of David Humphreys. Ferris hasn't been able to play much in the past couple of seasons, yet Ulster recruit two eights who don't do blindside? Henry was on the fringes of Test selection so fairly likely to be unavailable for chunks of the season as well. Ulster have been lucky that Henderson has been able to slot in so well, (but that was unpredictable), and Diack who is an 8 has had to play 5,6,& 7 as well.

Humphreys also let his brother finish his contract early, and brought in Niall O'Connor who was predictably inadequate. The Doc effectively pinned all Ulster's hopes on the unproven Jackson lasting the season with no cover (especially having also let McKinney go).

Disagree completely.

I don't think it was unpredictable that Henderson could play blindside at all. I think that was very much envisaged last season, it's where he made his debut last season and I think that it was always the plan to introduce him there as opposed to a lock- its something I expected to see. I also think Diack was being primed for a full-time move to 6. So you had Ferris, Diack and Henderson all seen as primarily blindside flankers. An international class player, a promising rising star and a solid clubman. Should have been enough cover but circumstances make fools of us all- an injury crisis has developed which has forced us to dig deeper. We also signed Doyle to help with openside but lost him to injury right away.

We had to sign Irish-qualified players apart from Williams in the back row. Williams was a direct replacement for Wannenburg and Diack was moved to 6 as he isn't a physical enough carrier for 8. With our other 8s being Diack and Henry we wouldn't have had a ball carrier as back-up for Williams hence Wilson. Diack was going well at 6 for us because he was physical in clearing the ruck, but he can't do the same in carrying the ball so I agree; I see him as a flanker playing as an 8 now because he lacks the power of a true ball-carrying 8.

As far as Humphreys goes, I don't see the point in us keeping a player who doesn't want to be here and so obviously doesn't care to fight to get his place in the team back. Humphreys didn't have any desire to play for Ulster left so we cut him loose- fair enough. Unfortunately we let McKinney go which was the mistake. But for me, the only mistake is not holding on to McKinney. No way would I like to have seen an Irish 6 parachuted into blindside ahead of Henderson. Henderson could/should be starting for Ireland in that position soon.

Notch - mate, surely the report of your demise is somewhat exaggerated?

You have the lower order to play now and will hoover up two third of the available points at least. Bet you all the IOUs in my pocket.

So Ulster's plan for Blindside this season was:
Ferris - perennial sicknote who hardly plays
Diack - journeyman with limited experience at 6
Henderson - unproven rookie
McComish - limited toiler
Joyce - just as unproven as Henderson and younger

I agree Henderson looks to be a better 6 than 5 and that was the plan for him this season, but one game isn't enough evidence to be staking a campaign on. The fact he has stepped up and leapfrogged Diack is a bonus for Humphreys as there was really little evidence to support that. The Doc's mistake was expecting Ferris to play more games despite his fitness trend suggesting otherwise, perhaps in that he has been unlucky and that balances the luck he has had with Henderson, then again he maybe just didn't plan enough cover?

I agree it was the right thing to let Ian Humphreys go and Humph's signing of O'Connor has also proved really good for Ulster - because he is so poor that Olding has been given the chance to emerge as a real prospect! If NOC had been half decent Olding wouldn't have been drafted in. However the lack of planned cover for Jackson is also manifesting itself by Ulster being forced to play Pienaar too much and that is an increasing concern. Anscombe was slated in some quarters for playing Wallace at 10, but he was obviously looking for an alternative outhalf, and PW was doing fine until his inury.

The recruitment policy has to be in line with the coaching policy and this is where Ulster have been slightly out of synch. Anscombe has come in and insisted on full contact training which has upped the intensity levels on matchday and fostered competition in the ranks. It has also increased the injury rate, with more players injured in training and in games. The commitment that Cave showed on Friday was exemplary but led to him having to go off injured. We've already seen the commitment of Muller and Wallace playing on with serious injuries this season (and leading to soft tries). That level of intensity is great to see on the pitch but it inevitably leads to more injuries, and the need to use more squad players.

Ulster went into this season without enough cover for blindside and flyhalf and those couple of players would have made a significant difference to this stage of the season.

Have to agree with Ausk on the undue pressure put on Jackson. Ulster should have brought in a 10 if they really wanted a crack at the HC. He will come good, but it will cost ye this year I believe. As it did last year.

Basically (and it IS happening) Ulster will have to start losing their over-reliance on their NIQs (except for a temp top 10 to help Jackson develop and ease the pressure on him) Its fast happening at Leinster. Fully Irish qualified XV's, (sometimes the full squad) have been the order of the day this season. And I love it.

