Pro12 Semi 1 - Glasgow Warriors v Ulster Rugby, 22 May

                
Glasgow Warriors v Ulster Rugby
Friday 22 May 2015
KO: 19:45
Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow

Live on Sky Sports / BBC ALBA / BBC NI / TG4

Referee: George Clancy (IRFU, 73rd competition game)
Assistant Referees: John Lacey, Dudley Phillips (both IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Gwyn Bowden (WRU)
TMO: Seamus Flannery (IRFU)

A. Head to Head - Aggregate

26 Played 26
12 Wins 13
13 Losses 12
1 Draws 1
44 Tries 47
31 Conversions 32
64 Penalties 66
6 Drop Goals 0
492 Points 497
25 Avg. Age 27

B. Head to Head - Recently

Sat 16 May 2015 - Glasgow 32 - 10 Ulster Rugby

Sat 11 Oct 2014 - Ulster Rugby 29 - 9 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 18 Apr 2014 - Glasgow Warriors 27 - 9 Ulster Rugby

Fri 13 Sep 2013 - Ulster Rugby 12 - 13 Glasgow Warriors

C. Run-In

Glasgow Warriors

16/05/15 Glasgow 32 - 10 Ulster

08/05/15 Ospreys 21 - 10 Glasgow

25/04/15 Connacht 13 - 31 Glasgow

Ulster Rugby

16/05/15 Glasgow 32 - 10 Ulster

09/05/15 Ulster 23 - 23 Munster

24/04/15 Ulster 26 - 10 Leinster

D. Teams

Glasgow Warriors

15. Stuart Hogg
14. Tommy Seymour
13. Richie Vernon
12. Peter Horne
11. Niko Matawalu
10. Finn Russell
09. Henry Pyrgos
 
01. Ryan Grant  
02. Fraser Brown
03. Rossouw de Klerk
04. Jonny Gray
05. Al Kellock (Captain)
06. Josh Strauss
07. Chris Fusaro
08. Adam Ashe
 
16. Pat MacArthur
17. Gordon Reid
18. Mike Cusack
19. Leone Nakarawa
20. Ryan Wilson
21. Duncan Weir
22. Sean Lamont
23. DTH van der Merwe

Ulster Rugby

15 L Ludik
14 T Bowe
13 J Payne
12 D Cave
11 C Gilroy
10 P Jackson
09 R Pienaar

01 C Black
02 R Best (C)
03 R Lutton
04 L Stevenson
05 D Tuohy
06 I Henderson
07 C Henry
08 R Wilson

16 R Herring
17 A Warwick
18 B Ross
19 R Diack
20 S Reidy
21P Marshall
22 S McCloskey
23 M Allen

Balls to the wall I'm predicting a 5 point Ulster win. Which incidentally is great news for Glasgow......

Standulstermen wrote:Balls to the wall I'm predicting a 5 point Ulster win.

I agree/I hope so.

Standulstermen wrote:Which incidentally is great news for Glasgow......

I don't quite follow?

Anytime I'm confident going into a game notch we balls it up

While Ulster have first team players to bring back, Glasgow have nothing. Toonie's Tombola is missing too many tickets.

Ulster by 5

What are you all fretting/complaining about?  Spare a thought for that Treviso idiot.  Try having a career with that simmering in the oven now for eternity.

cakeordeath wrote:While Ulster have first team players to bring back, Glasgow have nothing. Toonie's Tombola is missing too many tickets.

Ulster by 5

Ulster also have injuries and whether Franco returns could be crucial.

We may also get DTH back for this one.

George Carlin wrote:

cakeordeath wrote:While Ulster have first team players to bring back, Glasgow have nothing. Toonie's Tombola is missing too many tickets.

Ulster by 5

Ulster also have injuries and whether Franco returns could be crucial.

We may also get DTH back for this one.

They do, but Glasgow are missing a chunk of their backline. Which I think will be the difference

The crucial ones for Ulster are Wiehahn Herbst, Franco van der Merwe and Craig Gilroy. In that order.

I do feel if either Bennett or Dunbar were fit Glasgow would be favourites, they are also missing Maitland and DTH. I presume that Prygos will start at 9, so does this mean niko moves to the wing or is Lamont going to retain his place.

