Montpellier vs Ulster

Talk about the men in white, and everything Ulster!!

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rorybestsbigbaldnoggin
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by rorybestsbigbaldnoggin »

ruckover wrote:I'm not saying Hendo can't start a match, I'm just saying I'd rather have one of him or FNW coming off the bench to try and punch holes in the defence. No matter how athletic or strong Hendo is, he will definitely not be as effective in the 70th minute than he will be in the 1st minute.

To be fair, no-one is as effective in the 70th minute if they have played since the 1st minute.

I'd be of the opinion that to stay in the game for a bonus point at least, as well as being in with a shout of a draw/win, we need to stay with the Montpellier pack for as long as possible. Therefore we need our strongest pack (i.e. definitely Henderson and Afoa if fit, and probably Nick Williams) on from the start, in order toget the ball to our backs, who I would say have an advantage over Montpellier backs.

If we are able to give the backs the service, we will score. And if we get to 60 minutes in touching distance (i.e. less than 10 points away or better), we can sub some forwards and keep her lit. This isn't a normal game, where we can expect to be competitive at the 60-minute mark and use a stellar bench to finish it off (e.g. Ospreys 10 days ago.)
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by LegsLikeSausages »

On the back row debate-

If our scrum gets put under pressure on our own put in, I think it is vital that we have our most technical 8/9 combination in terms of controlling the ball at the base. That means having Wilson at 8 on our own put in, if we are sticking to the same back row as last week.

My preferred option though, as others have said, would be to start Henderson at 6 and keep Williams for impact late in the game.
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by John_e_boy »

Montpellier are second in the Top14 and have a shot of the title.

Now the age-old question is: will they be French and focus on the Boucle, or will they give Europe a real lash? They are a tasty team who like to fling it out wide a lot.
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by BaggyTrousers »

LegsLikeSausages wrote:On the back row debate-

If our scrum gets put under pressure on our own put in, I think it is vital that we have our most technical 8/9 combination in terms of controlling the ball at the base. That means having Wilson at 8 on our own put in, if we are sticking to the same back row as last week.

My preferred option though, as others have said, would be to start Henderson at 6 and keep Williams for impact late in the game.
Not going to happen, & of course shouldn't. We will again go for that physical back row that has played very well together so far this season, when selected.

Anyway Legslike, welcome to the forum oul'haun. :salut:
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by BaggyTrousers »

John_e_boy wrote:Montpellier are second in the Top14 and have a shot of the title.

Now the age-old question is: will they be French and focus on the Boucle, or will they give Europe a real lash? They are a tasty team who like to fling it out wide a lot.
Am I seeing double Jeb? This double posting lark is apt to confuse us ould lads. I refer the honourable poster to my previous answer.
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by John_e_boy »

I thought it was more appropriate here!
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by John_e_boy »

I actually tipped Montpellier to win the Top14 this year. They look very strong and especially at home. Expect another 16k crowd I would say.

However, Toulon gave them a fright at the start of the season with what, for them, was a very workmanllike and physical peformance, not the flair you expect of Toulon.

All I know is, once again, Ulster will feature in what will be the tie of the round ;-)
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by BaggyTrousers »

rorybestsbigbaldnoggin wrote:This isn't a normal game, where we can expect to be competitive at the 60-minute mark and use a stellar bench to finish it off (e.g. Ospreys 10 days ago.)
Mind you, amusingly it's exactly what we have done to Ospreys over there in the last two seasons.

Doesn't do to overestimate our Montpellier brethren, in the same way as underestimating them would be daft. It's a game to go their & scrap for every ball. We've done it before, no need to be fearful, just go and do what we do well then, Key Sarah Sarah :lol:
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by UpAtSix »

Any game for which we're able to field a full(ish) strength team is winnable, simple as.

I anticipate that their pack will try to out-muscle us in the first half, just like with the podgy Tigers last week. For that reason, we need Roger at 8 to deal with our scrums (spot on, stomachslikesausages), and Hendo to hit them backwards in the tackle. We have Ruan back and PJ in the form of his life, so play intelligently and force them back into their own half. The more times we force their huge forwards to trot back towards their own tryline the quieter the (Montpellier) fans will get!

Second half, continue to be accurate and pragmatic until the gaps start to appear, then go for the jugular. If we're in touch at half time then we should be able to pull clear in the end.

I don't think I'm overestimating the opposition when I say it'll be a dogfight, Baggy; our record in France speaks volumes and even the win in Castres last year was ugly. Four points by any means necessary and I'll go home a happy man.
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by LegsLikeSausages »

BaggyTrousers wrote:
LegsLikeSausages wrote:On the back row debate-

If our scrum gets put under pressure on our own put in, I think it is vital that we have our most technical 8/9 combination in terms of controlling the ball at the base. That means having Wilson at 8 on our own put in, if we are sticking to the same back row as last week.

My preferred option though, as others have said, would be to start Henderson at 6 and keep Williams for impact late in the game.
Not going to happen, & of course shouldn't. We will again go for that physical back row that has played very well together so far this season, when selected.

Anyway Legslike, welcome to the forum oul'haun. :salut:

Thanks Baggy.

Think the Hendo / Williams debate has been done to death now and can see the merits of both.

Would still like to see Roger 'driving the bus' at the back of the scrum on our own put in. A No. 8 controlling the ball at the back of the scrum seems to have become a lost art in recent years much like a hooker hooking. However, both have become much more relevant now the scrum-halves have to actually stick the ball down the middle.
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by bazzaj »

UpAtSix wrote:Any game for which we're able to field a full(ish) strength team is winnable, simple as.

I anticipate that their pack will try to out-muscle us in the first half, just like with the podgy Tigers last week. For that reason, we need Roger at 8 to deal with our scrums (spot on, stomachslikesausages), and Hendo to hit them backwards in the tackle. We have Ruan back and PJ in the form of his life, so play intelligently and force them back into their own half. The more times we force their huge forwards to trot back towards their own tryline the quieter the (Montpellier) fans will get!

Second half, continue to be accurate and pragmatic until the gaps start to appear, then go for the jugular. If we're in touch at half time then we should be able to pull clear in the end.

I don't think I'm overestimating the opposition when I say it'll be a dogfight, Baggy; our record in France speaks volumes and even the win in Castres last year was ugly. Four points by any means necessary and I'll go home a happy man.
Not forgetting that was half a Castes team most of whom were rested for their mid week t14 game last season
No such luck this time round.
The situations therefore are not comparable .

I would take an lbp which will be a stretch but a tad more realistic.
Then deprive them of one at home which means we have won a head to head.
That will be the way to escape this group.
Depends on our selection which needs to bang on.
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by UpAtSix »

He certainly is, fair play to him. He definitely seems focussed on the Heineken and this game in particular, no sign of looking to the next Top 14 match.

They've done their homework on our defence, so it'll be interesting to note where they attack us on Saturday.
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by OneMore »

This probably should have its own thread, but this being one of our two toughest away games, does anyone think we can make a home QF with anything less than 5 wins? We had 5 wins last year and lost out on whatever it was (points difference or tries scored, I can't remember), so I'm thinking if we lose this weekend, we'll be looking for 4 points from Welford Road.

Or else we can forget about home QF.
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Re: Montpellier vs Ulster

Post by ruckover »

big mervyn wrote:Ledesma showing a lot of respect.

http://www.rugbyrama.fr/rugby/coupe-d-e ... tory.shtml
Google Translate is very poor but fair play to him he is very complimentary of us (if GT can be trusted!). I was interested by the stat we've only conceded 4 tries in 6 games, I didn't realise that. That'll have to continue this week because these guys are lethal in the 22.
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