Ulster 2014/2015, Part 2

First topic message reminder :

Part 1; https://www.606v2.com/t53882p950-ulster-2014-2015

We've been rocked with the seismic revelation David Humphreys is leaving the province- indeed has already left- for Gloucester. Anscombe was slated to be seeing out the last year of his contract before being quietly let go but the Humphreys bombshell left him as the odd man out, and he's been pushed out the door. The decision was partly because he was hired to work under a Director of Rugby and Ulster are looking for someone with more experience in the market to take on Humphreys role in addition to the coaching responsibilities. As usual, the rumour mill is on overdrive and opinions are polarised- but this is Ulster Rugby after all. Les Kiss is our interim Director of Rugby and it seems Allen Clarke is filling the role of forwards coach in the short term. More changes or appointments could be forthcoming.

If all that wasn't enough we've been dealt a real group of death in the new Champions Cup- double-winners Toulon will brave the Ravenhill roar along with old friends Leicester Tigers and old foes the Scarlets. All in all, this team should be capable of securing a Top 4 finish at the very least in the Pro12 and we need to target the top two, our prospects in Europe look more occluded- it might come down to best runners-up and our pool promises to be tight and competitive.

Our pre-season concludes when we take on Exeter Chiefs at Ravenhill on Friday the 22nd August and then travel to Donnybrook to face Leinster on Friday the 29th August. It'll be a big relief to see the action at Ravenhill moving from the headlines to the pitch

Players Out
Johann Muller (retired), Paddy Wallace (retired), Stephen Ferris (retired), Chris Cochrane (retired), Chris Farrell (Grenoble), Niall Annett (Worcester), John Afoa (Gloucester), Tom Court (London Irish), James McKinney (Rotherham), David McIlwaine (Rotherham), Paddy McAllister (Aurillac), Sean Doyle (ACT Brumbies), Adam Macklin (Rotherham), Ian Porter (Connacht)

Players In
Franco van der Merwe (Golden Lions), Louis Ludik (Agen), Wiehahn Herbst (Natal Sharks), Ruaidhrí Murphy (ACT Brumbies), Dave Ryan (Zebre), Ian Humphreys (London Irish), Charlie Butterworth (Lansdowne), Sean Reidy (Counties Manukau)

Hookers
Rory Best, Rob Herring (Jonny Murphy, John Andrew*)
Props
Callum Black, Ruaidhrí Murphy, Andrew Warwick, Declan Fitzpatrick, Wiehahn Herbst, Dave Ryan, Ricky Lutton, Bronson Ross, Kyle McCall(?)
Locks
Iain Henderson, Dan Tuohy, Franco van der Merwe, Lewis Stevenson, Neil McComb
Backrow
Robbie Diack, Conor Joyce, Chris Henry, Mike McComish, Sean Reidy, Charlie Butterworth, Nick Williams, Roger Wilson (Clive Ross**)
Scrum-half
Ruan Pienaar, Paul Marshall, Michael Heaney
Outhalf
Paddy Jackson, Ian Humphreys
Centres
Luke Marshall, Stuart Olding, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey
Wings
Michael Allen, Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe, Craig Gilroy
Fullback
Louis Ludik, Ricky Andrew, Jared Payne, Peter Nelson

*Academy hookers training with first team squad
**Clive Ross, cousin of Mike, is on trial

Opening fixtures

F; Exeter Chiefs (H)
F; Leinster (A)

Pro12; Scarlets (A)
Pro12; Zebre (H)
Pro12; Cardiff Blues (A)
Pro12; Zebre (A)
Pro12; Edinburgh (H)

ECC; Leicester Tigers (A)
ECC; RC Toulon (H)

clivemcl wrote:Sold Out my lunctime??? :-(

Good for the club though! Its going to be touch and go to get tickets this year with the increase in ST holders!

clive a number of the bars in Belfast are doing tickets and transport to the game, I think Laverys have theirs on sale for £25

Rang Laverys this morning they will be selling more soon keep up with their facebook or twitter page according to them.

I know this is waaaaaaay off topic, but I just watched Rugby Tonight. Or as much as I could take, which was just shy of ten minutes. Excruciating.

