What the Papers Say 2012/2013

[Mac]

Sat 9th Sept 2012
Match day..........the fat lady sings!

The Sunday papers......on Saturday night!

Tele

The Ospreys looked set to atone for their opening defeat in Treviso as a fine solo try from Hanno Dirksen and eight points from the boot of fly-half Matthew Morgan appeared to put them in control but they crumbled badly late in the second half with their scrum coming under huge pressure from Ulster's reinforced pack.

Paul Marshall's try six minutes from time, converted by Paddy Jackson, saw Ulster to victory.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport ... 08538.html

Indo

The 7th Cavalry

But a clutch of substitutions by Ulster coach Mark Anscombe turned the match on its head.

The arrival of Afoa and Ireland prop Tom Court saw the Ospreys scrum forced into retreat, while Ferris produced some thunderous tackles.

Another replacement, Paddy Jackson, nailed a couple of penalties to make it 13-9 before yet another member of the cavalry, scrum-half Paul Marshall, claimed the match-winning score with six minutes remaining.

A sharp counter-attack from wing Craig Gilroy set up the opportunity which eventually saw Marshall touch down from close range.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/ ... 63098.html

The BeeB

There was plenty of intent shown from both sides, but all too often promising attacks were undone by sloppy handling.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/19481284

The Flip Side

Last-gasp try seizes victory for Irish in Swansea
......it's never over 'til Small Paul........ kicks it out

The optimism of a crowd of 8,566 was dulled by a dour display against last season’s beaten Heineken Cup finalists Ulster.

Ospreys might have sold a record 9,200 season tickets, but if they keep performing this badly, you’d suspect the enthusiasm generated at the end of last term will soon disappear.

All they could muster was a cracking individual try from ace finisher Hanno Dirksen, a conversion and two penalties from outside-half Matthew Morgan.

Ulster’s decision to change their front-row in the second half turned the match in their favour and they ended up deserved victors

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynatio ... -31796555/

[Mac]

Sunday papers contd.

Indo

Ulster take a (the) Liberty

ULSTER staged a smash and grab raid at the Liberty Stadium last night as Paul Marshall's try five minutes from time gave Mark Anscombe's side their second win of the Pro12 season.

John Afoa looked to have gotten the try for the northern province, but after he was held short Marshall finished off from less than a yard after tracking the run of his tight-head.

With a clash with Munster at Ravenhill next weekend awaiting last year's Heineken Cup runners-up, Anscombe gave Stephen Ferris and Andrew Trimble their first run of the season as second-half replacements.

And the changes made all the difference as Marshall's try saw Ulster retain their 100 per cent start to the campaign as the defending Pro12 champions remain winless.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/


UR
Indiscipline to the fore.

Indiscipline from the visitors then saw the concession of three consecutive penalties, but a lack of penetration from the Ospreys meant little ground and no points were gained from their 10-minute spell of possession, and good sweeping-up from McComish allowed O'Connor to clear his lines on 20 minutes. The outside-half then had the opportunity to open the Ulster account moments later with an acutely-angled penalty from the right wing, but narrowly missed to the right of the posts.

Ospreys wasted no time from the restart, South African-born Hanno Dirksen picking up a loose ball outside the Ulster '22' and deftly eluding Cave, Payne and Michael Heaney to touch down on 24 minutes. Welsh Number 10 Matthew Morgan added the extras to the winger's try,

The game's turning point came with the clock at 73 minutes. Ulster stormed forward with a superb passage of play spearheaded by replacement lock Neil McComb, and which culminated with John Afoa grounding the ball centimetres shy of the line under a hail of tackles, before the alert Paul Marshall picked up and dived over the mound of bodies to score the try. Jackson converted to leave the Ospreys requiring a penalty for a draw

RTE

The arrival of Afoa and Ireland prop Tom Court saw the Ospreys scrum forced into retreat, while Ferris produced some thunderous tackles.
Another replacement, Jackson, nailed a couple of penalties to make it 13-9 before yet another member of the cavalry, scrum-half Marshall, claimed the match-winning score with six minutes remaining.
A sharp counter-attack from wing Craig Gilroy set up the opportunity which eventually saw Marshall touch down from close range.
It left the Ospreys with little time to redeem themselves, but any chance they had of salvaging the win disappeared when they coughed up the ball again, leaving them with just two losing bonus points to show from their opening two matches.