My money is on ulster especially if Al Kellock starts

Hogg
Seymour
DTH VDM
Vernon
Horne
Russell
Pyrgos
Strauss
Ashe
Fusaro
The Captain
Gray
Reid
Brown
Cusack

Not too shabby

So out of that lot DTH, Reid, Brown, Harley, Jedi, Swinson and the Coo with Ryan Wilson looking ready for a full 80 after his errmm..... "rest"., are all coming back as some of the more deluded posters on here are rather keen to avoid mentioning.

Warriors by 10 - meet Ospreys in the final a week on Saturday in Belfast

This is a totally different game and will require different tactics. Henry will start at SH as we will need some control this time. Niko may start on the wing, but that will depend on whether DTH is fit or not. If not then it is Niko or Lamont for the second wing spot. I suspect it will be SL and Niko will come off the bench for some havoc at the end.

I have not got a clue who will play in the front row. Murray and Welsh were both rested and will be fresh to play. Reid and Coo did well when they came on. McArthur still can't throw straight, is Brown likely to be fit. It really is anyone's guess, but any combo of the above would probably do a decent job!

As for the back row, well someone very deserving of a place is going to be very disappointed to miss out!

I'm hoping he'll go with:

15. Hogg
14. Seymour
13. Vernon
12. Horne
11. VDM (Mata if he's injured)
10. Russell
9. Prygos
8. Ashe
7. Fusaro
6. Strauss
5. Nakarawa
4. Gray
3. Welsh
2. Brown
1. Reid

I think we'll pull through but not by much and then all to play for the week after. The truth is we both have players to come back but the list Schiz gave is nothing compared to the players Ulster have to come back, (Piennar) nevertheless we put 26 unanswered points on you in the second half when you had many of those players on.

I would start with Cusack, he needs to justify why Glasgow have been so patient with him, need a big game even though he looked out of his feet at the end of the game yesterday.
Grant has shown some better form of late so i would start him and bring Gordon Reid in the 2nd half.
Maybe harsh on Harley but on form back row picks itself..

Also a lot have been cursing on some absentee but Maitland wouldn't start if everyone is fit and firing, the big blow are the 2 centres missing. Hopefully DTH is back for this one but the biggest mistake to make would be to rush him back if not 100%, Ulster know one thing or two about that.

123456789 wrote:I think we'll pull through but not by much and then all to play for the week after. The truth is we both have players to come back but the list Schiz gave is nothing compared to the players Ulster have to come back, (Piennar) nevertheless we put 26 unanswered points on you in the second half when you had many of those players on.

I wouldn't set too much store by that. Ulster knew at half time they had nothing to play for and only because there was no one else were forced to bring Pienaar on in the centre! I don't expect too many Ulster players were putting their bodies on the line to try to get an away trip to Thomond rather than Scotstoun.

It's really hard to tell anything by yesterdays game, because in the last twenty minutes it was actually in our favour to concede tries and avoid Munster. I was practically cheering on Glasgow by the end- if we had to be away from home, this is the game I wanted. I'm not accusing Ulster of deliberately giving up by any means, but once we lost touch we had little to nothing to play for and knew it.

It was a good outcome for both sides. Glasgow are at home and avoid Munster, Ulster avoid Munster... in case you haven't guessed I view Munster as outright favourites at this point. Maybe we can be marginal favourites if we win our semi, but right now go out and put your money on Munster. Strongest pack unless Ulster can get everyone fit, very consistent goal kickers, a mean defence, great leadership and Cup Rugby specialists with a sprinkling of proven big game players. I mean Glasgow are a good team, but are the Ulster coaches really going to pull out the stops to actually put us in a situation where we might face Munster away?

Notch wrote:It's really hard to tell anything by yesterdays game, because in the last twenty minutes it was actually in our favour to concede tries and avoid Munster. I was practically cheering on Glasgow by the end- if we had to be away from home, this is the game I wanted. I'm not accusing Ulster of deliberately giving up by any means, but once we lost touch we had little to nothing to play for and knew it.

It was a good outcome for both sides. Glasgow are at home and avoid Munster, Ulster avoid Munster... in case you haven't guessed I view Munster as outright favourites at this point. Maybe we can be marginal favourites if we win our semi, but right now go out and put your money on Munster. Strongest pack unless Ulster can get everyone fit, very consistent goal kickers, a mean defence, great leadership and Cup Rugby specialists with a sprinkling of proven big game players. I mean Glasgow are a good team, but are the Ulster coaches really going to pull out the stops to actually put us in a situation where we might face Munster away?