I will be running a bus as well for Toulon lads. I have 50 tickets for the west terrace (promenade). £30 for ticket, 2 beers, food after and transport. If any of you are interested let me know because once I advertise it they will fly out I imagine

My key question about the forthcoming season is:

- on which channel, and on what show, can I get my weekly dose of jingoisim, polemicism and flem from Mr George Hook, the lightly tufted and increasingly senile embarrassing uncle of the Irish broadcasting world?

I'm not sure rte have any games GC.

Standulstermen wrote:I will be running a bus as well for Toulon lads. I have 50 tickets for the west terrace (promenade). £30 for ticket, 2 beers, food after and transport. If any of you are interested let me know because once I advertise it they will fly out I imagine

Feic sounds good stand, any chance you are doing a creche facilty too?

I need someone to look after me on these trips Rodders not the other way round!

Is the Zebre game not being picked up by BBC NI? I thought they would have every home game that Sky didn't take. Ulster site doesn't list any tv coverage...

Don't worry clive it is on

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04hc81y

Just a case of Ulster not updating it's website

ah! Grand job!

BBC are reporting Jared Payne is an injury doubt for Friday night, Iain Henderson might need a hip injury ahead of the Six Nations and World Cup and Tommy Bowe might still be a week away from playing. Declan Fitzpatrick is an unknown factor.

But Friday might see Rory Best and Paddy Jackson back!

My guessed XV

1. Andrew Warwick
2. Rob Herring
3. Wiehahn Herbst
4. Dan Tuohy
5. Franco van der Merwe
6. Robbie Diack
7. Clive Ross
8. Roger Wilson (c)
9. Paul Marshall
10. Ian Humphreys
11. Craig Gilory
12. Stuart Olding
13. Luke Marshall
14. Michael Allen
15. Louis Ludik

16. Rory Best 17. Callum Black 18. Bronson Ross 19. Lewis Stevenson 20. Nick Williams 21. Michael Heaney 22. Paddy Jackson 23. Andrew Trimble

George Carlin wrote:My key question about the forthcoming season is:

- on which channel, and on what show, can I get my weekly dose of jingoisim, polemicism and flem from Mr George Hook, the lightly tufted and increasingly senile embarrassing uncle of the Irish broadcasting world?

Afraid George only chance you'll get to watch the fat superannuated old windbag Hook is when RTE show Ireland games - RTE don't have rights to Pro12. Frankly, RTE's presentation of rugby is a disgrace - Hook, Pope and that other pompous windbag McGurk I just can't take - soon as I see them on then on goes the mute button. Oh and RTE don't even have the rugby world cup rights for Ireland next year - they've gone to the private sector (owned by a British venture capital outfit) broadcaster TV3

I thought Hook retired from Rugby punditry last season?

He announced his retirement but the old windbag is gonna hold on until the next RWC!

Jared Payne out for the next two weeks. Iain Henderson out until after the November Internationals, possibly the new year!

Shoite news all round... hoping we rest Chris Henry on Friday and maybe move either Diack or Wilson to the bench in favour of Nick Williams. We can't afford to flog our back row.

http://whiffofcordite.com/2014/09/11/kiss-me-quick-cowboy/#comments

Whiff of Cordite piece on Ulster for the season. Good points about our bluntness in attack last year and lack of depth in the forwards. Hopefully The coaching can sort out the former.

Read on the other forum Kiss will be off in Oct/Nov with some tool adamant Wayne Smith has his ticket booked. I though we had Kiss for the year

I just heard about Kiss moving on in October.
What the hell is going on at Ravers??
Geoff where are you???

Wouldn't be too surprised/concerned about that. I would like him to get the job full-time but the IRFU are unlikely to sanction that before the World Cup. Either he's a) leaving in October because we already have someone lined up so the situation is resolved or b) he won't be leaving in October because we don't. Option c) would be Kiss is leaving and no-one is lined up, aahhhhh, burn things, Ulster in crisis; don't see that as credible as I don't think the IRFU will leave us short. If no-one is lined up I'd be nearly certain Kiss will be returning after the November internationals.

So, if there are reports that he is leaving then it most likely means that someone else is coming in so thats not such a bad thing. But either way it's a shame to leave Kiss as he is someone who has the utmost respect in the group of players.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/29172152

That was fun while it lasted, seems the plan all along was for Kiss to leave next month.