The Flip Side

Reaction of Coach - Gruff Rees & "fine margins"

He cut a frustrated figure after watching Ulster overturn a 10-point deficit in the second half at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday evening, but speaking to the press post-match he was offering no excuses as he described the Ospreys as "architects of our own downfall".
"Again, we showed glimpses and patches of where we want to get to but it was too fleeting for our liking" he said.

Ulster have got decent squad depth and they brought decent players on but there are perhaps other issues around those scrums that we need to look at again in terms of that call that's been made. Those incidents aside though, in many ways we were architects of our own downfall. We were pressurising in their 22 and didn't come away with points.

"Ulster were scratchy themselves tonight, both teams had long error strewn periods, but they obviously came back into it then. A bit of looseness on our part saw them sneak it with a try in the last five minutes and we couldn't come back from that."

"When you look at the first two weeks of the season, we've lost two games we could have won. Ulster have won both and they are admitting themselves that they are a bit scratchy in their performance. It's very fine margins."

http://www.ospreysrugby.com/news/5573.php

[Mac]

Sunday 9th Sept.

A few remaining bits and pieces.

Anscombe in awe of impact of Marshall and Jackson
but this man will not put up with half hearted performances!!

Ulster coach Mark Anscombe hailed the impact of replacements Paul Marshall and Paddy Jackson as they put on a late show to snatch a 16-13 victory at the Liberty Stadium.

And Anscombe admitted he was a relieved man.
"The subs came on and really lifted the performance. Some of them haven't played a lot of rugby recently but it was great to be able to bring players of that calibre on," he said.
"I'm very relieved to come away with the win. It's never easy to go to Swansea and come away with four points but we've achieved that so we have to be pleased.
"I was disappointed with the performance in the first 65 minutes. We didn't look after the ball well enough, we were turned over a lot and we didn't play territory like we had talked about.
"We seemed happy to amble through the game and I thought we generally lacked a bit of fizz and didn't show enough purpose.

http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/news/14592.php

Full match report and stats.
MOTM - Nick W.
http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/news/14592.php

The Ospreys looked set to atone for their opening 12-6 defeat in Treviso as a fine solo try from Hanno Dirksen and eight points from the boot of fly-half Matthew Morgan appeared to put them in control.
But they crumbled badly late in the second half with their scrum coming under huge pressure from Ulster's reinforced pack.

There was plenty of intent shown from both sides, but all too often promising attacks were undone by sloppy handling

http://www.skysports.com/rugbyunion/mat ... _1,00.html

Niall O'Connor did get the visitors on the scoreboard via a penalty with just over half an hour gone but he missed by a long way with a couple of other attempts and Ulster struggled to create any real try-scoring opportunities

The game could have gone either way in the final ten minutes but it was Ulster who grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and, after John Afoa came up just short of the line, replacement scrum-half Paul Marshall dived over the top of several bodies to touch down and steal victory from the jaws of defeat.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,2588 ... 78,00.html

[browner]

Anscombe optimistic...from the Irish Times...

RABODIRECT PRO 12 Ospreys 13 Ulster 16: SOMETHING WILL have to give at Ravenhill on Friday night when Kiwi coaches Mark Anscombe and Rob Penney go head to head for the first time on Irish soil.

Both will head into the first big inter-pro derby of the season with perfect records after Anscombe’s Ulster and Penney’s Munster made it two from two at the weekend.

But Auckland man Anscombe’s smile might be broader. After all, Ulster have opened with victories over two of last season’s semi-finalists and went to the home of the champions and won.

But while the fact his side were able to claw their way back from a 10-point deficit to beat the Ospreys was pleasing, the biggest boost for Anscombe was the return to action of Stephen Ferris, Tom Court and Andrew Trimble. All of a sudden he has a team to work with and there will be more joining them soon.

“We have Chris Henry and Dan Tuohy available to us next week and Tommy Bowe is progressing well. He should be back in a couple of weeks,” said Anscombe.

