Ulster vs Treviso

First topic message reminder :

Ulster XV and replacements to face Benetton Treviso, RaboDirect PRO12, Ravenhill, Friday 27th September (kick off 19:05);



(15-9): C Gilroy, T Bowe, J Payne, L Marshall, M Allen, P Jackson, P Marshall;
(1-8): T Court, R Best (Captain), R Lutton, I Henderson, D Tuohy, R Diack, C Henry, R Wilson;

Replacements (16-23): R Herring, C Black, B Ross, L Stevenson, N Williams, M Heaney, J McKinney, D Cave.

Interesting team! Gilroy, Best and Bowe return. A completely Irish qualified pack of forwards. Muller rested and Williams rotated to the bench. Jared Payne at 13.

Big game this- at first Treviso didn't cause us much problems in the league... until two years ago when they turned us over at home and last year when they nearly repeated that feat, with the game ending in a draw. We really owe them one at Ravenhill.

Treviso start Mat Berquist, former Leinster and Crusaders 10 who shot down Munster last week. Nitoglia on the right wing is also a danger man as is the big unit Loumanu on the wing- who sometimes plays number 8. Gives an insight into what we're up against in terms of the physicality right throughout the visitors side. Last years unlikely hattrick hero in this fixture, backrow Dean Budd, is on the bench.

15 Luke McLean
14 Ludovico Nitoglia
13 Michele Campagnaro
12 Alberto Sgarbi
11 Christian Loamanu
10 Mat Berquist
9 Edoardo Gori
8 Manoa Vosawai
7 Alessandro Zanni
6 Simone Favaro
5 Marco Fuser
4 Antonio Pavanello (capitano)
3 Alberto De Marchi
2 Enrico Ceccato
1 Michele Rizzo

A disposizione:
16 Giovanni Maistri
17 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet
18 Pedro Di Santo
19 Valerio Bernabò
20 Dean Budd
21 Robert Barbieri
22 Fabio Semenzato
23 Alberto Di Bernardo

Very, very physical team. Ulster pack picked for an evening of trench warfare with Nick Williams our big impact player on the bench. But we have a lot more fire power out wide in this team than we've had in any game so far. Gonna be an interesting one

This was the best backs move of the first half. It was unlucky not to result in a score, great cover tackle;



Not a particularly complex move but for me it just shows how much we miss Tommy Bowe popping up all over the field. Allen and McIlwaine against Glasgow were fairly confined to their wings and struggled to get involved. Twice Tommy Bowe popped up on the other side of the pitch to create a chance for Allen, the second time was his try right at the end. Bowe is a roving menace and with him back we're likely to create more opportunities.

Any word on injuries?

Henderson looked a worry and Gilroy and Payne both looked to be limping when they went off.

Ricky Lutton reckons he'll be 'okay', which is a relief as he was playing on one leg from the third minute on.

Very good performance against a powerful Treviso side.

Luke Marshall had one of his best games in an Ulster shirt but for me MOTM was a toss up between the sensational Allen and Rory Best who seemed to be everywhere on the pitch. Payne looked class as usual and Bowe looked hungry for the ball...generally a good all round team performance, especially from the pack.

I would like to see Michael Allen get a shot at 13 to be honest. He is behind Cave and Payne though.

This try shows how good we can be;



You see that Paul Marshalls passing is what it always was- good with the occasional shocker. Luke Marshall picked that up off his shins! And Rory Best, as you say, is everywhere. We saw what a good team we are when we keep our intensity high but we still haven't seen it for 80 minutes. There were times when the foot came off the pedal after that but it certainly beats where we were a few weeks ago. Other teams will make us work harder for that score, Treviso got a bit narrow.

We still need to improve to get the results we want in the first two Heineken Cup games. I'm not gonna be on here much next week as I'm heading to California for my brothers wedding- don't worry I'm heading back a day early so I can get to the Leicester game

I'd like to mention Paul Marshall as well. He is learning to 'marshall' the pack in the maul and his passing is much better so far this season. Aside from his poor knock-on from the kick off, he had a really good game with a good blend (and choice) of kicks and the highlight of felling their lock!

Had posted before you put that up Notch and think you're being a bit hard on Marsh there. He got the ball away as quick as he could despite Lutton being blissfully unaware he was blocking the pass - that allowed the Treviso flanker to get a tap on his arm. He followed it up with four perfect passes so can take plenty of credit in that move.

I think we are noticably better with SmallParcel than with Porter at the moment.

Marshall is fine but you're guaranteed several brain farts a game, and a few poor passes too boot. Friday was no different, there was a bizarre grubber into the feet of a Treviso player in our 23 and a few other heart in mouth moments.

He's worked hard and can offer a lot but he hasn't completely cut those problems out. Which is a shame because in general he's very good.

Worrying thing is Ruan Pienaar only just arriving for the HC and then missing again for the AIs. Poor fecker will be expected to slot in without a break for the 1st 4 rounds of the HC.

Marshall is our next best option at 9 after Pienaar but that doesn't mean he is good enough to be our first choice next year. I don't see him as good enough sadly.

Ah come now, Marshall is only getting a bit of negativity because he is being compared with Pienaar! Does anyone disagree that Marshall would be a starting 9 at at least half the Rabo clubs?

