Ulster Rugby 2017-18

Rory Best (hamstring)
Marcell Coetzee (knee)
Craig Gilroy (back)
Chris Henry (larynx)
Rob Lyttle (shoulder)
Al O'Connor (concussion)
Jared Payne (headaches)
Dave Shanahan (hamstring)
Nick Timoney (ankle)
Schalk van der Merwe (shoulder)

So, I saw Rugbydump's post about a Lealifano interview my BTSports I think. I assume it's the one referenced on here. But interestingly, it's now been removed as far as I can see.
Maybe he misspoke and his agent wasn't happy?

Clive Ross on the bench in Europe. Ugh.

In fairness, we're literally missing an entire back row, two of whom would be first choice (Coetzee, Henry and Timoney).

First game back for a few Wasps players... others played four days ago... if Ravenhill can get behind the team, and we can keep our discipline... who knows?

If our back five all play to the best they've shown this season, we can cause serious problems as long as we can get good possession. That's a big IF of course.

Don Alfonso wrote:Clive Ross on the bench in Europe. Ugh.

In fairness, we're literally missing an entire back row, two of whom would be first choice (Coetzee, Henry and Timoney).

For me that is the best backrow.
From what I've seen I'd rather have Timoney than Deysel

Henderson as Captain for the first time!

Is it:
a) Stroke of genius by Kiss  
b) a huge gamble on giving extra responsibility to arguably our most important player in an under-strength pack
c) pragmatic - there is literally no one else

It might inspire him to new heights; but equally he may try too hard and do something silly.

Thoughts?

He is seen as the new club captain when Rory retires.

Henry/Herring both seen as a safe pair of hands in the interim

If Best or Henry were fit I've no doubt that one of those guys would have had the captaincy.
That being said, Hendy, in all likelihood is a future captain so it's about time he was thrown into the role. I hope it doesn't stifle his game the way it can for some players, he's getting up to speed nicely.

A good few hours of heavy rain forecast for today, think it'll be heavy enough to postpone the game for when we have everyone fit?

marty2086 wrote:A good few hours of heavy rain forecast for today, think it'll be heavy enough to postpone the game for when we have everyone fit?

A good frost's what we need. Freeze that pitch solid.

Maybe Gibbes said 'Henry' was to be captain and Jill in the office who was typing out the team thought he said Hendy in the dictaphone? This meant that to save face Gibbes had to leave Henry out completely and make up a story about his fitness!

Henderson never struck me as a natural leader or a good reader of the game, so it is surprising to hear he is viewed as the FUC (King excluding Rory). He probably gets the gig because he is first on the teamsheet and there really aren't many alternatives.

Ulster Ravens A team named for the B&I Cup game against Scarlets Select

Interesting to see McPhillips starting ahead of Herron, an indicator of where they stand in the pecking order now?

Kane getting a start and the captaincy too, hopefully we can keep him fit now

(1-8): Andy Warwick, Adam McBurney, Ross Kane (Capt), Jack Regan, Peter Browne, Caleb Montgomery, Aaron Hall, Joe Dunleavy;
(9-15): Aaron Cairns, Johnny McPhillips, Angus Kernohan, Rory Butler, Callum Patterson, David Busby, Jack Owens.

Replacements: Zack McCall, Michael Cromie, Matthew Dalton, Greg Jones, Jonny Stewart, Brett Herron, Michael Lowry

That's a great A's side. In terms of development, I mean - they may get handed their derrieres. Young, highly-rated backrowers, Stewart and Lowry in the 23, few U20s. Delighted with that.

Marty I would not entrust Herron or McPhillips to play for the first XV

Coetzee out for another 9 months. Brutal.

Don Alfonso wrote:Coetzee out for another 9 months. Brutal.

FFS
Time to cut him free. Harsh I know but we're not a rehab facility.

Pete330v2 wrote:

Don Alfonso wrote:Coetzee out for another 9 months. Brutal.

FFS
Time to cut him free. Harsh I know but we're not a rehab facility.

Normally I would agree Pete like with Arno Botha but this happened when he played for Ulster so we should get him fit before we release him or anything, if it happens with Ulster then Ulster should stand by the player.

Great to get the win tonight. For me MOTM was John Cooney. His decision making was superb. I'm envious of those of you who were at Ravenhill because the low point of the evening was Lawrence Dallaglio's commentating. What an idiot! He didn't use to play for Wasps by any chance, did he?

Im just going to stick here with my comments. The English sound a bit feisty in the champions cup thread. Have to say though, Ulster had it in them to get a bonus point out of that game. Just a pity there were a few handling errors and misjudgements at times. Don't like giving him a hard time but lealifano had a few howlers tonight. He also did great things to don't get me wrong. We lost two or more of our own line outs. But that said, Herring was back to his best in the loose. In fact nearly all our pack showed ability to make ground in contact tonight. Love the feistiness from McCloskey and Marshall in defence and counter rucking. Plenty to be positive about. Still a fair bit to be worked on.

