Ospreys Vs Ulster Dan Lydiate to make his debut

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Well I am looking forward to this one, I will be going to the game as well, how do you reckon this one will go ? Do Ulster have any injury worries ?

The Welshmen have won their last seven PRO12 matches at Liberty Stadium since Munster were the visitors in February.

Ulster's last six Guinness PRO12 matches have all been won by the home side on the day whilst their only away win in any tournament since May came in Cardiff on 19th September - this is their only victory in Wales since October 2013.

Ospreys have beaten Ulster just once in their last six encounters: 16-12 in Belfast in February 2013. The Ulstermen have not been victorious in Swansea since September 2011.



http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/30502717

The teams have not been announced yet, but I would expect a good game of rugby here.

Venue: Liberty Stadium Date: Saturday, 20 December Kick-off: 17:15 GMT

Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU, 65th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Nigel Owens, Chris Williams (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner: John Charles (WRU)
TMO: Tim Hayes (WRU)

Well what a weekend, and what a lucky boy I have been, I went to two games this weekend, yes you heard me right, two games. I went down to Cardiff on Friday night, I was not supposed to, but the old man wanted to go, so I thought ah what the fook, and the misses told me it could be a part of my Xmas present, and then Saturday evening, well what a night, I thought the Ospreys would win, but to get the bonus point as well, it was epic, at times they played sublime rugby, and that is with a lot of first choice forwards out as well.

Also, can I say, thank god Nigel Owens was "assisting" Nigel Pearce, that guy seriously does not have a clue, Nigel might as well had reffed that game himself, also Dan Biggar and Rhys Webb must the best half back pairing in the British Isles at the moment, they are on fire.

Really dire performance by Ulster - Rory Best played his socks off as usual but other than that its hard to find positives as we were outplayed in every facet.

Defence was appalling and would question Best's judgement that the shape was good, just the one up tackles letting us down - it looked all over the shop to me. Ospreys are a good side but you could have driven a bus through some of those gaps. Kicking game was appalling too.

With 3 clueless coaches at the helm until next summer and bereft of onfield leadership. At this rate I can see us struggling to qualify for the RCC. Confidence looks rock bottom out there and some inspiration is needed from somewhre - Henry, Payne and Trimble are needed desperately.

Patterson was so bad it was cringeworthy - thank gawd Owens was there to save his bacon. Even without the double KO I couldn't believe he was going to award that try - he'd have been lynched trying to get out of Swansea if that had stood.

As Tyrone Howe said that looked like a team lacking organization.

I'd write this season off now and just hope we stay in the top 6 - I think we will but it could get close

Making the Pro12 playoffs is a big ask now with the much more difficult run in to the season end. Even RCC qualification looks like a big ask. I haven't felt this demoralised as an Ulster fan in years. We were left high and dry by David Humphreys without a coaching team that are up to the job. I'm afraid we may as well write the season off as one to forget indeed.

Well I would not describe RCC qualification a big ask because we only have to finish above one of Connacht and Scarlets but the fact it is being brought up as a possibility is a sign of decline.

After Leinster away on the 3rd that is 3 off the big 4 away matches completed so run in not so bad. Still got Treviso twice for example and home record remains good

I think given the way Connacht are playing, it is indeed a big ask Geoff.

Confidence looks shot at the minute, so if we drop another few points I think we could struggle to qualify.

Next game is a massive one. Connacht should have beat Leinster at the RDS on Friday, so they'll be coming to the Kingspan to win and we need to make sure they leave with nothing.

I can deffo see one of the Irish sides dropping out of the top 6 by the end of the season, one of Ulster, Leinster or Connacht, the penultimate game of the season where Munster go to Ulster could be a massive game for Ulster.

The only positive for Ulster is the players to return - Payne, Trimble, Williams, Henry, werbst, Mccloskey, Henderson, Jackson - there's guys there that can make a big difference.

In the meantime the guys who are fit need to dig in and find their a-games.

I'm worried about how much effect the dead rubber games with Tigers and Toulon could have though on the players - they're games we could do without to be honest. We can't afford to get too vested in them psychologically but at the same time we can't get rolled over either as the confidence looks very low at the minute.

To be honest Scarlets have their work cut out to qualify

Next 7 matches are Ospreys x2, the 4 Irish provinces and Glasgow away.
They might struggle to get 2 wins out of that lot

It does get easier towards the end but by then the others might be out of sight.
The Connacht game is huge but if Connacht win I can see Scarlets not making it

I would think the Blues are in a better position to get into the top six than the Scarlets are, they have a very good side, if they can turn things around they could have a very strong finish to the season.

That may well be true but they are 10 points adrift of Connacht and 14 adrift of Ulster .

Their last 10 games include playing all of the top 6 teams in the league - that is a big ask.

geoff998rugby wrote:That may well be true but they are 10 points adrift of Connacht and 14 adrift of Ulster .

Their last 10 games include playing all of the top 6 teams in the league - that is a big ask.

A bonus point home win over Zebre on the last game of the season could be the difference for the Blues chances, they also have Treviso away, there is a chance of 10 points there between those two games.

Lets give Cardiff 7 wins which is a great return from their last 10 games

To get above Ulster they need Ulster to win no more than 4 games and preferable only 3.
Ulster have yet to play Treviso, Ulster are undefeated at home.
We may be in a mess but we have more than enough to finish above Cardiff.

Realsitically it is can Cardiff or Scarlets catch Connacht. If Connacht win in Llanell ithat could be atall order
For Cardiff to catch Connacht Connacht probably need to lose more than they win in the second half of the season.

Well Scarlets and Cardiff losing, and Ulster winning, means we can effectively put to bed any chance of them catching Ulster.

Basically can the second or third Welsh Region catch the 4th province to decide the last definite qualification place