Ulster Rugby 2017-2018 Part 2

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Ulster Rugby

Final Table
               GP   Points
Leinster    21     70
Scarlets    21     70
Edinburgh 21     68
Ulster       21     62
Benetton   21     55
Dragons    21     20
Kings        21     11

Season Outcome: Playoff for Champions Cup Spot

Ulster are in the Champions Cup

He has played well enough to have deserve it - our best prop this season

2018 HEINEKEN ULSTER RUGBY AWARD WINNERS & NOMINEES
(winners in bold)

Abbey Insurance Academy Player of the Year
Nick Timoney
Tom O'Toole
Angus Curtis

CD Group Ulster A Player of the Year
Tom O'Toole
Clive Ross
Matthew Agnew

Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year
Rory Best
John Cooney
Jacob Stockdale

Rugby Writers' Player of the Year
John Cooney
Jacob Stockdale
Nick Timoney

BT Young Player of the Year
Nick Timoney
Matthew Rea
Johnny McPhillips

Bank of Ireland Ulster Player of the Year
John Cooney
Nick Timoney
Stuart McCloskey


Heineken Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year
Paul Marshall

Cooney's going to need a bigger mantelpiece if he maintains the current trajectory, what a player and testament to the fact that a new beginning in fresh fields can change everything.
Give him a pack and an experienced outhalf and see what happens I say!!

It's lovely to see Paul Marshall getting a mention and hopefully everything works out for him in his personal life.

Fair play to Cooney, he was out on his own for player of the season for me.

Stockdale and Timoney deserve a mention but for Cooney to step in to replace Pienaar and also deal with the team losing Jackson he has done incredible and far exceeded anyone's expectations.

Leiliafano probably deserved more recognition though, the season would have been a total disaster without him.

I don't want to start the whole cycle again but was wondering what your thoughts were on the two boys going to the Kings. They need players and the wages for a year contract would be small enough.

Paddy would help their in game management, be a good person for keeping the scoreboard ticking over, can close out games while also being a running 10. Olding would give some defensive stability to them. It would also be a sign of intent to sign international players

For the players they are still in the European window and would be back regularly enough to see family and friends. They would also be going to a place were their baggage probably wouldn't be such an issue (think of the issues of their former president). It would also allow them to be the stars of the team so improving their rugby image to potential suitors. They could also play against Irish teams and show the IRFU what talent they let go.

don't pay enough - Japan seems more likely

Issue is they have feminists groups too

It'd be brilliant for the lads but as Geoff sais Japan is more likely. I know they had put the feelers out in Japan during the trial so they may well pick up on them now.

Brendan wrote:Issue is they have feminists groups too

The level of sexual of harressment in Japan is at a far higher level than in the West
Women only carriages on trains for one because it is so bad

They'll fit right in.

Japan will be sensitive to the media hordes descending upon them next year for the RWC, and won't want to threaten the marketing jamboree, so why would they risk tainting their reputation when they don't have to? South Africa had to clean up for prying global eyes, as did Brazil for their WC, so Japan doesn't need to import a toxic sideshow for quiet newsdays.
When the IRFU condemned Jackson and Olding to a life sentence of rugby exile, they branded them 'unfit for investment' for all sponsors to see, or translate into whatever language they speak.

Japan as a country will not make the decision.
Individual team owners will and to get two players cheap to significantly improve their team.
Someone will we willing to take a punt.

Also far from convinced the Sale deal is dead

Intotouch wrote:They'll fit right in.

Quite the prick aren't you?

geoff999rugby wrote:Japan as a country will not make the decision.
Individual team owners will and to get two players cheap to significantly improve their team.
Someone will we willing to take a punt.

Also far from convinced the Sale deal is dead

The JRFU hold a lot of sway with their teams, and they are primarily sponsored by global brands. If the JO haters wanted they could hound their targets on social media anywhere in the world. Women's rights supporters might just see another bandwagon to highlight a misogynistic culture and sell it to a hungry Western media?

Agree that of any possible destinations, Sale might be the best bet.

Really struggling to get a backrow out for Ospreys no Henderson, Deysel, Rea, Ross so its

Reidy, Timoney and...................... either Henry or one of the kids - Hall, Jones, Dunleavy, Agnew, Rea jnr

geoff999rugby wrote:Really struggling to get a backrow out for Ospreys no Henderson, Deysel, Rea, Ross so its

Reidy, Timoney and...................... either Henry or one of the kids - Hall, Jones, Dunleavy, Agnew, Rea jnr

Did I hear in the interview with Cooney that players are unavailable 'due to other commitments'?

