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

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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

No. Sanity would prevail if Clownshoes was cited. I feel can safely predict that at least one set of fans will be crying foul late on Friday evening.

clivemcl wrote:

Notch wrote:What's confusing is there never seemed to be any reason to cite based on the footage in the public domain. Had assumed/dreaded there was another camera angle that revealed something untoward that wasn't broadcast/made public, but evidently that is not the case. So can't comprehend the decision to cite him in the first place.

Did Glasgow report the incident?

Honestly, I do not know what happened to prompt the citing commissioner to call it up.

Munchkin wrote:

Notch wrote:What's confusing is there never seemed to be any reason to cite based on the footage in the public domain. Had assumed/dreaded there was another camera angle that revealed something untoward that wasn't broadcast/made public, but evidently that is not the case. So can't comprehend the decision to cite him in the first place.

There was nothing in it. I was half convinced I was looking at the wrong section of the video until reading the Telegraph article this afternoon. It's a farce and it's something that needs corrected.

The slightly annoying thing is that in the process of discovering there was nothing to cite, the panel uncover foul play  from the opposite team that the officials missed. Double ineptitude!

I know citings are reserved for cardable offences - just saying!

Yeah, well, the holding in the ruck stuff is frustrating but it happens all the time. It's niggly and cynical but it happens to a certain extent in most games to be honest. Just remember it the next time you hear Glasgow fans going on about Munster and their niggly off-the-ball antics

That's the irony, Clive. It was obvious that at least one Glasgow player was holding Herring in, while the complete opposite is true in Herring's citing.

Notch wrote:Yeah, well, the holding in the ruck stuff is frustrating but it happens all the time. It's niggly and cynical but it happens to a certain extent in most games to be honest. Just remember it the next time you hear Glasgow fans going on about Munster and their niggly off-the-ball antics

Notch, I'm on the record as saying I hate dirty play or the 'dark arts' as some like to call it. In a game where we claim to be so honourable - respecting the ref, not diving etc... How exactly does that moral standing fit in with leg holding, shirt pulling, blocking and sly digs. 

It shouldn't exist, its not a skill, it's not honourable, its similar to the actions of spoilt children.

I've also said earlier on this thread - the holding etc is quite often not an attempt to gain an advantage in open play, but rather a deliberate tactic of provocation hoping for a yellow or red delivered to the player who loses his patience with you. 

I'll never praise an Ulster player for it. And would hate it if we won a game off of such 'dark arts'.

It may be, and I really hope to god this isn't the case, a deliberate ploy to unsettle Ulster this week by Glasgow if they did report it. I doubt it is, primarily because it seems very far-fetched and doesn't seem like Townsend, Munro or Kellock's style but it does seem to be the way rugby is going.

The problem with that is if it was Townsend who reported this, then why? Even though it does seem far fetched, what other grounds did he have for making a complaint?

I think it should be established whether Glasgow did report anything before people get into a heated debate about it...

RDW_Scotland wrote:I think it should be established whether Glasgow did report anything before people get into a heated debate about it...

Indeed, but Townsend and Glasgow have previous in terms of trying to influence the citing process when Ulster are concerned- whether you think they were right or wrong. Personally don't see the sense in suggesting they did it again without evidence.

RDW_Scotland wrote:I think it should be established whether Glasgow did report anything before people get into a heated debate about it...

I wouldn't get heated about it just yet. It does look that way, but I simply don't know the truth of it.

I'm not happy about this citing regardless of whether it was Townsend pushing for a citing or Minto alone making that call. It shouldn't have happened, and Minto at the very least should answer for it.

The Weegies are rattled. Fearful of Ulster's firsts. And soap.

SecretFly wrote:

Pete330v2 wrote:"(Mind you they will be lucky to start with 12 fit men).."

I'll have you know that my other half thinks Ulster have quite a few fit men. Her favourite is Tommy Bowe. She thinks he's very fit indeed.

Not the old Tommy Bowe Sexpot Bandwagon starting up again pre-WC???

Oh dear, it'll be like repeating episodes of Last of the Summer Wine.... them old folk 'ill never die!

The Tommy Bowe sexpot bandwagon never stops, Fly!

I'm only just catching up on things and as I thought, nothing to for Herring to answer to. Whoever brought this to the attention of the citing panel needs to man-up and explain themselves or at least be consistent and trawl every minute of rugby from here on in and pull anyone on anything that looks remotely physical. What the hell is happening to rugby union?