Yeah the Anglos are going mad over there Clive. Giving off about offsides against Wasps when Wasps were offside and many more, it's a whingefest of Dowlaisian standards. Dallaglio was obviously rightly biased in his commentary, he was a Wasp for long enough but O'Driscoll, what's his excuse. He could barely contain himself when Lealiifano was short of the line. Speaking of Christian, the less said the better. He needs to cut out the brainfarts and sharpen up the boot and I'm sure he will.
Cooney was excellent yet again but his injury is a worry as is Deysel's. We cannot lose anymore player please.

Great win though and 2 fabulously taken tries. We're still not playing well enough but the heart and soul was in it tonight even if the brains and skills were not.

Dayglo and BOD both totally patronising towards Ulster, but that's what BT are paying them handsomely for. Can't stand BT who only exist because they had a monopoly long enough to hide their perpetual failure.

The Great Aukster wrote:Dayglo and BOD both totally patronising towards Ulster, but that's what BT are paying them handsomely for. Can't stand BT who only exist because they had a monopoly long enough to hide their perpetual failure.

I thought the same, Dallaglio shouldn't be commentating on Wasps games given how one sides he is. A lot of his comments this evening have led a lot of Wasps fans to believe that they've been very hard done by. I've long thought O'Driscoll has a bit of a chip on his shoulder towards Ulster. At least he gave Stockdale the nod for representing Ireland and MOTM, I suppose.

So happy I didn't need all the gin tonight.
I liked Stockdale's defence tonight and he was aggressive in clearing out rucks, also how he stood up and rode Hughes tackle in the first half was impressive.
McCloskey is getting better each week and his defence is looking better and better.
Why wasps didn't go for scrum after scrum in the first half is beyond me, could of easily forced a yellow.
What chance of us convincing Mr Moore to come north when his contract runs out?
Not a great game, but enough heart and fight from the Ulster pack to make me hopeful. Just hope no more injuries.

Not going to happen CB. This is Ulster in showroom condition - from now on they are secondhand.

The Great Aukster wrote:Not going to happen CB. This is Ulster  in showroom condition - from now on they are secondhand.

I do agree. But if he goes back to Leinster he's not first pick, Munster maybe the fellas out west I doubt he would pick, so maybe he would see us as a lovely platform to show his talent.

I can dream

Agree on O'Driscoll. Stockdale has a great Ireland future but MOTM and the sheer amounts of praise need to pulled back in a bit. He had a good game but to ignore Henderson for MOTM is ridiculous. The number of tackles he got through was insane. And not soft shoulder jobs either, proper gainline stopping tackles.

Ferris did say Wasps were a bit unlucky. That's arguable but they got on the wrong side of the ref early. They had 3 penalties in the first 10 mins for offside. That's just poor leadership. Launchbury needed to sort that out early. If you're a ref and you have to ping a team 3 times in 10 mins for the same offence you're going to get annoyed.

I know he's got his detractors, and yes sometimes he needs to work harder in defense, but Piutau was sublime tonight. Stockdale's try and the way he turned Wade inside out and just gave La Roux enough to think about stepping. A matter of inches but bought Stockdale the space he needed.

Cooney had another good game. He's an 85% Pienaar for me. Passing isn't as quick, but still good. He's quick to the rucks, not quite as quick as Ruan but still fast. And his kicking is good, but lacks that extra 15% distance. Still, great game.

Very happy with that. I did laugh when you could basically hear BOD dancing in his seat when Lealifano was short. I know some people get vexed by commentators, but it really doesn't bother me at all.

Henderson MOTM for me. He has had a shot in the arm and now looks like he might properly fulfil his potential. Stockdale was good, though. Chistiaan is great, but not a 10. We are really missing a tactical kicker.

Don't forget Paul Marshall! He added something when he came on, and his kicks for territory were the best of the game.

The Great Aukster wrote:Don't forget Paul Marshall! He added something when he came on, and his kicks for territory were the best of the game.

One might actually be tempted to say that a couple of those box kicks which pinned Wasps back in their own 22 were rather Pienaaresque.

Careful now!

I've to be honest I did raise eyebrows when I heard people talk about Shanahan ahead of wee P on the bench in recent weeks. For me, Marshall is still an excellent bench 9. But a very unreliable starting 9.

I'd take him over Duncan Williams. True bill.

Was definitely a scrappy game due to the conditions early on, thought our scrum looked stronger than it has in a while.

Lealiifano went down pretty hard from going for the high ball, looked like he was taken out in the ground. How did it look on tv?

Wasps definitely got lucky going 70 odd without a card

marty2086 wrote:Was definitely a scrappy game due to the conditions early on, thought our scrum looked stronger than it has in a while.

Lealiifano went down pretty hard from going for the high ball, looked like he was taken out in the ground. How did it look on tv?

Wasps definitely got lucky going 70 odd without a card

They both Jumped going for the ball so that was a fair challenge for me but Christian came off worst because he got up earlier and higher

neilthom7 wrote:

marty2086 wrote:Was definitely a scrappy game due to the conditions early on, thought our scrum looked stronger than it has in a while.

Lealiifano went down pretty hard from going for the high ball, looked like he was taken out in the ground. How did it look on tv?

