Champions Cup Pool 1: Oyonnax v Ulster, 10 January

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Union Sportive Oyonnax Rugby v Ulster Rugby
Sunday 10 January 2016
KO 14:00
Stade Charles Mathon, Oyonnax

Live on beIN Sports / Sky Sports

Referee Luke Pearce (England)
Touch Judge 1 Paul Dix (England)
Touch Judge 2 Andrew Small (England)
Fourth Official Thomas Chereque (France)
TMO Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor Clayton Thomas (Wales)
Citing Commissioner Ray Wilton (Wales)

A. Head to Head

#These teams are meeting for the first time.

B. Recent European Form

Oyonnax Rugby

19/12/15: Saracens 55 - 13 Oyonnax
13/12/15: Oyonnax 10 - 45 Saracens
21/11/15: Toulouse 24 - 18 Oyonnax

Ulster Rugby

20/12/15: Toulouse 23 - 25 Ulster
11/12/15: Ulster 38 - 0 Toulouse
20/11/15: Ulster 9 - 27 Saracens

C. Teams

Oyonnax Rugby


(15-9) Q Etienne, D Codjo, A Taufa, E Sheridan, U Tawalo, N Robinson, J Blanc
(1-8) L Delboulbès, J Maurouard, M Clerc, G Robson, F Metz, P Gunther, M Fa'asavalu, P Wannenburg

Replacements (16-23)16 Bordes, S Wright, H Pungea, L Power, V Maafu, A Aziza, R Clegg, D Ikpefan

Ulster Rugby


(15-9): C Gilroy; S Arnold, L Marshall, S McCloskey, R Scholes; I Humphreys, P Marshall;
(1-8): K McCall, R Best (capt), R Lutton; L Stevenson, F van der Merwe; R Diack, C Henry, R Wilson

Replacements (16-23): R Herring, C Black, B Ross, N Williams, Sean Reidy, R Pienaar, P Jackson, L Ludik.

Most obvious elbow on the ground i have ever seen

oh his feet, total Poopie

That should have been our penalty and would have given us the lead. Feck it

ref has had a rush of blood

Not much you can do when decisions like that go against you. That was very poor and should have been an Ulster penalty.

WOW

Congrats Ulster, you will be bearing the flag of Pro 12 teams this season.

Ulster win a scrum against the head with one lock and two back rows on the pitch to win the game...

Rugby, blydi hell.

Some match! Balls from Paddy Jackson to nail those kicks

Flippin eck!!!!
Game of 2 halves but what a final scrum.
WOW

Paddy Jackson rapidly becoming a talisman...

Ruan Pienaar its all been said...

Kyle McCall - what a player

I don't think anyone will be asking questions of jackson this week

Well done Ulster, that was some turn around.

Time and time again I hear that Paddy Jackson's kicking will keep him out of the Irish team or that he cant kick under pressure, well he had some great kicks today and that last penalty he was under immense pressure and kicked it. He is certainly the form 10 in Ireland by some way and if he stay's fit and in form, should be selected over Sexton.

We have to get a LBP next week really- 18 points might not be enough.

But I've got to say, Paddy Jackson, he got criticised last week- he didn't even hesitate when we got that late penalty. It was an instant reaction, I want the ball. You can't keep him down, he's absolutely sure of himself even when it goes against him.

Thats the mental strength and leadership we lacked in the first-half.

eirebilly wrote:Well done Ulster, that was some turn around.

Time and time again I hear that Paddy Jackson's kicking will keep him out of the Irish team or that he cant kick under pressure, well he had some great kicks today and that last penalty he was under immense pressure and kicked it. He is certainly the form 10 in Ireland by some way and if he stay's fit and in form, should be selected over Sexton.

Agree re selection over Sexton.

And McCloskey made a big statement today as well for a place.

Kyle McCall is absolutely mega this season and to think they were trying to change this guys position.

toml wrote:ref has had a rush of blood

He was awful all game

neilthom7 wrote:Kyle McCall is absolutely mega this season and to think they were trying to change this guys position.