“We’ve got by with some young guys in the opening few weeks and it is an important part of their development to play alongside some of the experienced players. Just take Mike McComish as an example, he came in at the last minute and played really well for the full 80 minutes.

“He will have enjoyed playing alongside Stephen Ferris in the second half, who wouldn’t?”

If Anscombe can move forward with his second half side on Friday night, then the odds would probably favour the home side.

A try from Hanno Dirksen allowed the Ospreys to lead 7-3 at the break and two more penalties from Matthew Morgan stretched the home lead to 13-3 after 52 minutes. But then came the Ulster cavalry charge.

Paddy Jackson kicked two penalties after three misses by Niall O’Connor and Paul Marshall dived over after a sweeping move opened up the Ospreys defence. Jackson’s conversion was the icing on the cake.

[browner]

Anscombe hails Williams...from the Irish Indo...

What a shrewd buy Nick Williams is turning out to be for Ulster.

The New Zealand-born powerhouse turned in another thunderous performance in the back-row as Ulster kept their unbeaten Pro12 record with a late comeback to defeat defending champions Ospreys in their own back garden on Saturday.

Trailing 13-3 at one stage after allowing Ospreys sprinter Hanno Dirksen to wing in for a try in the second quarter, Ulster's finishing power did the business after coach Mark Anscombe brought on some big guns -- with replacement scrum-half Paul Marshall grabbing the all-important winning try five minutes from full-time.

dynamic

But it was Man of the Match Williams' dynamic play that helped Ulster's defence quell the home side's fire and kept them honest at the breakdown.

Anscombe, who gave Williams his first taste of senior rugby when coaching North Harbour, was full of praise for the former Munster No 8, who was brought back from the obscurity of Italian rugby.

"Nick had a great game. What was pleasing was his work rate," said Anscombe. "He got through a lot of work during the 80 minutes. The more game time he gets, the better conditioned he will be.

"He still has a lot more to offer but his performance was important for us at the Liberty Stadium."

Anscombe, though, was not happy with Ulster's overall performance and said they will have to improve with the visit of Munster to Ravenhill next Friday.

"I was disappointed with the performance in the first 65 minutes," said Anscombe.

"We didn't look after the ball well enough, we were turned over a lot and we didn't play territory like we had talked about beforehand.

"We seemed happy to amble through the game and I thought we generally lacked a bit of fizz and didn't show enough purpose. There is plenty to improve on for next week.

"Every team will be looking to improve week-on-week and we're no different. We will have a couple more guys back in the fold and that will help but we have to be patient and we will get there.

"The substitutes came on and really lifted the performance. Some of them haven't played a lot of rugby recently but it was great to be able to bring players of that calibre on," said Anscombe who watched John Afoa, Tom Court, Stephen Ferris and Marshall turn around Ulster's fortunes.

"The scrums were very good in the second half with Nigel (Brady), John and Tom very strong and they put their front-row under pressure. Allen Clarke has done a lot of work on our set-piece and we are reaping the rewards," he said.

After 24 minutes of flexing muscles it took a superb individual effort to liven up the home crowd when Dirksen blitzed the Ulster defence after picking up a loose pass 35 metres out to swoop in, with Matthew Morgan converting.

Ulster out-half Niall O'Connor made up for an earlier miss to land a fine long-range penalty after 31 minutes, while Morgan added two more penalties after half-time.

cavalry

Then came the cavalry with the visitors' scrum shunting the Ospreys' pack all over the place, with Paddy Jackson knocking over a couple of penalties as Ulster clawed back to 9-13.

And it was a Craig Gilroy break out of defence five minutes from the end and a great carry by Afoa up to the line that set up the nippy Marshall to dive over for the try confirmed by the TMO.

[Mac]

Monday 10th Sept 2012

Indo
What a shrewd buy.........

As per Browner
http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/a ... 25562.html

Times
Anscombe optimistic as Ulster pick up momentum
As per Browner
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/spo ... 99816.html

AND back home.....down under

A determined final quarter comeback saw Ulster inflict a second successive defeat 16-13 on defending Pro12 champions the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.
The Northern Irish province were trailing 13-3 with 56 minutes on the clock, but replacements that included All Blacks prop John Afoa and British Lion Stephen Ferris made a major impact as the Ulstermen made it two wins from two.