Nacewa will be gone next year. He was priceless to us. As was VDM and he goes at end of this season. We have them covered now. Succession is an in-built factor now.

With the IRFU Directive, it will happen over time anyway. Sometimes ye just have to be patient and think and develop long-term.

Ulster are doing this with a passion and it is cause for celebration. With the redevelopment of Ravenhill, the plethora of young home-grown talent coming through your Academy, all the required bits of the Ulster jigsaw are falling into place. They are here to stay at the top of the PRO12 and the HC knockouts. No more bouncing and living in hope.

Id be one happy Ulster camper if I were ye.

The Great Aukster wrote:So Ulster's plan for Blindside this season was:
Ferris - perennial sicknote who hardly plays
Diack - journeyman with limited experience at 6
Henderson - unproven rookie
McComish - limited toiler
Joyce - just as unproven as Henderson and younger

Well, we've used 45+ players this season. If you take 45 as your baseline, then thats 3 for every position on the rugby pitch. So Ferris, Diack and Henderson. Saying Henderson is unproven is neither here nor there. They expected him to be not only making the breakthrough for Ulster but for Ireland as a 6 this season. They knew he's the biggest talent in terms of forwards we've produced since Ferris. It's not a 'bonus'. It's not 'lucky'. If I could see it, you can be damn sure the coaches and management can see it!

Gibson wrote:Have to agree with Ausk on the undue pressure put on Jackson. Ulster should have brought in a 10 if they really wanted a crack at the HC. He will come good, but it will cost ye this year I believe. As it did last year.

Basically (and it IS happening) Ulster will have to start losing their over-reliance on their NIQs (except for a temp top 10 to help Jackson develop and ease the pressure on him) Its fast happening at Leinster. Fully Irish qualified XV's, (sometimes the full squad) have been the order of the day this season. And I love it.

...

Id be one happy Ulster camper if I were ye.

I am a happy camper. I think an NIQ 10 is a non-starter whilst we have Pienaar. Pienaar has been playing that role for us, taking the pressure off Jackson. We've actually copped some criticism for that- Pienaar has been taking the kicks at goal and from hand and just letting Jackson concentrate on his own game. Outrageous according to Hook and co. I actually think you're wrong. If he plays like he did versus Scotland in all our remaining HC games with Pienaar taking the place kicks then we're sorted.

If he plays like he did against Treviso then Pienaar isn't even needed to babysit him. It was the best I've seen him play (and kick) but you'd expect some inconsistency. It might be a season or two before he's doing that every week but Johnny Sexton should be already looking over his shoulder imo. Because I see a player who has it all coming up the tracks. He's a bit special.

Were we probably needed 10 cover was for the Rabo, but we might not have expected Jackson to be on international duty so soon. O'Garas collapse forced their hand. With Pienaar able to play 10, no way would it have been sanctioned and the only options at 10 that are IQ and available aren't inspiring.

In fact, we probably did get the only 10 we would be allowed to sign! NOC wasn't exactly wanted. Like I say, losing McKinney was the big mistake.

Jackson will become a great game-controller. You can see that in him already. But, I doubt he can do it all on his own. In both PRO12 and HC I mean. He needs Irish backup at Ulster, imo. Failing that... bring someone in. If Pienaar gets injured, its Single Point Of Failure for Ulster. P. Marshsall needs more game time too.

It remains to be seen if Jackson can really make a full International class 10. Same with Madigan. You have to bring it week-in, week-out, at the highest level. The jury remains out on both of them at international level. But both should be given the chance to start proving it this weekend. No ROG please. A complete waste of time.

Leinster, to my chagrin, are looking at a top 10 as we speak. Sometimes its ok to look for help in the interim. And I do stress interim.

Gibbo, Leinster are looking at a 10 as backup to Madigan. Gopperth is rumoured to be the man.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Gibbo, Leinster are looking at a 10 as backup to Madigan. Gopperth is rumoured to be the man.

He any good?

Notch wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:So Ulster's plan for Blindside this season was:
Ferris - perennial sicknote who hardly plays
Diack - journeyman with limited experience at 6
Henderson - unproven rookie
McComish - limited toiler
Joyce - just as unproven as Henderson and younger

Well, we've used 45+ players this season. If you take 45 as your baseline, then thats 3 for every position on the rugby pitch. So Ferris, Diack and Henderson. Saying Henderson is unproven is neither here nor there. They expected him to be not only making the breakthrough for Ulster but for Ireland as a 6 this season. They knew he's the biggest talent in terms of forwards we've produced since Ferris. It's not a 'bonus'. It's not 'lucky'. If I could see it, you can be damn sure the coaches and management can see it!