They did change his position, he started out as a TH, then moved to LH, then to hooker then back to LH and he was a good TH to begin with

Great second half but Ulster so dependent on Pienaar and Jackson, Marshall and Humphries nowhere near this sort of standard.

Well that's one in the eye for last weeks Jackson doubters

Horrible first half. Have to think that the plan was not to reveal to much for next weeks game, mixed with some poor play from the likes of Humphs.

Just delighted to get the win, although we might need to get a bonus point from next weeks game.

We're still in it

Kyle McCall

Notch wrote:We have to get a LBP next week really- 18 points might not be enough.

But I've got to say, Paddy Jackson, he got criticised last week- he didn't even hesitate when we got that late penalty. It was an instant reaction, I want the ball. You can't keep him down, he's absolutely sure of himself even when it goes against him.

Thats the mental strength and leadership we lacked in the first-half.

Fantastic mental strength from Paddy Jackson. Great to see, he really is going to be an exceptional player.

marty2086 wrote:

toml wrote:ref has had a rush of blood

He was awful all game

Ref was absolutely awful but thank god we got the win. I still couldn't care less about this Franglo cup mind you but we needed the tonic that 2nd half provided.

Kyle McCall take a huge bow.

Ian Humphreys please close the door on your way out

He's already pretty good- certainly he'll be making his way back into the Ireland match day squad. McCloskey should probably be joining him.

Brilliant turnaround and I agree with previous posters that McCall and McCoskey were great but for me the key was the half-backs. We have a fantastic pair but our dependence on the Ruan/Paddy combination is very worrying.

Pete330v2 wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

toml wrote:ref has had a rush of blood

He was awful all game

Ref was absolutely awful but thank god we got the win. I still couldn't care less about this Franglo cup mind you but we needed the tonic that 2nd half provided.

Kyle McCall take a huge bow.

Ian Humphreys please close the door on your way out

The calls he made at the scrum were more wrong than right, he gave a couple of knock ons that were picked up by players in front of the knock on and didn't upgrade to a penalty and Chris Henry looked like he had to explain to him the game was over rather than a reset

We definitely need a new backup 10, Olding and Marshall may need to be the stop gap because Humphries is a liability

brennomac wrote:Great second half but Ulster so dependent on Pienaar and Jackson, Marshall and Humphries nowhere near this sort of standard.

Absolutely, and not just there- Wilson and Stevenson not really up to it in the pack. Backrow and halfbacks depth is very poor, really only the first choices in those positions are European Cup standard.

If we make it out of this group, and we still need a win and two bonus points to do that, I can't see beyond the quarter-final. But that will sell season tickets and create interest, and push us on. I think our season depends on the impact returning players from injury make because this group has played a lot of rugby. We need to get up the table and quickly in the Pro12. Thats our real chance of success this year.

Notch wrote:

brennomac wrote:Great second half but Ulster so dependent on Pienaar and Jackson, Marshall and Humphries nowhere near this sort of standard.

Absolutely, and not just there- Wilson and Stevenson not really up to it in the pack. Backrow and halfbacks depth is very poor, really only the first choices in those positions are European Cup standard.

If we make it out of this group, and we still need a win and two bonus points to do that, I can't see beyond the quarter-final. But that will sell season tickets and create interest, and push us on. I think our season depends on the impact returning players from injury make because this group has played a lot of rugby. We need to get up the table and quickly in the Pro12. Thats our real chance of success this year.

Unfortunately our first choice back row is at the lower end of European cup standard.

We really need top quality to replace Nick, he has been a beast in the ruck this year

Fair play Ulster, that was a pretty good comeback Good that Oyonnax gave it a fair crack too. I reckon there's life in this cup yet

Cyril wrote:Fair play Ulster, that was a pretty good comeback Good that Oyonnax gave it a fair crack too. I reckon there's life in this cup yet

Just about, the euro weekends just aren't the same anymore.