That may have been yours and other Ulster fans perspective on the game and I can understand that, but do you really think the Ulster coaches sent the message on to let Glasgow score 4 tries! That would be a very dangerous game to play and no doubt infringes the rules and certainly the spirit of the game.

I personally don't believe that and never got the impression that they were not trying. There were so many permutations anyway and the Ospreys game was on a knife edge right up to the end as well. To me Glasgow suddenly switched on, which they always have the ability to do and at the same time Ulster ran out of gas. At 20 mins to go though, the Ulster coaches did not know they were going to lose by 4 tries. The effect on their morale to have beaten Glasgow with a weakened team would have outweighed any benefit they got from not playing Munster in the semi!

Sure what's done is done. We lost, we play you again next week, and we win

SUFTUM!

BigGee wrote:

Notch wrote:It's really hard to tell anything by yesterdays game, because in the last twenty minutes it was actually in our favour to concede tries and avoid Munster. I was practically cheering on Glasgow by the end- if we had to be away from home, this is the game I wanted. I'm not accusing Ulster of deliberately giving up by any means, but once we lost touch we had little to nothing to play for and knew it.

It was a good outcome for both sides. Glasgow are at home and avoid Munster, Ulster avoid Munster... in case you haven't guessed I view Munster as outright favourites at this point. Maybe we can be marginal favourites if we win our semi, but right now go out and put your money on Munster. Strongest pack unless Ulster can get everyone fit, very consistent goal kickers, a mean defence, great leadership and Cup Rugby specialists with a sprinkling of proven big game players. I mean Glasgow are a good team, but are the Ulster coaches really going to pull out the stops to actually put us in a situation where we might face Munster away?

That may have been yours and other Ulster fans perspective on the game and I can understand that, but do you really think the Ulster coaches sent the message on to let Glasgow score 4 tries! That would be a very dangerous game to play and no doubt infringes the rules and certainly the spirit of the game.

I personally don't believe that and never got the impression that they were not trying. There were so many permutations anyway and the Ospreys game was on a knife edge right up to the end as well. To me Glasgow suddenly switched on, which they always have the ability to do and at the same time Ulster ran out of gas. At 20 mins to go though, the Ulster coaches did not know they were going to lose by 4 tries. The effect on their morale to have beaten Glasgow with a weakened team would have outweighed any benefit they got from not playing Munster in the semi!

Oh no, I don't think the message was going on to let Glasgow in for a second. I don't think thats something that happened, and I don't think that was the spirit of the game or the Ulster performance. I just don't believe anyone on the Ulster side was going to be giving everything out there and we obviously only brought on key players off the bench when we were unfortunately forced to by injury. We were unlucky in that regard, in that we had to bring on Jackson, Henderson and Bowe (and Pienaar out of position) when we would have preferred to leave them on the bench. So that was disappointing, especially in terms of the ramifications of possibly losing Franco. I think when Glasgow cut loose they are hard to handle but in a Cup situation the occasion requires you to find that extra gear. It was a Cup situation I suppose- For Glasgow. Ulster had nothing to lose or to gain once they got their second try. Had Ospreys got the fourth that wouldn't have mattered- that would have locked Munster out of the home semis anyway. So I'm not sure there's much to be read into the way the game finished with a view towards next week.

As to morale, the players are not going to be demoralised. If anything losing means there is a chip on the shoulder and a desire not to leave it at that. I'm sure Glasgow will take a lot of heart from the last half-hour, but I'm also sure they would already be confident at home against any one anyway.

Sorry to come so late to the party.
Ulster: made us fight for every blade of grass and almost wrested the initiative from us just before half time. No doubt they will be twice as determined on Friday.
Glasgow. Al Kellock and Dougie Hall Warriors to the last breath. Inspirational does not begin to describe them.
Ashe, Wilson and Strauss could have demolished a small bungalow with the bulldozing runs they made. Henners Piecrust should start at 9 as he offers a more grown up approach to the game: the MadMata can come on for the last twenty and ruffle everyone's feathers. While the Ulster fans are talking about who they will bring in to improve their side let's not forget that Hornee Furra Linee was pretty invisible in attack for most of yesterday so the rest will probably set him up for Friday night.

Finally, Feckless Rogue the future son-in-law does not know it yet but his stag weekend on Friday will be starting in a Sports Bar and not moving on until after the final whistle. Can anyone recommend one in Bournemouth?