Some people expected JJ Hanrahan to be making the breakthrough for Munster and possibly Ireland this season - he has done neither. Is Mystic Meg on the payroll?

Mainly because the guys ahead of him haven't been injured and have been mandated to play. Had Ferris been fit we would have seen less of Henderson too!

Gopperth's point-scoring rate is good for Falcons, but its another bloody journeyman. Needs must I suppose. Why not just keep Goodman as backup? McFadden is possibly a better kicker and far more effective. Madigan at 10 and McFadden at 12. All angles covered. Cooney is starting to look the biz. Macken and O Malley coming through too. Not sure about Reed yet.

Ulster fans, succession at 9 and 10? P. Marshall and Jackson have it. Who else?

Gibson wrote:Jackson will become a great game-controller. You can see that in him already. But, I doubt he can do it all on his own. In both PRO12 and HC I mean. He needs Irish backup at Ulster, imo. Failing that... bring someone in. If Pienaar gets injured, its Single Point Of Failure for Ulster. P. Marshsall needs more game time too.

It remains to be seen if Jackson can really make a full International class 10. Same with Madigan. You have to bring it week-in, week-out, at the highest level. The jury remains out on both of them at international level. But both should be given the chance to start proving it this weekend. No ROG please. A complete waste of time.

True all that. I think Jackson isn't far off being the man who can carry games even now. Just not week-in, week-out. I think the experience of starting against Scotland and Fiji has really helped him kick it up a gear. He really seemed to respond as positively to the Scotland experience as he did to the HC final. I like that. I like that he can be criticised and then come back and do it the next week- shows character and self-belief. The next big test is France. I think he'll start.

The biggest thing is becoming a consistent place kicker. That just takes time and practice. He has the ability there too, it'll just take time.

By the way, think you'll be happy. Its all over Twitter that Jackson and Madigan are the outhalves- O'Gara dropped.

Gibson wrote:Ulster fans, succession at 9 and 10? P. Marshall and Jackson have it. Who else?

9) Michael Heaney (21)
10) Stuart Olding (19)

Both have impressed me this season. Also hearing that the 22 year-old McKinney is meant to be coming back from England next season. He's a good player- doesn't have the potential of Jackson or the sheer talent of Olding, but is a steady player who makes good decisions and is an accurate and ruthless place kicker.

Oh YES! Deccie does it in his penultimate game. Too little too late for me. But its great news bud. Great news.

Started a thread on the int. page with the squad for those who wish to debate it!

Has McKinney been playing well in the championship?

Olding looked excellent the other night. What pace.

All these players we are picking and putting our money on now, may well be by-passed by better players from our Academies. I wont shed a tear if it happens. Even if it happens by injury. Injuries have actually been Ireland's best frens. I don`t always see it as a negative, I also see it as opportunities for others.

Things can change so much in a year or 2. Not under Deccie, but you get my drift.

Golden wrote:Has McKinney been playing well in the championship?

Not sure tbh, haven't seen any games he's played in. Thought he did well when he was here.

I had a wee nosey on UAFC and they are speculating that Trimble is staying but small Paul is leaving us, not sure this is true though as he has another year on his contract, he has also stated in the past that its ulster or no one.

They a also saying that Munster have been making inquiries about obtaining Olding. That worries me as I feel if he went to Munster his develop could stall quite significantly, look at JJ.

George Carlin wrote:Notch - mate, surely the report of your demise is somewhat exaggerated?

You have the lower order to play now and will hoover up two third of the available points at least. Bet you all the IOUs in my pocket.

It's common place on Ulster threads for sensible comments regarding to exaggerated demises to be ignored, as it is also common place to press the panic button when a couple of results don't go their way. Get a grip you lot! You still have a fantastic team who are in a playoff position in the league and were excellent in the HC. This kind of thread is nonsense. Supporters of Edinbrugh, Dragons and Cardiff can have a moan and a whinge about their Teams but Ulster are still the best team in the league and will only get better when they have their international players back.

Ok, so the best team in Wales beat you guys at home by a couple of points, you then hammered Zebre and then had to travel to Scotstoun and face Glasgow who are currently on fire in the league and toughed out a draw with the ever impressive and improving Treviso.

Your recent results haven't been as good as you are now used to but they are far from unacceptable.

Notch wrote:

Golden wrote:Has McKinney been playing well in the championship?