Picking up a loose pass 35 metres out, Dirksen hurtled through a fragile defence, fended off Ulster fullback Jared Payne and then turned on the afterburners to make the line unopposed.

But a clutch of substitutions by Ulster coach Mark Anscombe turned the match on its head.
The arrival of Afoa and Ireland prop Tom Court saw the Ospreys scrum forced into retreat, while Ferris produced some thunderous tackles.

http://www.sportal.co.nz/rugby-union-ne ... ter-197580

[Wee Woman]

Just wanted to say what a great thread this is Mac - great work

[Mac]

Just wanted to say what a great thread this is Mac - great work

Thanks WW, but there are a couple of others helping out also. Public apology for my
double post earlier and for cutting across what Browner had posted earlier!

[Cornerfleg]

I know it's a lot of work but is there any way we could prune the first pages as the weeks go by, just to keep the size down and relevant articles handy.

It's a great resource though, prob the fist topic I look for and open each day.

Top work Mac

[Rooster]

I know it's a lot of work but is there any way we could prune the first pages as the weeks go by, just to keep the size down and relevant articles handy.

It's a great resource though, prob the fist topic I look for and open each day.

Top work Mac

Just go to the last post fleg by clicking on the wee page square thing beside the posters name.
Only way you can prune pages is for a mod to delete them and once they are deleted they are gone for good.
Best to keep articles as a part plus the link to the original as there is something about the legality of doing it that way versus copy of full article with or without link.

[Mac]

I know it's a lot of work but is there any way we could prune the first pages as the weeks go by, just to keep the size down and relevant articles handy.

Fleg what I'll do is keep posting the Month, year and date at the beginning
of each post. In the event that someone is looking to dig out a particular
article then do a search eg - Sept 2012. This should pull all posts relating to
Sept 2012 together, they should be in some order listed by date, etc etc.
Mac.

[mikerob]

I know it's a lot of work but is there any way we could prune the first pages as the weeks go by, just to keep the size down and relevant articles handy.

It's a great resource though, prob the fist topic I look for and open each day.

Top work Mac

Just go to the last post fleg by clicking on the wee page square thing beside the posters name.
Only way you can prune pages is for a mod to delete them and once they are deleted they are gone for good.
Best to keep articles as a part plus the link to the original as there is something about the legality of doing it that way versus copy of full article with or without link.

+ clicking through to the link to the newspaper website does generate hits for them and this does help their advertising revenue that helps keep them in business (... and it is up to you if you think that is good or bad for particular papers )

[Cornerfleg]

Mac!

Aye fair nuff Rooster - good point ... anyways whats with all this 'telligence and smartness on this board this weather ... it's making me feel very uncomfortable ...

[rumncoke]

Open a new thread every month e.g W.T.P.S - oct 12 W.T. P.S. Nov 12 etc

There may be those who would prefer a shorter time span but --it increases the Number of threads and would possibly make back referencing harder e.g. See Wpts sept 12 p2

[Mac]

Monday 10th Sept contd.

Examiner

Small Paul states that much improvement needed...

Despite getting a victory against champions Ospreys in Liberty Stadium on Saturday, Marshall maintains Ulster need to raise their level even higher for this weekend’s showdown with Munster.

“Next week will be a really tough encounter as all the inter-pros are” he said. “I’m assuming they will come up to Belfast with their full contingent of Internationals and we will have a couple more back as well.

“We will have to be firing on all cylinders if we are to come away with another win, a performance like the one on Saturday night won’t be good enough.

The 27-year-old grabbed that opportunity with both hands on Saturday when he darted over for the match-winning try five minutes from the end but he credits his teammates for giving him the platform to attack.

“I didn’t have much to do for the try; I just squeezed over the line when John [Afoa] was brought down just short.

“It was a good team try and it shows what we are capable of producing. We didn’t play very well but I thought we showed great character in the second half and the most important thing is that we got the win and it keeps us on track.”

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingne ... 66366.html