Ulster v Ospreys 1st October 2016

Ulster v Ospreys


Venue- Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
Date- Saturday 1st October 2016, 18.30 Kick Off
Shown on Sky Sports
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 29th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell (WRU), Paul Haycock (IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Eddie Wigglesworth (IRFU)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (WRU)

Ulster: C Piutau, C Gilroy, J Payne, D Cave, L Ludik, P Jackson, P Marshall; : K McCall, R Best, R Ah You, A O'Connor, F van der Merwe (capt), I Henderson, S Reidy, R Wilson.

Replacements: J Andrew, C Black, R Kane, K Treadwell, R Diack, R Pienaar, B Herron, T Bowe.

Ospreys: D Evans, J Hassler, B John, J Matavesi, E Walker, D Biggar, R Webb; N Smith, S Parry, D Arhip, B Davies, A Wyn Jones (capt), J King, J Tipuric, D Baker.

Replacements: S Baldwin, P James, M Fia, R Thornton, O Cracknell, T Ardron, S Davies, T Habberfield.

Ospreys how's your pack been doing ? Not seen you lot play yet this season

carpet baboon wrote:Ospreys how's your pack been doing ? Not seen you lot play yet this season

CB, you cannot really tell, the 8 that started the first 3 matches were mainly in control, but in some selections for the last game were mysterious to say the least, the selections for this game is probably as close to our best as we can put out and we have a 6-2 split on the bench, so I think that is where we are after you.

neilthom7 wrote:Ulster v Ospreys


Venue- Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
Date- Saturday 1st October 2016, 18.30 Kick Off
Shown on Sky Sports
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 29th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell (WRU), Paul Haycock (IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Eddie Wigglesworth (IRFU)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (WRU)

Ulster: C Piutau, C Gilroy, J Payne, D Cave, L Ludik, P Jackson, P Marshall; : K McCall, R Best, R Ah You, A O'Connor, F van der Merwe (capt), I Henderson, S Reidy, R Wilson.

Replacements: J Andrew, C Black, R Kane, K Treadwell, R Diack, R Pienaar, B Herron, T Bowe.

Ospreys: D Evans, J Hassler, B John, J Matavesi, E Walker, D Biggar, R Webb; N Smith, S Parry, D Arhip, B Davies, A Wyn Jones (capt), J King, J Tipuric, D Baker.

Replacements: S Baldwin, P James, M Fia, R Thornton, O Cracknell, T Ardron, T Habberfield.

Neilthom you've missed out Sam Davies on the bench for us.

Thanks for starting the thread Neil, looks like it's gonna be clear and dry tomorrow evening and hopefully an entertaining match.
Ospreys have scored the most trys and we must have had the most disallowed. If things Click for Ulster we could be running them in for fun, so it could be a high scoring game.

Great engine room for the ospreys, Alan O'Connor and Franco need to front up

It was always going to be a tough game against the Ospreys. It isn't our strongest starting XV, by a long way, but still a strong backline. Strong starting pack but resting Herring could come back to bite us in the last quarter. Although Ospreys lost their game against Leinster, Ospreys did finish the game the much stronger of the two.

Really difficult to predict this one. We are at home, but last weeks game was a bruising encounter, and we're going to have to back up one big performance with another. Something we have struggled with in the past. Still, heart and head says we will edge this one.

wayne wrote:

neilthom7 wrote:Ulster v Ospreys


Venue- Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
Date- Saturday 1st October 2016, 18.30 Kick Off
Shown on Sky Sports
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 29th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell (WRU), Paul Haycock (IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Eddie Wigglesworth (IRFU)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (WRU)

Ulster: C Piutau, C Gilroy, J Payne, D Cave, L Ludik, P Jackson, P Marshall; : K McCall, R Best, R Ah You, A O'Connor, F van der Merwe (capt), I Henderson, S Reidy, R Wilson.

Replacements: J Andrew, C Black, R Kane, K Treadwell, R Diack, R Pienaar, B Herron, T Bowe.

Ospreys: D Evans, J Hassler, B John, J Matavesi, E Walker, D Biggar, R Webb; N Smith, S Parry, D Arhip, B Davies, A Wyn Jones (capt), J King, J Tipuric, D Baker.

Replacements: S Baldwin, P James, M Fia, R Thornton, O Cracknell, T Ardron, T Habberfield.

Neilthom you've missed out Sam Davies on the bench for us.