Good win Ulster, must have been tough to come back from that deficit. I'd like to see you go and beat Saracens, they represent everything that is evil in rugby .

mikey_dragon wrote:Good win Ulster, must have been tough to come back from that deficit. I'd like to see you go and beat Saracens, they represent everything that is evil in rugby .

+1

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Cyril wrote:Fair play Ulster, that was a pretty good comeback Good that Oyonnax gave it a fair crack too. I reckon there's life in this cup yet

Just about, the euro weekends just aren't the same anymore.

They certainly aren't the same for Leinster that's for sure. They're bringing about as much as the Italians to the competition at the moment There's no real difference in the tournament itself.

mikey_dragon wrote:Good win Ulster, must have been tough to come back from that deficit. I'd like to see you go and beat Saracens, they represent everything that is evil in rugby .

Ulster are the evil ones. Sarries are just misunderstood.

Cyril wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Cyril wrote:Fair play Ulster, that was a pretty good comeback Good that Oyonnax gave it a fair crack too. I reckon there's life in this cup yet

Just about, the euro weekends just aren't the same anymore.

They certainly aren't the same for Leinster that's for sure. They're bringing about as much as the Italians to the competition at the moment There's no real difference in the tournament itself.

Never mind Leinster they have 3 of the damn things. The split coverage has ruined the competition and crowds have been down for a lot if the teams.

Leinster fans whilst doing well.

Wonderful compeition, brilliant

Leinster fans whilst doing crap.

Awful competition just isn't that good anymore.

The reason the crowds are down is because those teams have been doing crap end off.

Hell IMO the Competition reached it's peak back in 2001 and 2002 seasons.

Never been as good a competition since then.

Welly wrote: Leinster fans whilst doing well.

Wonderful compeition, brilliant

Leinster fans whilst doing crap.

Awful competition just isn't that good anymore.

The reason the crowds are down is because those teams have been doing crap end off.

Hell IMO the Competition reached it's peak back in 2001 and 2002 seasons.

Never been as good a competition since then.

what?

LeinsterFan4life wrote:
what?

Exactly my reaction whilst reading your posts.

As a Munsterfan, I believe that the championship isn't the same as it once was but I have to admit that is because Munster aren't doing as well as they used too. Sour grapes on my part

Munchkin wrote:Well that's one in the eye for last weeks Jackson doubters

Horrible first half. Have to think that the plan was not to reveal to much for next weeks game, mixed with some poor play from the likes of Humphs.

Just delighted to get the win, although we might need to get a bonus point from next weeks game.

We're still in it

I pointed out Jackson's inconsistency last week, but a brilliant performance one week later does not make him consistent. Maybe he can put a string of performances together before the 6N to show he is a genuine contender to Sexton (who looked back to his old self on Friday).

If Ulster want to do anything in Europe they have to get a home quarter, and that means bettering the Saracens performance at Kingspan next weekend and hoping the final round works out in their favour. The chances of all that happening are tiny, so they should concentrate on finishing in the top six in the League. Making the Cup quarters is one thing but it could end up being at the expense of qualifying for the ERC Cup next year (which would kill ST renewals).

This Oyonnax game has shown that Ulster simply do not have the quality in depth to be serious contenders in Europe and they can't keep flogging the handful of quality players they do have. Maybe guys like Wilson, Humphreys and Stevenson can still pass themselves in the Pro12 but they are so far away from European standard that Ulster might nearly have been better starting with 12 men!

The Great Aukster wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Well that's one in the eye for last weeks Jackson doubters

Horrible first half. Have to think that the plan was not to reveal to much for next weeks game, mixed with some poor play from the likes of Humphs.

Just delighted to get the win, although we might need to get a bonus point from next weeks game.

We're still in it

I pointed out Jackson's inconsistency last week, but a brilliant performance one week later does not make him consistent. Maybe he can put a string of performances together before the 6N to show he is a genuine contender to Sexton (who looked back to his old self on Friday).