Anyway, time for the headline "Herring gets off the hook" or perhaps "Herring slips the net"

On another note.....OF COURSE THE TOMMY BOWE SEXPOT WAGON NEVER STOPS FLY!!!!!

Pete330v2 wrote:I'm only just catching up on things and as I thought, nothing to for Herring to answer to. Whoever brought this to the attention of the citing panel needs to man-up and explain themselves or at least be consistent and trawl every minute of rugby from here on in and pull anyone on anything that looks remotely physical. What the hell is happening to rugby union?

Anyway, time for the headline "Herring gets off the hook" or perhaps "Herring slips the net"

On another note.....OF COURSE THE TOMMY BOWE SEXPOT WAGON NEVER STOPS FLY!!!!!

Oh yeah it's like a tabloids dream things like that

I don't think you can accuse Glasgow of anything. What you can do is give the citing official a kick in  the hole and a warning. We probably won't hear about it but in the SH they do things a bit more publicly. I'm not sure which approach is better

I don't think Glasgow will have anything to do with it. Innocent until proven guilty. There was rightly or wrongly, suspicion of a stamp. He was cleared let's all move on and look forward to a great game and hopefully a great result. Ulster are probably my second or third team in the league and I normally wish them well but every club has their bug bears. Ours being Clancy as previously mentioned, I doubt there's much in any of them to be honest.

I have it on good authority that the citings came out of a standard post match review and were nothing to do with Glasgow management.

George Carlin wrote:I have it on good authority that the citings came out of a standard post match review and were nothing to do with Glasgow management.

Unless there is some evidence I don't know why anything would believe anything different

Having read a little on t'other forum it seems the problem predates this citing. Apparently during the disciplinary for Roger Wilson and Luke Marshall (which were both farcical) the observations of the referee (the young promising Welsh lad) were overlooked which ulster took issue with. 

I'm not sure the issue ulster had is anything to do with Glasgow perse and more to do with a few disciplinary officers in the SRU

It is strange that the Citing Commissioner saw something amiss in the Herring incident and nothing wrong in the Diack one. Is there a trend emerging where Ulster players get cited after playing Glasgow?

Of course if an incident has been referred to the CC and he feels unable to adjudicate on it then he is bound to pass it on to higher scrutiny.

He should only cite if he thinks a red card offence has been committed. There's absolutely no evidence from the video that this was the case. The citing panel never mentioned any other evidence, close-ups, camera angles, as they did last week.
If all Minto had to go on was the same evidence we have seen then you would have to ask why cite?
Apparently the Diack incident was brought to the citing commissioners attention and he ruled that there was nothing in it. If that's true then his citing of Herring is all the more bizarre.

I have a conspiracy for you all perhaps the SRU are mounting an attempt to take down Ulster one citing at a time in retribution for the Stuart hogg saga. This will come to a head on Saturday when mysteriously the SRU will offer the Ulster team transport, now instead of a bus, Scott Johnson will arrive. When asked what was going on Scotty will inform them "we promised you a coach". He will then talk to the Ulster players for roughly 30 seconds and thus reducing them to a kick and chase game, three number 8s and a series of sound bites that will disract them from his inadequecies. Ulster will then employ him, and then promote him to deity status without any viable reason and he'll just talk to people and the SRU will have succeeded.

The Saturday after we beat them on the Friday

Don Alfonso wrote:The Weegies are rattled. Fearful of Ulster's firsts. And soap.

Is that the same firsts who were all on the pitch when we ran in 4 tries last Saturday ?

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:

Don Alfonso wrote:The Weegies are rattled. Fearful of Ulster's firsts. And soap.

Is that the same firsts who were all on the pitch when we ran in 4 tries last Saturday ?

No, I'm thinking more of the likes of Dan Tuohy, Darren Cave, Jared Payne, Craig Gilroy - those guys who were at home, preparing for this week.

In homage to our poster IanBru, did you know that 'A Slender Outgrowing' is an anagram of 'Ulster Are Going Down'?

I did not. Every day is a school day.

Anyone care to start an "Ulster/Glasgow Going Down" thread?

I miss those.

The good old days when chunky hadn't discovered the internet and Ulster were top of the fair-play league. You could tell opposition fans that they were going down confident in the knowledge that they would take it with a huge pinch of salt.
Anyway, onwards with some ref bashing.....