I do apologise Wayne, lifted the teams straight off the BBC website trust them to be wrong

I had a dream last night that we were playing Treviso and we lost at home- 12-6. I remember their second try very clearly- we kicked loosely in their half, a grubber gone wrong, their winger picked it up chipped our winger and went in in the corner from long range. I was annoyed because Darren Cave should have been covering and he was too slow to get across the pitch. So I woke up very upset this morning

But I hope we win this game, unlike in my dream.

This is a big game for the Ospreys. They won't want to host the Blues next week on the back of two defeats.

I think it is our strongest pack of forwards tbh. But I would have Pienaar, Olding and Trimble instead of Marshall, Cave and Gilroy. That for me would make it our strongest team.

I'm very happy with the idea of Pienaar and Bowe giving us some good impetus off the bench. I suspect they might want Pienaar to cover both 9 and 10 off the bench since we are a bit thin in the backs with injuries.

Notch wrote:I had a dream last night that we were playing Treviso and we lost at home- 12-6. I remember their second try very clearly- we kicked loosely in their half, a grubber gone wrong, their winger picked it up chipped our winger and went in in the corner from long range. I was annoyed because Darren Cave should have been covering and he was too slow to get across the pitch. So I woke up very upset this morning .

We played crap but we would have had the game 6-5 if we hadn't given the ball away. I was absolutely spitting when I woke up, really annoyed.

If the ospreys get on top in the forwards we will struggle, but we have a strong pack out as we can. And given the backs we have if we get some quick ball we can do some serious damage.
Think it will be close. Or it could be a a drubbing either way. Or something inbetween. God who knows.

If the ospreys get on top in the forwards we will struggle, but we have a strong pack out as we can. And given the backs we have if we get some quick ball we can do some serious damage.
Think it will be close. Or it could be a a drubbing either way. Or something inbetween. God who knows.

Notch wrote:I think it is our strongest pack of forwards tbh. But I would have Pienaar, Olding and Trimble instead of Marshall, Cave and Gilroy. That for me would make it our strongest team.

I'm very happy with the idea of Pienaar and Bowe giving us some good impetus off the bench. I suspect they might want Pienaar to cover both 9 and 10 off the bench since we are a bit thin in the backs with injuries.

Notch, this has been a bit of a strange season for us if you had asked me what would have been our strongest pack at the beginning of this season it would have been James, Baldwin, Arhip, AWJ, BBBD, Cracknell, Tipuric, Ardron with possibly Lydiate coming in for Cracknell when fit, but on the form of the first 4 matches 2 in both front and back rows are out, the only good thing is that those 4 are all on the bench to come on with something to prove, I think our pack is stronger than yours (sorry), but will it be strong enough to stop you getting enough ball to win this match? I doubt it.

You don't have to apologise- I think our pack might surprise you!

Our pack is definitely not the biggest or meanest, but Kiss has them playing to their strengths and trying to play a very quick game. We have very mobile forwards with good hands and this will be a good test and I think this is the first pack we've faced this season who can maybe slow us down and put pressure on us.

Quick ball and we'll cut you open, we're looking sharp. You have to slow the ball down as much as possible,.

It should be a cracker, because if you've watched us in the first 3 games of the season and the last 30 minutes of last week, you would have seen we are also playing a very expansive game, Tipuric not known for his close quarter stuff made 23 tackles, none missed, and was still seen in the wide channels quite often, BBBD received the ball on the left wing in the final move of the match off Tipuric, who told him not to kick it, and if the final pass on the other side of the pitch wasn't passed forward we could have had a decent run in to get an undeserved 2 points out of that match, as I said it should be a cracker.

Ben Whitehouse is a very good referee, he is like a breath of fresh air in the Pro12, with the two high quality teams on show, and a ref that is just as good, this game has all the hallmarks to be a cracker. I cannot wait.

Need to start a lot better than last week. Leinsters forwards were immense and gave Sexton a strong platform to orchestrate from.

The hairspreys looking strong in the set piece and at the contact area. They certainly learnt a lot from last weeks hiding in Dublin.

Where is Henderson?

One-eyed crowd who don't know the rules as per.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Where is Henderson?

Wondering that myself. Also, are we seeing the downside of Les Kiss's passive defence which we saw in the World Cup against Argentina??

Commentary mentioned that he got injured some time before the game, in the warm-up maybe?

mikey_dragon wrote:One-eyed crowd who don't know the rules as per.