Sounds like a SUper 15 coach then maybe? Somebody who couldn't come in in June, which is why we needed an interim to bridge the gap?

Pretty much, must be. If it's a coach who has no better track record than Anscombe I'll be rather disappointed- nay, extremely. It needs to be someone with a track record that can command instant respect amongst the senior players. Les Kiss has that in abundance. There were a lot of promising noises coming out of the camp and it's a real shame that he'll leave.

I guess a rookie coach I might be interested in is Matt Sexton, who already knows Ulster quite well. Dave Rennie might be a good shout as young coach who has already won a Super Rugby title and has the Chiefs playing some brilliant rugby.

Strange that its not been announced though if it is someone from Super Rugby.

Have any doors and walls been reenfoced around Ravenhill recently? Would give an indication on whether Cheika is the man coming in

marty2086 wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/29172152

That was fun while it lasted, seems the plan all along was for Kiss to leave next month.

The IRFU said from the outset that Kiss would be only there until the Nov internationals (October actually).

Kiss was never a runner for Ulster bearing in mind the World Cup is next year, with Schmidt a rookie international coach who has never been to a world cup tournament, similarly Kearney the team manager s, Plumtree gone and a rookie forwards coach, Kiss is needed for that experience.

I'd guess its Alan Clarke until after the world cup when a few coaches may become available.

Sin é wrote:

marty2086 wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/29172152

That was fun while it lasted, seems the plan all along was for Kiss to leave next month.

The IRFU said from the outset that Kiss would be only there until the Nov internationals (October actually).

Kiss was never a runner for Ulster bearing in mind the World Cup is next year, with Schmidt a rookie international coach who has never been to a world cup tournament, similarly Kearney the team manager s, Plumtree gone and a rookie forwards coach, Kiss is needed for that experience.

I'd guess its Alan Clarke until after the world cup when a few coaches may become available.

It was never stated publicly because many wondered how he would handle both Ulster and Ireland, all that was ever said that the coaching structures were under review and Kiss was in the job on an interim basis

I remember it being distinctly said by Schmidt that Kiss would be back with Ireland for autumn internationals. It was always going to be a temporary solution.

Sin é wrote:I remember it being distinctly said by Schmidt that Kiss would be back with Ireland for autumn internationals. It was always going to be a temporary solution.

Yes back for Autumn, as I said the questions were asked how he would balance both. Never an indication he was with Ulster until then and only then

marty2086 wrote:

Sin é wrote:I remember it being distinctly said by Schmidt that Kiss would be back with Ireland for autumn internationals. It was always going to be a temporary solution.

Yes back for Autumn, as I said the questions were asked how he would balance both. Never an indication he was with Ulster until then and only then

I got the distinct impression at the time that he was gone from Ulster once the autumn internationals loomed (and it is easy to understand why - Kiss would not be able to give his undivided attention to Ireland as Ulster's acting head coach).

marty2086 wrote:
Have any doors and walls been reenfoced around Ravenhill recently? Would give an indication on whether Cheika is the man coming in

Not sure how I'd feel about that to be honest.

The only scenario that'll make me feel any better about this is if we obtain a coach with a better pedigree than usual, one with a background of top flight rugby. I would have loved Kiss to stay for at least the year but obviously that was never going to be the case in the IRFU's intentions.

The only thing I've gleaned from reading through t'other forum is that the guy who is in the know has said 'prepare to get excited'.
The last time he said that we got Ruan.
I can't tell if he said it in a sarcastic manner

I don't listen to those clowns.

Don't know if anyone is watching the All Blacks v South Africa game but Ruan Pienaar just went off with a leg injury

neilthom7 wrote:Don't know if anyone is watching the All Blacks v South Africa game but Ruan Pienaar just went off with a leg injury

Just saw that... not good.

Also I see that the Irish Times are saying Neil Doak is the most likely candidate for Head Coach of Ulster. Not sure how I feel about it but if he is to be given the chance then I'll give him my support. He's highly thought of by guys that have worked with him, including Kiss and Anthony Foley,

Hopefully if he gets the job he will prove to us all why they rate him

I'm not going to lie; slightly concerned. On Sly Sports last night when asked about the Ulster coaching situation, Paddy Wallace said in Les Kiss we finally have a head coach who can direct this group and command respect whereas in previous years all the direction came from senior players and not necessarily the Head coach. Well, Neil Doak has been there the whole time. Wallace was dropping a pretty strong hint that they need a much stronger hand at the wheel, someone who commands respect through their achievements in the game, does promoting someone to their first Head Coach position from within really tick that box?