I am growing very nervous in the build up to this game. Not because I'm wooried that the Weegies will play the game of their lives or that Ulster will resort to the horrible dross we witnessed for a large part of the season. I'm not even having bad dreams about red cards in the early stages of an important match for something not worthy of a yellow. I would say Glasgow are becoming a league favourite of mine and if we lose to a team like them I can take it like a man.
What worries me is the fact that George Clancy is the head-master for this match. He won't have any bias towards either team, he'll officiate badly for both so in that respect it'll be a level playing field. It's the fact that he likes the sound of his own whistle and what could be a fantastic spectacle could very well end up being more akin to the Clancy show

I hear you, Pete, but I would urge nothing more than another Valium and a reminder that this too, shall pass.

Worrying that Clancy might have a bad match and make some crucial mistakes is like worrying that 101 Dalmations might have a lot of dogs in it. Nothing to be done.

Read it and weep, Weegies. This is your doom:

Ulster team & replacements to play Glasgow Warriors, Guinness PRO12 Play Off, Scotstoun, Friday 22nd May (19:45 kick off): (15-9): L Ludik; T Bowe, J Payne, D Cave, C Gilroy, P Jackson, R Pienaar; (1-8): C Black, R Best (C), R Lutton, L Stevenson, D Tuohy, I Henderson, C Henry, R Wilson; Replacements (16-23): R Herring, A Warwick, B Ross, R Diack, S Reidy, P Marshall, S McCloskey, M Allen.

Glasgow team is up and at first glance it's the same starting XV as Saturday except ;
Henners starts at 9
MadMata starts at 11
Fraser Brown starts at hooker

1. Bane
2. Brown
3. De Klerk
4. Wee Jonny
5. The Captain
6. Bluto
7. Fozzie
8. Ashe
9. Henners
10. Dancer
11. Mata ( who will be very sensible now, having spent an evening in Schiz's company)
12. Hornee Furra Linee
13 Richie the try scorer
14 Seymour
15. Hogg

16. WeePee
17. Shrek
18. The Mighty Coo
19. Naka
20. Batman
21 Meatball
22. Schlong
23 DTH

No real surprises there, but if we get injuries during the game (or are chasing it) we could see
9. Mata
10. Hornee
12. Schlong
13. DTH
That could be brilliant or Keystone Kops.

However, the most obvious change will be Niko to 9 and DTH on the wing.

The strongest team we can put out in the circumstances. Extreme bad luck that our first choice tight head and first choice lock are both ruled out with injuries in subsequent games. With those two in I would be much, much more confident. We'd really have no weaknesses on paper. Now our scrum and line out will have to answer a few questions. 6-15 is an excellent selection mind you.

Lutton and Reidy brought in at this late hour raises questions of why, exactly, they haven't seen more game time.

It's crazy that Lutton hasn't had more game time. I don't why he was dropped but it looks like a really poor decision now that he's starting ahead of Ross. It's a bit late now to be starting him against the top Pro12 team, but fingers crossed that he will at least hold his own, and that Stevenson doesn't do anything stupid. Or indeed that any of them don't do anything stupid.

Still, we have a chance, and I think we will come away with a win, just.

Notch wrote:The strongest team we can put out in the circumstances. Extreme bad luck that our first choice tight head and first choice lock are both ruled out with injuries in subsequent games. With those two in I would be much, much more confident. We'd really have no weaknesses on paper. Now our scrum and line out will have to answer a few questions. 6-15 is an excellent selection mind you.

Lutton and Reidy brought in at this late hour raises questions of why, exactly, they haven't seen more game time.

Think I'd have preferred Henderson in the second row with Diack at 6 for this, Stevenson just doesn't fill me with confidence plus Ross being second choice for most of the season then being overtaken by Lutton when it matters is a baffling one maybe Geoff called that one wrong

Interesting that Stevenson is in rather than Hendo going to second row.

SUFTUM

Ten internationals come back into an Ulster side that boasts 304 test caps.

So can we assume that Ulster fans can have no complaints if the unthinkable happens and the Beautiful Boys of Belfast get gubbed?

George Carlin wrote:

Ten internationals come back into an Ulster side that boasts 304 test caps.

So can we assume that Ulster fans can have no complaints if the unthinkable happens and the Beautiful Boys of Belfast get gubbed?