Wasps definitely got lucky going 70 odd without a card

They both Jumped going for the ball so that was a fair challenge for me but Christian came off worst because he got up earlier and higher

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

neilthom7 wrote:

marty2086 wrote:Was definitely a scrappy game due to the conditions early on, thought our scrum looked stronger than it has in a while.

Lealiifano went down pretty hard from going for the high ball, looked like he was taken out in the ground. How did it look on tv?

Wasps definitely got lucky going 70 odd without a card

They both Jumped going for the ball so that was a fair challenge for me but Christian came off worst because he got up earlier and higher

Hard to tell only getting one look at it, did seem like a lazy jump that got him nowhere near the ball

One thing that disappointed me though was we didn't move the ball wide more and get at Wade. I haven't seen player so afraid to tackle before

marty2086 wrote:

neilthom7 wrote:

marty2086 wrote:Was definitely a scrappy game due to the conditions early on, thought our scrum looked stronger than it has in a while.

Lealiifano went down pretty hard from going for the high ball, looked like he was taken out in the ground. How did it look on tv?

Wasps definitely got lucky going 70 odd without a card

They both Jumped going for the ball so that was a fair challenge for me but Christian came off worst because he got up earlier and higher

Hard to tell only getting one look at it, did seem like a lazy jump that got him nowhere near the ball

One thing that disappointed me though was we didn't move the ball wide more and get at Wade. I haven't seen player so afraid to tackle before

Stockdale's try also came about from le Roux commiting to Piutau (who was Wade's man) then desperately trying to recover his position on Stockdale. I would blame le Roux for not trusting his inside man to stop Piutau, maybe Piutau would have gone through Wade....

But you always trust your inside man to make the tackle, le Roux didn't.

Lealiifano went down pretty hard from going for the high ball, looked like he was taken out in the ground. How did it look on tv?

at first glance like he was taken out in the air, on replay like a fair challenge

TJ wrote:

Lealiifano went down pretty hard from going for the high ball, looked like he was taken out in the ground. How did it look on tv?

at first glance like he was taken out in the air, on replay like a fair challenge

Yeah, 'twas fine.

Kiss said he won't be fipping into the market for a medical joker for Coetzee.

Why, is it Kisses decision(maybe playing cards close to chest)? IRFU? Financial? Or just no one out there at present?

For me the win was down to the outstanding work by Henderson and Treadwell in the row.
They were immense

Wasps dominated the first half - no tries
Ulster dominated the second half - 2 tries

There is your result

Herbst continues to look sub standard in the scrum, I thought McCall put in an excellent performance

What's with the football songs being adopted at Ravers? Next we'll be singing 'it's just like watching New Zealand'.

Well at least we are actually 'Ulster' boys. Whereas footy fans claim they represent a few counties too many when they sing it.

Watched again bit unfair on Herbst - both props struggled, a bit, in the scrum.

Diack pick of the backrow

Discipline excellent - only 2 non scrum penalties

geoff999rugby wrote:Watched again bit unfair on Herbst - both props struggled, a bit, in the scrum.

Diack pick of the backrow

Discipline excellent - only 2 non scrum penalties

I think with Best back he will shore up the scrum a bit. Best is as good a scrummaging hooker as any. Taking a bit of pressure of his loosehead and a bit of his tighthead could make a big difference. It's still going to be a weakness though, we aren't going to turn the screw on anyone and I'd worry against some of the monster packs when are going to meet such as La Rochelle.

Artful_Dodger wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

neilthom7 wrote:

marty2086 wrote:Was definitely a scrappy game due to the conditions early on, thought our scrum looked stronger than it has in a while.

Lealiifano went down pretty hard from going for the high ball, looked like he was taken out in the ground. How did it look on tv?

Wasps definitely got lucky going 70 odd without a card

They both Jumped going for the ball so that was a fair challenge for me but Christian came off worst because he got up earlier and higher

Hard to tell only getting one look at it, did seem like a lazy jump that got him nowhere near the ball

One thing that disappointed me though was we didn't move the ball wide more and get at Wade. I haven't seen player so afraid to tackle before

Stockdale's try also came about from le Roux commiting to Piutau (who was Wade's man) then desperately trying to recover his position on Stockdale.  I would blame le Roux for not trusting his inside man to stop Piutau, maybe Piutau would have gone through Wade....

But you always trust your inside man to make the tackle, le Roux didn't.

Would you trust a guy whose idea of tackling is running backwards? Anytime anyone attacked his wing he ran backwards and Ulster gained easy yards, its easy to see why Eddie Jones won't pick him, Im surprised Dai Young did given how defensively vulnerable they are even without him

clivemcl wrote:Well at least we are actually 'Ulster' boys. Whereas footy fans claim they represent a few counties too many when they sing it.

True, I suppose at least it's part of a real atmosphere and not that forced, canned one the band tries to bring, they are an abomination.

The Ulster A team above beat Scarlets 24-18. MOTM was Aaron Cairns at scrumhalf.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=dBogKg45qYo

Highlights