Jimbo - you're in Bournemouth, man.

That's like asking if anyone knows of any half decent churches in Rome.

I thank you George, but it's one part of the south coast I have never graced with my presence. I realise there will be plenty of bars but it's being certain of catching the game that's exercising my grey cell(s).
My admiration for the Schizoid one rocketed when I met him in the Murrayfield Hotel for pre-Scotland-Wales cocktails. He had chosen that hostelry because it had big screen coverage of the Glasgow -Treviso match, and then berated the bar staff because it wasn't on when we arrived and the website had said it would be.
Any fool can get drunk on a Stag weekend in Bournemouth but this fool wants to kick it off wearing a Glasgow Warriors jersey and not look too out of place.

p.s. Richie Vernon!!! How much did he deserve that try yesterday?

You would never have thought at the beginning of the season that we would have a chance in a game like this without Alec Dunbar and Mark Bennett. All of us that laughed when RV changed to centre and I include myself in amongst that crowd now need to tuck into the humble pie. He has done just fine and must now be in the reckoning for the WC squad. He and Peter Horne (who seems to reserve his best games for Glasgow) wont let us down!

jimbopip wrote:I thank you George, but it's one part of the south coast I have never graced with my presence. I realise there will be plenty of bars but it's being certain of catching the game that's exercising my grey cell(s).

Just head down the Old Christchurch Road - Walkabout, Litten Tree, O'Neills and about 4 others.

You cannot go wrong and the whole night will certainly end well*.

*This might be a lie.

Yes, I had already targeted O'Neills as a possibility and Christchurch Road looks like two a.m. carnage waiting to happen.

I have a sneaky feeling that DTH will be in the squad for Friday night, ditto the Captain and Fraser Brown. Can't wait. How many sleeps?

Given you are a gentleman of a certain age Mr Pip, could I suggest you up your vitamin intake this week and ensure your Saga insurance is up to date.

Talking of social events, have secured berths at the Player Awards Dinner on Wednesday (with carer going as insurance against episodic attacks!).
Meanwhile in the real world carer, Bru and self along with North Stand Massif are planning an early shandy on Friday . Phew this giddy social whirl is making me feel quite feint

As much as I'm looking forward to this game, the gods have decided that a previously good mate should get married on Friday - in Belfast! - which means I will be watching it in a hotel bar

The better half has also decreed that 2 trips to Ulster in a week is not reasonable so the final is out as well. Woe is me

This should be a great contest. I can't make it through to Glasgow sadly, but will be glued to whatever channel is showing this.

Time to deliver Glasgow.

Herbst out for the rest of the season

Doak is hopeful that Van der Merwe can recover in time which contradicts some of the rumours I've been hearing. All others on the injury list should be available though.

Losing Herbst is a big loss, as will losing Van der Merwe if he can't make it.

Munchkin wrote:Herbst out for the rest of the season

Doak is hopeful that Van der Merwe can recover in time which contradicts some of the rumours I've been hearing. All others on the injury list should be available though.

Losing Herbst is a big loss, as will losing Van der Merwe if he can't make it.

You must have some physiotherapists if you can get him back. He looked well and truly buggered as he limped off!

Munchkin wrote:Herbst out for the rest of the season

Doak is hopeful that Van der Merwe can recover in time which contradicts some of the rumours I've been hearing. All others on the injury list should be available though.

Losing Herbst is a big loss, as will losing Van der Merwe if he can't make it.

Ah for fook sake!!

We'll have to dig deep to pull this out of the bag now. Plenty of big guns to come in to make a better fist of things next week but if we manage to scrape through against Glasgow I think we will be up against it now.

Munster looking very good at the minute, they did a number on our pack last week even with Herbst so the winner of Munster/Ospreys has to be favorites now although its all to play for.

Losing Herbst is a big loss, I guess than means it's between Lutton and Ross then? If only Lutton had of played all season maybe he would be in shape to do something instead of personal issues from a man who as a coach is supposed to check that stuff at the door

BigGee wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Herbst out for the rest of the season

Doak is hopeful that Van der Merwe can recover in time which contradicts some of the rumours I've been hearing. All others on the injury list should be available though.

Losing Herbst is a big loss, as will losing Van der Merwe if he can't make it.

You must have some physiotherapists if you can get him back. He looked well and truly buggered as he limped off!