Diack?

Good call - he may already be back in South Africa though

Is Dalton an option as well? At least he has first team experience.

Personally I like Browne as a six, as he's just a bit too rangy for lock. He has surprising pace, and makes turnovers without getting penalised too much.

geoff999rugby wrote:

Brendan wrote:Issue is they have feminists groups too

The level of sexual of harressment in Japan is at a  far higher level than in the West
Women only carriages on trains for one because it is so bad

I'm not sure that is completely true. Japan is a huge country with an incredible rail system. I believe the women only carriages are at rush hour on certain lines during the week in Tokyo and account for a small percentage of overall carriages. Tokyo is a massive city and I think their women only carriages reflects their forward thinking attitude and fairly advanced society. I think the most extreme aspects of Japan is what tends to be reported over here. People like to brand Japan as a backward patriarchal society but the women seem pretty happy there. Happier than western women in my view.

In the UK there used to be women only carriages until gender equality legislation was brought in in the 70s. In August 2015, Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn said he would consult on the option of introducing women-only carriages to help reduce harassment on British trains, according to Wikipedia.

Jeez these days on the internet you could say muck is dirty and have somebody step in on muck's defence.

You don't need to post everything you think folks, there's more important battles in life.

clivemcl wrote:Jeez these days on the internet you could say muck is dirty and have somebody step in on muck's defence.

You don't need to post everything you think folks, there's more important battles in life.

If a post doesn't interest you, you are free to ignore it. If it does then I think the point of a forum is to comment on it.

Go fight those battles important to you.

The IRFU, GAA and FAI will be invited to attend the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport to discuss ethics and behaviour on and off the pitch in the wake of the Belfast rugby r*** trial.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/sports-committee-to-consider-funding-irfu-gaa-and-fai-on-basis-of-ethics-1.3493838

Seems like they are looking to link Government sports funding with ethics and behaviour.

In other words everyone must keep their opinions to themselves in case they risk offending a sponsor. Or at the very least you can have an opinion as long as it reflects popular public opinion.

Codes of ethics (c of e for short ) have been discussed by philosophers for some time...
Maybe it's only "attitudes to women and girls" that needs covered, but to be even handed they should also include attitudes to men and boys.
Naturally nothing disparaging or derogatory (or potentially construed as such) should be voiced, mimed or written that would offend anyone, male or female - SLGBTA. So a blanket ban is needed against swearing on and off the pitch. Every time someone says oh f*#k (or oh god for that matter) the IRFU should lose 10 Euro of funding. Then there would have to be a ban on interviews with the pernicious media, just waiting to twist the exhausted words of a player into a breach of the c of e.
Of course a big problem to surface in the Irish Rugby r*** trial was the demon drink. Therefore a blanket ban on alcohol is called for - it's not at all ethical to be a role model and also be seen to drink (or gamble). The IRFU should immediately sever all sponsorship deals with home-wrecking beer/cider companies, especially the one beginning with G.
... hang on there's money involved there so stuff the ethics nonsense!

If there is to be a code of ethics it should also extend to sponsors. We wouldn't want to be accused of hypocrisy as well as misogyny now would we? I mean if a sponsor was themselves inextricably linked to a misogynistic regime for example then they couldn't be linked to Irish sport at all. A bank that has large investments in the middle east for example. If the players are to live like the Amish then the sponsors better be squeaky clean.
As Aukster said, any criticism of alcohol intake seems a bit rich with the big G playing such a large part in sport here. Are the players supposed to be banned from sexual activity as well seeing as that's what caused this debate? I mean banning a certain group from sexual activity rarely ends well on this island

The Great Aukster wrote:Codes of ethics (c of e for short ) have been discussed by philosophers for some time...
Maybe it's only "attitudes to women and girls" that needs covered, but to be even handed they should also include attitudes to men and boys.
Naturally nothing disparaging or derogatory (or potentially construed as such) should be voiced, mimed or written that would offend anyone, male or female - SLGBTA. So a blanket ban is needed against swearing on and off the pitch. Every time someone says oh f*#k (or oh god for that matter) the IRFU should lose 10 Euro of funding. Then there would have to be a ban on interviews with the pernicious media, just waiting to twist the exhausted words of a player into a breach of the c of e.
Of course a big problem to surface in the Irish Rugby r*** trial was the demon drink. Therefore a blanket ban on alcohol is called for - it's not at all ethical to be a role model and also be seen to drink (or gamble). The IRFU should immediately sever all sponsorship deals with home-wrecking beer/cider companies, especially the one beginning with G.
... hang on there's money involved there so stuff the ethics nonsense!