Okay, we are biased. Let's move on and enjoy the game.

mikey_dragon wrote:Commentary mentioned that he got injured some time before the game, in the warm-up maybe?

Thanks. Hopefully nothing too serious.

Terrible miss from Paddy.

What a player Justin Tipuric is.

Ospreys defence is outstanding

This is one of those Ulster games where every single player on the pitch looks totally amateur. With the exception of Ludik, who is doing everything he can to punch holes in the defence and has also put in some tremendous tackles.

Credit to the Ospreys defence as well.

Did not imagine the scoreline would be this low considering the manner of the opening minutes of the game. It also doesn't do justice to what has been a great game of rugby. Don't think Ulster have been too bad to be honest, Ospreys have simply been better.

If they're able to work a kick at goal, Ulster could still easily win it.

What is with all the f'ing kicking from Ulster

Dan Evans is performing quite poor tonight. Those sliced kicks and offloads to nobody were almost very costly.

Unfortunately Jackson has done his Ireland chances no favours tonight.

Quick call on the maul...

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Unfortunately Jackson has done his Ireland chances no favours tonight.

Looked to be missing Pienaar a bit.

The Ospreys could probably stand still and just let Ulster knock the ball on or kick it away to win the game.

He was trapped and Ulster pushed the ball into him when he was trying to roll away, clever play.

Dropping Dan Evans last week is now looking very justified.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:The Ospreys could probably stand still and just let Ulster knock the ball on or kick it away to win the game.

Ulster could probably stand still and just let the Ospreys knock the ball on or kick it away to win the game.

Pienaar could've come to regret the kick. Got a bit lucky there.

yessss, I don't know how we w0n that but what a win

How the actual Frick did we win that?

Well, a bit speechless....

Ospreys strategy was very clever and it nearly worked. But ultimately a game plan of defending for 60 minutes with only 7 points on the board failed, even if it only failed by one minute.

We did not deserve that, but of course we'll take it. Commiserations to the Ospreys.

Rugby. It's a funny game. Makes no sense sometimes

Unfortunately couldn't watch the game tonight, had to follow on twitter, but defence appears to have been outstanding, going by what was said on here Tipuric outstanding yet again, and with a bit of luck we could have snatched the 4 points instead of just one.

Can't agree we didn't deserve it, after the first 20 minutes feel we essentially controlled the game and defended well when they made their breakouts. Just frustrating we didn't kill the game off earlier. Should never have been so close, we just couldn't get our handling game going. And with Paddy missing a few kicks...

Got to give massive credit to the Ospreys who so nearly squeezed it. I really felt for them and their fans at the end. God, I'm just relieved and delighted because that was a great pack and a really determined and organised team we beat tonight

Atmosphere was absolutely brilliant tonight too- brought my friend to their first ever live game and a good night was had by all

Commiserations, Ospreys. We used our get out of jail free card to sneak a win against outstanding defence. and a super 20 minutes attacking play from Ospreys. You could have won but for a bit of bad luck at the end.

Not one of our great performances. I suspected that we would find it difficult to raise our game after last weeks encounter, and so it proved. Still, a win's a win, and delighted all the hard work last week wasn't wasted with a loss at home. 5 from 5 and hopefully a win next week to give us the perfect start.

Also thought Jackson played well, one kick overcooked but the way he's reading the game now and the decisions he's making, he looks like an international 10 having a average game not an average player playing decent. Just concerned with a few place kicks he should have nailed.

But that's just like, my opinion man

Commiserations to wayne and the other Ospreys fans on here. A great bunch of lads and your team was very unlucky tonight in a close game

Notch wrote:Can't agree we didn't deserve it, after the first 20 minutes feel we essentially controlled the game and defended well when they made their breakouts. Just frustrating we didn't kill the game off earlier. Should never have been so close, we just couldn't get our handling game going. And with Paddy missing a few kicks...

Got to give massive credit to the Ospreys who so nearly squeezed it. I really felt for them and their fans at the end. God, I'm just relieved and delighted because that was a great pack and a really determined and organised team we beat tonight

Atmosphere was absolutely brilliant tonight too- brought my friend to their first ever live game and a good night was had by all

See, I missed the first 30 minutes or so.

EDIT: And misread your post. So the first 20 were even worse? Oh dear.

Didn't get to see the game. How did Bowe get on?