He did BG. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see him back this season.

Lutton did well on Saturday considering he has been out of the team for so long. That was probably to get him up to match fitness for a bench spot this Friday.
Franco needs to be fit though for Ulster to stand a realistic chance, as that will free Henderson to play 6.

rodders wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Herbst out for the rest of the season

Doak is hopeful that Van der Merwe can recover in time which contradicts some of the rumours I've been hearing. All others on the injury list should be available though.

Losing Herbst is a big loss, as will losing Van der Merwe if he can't make it.

Ah for fook sake!!

We'll have to dig deep to pull this out of the bag now. Plenty of big guns to come in to make a better fist of things next week but if we manage to scrape through against Glasgow I think we will be up against it now.

Munster looking very good at the minute, they did a number on our pack last week even with Herbst so the winner of Munster/Ospreys has to be favorites now although its all to play for.

Yep, after watching how our pack buckled against Munster's in the scrum that's a worry, if we get that far.

Sadly, it looks as if the medical bulletins will be the most important part of both teams' week.
Just noticed that Glasgow are having their Player Awards dinner this week, this prompts two thoughts. Shouldn't we have it after the season is finished? (The MFL have theirs mid-January) Secondly, is Schiz attending in order to ensure that there will be no kebab shop stushies ?

Schiz tells me he will be in disguise as a latex set of ladyparts and be prowling kebab shops on the Great Western Road just to make sure that Ryans Grant and Wilson are nowhere to be seen.

jimbopip wrote:Sadly, it looks as if the medical bulletins will be the most important part of both teams' week.
Just noticed that Glasgow are having their Player Awards dinner this week, this prompts two thoughts. Shouldn't we have it after the season is finished? (The MFL have theirs mid-January) Secondly, is Schiz attending in order to ensure that there will be no kebab shop stushies ?

No, that's the 1872 Champions dinner. Our white tie and tails end of season bash, in celebration of being the first Scottish side to reach a European Cup Final, will be next week. I believe Al Kellock will be minding the door.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Sadly, it looks as if the medical bulletins will be the most important part of both teams' week.
Just noticed that Glasgow are having their Player Awards dinner this week, this prompts two thoughts. Shouldn't we have it after the season is finished? (The MFL have theirs mid-January) Secondly, is Schiz attending in order to ensure that there will be no kebab shop stushies ?

No, that's the 1872 Champions dinner. Our white tie and tails end of season bash, in celebration of being the first Scottish side to reach a European Cup Final, will be next week. I believe Al Kellock will be minding the door.

If he does that and only lets in rugby players you'll just need the one table then.

George Carlin wrote:Schiz tells me he will be in disguise as a latex set of ladyparts and be prowling kebab shops on the Great Western Road just to make sure that Ryans Grant and Wilson are nowhere to be seen.

An excellent idea from the Schizoid one. There's nothing more likely to calm down an inebriated Glaswegian with abnormally high testosterone levels than the sight of a latex set of ladyparts approaching down Byres Road at four in the morning cooing , "C'mere big man I want a wee word in your shell like."

jimbopip wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Sadly, it looks as if the medical bulletins will be the most important part of both teams' week.
Just noticed that Glasgow are having their Player Awards dinner this week, this prompts two thoughts. Shouldn't we have it after the season is finished? (The MFL have theirs mid-January) Secondly, is Schiz attending in order to ensure that there will be no kebab shop stushies ?

No, that's the 1872 Champions dinner. Our white tie and tails end of season bash, in celebration of being the first Scottish side to reach a European Cup Final, will be next week. I believe Al Kellock will be minding the door.

If he does that and only lets in rugby players you'll just need the one table then.

Actually I believe Edinburgh extend the invitation to other halves, as well as back room staff and administrators. Plenty to go around. I believe the Glasgow dinner is held the following evening - same menu, if you get my drift......

Anyway, regardless of the criteria, his is a more observational rather than hands-on role.

jimbopip wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Schiz tells me he will be in disguise as a latex set of ladyparts and be prowling kebab shops on the Great Western Road just to make sure that Ryans Grant and Wilson are nowhere to be seen.

An excellent idea from the Schizoid one. There's nothing more likely to calm down an inebriated Glaswegian with abnormally high testosterone levels than the sight of a latex set of ladyparts approaching down Byres Road at four in the morning cooing , "C'mere big man I want a wee word in your shell like."