It's rather worrying. I'll give him my support but I think if he gets the job he has a lot to prove.

I guess all we can do is see what happens and just support whoever is appointed. I am sure they will do everything possible to make sure who ever gets it is the right man to lead that dressing room

neilthom7 wrote:I guess all we can do is see what happens and just support whoever is appointed.

Well of course but traditionally our fellow Ulster fans aren't shy of an opinion!

I must admit I hoped we'd be able to poach Les Kiss long term but the IRFU and Joe Schmidt obviously aren't having it. In the cold light of day, it now seems like it was a fools hope on my part. He would be an ideal replacement. Maybe Doak for a calendar year and Les Kiss to return immediately after the RWC?

It's possible with Plumtree leaving Schmidt won't yet know if Easterby fits his plans so will probably want to have Kiss around while he works that out with it being such an important year for Ireland. If Easterby works out then it could be possible for Kiss to move on after the RWC.
The again maybe we are all wrong and it will be someone else lol

Doak would be underwhelming, but I'm not sure he'd be as bad as Anscombe turned out to be. We'd all love a fantastic coach to usher in a new era, but shy of that, under Doak we could still look better coached.

The return of Brian McLaughlin has been mooted - I'd notbe hhappy about that (although I think Ulster owe him a huge debt in terms of the time we spent rebuilding). He never bothered with Diack, who was marginalised, and look how important Robbie is to us now. (Lovely kick into space from him lastnight as well. )

Whatever happened to Matt Sexton? Didn't he apply last time round?

In other news, Andrew Timble is currently quite comfortably the best winger in Ireland. This "he'll do us until Bowe/Earls/Fitzgerald/Zebo is back and in form" is a fallacy. First winger's name on the Ireland team sheet.

To be clear - the Diack thing above is ana example, rather than a reason. If you weren't first choice, apparently, you knew it and competition for places was fruitless.

I don't know if anyone is still saying that about Trimble that because he's been outstanding. He won the IRUPA Players Player of the Year award and he seems to just be picking up where he left off! Strange to think as recently as 2013 he was behind Gilroy in the Ireland pecking order. His renaissance is mostly down to sheer hard work. Gilroy improved for me last night but Trimble looks a much more assured player. I was very happy to see the return of the Gilroy sidestep and his confidence to beat players but he also maybe killed a few opportunities.

I would say returning to McLaughlin would be a massive backward step. Probably the worst appointment we could make in that it's been tried, right down to the coaches that were working under him, and it's not going to take us onto a new level. It's going to take us back to the level we were at under him without the senior players like Muller who came across as being the ones who were pretty much steering the ship when he was our coach.

Doaky it is then......Gerry is rarely far off the mark

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/pro12/ulster-set-to-name-neil-doak-as-head-coach-1.1927422

I am very concerned if that is confirmed our season could start to unravel before our eyes the more I reflect on it. Right now we have Les Kiss who has come in and steadied the ship and provided that leadership we need from the coaching staff. When he leaves, that may very well leave with him if we don't adequately replace him.

Humphreys really sh!t the bed on his way out in every conceivable way. The extension of Anscombes contract really was a disastrously poor decision and then he didn't even stick around to see that through. Now we're still scrambling to replace him adequately.

Taking about seasons unraveling, it seems pretty likely that Ruan is definitely out of our first two Champions Cup games versus Tigers and Toulon. 6-8 weeks is the estimate. Its 6 weeks to the Toulon game and it's a medial knee ligament injury. I'd say there's no chance.

Hold on a minute. What exactly changed in Doak since June? If he was good enough, then why didn't he get appointed as soon as Anscombe was booted??


Not impressed at all. But also not entirely sure its true. (Here's hoping its not).

I think there's more to come... Doak coming in as Head Coach but to be followed by a better known DOR is a significant possibility. That's my best guess

I hope you're right Tom

Thoughts are with the Ulster Rugby squad today- they'll be gathering together to remember Nevin Spence. His tragic death was two years ago today.

Gone but never forgotten.