As far as I know, the drinks industry is banned (it could be a self imposed ban) from using role models such as Sexton, BOD, Tommy Bowe etc. from promoting alcohol consumption. The GAA has a self imposed ban on alcohol company sponsorship (and I believe their sponsorship has increased since they imposed that ban in 2013) and of course the French are to the forefront on banning alcohol sponsorship, so maybe its going that way.

Pete330v2 wrote:If there is to be a code of ethics it should also extend to sponsors. We wouldn't want to be accused of hypocrisy as well as misogyny now would we? I mean if a sponsor was themselves inextricably linked to a misogynistic regime for example then they couldn't be linked to Irish sport at all. A bank that has large investments in the middle east for example. If the players are to live like the Amish then the sponsors better be squeaky clean.
As Aukster said, any criticism of alcohol intake seems a bit rich with the big G playing such a large part in sport here. Are the players supposed to be banned from sexual activity as well seeing as that's what caused this debate? I mean banning a certain group from sexual activity rarely ends well on this island

When you start equating the relationship of some one like Rory Best has with his wife to the sexual activity of PJ & SO in PJ's bedroom, there is a serious problem.

Sin é wrote:

Pete330v2 wrote:If there is to be a code of ethics it should also extend to sponsors. We wouldn't want to be accused of hypocrisy as well as misogyny now would we? I mean if a sponsor was themselves inextricably linked to a misogynistic regime for example then they couldn't be linked to Irish sport at all. A bank that has large investments in the middle east for example. If the players are to live like the Amish then the sponsors better be squeaky clean.
As Aukster said, any criticism of alcohol intake seems a bit rich with the big G playing such a large part in sport here. Are the players supposed to be banned from sexual activity as well seeing as that's what caused this debate? I mean banning a certain group from sexual activity rarely ends well on this island

When you start equating the relationship of some one like Rory Best has with his wife to the sexual activity of PJ & SO in PJ's bedroom, there is a serious problem.

Are you really still contributing utter bollix to this forum and nothing else?
Where did I compare Rory's marital activities to PJ's? Point it out, highlight it in red if you like but please, just to be absolutely clear, point it out.

Pete330v2 wrote:

Sin é wrote:

Pete330v2 wrote:If there is to be a code of ethics it should also extend to sponsors. We wouldn't want to be accused of hypocrisy as well as misogyny now would we? I mean if a sponsor was themselves inextricably linked to a misogynistic regime for example then they couldn't be linked to Irish sport at all. A bank that has large investments in the middle east for example. If the players are to live like the Amish then the sponsors better be squeaky clean.
As Aukster said, any criticism of alcohol intake seems a bit rich with the big G playing such a large part in sport here. Are the players supposed to be banned from sexual activity as well seeing as that's what caused this debate? I mean banning a certain group from sexual activity rarely ends well on this island

When you start equating the relationship of some one like Rory Best has with his wife to the sexual activity of PJ & SO in PJ's bedroom, there is a serious problem.

Are you really still contributing utter bollix to this forum and nothing else?
Where did I compare Rory's marital activities to PJ's? Point it out, highlight it in red if you like but please, just to be absolutely clear, point it out.

You asked the question: ''Are the players supposed to be banned from sexual activity as well seeing as that's what caused this debate?'' Why would anyone want to ban sexual activity by people who are in stable relationships. Thats the normal - not the kind of sexual activity that ends up with a question mark over whether it was consensual or not.

So, Leinster have announced their bulk yearly extensions.

Was Carberry's contract up this summer? Does his absense from this list imply he is definitely leaving?

Anyone else not extended, but whose contract is up?

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/leinster-announce-mass-extensions/

Pretty sure Carbery is signed up to Leinster for another while yet, any move away would be a loan and nothing more

Awks....

French media reporting that Gibbes is set to meet with La Rochelle tomorrow.

https://www.lequipe.fr/Rugby/Actualites/La-rochelle-jono-gibbes-en-visite-futur-successeur-de-collazo/901843

I wonder how his family in New Zealand feel about that?