This image is going to haunt me!

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Sadly, it looks as if the medical bulletins will be the most important part of both teams' week.
Just noticed that Glasgow are having their Player Awards dinner this week, this prompts two thoughts. Shouldn't we have it after the season is finished? (The MFL have theirs mid-January) Secondly, is Schiz attending in order to ensure that there will be no kebab shop stushies ?

No, that's the 1872 Champions dinner. Our white tie and tails end of season bash, in celebration of being the first Scottish side to reach a European Cup Final, will be next week. I believe Al Kellock will be minding the door.

If he does that and only lets in rugby players you'll just need the one table then.

Actually I believe Edinburgh extend the invitation to other halves, as well as back room staff and administrators. Plenty to go around. I believe the Glasgow dinner is held the following evening - same menu, if you get my drift......

.

just

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Sadly, it looks as if the medical bulletins will be the most important part of both teams' week.
Just noticed that Glasgow are having their Player Awards dinner this week, this prompts two thoughts. Shouldn't we have it after the season is finished? (The MFL have theirs mid-January) Secondly, is Schiz attending in order to ensure that there will be no kebab shop stushies ?

No, that's the 1872 Champions dinner. Our white tie and tails end of season bash, in celebration of being the first Scottish side to reach a European Cup Final, will be next week. I believe Al Kellock will be minding the door.

If he does that and only lets in rugby players you'll just need the one table then.

Actually I believe Edinburgh extend the invitation to other halves, as well as back room staff and administrators. Plenty to go around.

Absolutely. Everyone in Scotland knows well how Murrayfield makes the deck of the Marie Celeste look like the Battle of Thermopylae.

Well done referencing Thermopylae GC. Very apt since 300 will be just about the MFL's average attendance next season. Or the number of Edinburgh voters who would normally vote Labour.

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Sadly, it looks as if the medical bulletins will be the most important part of both teams' week.
Just noticed that Glasgow are having their Player Awards dinner this week, this prompts two thoughts. Shouldn't we have it after the season is finished? (The MFL have theirs mid-January) Secondly, is Schiz attending in order to ensure that there will be no kebab shop stushies ?

No, that's the 1872 Champions dinner. Our white tie and tails end of season bash, in celebration of being the first Scottish side to reach a European Cup Final, will be next week. I believe Al Kellock will be minding the door.

If he does that and only lets in rugby players you'll just need the one table then.

Actually I believe Edinburgh extend the invitation to other halves, as well as back room staff and administrators. Plenty to go around.

Absolutely. Everyone in Scotland knows well how Murrayfield makes the deck of the Marie Celeste look like the Battle of Thermopylae.

You couldn't be more wrong. Ben Atiga is on the staff now - we're going to need a bigger boat.....

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Sadly, it looks as if the medical bulletins will be the most important part of both teams' week.
Just noticed that Glasgow are having their Player Awards dinner this week, this prompts two thoughts. Shouldn't we have it after the season is finished? (The MFL have theirs mid-January) Secondly, is Schiz attending in order to ensure that there will be no kebab shop stushies ?

No, that's the 1872 Champions dinner. Our white tie and tails end of season bash, in celebration of being the first Scottish side to reach a European Cup Final, will be next week. I believe Al Kellock will be minding the door.

If he does that and only lets in rugby players you'll just need the one table then.

Actually I believe Edinburgh extend the invitation to other halves, as well as back room staff and administrators. Plenty to go around. I believe the Glasgow dinner is held the following evening - same menu, if you get my drift......

Anyway, regardless of the criteria, his is a more observational rather than hands-on role.

There are some public school traditions that are simply too outré for the simple folk of the west.

Losing Herbst is big. Very big. I think we can and will have parity in the scrum with Glasgow, but with Herbst fit and on board we would be targeting scrum dominance. And if we do manage to get past Glasgow, Munster will actually have an advantage over us in the Final.

On a slight tangent; how did the Ulster fans enjoy the trip to Scotstoun? Obviously the balmy weather and unseasonably hot conditions aside.

Notch wrote:Losing Herbst is big. Very big. I think we can and will have parity in the scrum with Glasgow, but with Herbst fit and on board we would be targeting scrum dominance. And if we do manage to get past Glasgow, Munster will actually have an advantage over us in the Final.

Surely VdM is a bigger loss for you Notch? I think that you will do fine without Herbst.