If Ulster want to do anything in Europe they have to get a home quarter, and that means bettering the Saracens performance at Kingspan next weekend and hoping the final round works out in their favour. The chances of all that happening are tiny, so they should concentrate on finishing in the top six in the League. Making the Cup quarters is one thing but it could end up being at the expense of qualifying for the ERC Cup next year (which would kill ST renewals).

This Oyonnax game has shown that Ulster simply do not have the quality in depth to be serious contenders in Europe and they can't keep flogging the handful of quality players they do have. Maybe guys like Wilson, Humphreys and Stevenson can still pass themselves in the Pro12 but they are so far away from European standard that Ulster might nearly have been better starting with 12 men!

Define consistent? One miss, two? None? Last week Jackson was kicking against the wind, when he missed from a difficult angle. Still, he was on target, just falling short from long range, in those conditions. It happens to the best of kickers. For the last kick, it was from almost the same position as the first, and a kick that Jackson shouldn't have attempted. Had Pienaar been on I wouldn't have complained had he attempted it because we know he has the range to put those kicks over. Jackson had no difficulty putting that last long range kick between the sticks today, under huge pressure. It didn't have the angle of the one he missed last week, and it wasn't in the same conditions, but still a very difficult kick, and one that shows Jackson is progressing in his kicking off the tee.

We can only hope that things go our way in reaching a quarter. The failure to pick up a bonus point may cost us in the end. I'm sure many will disagree with me, but I don't want us to get past the quarters. With injuries, and guys just coming back, we haven't the squad to compete for a final, and I don't think we should risk going for it, and ultimately losing out on a Pro12 challenge. My wish for this season was to finish in the top 6. That was it. Now I want us to finish in a top 4 place, and reach the Euro quarters. Things have changed since Kiss took over.

No doubt we still have issues with depth, although I don't think we really have an issue with the 2nd row. We do have an issue with the backrow, we will miss Williams very much unless we get an outstanding replacement, but there is a belief that a big signing is on the cards. We are stuck with Wilson though, and the backrow will not be any more, or much more, secure than it is now. I think Diack was very good today. We have a serious lack of depth after Jackson, and to a lesser degree, Pienaar. Humphs shouldn't be in the squad, but we don't have any alternative. Oldings return may help in that regard. I'm happy with wee Marshall. He isn't up there with the best, but he does a good job most of the time, and gives us real attacking options in the last quarter of games.

I wasn't happy with some of the performances today, and to be honest I did point the finger at the likes of Humphs, but Best himself lays the blame of that first half directly at the feet of the forwards.

eirebilly wrote:As a Munsterfan, I believe that the championship isn't the same as it once was but I have to admit that is because Munster aren't doing as well as they used too. Sour grapes on my part

For me that has nothing to do with it. I've been lucky enough to watch Leinster win it 3 times so if they never win it again so be it.

Leinster got to a semi final last year and I still didn't enjoy the competition at all. European weekends used to be the highlight of the rugby season for me and every game was unmissable. Now I find myself barely watching the provinces play. I can't quite point out why, but the comp just doesn't feel the same. If people think this is better than fair play enjoy it.

LeinsterFan4life, I do believe that the competition has lost something but I cannot write off the fact that with the provinces not performing that has an influence on how I feel about it.

Its still pretty much the same teams and the same competition so that's the only reason I can see for me not being so fanatical about it. I honestly believe that I would not feel like this if the provinces were dominating it. so, its sour grapes from my side

I'm afraid the competition has lost a lot in the last few years IMO. There simply is no answer to the Franglo hold on the tournament, a hold they got by throwing tantrums despite their salary caps etc. It just means that I feel getting beyond group stages is all we can hope for. We can only fall short of anything else as we juggle this tournament and the Pro12. We don't have the squad depth and add the pressures of the NIQ restrictions and we're in a hole we can't get out of.