JmD wrote:French media reporting that Gibbes is set to meet with La Rochelle tomorrow.

https://www.lequipe.fr/Rugby/Actualites/La-rochelle-jono-gibbes-en-visite-futur-successeur-de-collazo/901843

I wonder how his family in New Zealand feel about that?

That might be an Oops moment.

Maybe Gibbes wasn't duplicitous enough for Irish Rugby?

He is plenty duplicitous enough if he told Ulster rugby what I heard he told them about why he wanted to go back to NZ.

You may recall, he was taken on by Waikato. So he would have been lying to them as well. Unless his family situation resolved itself, in which case he has my condolences.

You surely can’t blame anyone wanting to get out of the moral cesspit that is Ulster Rugby?

It's just one newspaper report. Who knows if it's actually true.

Cyril wrote:You surely can’t blame anyone wanting to get out of the moral cesspit that is Ulster Rugby?

In what way - the players were sacked.

Go away troll

So Munster signed Botha. In fairness, I didn't see why we would be allowed another. Just hope he doesn't have a better season than Deysel, and that we don't see Coetzee immediately break again upon his return. Bit odd to sign Deysel from Munster in place of Botha who we decided against only for Munster to end up with him.

Any squad news? when will squad be announce, tomorrow?

If Gibbs us over in France whonis actually coaching us for the match on Sunday? Has Gibbs already gone and keep is in charge?

According to the BBC, he's already been over.

I've just this minute been told of the replacement for Logan. Don't know if it's true and it's not from t'other forum for a change but I'm told it's from a reliable source and makes sense as well. So in the KOTH style I'll just say that I wondered if this ex-player used to be a low ranking policeman at some stage.

That's not even very crytic but it's too early for my brain to have kicked in properly. Consider yourselves Hay wained.

Pete330v2 wrote:I've just this minute been told of the replacement for Logan. Don't know if it's true and it's not from t'other forum for a change but I'm told it's from a reliable source and makes sense as well. So in the KOTH style I'll just say that I wondered if this ex-player used to be a low ranking policeman at some stage.

That's not even very crytic but it's too early for my brain to have kicked in properly. Consider yourselves Hay wained.

Sounds like said ex-player would have to be coaxed from his current gig or face a sizable conflict of interest.

Pete330v2 wrote:I've just this minute been told of the replacement for Logan. Don't know if it's true and it's not from t'other forum for a change but I'm told it's from a reliable source and makes sense as well. So in the KOTH style I'll just say that I wondered if this ex-player used to be a low ranking policeman at some stage.

That's not even very crytic but it's too early for my brain to have kicked in properly. Consider yourselves Hay wained.

Timoci Nagusa?

JmD wrote:

Pete330v2 wrote:I've just this minute been told of the replacement for Logan. Don't know if it's true and it's not from t'other forum for a change but I'm told it's from a reliable source and makes sense as well. So in the KOTH style I'll just say that I wondered if this ex-player used to be a low ranking policeman at some stage.

That's not even very crytic but it's too early for my brain to have kicked in properly. Consider yourselves Hay wained.

Sounds like said ex-player would have to be coaxed from his current gig or face a sizable conflict of interest.

Exactly what I thought when I was told. It may well be a pile of tomkite but sometimes there's no smoke without fire.

If the new coach for Ulster is all he is meant to be I think he will be fine. I'm not sure not well you viewed Gibbes stay but from the outside I don't think much really changed.
Fresh face is always good and allows their to be a line drawn under this season.
Hope Ulster win Sunday

Ulster Rugby team to play Ospreys, Champions Cup play-off, Sunday 20th May, Kingspan Stadium (3.05pm):

(15-9): C Piutau; L Ludik, L Marshall, S McCloskey, J Stockdale, J McPhillips, J Cooney;

(1-8): C Black, R Herring (captain), R Kane, A O'Connor, K Treadwell, R Diack, S Reidy, N Timoney;

Replacements (16-23): J Andrew, A Warwick, T O'Toole, J Regan, C Henry, D Shanahan, D Cave, C Gilroy.

Pete330v2 wrote:I've just this minute been told of the replacement for Logan. Don't know if it's true and it's not from t'other forum for a change but I'm told it's from a reliable source and makes sense as well. So in the KOTH style I'll just say that I wondered if this ex-player used to be a low ranking policeman at some stage.

That's not even very crytic but it's too early for my brain to have kicked in properly. Consider yourselves Hay wained.

I very much enjoyed the second clue. I have worked out the name but I don't know who it is. Any other indications...?