Not sure tbh, haven't seen any games he's played in. Thought he did well when he was here.

McKinney was doing well with the Titans and taking the place kicks at the start of the season, but he became homesick after an injury and lost some confidence and the place kicking duties - he was still scoring tries though playing from 10. He has got some invaluable experience with Rotherham and will be a great addition to Ulster.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Notch - mate, surely the report of your demise is somewhat exaggerated?

You have the lower order to play now and will hoover up two third of the available points at least. Bet you all the IOUs in my pocket.

It's common place on Ulster threads for sensible comments regarding to exaggerated demises to be ignored, as it is also common place to press the panic button when a couple of results don't go their way. Get a grip you lot! You still have a fantastic team who are in a playoff position in the league and were excellent in the HC. This kind of thread is nonsense. Supporters of Edinbrugh, Dragons and Cardiff can have a moan and a whinge about their Teams but Ulster are still the best team in the league and will only get better when they have their international players back.

Ok, so the best team in Wales beat you guys at home by a couple of points, you then hammered Zebre and then had to travel to Scotstoun and face Glasgow who are currently on fire in the league and toughed out a draw with the ever impressive and improving Treviso.

Your recent results haven't been as good as you are now used to but they are far from unacceptable.

How is it this kind of post nonsense???? Are we not allowed to dissect the current goings on in our team, the injury situation, our recent run of games. this is a discussion forum, what we discuss is up to us. No one here is panicking, we are just concerned about our immediately current games.

I only watched the game last night as I was away all weekend.

As much as it was bitterly disappointing to not win, I thought there were numerous positives and I felt in general there was a huge improvement on previous weeks.

We need to give some credit to Treviso. They played some great rugby, and Williams is frightening in attack!

I'm thinking of time like the high kick put up in our 22 that Andrew took excellently despite being challenged in the air by two treviso players three metres off our try line.

Some great scramble defence. Some excellent attacking moves and line breaks. A heck of a lot better ball carrying from Diack/McComish and Henderson was unreal, some massive hits from our backline.

I honestly think Ulster played quite well and perhaps the indiscipline was the only thing costing us considering the injuries and missing players we have.

Very much so Clive.

I feel like the criticism from our Scottish friends represents a NH rugby mentality; there's a certain level you aspire to achieve. Anscombe has introduced a NZ mentality; nothing is ever good enough. Made 100 tackles but missed 1? Why did you miss that tackle? And why were your opposition allowed to have enough ball to force you into making 100 tackles? Created 5 linebreaks and scored 4 tries? Why didn't you finish off every linebreak?

Yes, it's important not to neglect the positives but our long-term ambitions are dynastic- European dominance as achieved by the likes of Toulouse, Leinster etc. To achieve that we need to raise our standards to as close to the impossible as possible.

If we've played 4 games, anything other than 4 wins won't be looked at as good enough. Not because there is any shame at dropping points over a tough run of fixtures, but because of the exceptionally high standards we need to set for ourselves in order to achieve our long-term goals. And our from before Christmas and through the November international window shows we can meet those standards.

Season is a long haul though, and some players look a bit jaded. I feel the NH season is our biggest handicap. A shorter, more intense season would produce a better quality of rugby.

Notch wrote:Very much so Clive.

I feel like the criticism from our Scottish friends represents a NH rugby mentality; there's a certain level you aspire to achieve. Anscombe has introduced a NZ mentality; nothing is ever good enough. Made 100 tackles but missed 1? Why did you miss that tackle? And why were your opposition allowed to have enough ball to force you into making 100 tackles? Created 5 linebreaks and scored 4 tries? Why didn't you finish off every linebreak?

Yes, it's important not to neglect the positives but our long-term ambitions are dynastic- European dominance as achieved by the likes of Toulouse, Leinster etc. To achieve that we need to raise our standards to as close to the impossible as possible.

If we've played 4 games, anything other than 4 wins won't be looked at as good enough. Not because there is any shame at dropping points over a tough run of fixtures, but because of the exceptionally high standards we need to set for ourselves in order to achieve our long-term goals. And our from before Christmas and through the November international window shows we can meet those standards.

Season is a long haul though, and some players look a bit jaded. I feel the NH season is our biggest handicap. A shorter, more intense season would produce a better quality of rugby.

Is that not a bit arrogant (if not arrogant then over ambitious) considering how close the top teams in the pro12 are? At full Strength Scarlets, Ulster, Leinster, Munster, Glasgow, & Ospreys are all capable of beating each other home or away.