I also think its a bit harsh when Marshall and Williams get slated for when things they do fail miserably. The point is, I reckon its these players who take risks that fire a team up whether they work or not. Its about self belief. Whilst there is no doubt of Pienaar's class, I do feel he is quite conservative sometimes.

You just have to look at New Zealand S15 clubs. The biggest stars are players who are sometimes most reckless!

Theres two camps when it comes to this. When Marshall tries a kick through that doesnt go anywhere, or Williams drops the ball after holding it one handed - Some people get mad. I on the other hand say 'Hard luck, it didnt come off this time, but keep up the intensity and confidence!'.

Totally disagree with the criticism of Marshall, when you play a high tempo game you will get the occasional mistake ... that is the style of rugby we are aiming for and Marshall is much more suited to it than Pienaar.

Every aspect of Marshalls game is of a high standard - his passing, kicking, he made some excellent tackles and one superb linebreak which ultimately lead to Allen's first try .... he had a smashing all round game. 

He also put us under pressure on two occasions. The defence held out. I'm not down on the lad but he is what he is. Not good enough to be the starting 9 of a team with HEC aspirations.

Taking Clive's point he might have a chance starting over marmion at Connacht but he wouldn't at the other two provinces. I suspect he would battle it out with other 9- in the pro 12

When your backs score 5 tries then you can be pretty sure your 9 has done his job.

As has been said above, when you play a high tempo game then you will see more mistakes but that is Anscombe's philsosphy and players like Marshall and Williams are integral to it.

Wilson's control at the base was poor, Jackson kicked the ball away too often and there were a number of handling errors in the backs. All in it was a very positive performance and Paul Marshall's mistakes are being unfairly singled out - again- when he did so many good things on the day.

I'm not suggesting we drop him rodders. I just don't think if we have any desire to be the top team in Europe he is good enough to be our 9. It's a weak link if Pienaar goes.

I'm not suggesting he doesn't give his all for ulster or he wasnt deserving of the start

No that's fair enough stand but personally I think he is good enough, on current form, and right now its Paddy Jackson who's the weak link in the halfbacks.

Both need to play games without the spectre of Pienaar hanging over them and for that reason I think the time is right for Pienaar to move on, as great as he has been for us.

That unit of Marshall-Jackson-Marshall works really well and the team needs to be built around this I think.

I respect your view stand but we'll have to agree to disagree...

How's the pub going?

Absolutely mental rodders. Bloody students eh. Still a few tickets left for the Leicester game though not many.

Damn would love to go but can't see me getting to anything this side of xmas....

Good news on player recoveries:

"Irish winger, Andrew Trimble, has made better than expected progress with a finger injury and could be back in the Ulster shirt sooner rather than later.

Trimble had surgery on a finger injury having played against Newport Gwent Dragons in the opening fixture of the new PRO12 season.

He was not expected to be back in the Ulster shirt until possibly the Heineken Cup opener against Leicester Tigers at Ravenhill on Friday week, October 11.

But Trimble, who was on the pitch to help Tommy Bowe celebrate his try against Benetton Treviso in last Friday’s 32-13 win at Ravenhill could be available for this weekend’s trip to Swansea to face the Ospreys.

Trimble put on the Ulster mascot, Sparky’s costume, for the second half of last week’s game and got a little carried away when fellow Irish international Bowe scored a try.

Ulster may not risk Timble this weekend, but he will almost certainly be back in the mix for the visit of the Tigers.

Meanwhile, lock Iain Henderson and backs, Jared Payne and Craig Gilroy, who all suffered knocks against Treviso have responded well to treatment and Ulster Rugby said last night all three were expected to be fit by the end of the week.

John Aofa is expected to make his first appearance in an Ulster shirt this weekend after returing from New Zealand."

(Newsletter)

Trimble was the dogbearsquirrel thing

Yeah heard that, did the other players know? It seemed like Bowe pushed him away when the players were celebrating his try?

rodders wrote:Yeah heard that, did the other players know? It seemed like Bowe pushed him away when the players were celebrating his try?

Yep, thought Bowe did myself, but maybe he didn't know who it was? I did think Sparky's behaviour was a bit odd. His running along the line made it seem as if there were 16 on the pitch, and the Bowe celebration seemed out of place for the bear thing.

Great to see Henderson's injury wasn't as bad as it looked, and we have BBJ back. If Trimble is to start against Tigers I think he should get some game time Vs Ospreys. Allen is going to be a tough call, but it's great that his recent performances have given MA something extra to think on.

I would start Allen against Ospreys, I think his form should be rewarded - he's been arguably the player of the season so far. Its up to Trimble to come on and give Anscombe the headache imo.

Bowe and Gilroy need another start too I think.

If Anscombe is sticking with Payne/Marshall in the centre then we could have a backline of Gilroy, Bowe, and Allen/Trimble, but reckon that Cave will start with Payne at 15 for this one with a view to the Tigers match.
Agree on Allen. He is the form player right now, and difficult to justify his not starting, but will Anscombe prefer him to the tried, and tested, for the big games? Not sure, but I think Allen would relish it.