Munchkin wrote:Humphs shouldn't be in the squad, but we don't have any alternative. Oldings return may help in that regard. I'm happy with wee Marshall. He isn't up there with the best, but he does a good job most of the time, and gives us real attacking options in the last quarter of games.

I wasn't happy with some of the performances today, and to be honest I did point the finger at the likes of Humphs, but Best himself lays the blame of that first half directly at the feet of the forwards.

The forwards were too timid in the first half, were harshly punished at the scrum a few times but Humphries didn't help matters with some of his decisions. Marshall has seen a serious drop off in his form and ability in the last 2 seasons. It used to be he'd be able to step and you'd worry he'd have a bad game because he has it in him, now its mostly hoping for a good game. His decision to throw wildly to no one on the Oyonnax line led directly their second try and was a schoolboy error

I don't get it, Auk. Jacko puts in in a an excellent 40 and we're reminded it's all about consistency. Sexton puts in one good performance and he's "back to his old self"? There's irony in them thar hills. Let's see how Sexton backs up that performance before we buy him a medal.
Besides which, was there some kind of meeting I missed where we decided Jacko's performances against Toulouse didn't happen?

Don Alfonso wrote:I don't get it,  Auk.  Jacko puts in in a an excellent 40 and we're reminded it's all about consistency.  Sexton puts in one good  performance and he's "back to his old self"? There's irony in them thar hills. Let's see how Sexton backs up that performance before we buy him a medal.
Besides which,  was there some kind of meeting I missed where we decided Jacko's performances against Toulouse didn't happen?

I think that was the same meeting that it was decided we definitely would have got 5 points if Pienaar and Jackson started

Don Alfonso wrote:I don't get it,  Auk.  Jacko puts in in a an excellent 40 and we're reminded it's all about consistency.  Sexton puts in one good  performance and he's "back to his old self"? There's irony in them thar hills. Let's see how Sexton backs up that performance before we buy him a medal.
Besides which,  was there some kind of meeting I missed where we decided Jacko's performances against Toulouse didn't happen?

Don - Sexton has nothing to prove. He has shown he can perform at Test level - 'Class is permanent, form temporary' etc. Jackson has had an excellent forty minutes but the question was over his kicking not his general play so I'm not going overboard just yet. It's a step in the right direction and that final kick was possibly the first time I've been impressed with his pressure kicking since he slotted six second half penalties against the Ospreys three years ago.
Paddy was great against Toulouse but I'm wondering which of his kicks you'd put in the category of high pressure?

The Great Aukster wrote:

Don Alfonso wrote:I don't get it,  Auk.  Jacko puts in in a an excellent 40 and we're reminded it's all about consistency.  Sexton puts in one good  performance and he's "back to his old self"? There's irony in them thar hills. Let's see how Sexton backs up that performance before we buy him a medal.
Besides which,  was there some kind of meeting I missed where we decided Jacko's performances against Toulouse didn't happen?

Don - Sexton has nothing to prove. He has shown he can perform at Test level - 'Class is permanent, form temporary' etc. Jackson has had an excellent forty minutes but the question was over his kicking not his general play so I'm not going overboard just yet. It's a step in the right direction and that final kick was possibly the first time I've been impressed with his pressure kicking since he slotted six second half penalties against the Ospreys three years ago.
Paddy was great against Toulouse but I'm wondering which of his kicks you'd put in the category of high pressure?

His last 2 in the away game v Toulouse were for sure. 1 pen to put Ulster ahead and the final conversion to take them outside converted try range, both pressure kicks and had he missed either Ulster as it turns out would have lost or drawn which would have effectively put us out

How unprofessional is Morris on the commentary. You couldn't get more one sided. Criticising everything Oyonax and OTT with anything Ulster, to the extent of cheering Ulster tries.

Don't get me wrong, great game and great fight back by Ulster, but Morris ruined a lot of the game for me.