If it's arrogant or not, it doesn't matter. In rugby arrogant is just something we call teams with a winning mentality. The important thing is that it makes the players come in every Monday morning and try to right the wrongs of the week before- win, lose or draw. For me it's not arrogant though. Arrogant is saying "You're not good enough". We're saying "You're good, but we'll do everything it takes to be better". As for over-ambitious- there is no such thing. Ambition is it's own reward, the reward being the continuous drive to improve yourself. If you target being a decent team, you always just be a decent team. You need to target being the very best.

I agree that all of the top six can beat each other on their day, but as I explained above the defeat to Ospreys and the draw with Treviso were the direct result of our own inadequacies. Even the defeat to Glasgow came off a truly sub-par Ulster performance. And obviously other teams are playing better rugby than us, getting better results, in better form. Thats a very, very bitter pill to swallow.

In our last two games, 5 tries have been scored against us off needless turnovers in our own 22. That stat isn't good enough for any team in the league. It isn't acceptable for any team- its a blood on the changing room floor stat. And without it, we're still top of the league.

Notch wrote:If it's arrogant or not, it doesn't matter. In rugby arrogant is just something we call teams with a winning mentality. The important thing is that it makes the players come in every Monday morning and try to right the wrongs of the week before- win, lose or draw. For me it's not arrogant though. Arrogant is saying "You're not good enough". We're saying "You're good, but we'll do everything it takes to be better". As for over-ambitious- there is no such thing. Ambition is it's own reward, the reward being the continuous drive to improve yourself. If you target being a decent team, you always just be a decent team. You need to target being the very best.

I agree that all of the top six can beat each other on their day, but as I explained above the defeat to Ospreys and the draw with Treviso were the direct result of our own inadequacies. Even the defeat to Glasgow came off a truly sub-par Ulster performance. And obviously other teams are playing better
rugby than us, getting better results, in better form. Thats a very, very bitter pill to swallow.

In our last two games, 5 tries have been scored against us off needless turnovers in our own 22. That stat isn't good enough for any team in the league. It isn't acceptable for any team- its a blood on the changing room floor stat. And without it, we're still top of the league.

Why is it a bitter pill to swallow? Even when Leinster were at their best they didn't win every game...

For me Ulster just don't quite have the depth yet to counter the fact that Kidney has woken up to some of their top players. Previously you got a whole bunch back from the Ireland squad for the international weekends, now you're losing more and more. Pienaar's form has also dipped, whereas previously he could control games when the big guns were away.

Don't fret. The Ulster 1st XV is still a very very good side indeed. Just need to get the internationals back and sort out the injury situation in time for the playoffs and HC.

You might add to the original post.... Now Ulster knows how complicated expectation can be and sustaining it.

Both Munster and Leinster have lived through those numbered reasons for Underperformance in past seasons. And didn't get too much sympathy when rhythms were upset by them. Unfortunately that's the deal that comes with playing well, winning well, being top dogs Nationally and, in short, success.

It's not an easy chalice to bear.

But the season might still be a very good one. Better to be still very much in the running for two titles than to be already thinking and planning for a better season next year.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Why is it a bitter pill to swallow? Even when Leinster were at their best they didn't win every game...

Because we want to win! Thats sport. In any race of 10 men there are 9 losers. We want to be the winner, the one winner.

Rugby is great because its nearly impossible to sustain that. No team wins every game they play. But thats good. The hurt and anger and pain the players and fans have felt in the last month will come back as motivation.

I'm not really fretting. I think we are good enough to weather this spell and come back at the end of the season. Injuries depending. I'm not sure whether we are good enough to deliver silverware yet (or at least whether we can get back to our best form when it really counts) but if we win the Pro12 I would be very pleased with our season even if we don't deliver versus Saracens.

Well a NIQ 10 was a no no and seeing as Humphreys was off not sure what else Ulster could do to be honest.
The only thing that has changed from last summer is NOC was going to be here for two years and McKinney away for two years.
Not sure what has changed - a mixture of McKinney impressing, Olding coming through earlier than expected and NOC not doing the business I suspect.

We will be going into next year with three talented young players -Jackson, McKinney and Olding - happy with that.

SecretFly wrote:But the season might still be a very good one. Better to be still very much in the running for two titles than to be already thinking and planning for a better season next year.

Exactly. Bar slipping up to Northampton at home things couldn't be much better. It's impossible to sustain peak form all season and the acid test of the coaches and players is whether we can hit a new peak heading into the KO stages of the Heino and just do enough in the RABO to nail that home semi final spot.

We are in a superb position, even more so because of the injuries we've had.