Clancys the ref so both sides will have a reason to complain after all is said and done

It's a good Glasgow line-up with plenty to come from the bench. In terms of injuries Glasgow are pretty much at full strength I would argue, with the notable exceptions of Dunbar and Bennett.

Apparently we now know two things about Alex Dunbar;
his acl injury is making "good progress"
he's a decent bloke.
So says our correspondent in the west end.

None of them were at the bevvy either - even Batman, which was a lucky thing for everyone else present

Can I just pause this thread to tell everyone to go the OP and just admire Kirsty Hume (Glasgow's team rep) for a moment. Just sit and look for a second. You're welcome. Now back to me.

No offence to the Dockery or anything.

George Carlin wrote:Can I just pause this thread to tell everyone to go the OP and just admire Kirsty Hume (Glasgow's team rep) for a moment. Just sit and look for a second. You're welcome. Now back to me.

No offence to the Dockery or anything.

Wonderful.

George Carlin wrote:Can I just pause this thread to tell everyone to go the OP and just admire Kirsty Hume (Glasgow's team rep) for a moment. Just sit and look for a second. You're welcome. Now back to me.

No offence to the Dockery or anything.

Not only is she industrial-strength bland and meh, she's from Ayr.

What are you trying to pull here?

And who's the Ulster one?

The interesting thing from the Glasgow perspective seems to be who Toonie now sees as his best two TH props, Cussack and de Klerk, probably not who most of would have chosen earlier on in the season.

De Klerk has been a bit od a surprise package, operating very well mainly under the radar and suddenly began to get notice just before he suffered a groin injury. The fact that he came straight back into the starting line up last week suggests how much he is rated. Big Mike keeps his place on the bench and will be an imposing prospect for the opposition LH towards the end of the game. He is slowly returning towards his best form and just needs the run of games he is beginning to get. Again being willing to keep him on for 2 years without playing shows how he is rated.

Murray and Welsh must be disappointed but it is probably understandable, with JW moving on and EM not displaying the desired form. I wonder if he is going to stay next season. maybe one more to cover the WC and let the youngsters bed in properly.

Fraser Brown coming back will help the front row and the loose as well and I really do hope that MacArthur has been practising his throwing this week!

Don Alfonso wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Can I just pause this thread to tell everyone to go the OP and just admire Kirsty Hume (Glasgow's team rep) for a moment. Just sit and look for a second. You're welcome. Now back to me.

No offence to the Dockery or anything.

Not only is she industrial-strength bland and meh, she's from Ayr.

What are you trying to pull here?

And who's the Ulster one?

Nice attempt at trying to avoid the unfortunate truth that you are a rabid Downton Abbey fanboi. Allegedly.

Michelle Dockery is actually there for ironic purposes as she is a massive Munster fan.

Any non-blue suggestions as to an alternative Ulster rep may well be accommodated.

A woman from Ayr? An Englsih Munster fan?

If you can't take these things seriously and give them the earnest consderation they are due, GC, I would request that you don't do them at all.

BigGee wrote:The interesting thing from the Glasgow perspective seems to be who Toonie now sees as his best two TH props, Cussack and de Klerk, probably not who most of would have chosen earlier on in the season.

De Klerk has been a bit od a surprise package, operating very well mainly under the radar and suddenly began to get notice just before he suffered a groin injury. The fact that he came straight back into the starting line up last week suggests how much he is rated. Big Mike keeps his place on the bench and will be an imposing prospect for the opposition LH towards the end of the game. He is slowly returning towards his best form and just needs the run of games he is beginning to get. Again being willing to keep him on for 2 years without playing shows how he is rated.

Murray and Welsh must be disappointed but it is probably understandable, with JW moving on and EM not displaying the desired or form. I wonder if he is going to stay next season. maybe one more to cover the WC and let the youngsters bed in properly.

Fraser Brown coming back will help the front row and the loose as well and I really do hope that MacArthur has been practising his throwing this week!

Fixed that for you Gee. No charge

It's looks like it should be a cracker tomorrow. I can't see anything between the teams so home advantage or whichever side of the bed Clownshoes gets out of tomorrow morning may prove the deciding factor.

Don Alfonso wrote:A woman from Ayr? An Englsih Munster fan?

If you can't take these things seriously and give them the earnest consderation they are due, GC, I would request that you don't do them at all.

You're quite right. Would you accept the image below instead as a more accurate depiction of Belfast womanhood?:

Aye, she's a decent spud.