In fairness to Less Kiss .....

[Cap'n Grumpy]

Wot?


Too soon?

[Deraless]

Less aimless kicking as well.

[Tender]

Why?

[justinr73]

Not sure we could have hoped for much more tonight could we?

The thing is, if you don't give credit where credit's due, you look like a Warren Gatland.

[BaggyTrousers]

Not sure we could have hoped for much more tonight could we?

The thing is, if you don't give credit where credit's due, you look like a Warren Gatland.

Fair comment Lionel, but FFFS who is due the credit? We rolled over a poor team, Gibbes seems to have sorted out a cracking back row. Peel must have done a decent job with Cooney so far. Kiss? He looks after defence, right? It was modest, better than at Saints by all accounts, but untested by a collection of speedy blokes without an ounce of bosh up the middle about them.

That's my 6d's worth Lionel, you can call be Warren.

Kiss Out, FOLK.

[rumncoke]

A couple of Cooneys clearance kicks were long and loose and allowed the 'cheaters' to run the ball back at pace I say "cheaters" because they had crossing and blocking down to an Art form .

last night is proof positive that to be competitive you have to have a back row providing options in attack and not just competent defenders but players who can stop the opposition in front of the gain line.

[Dave]

FOLK

[Dave]

Kiss will take credit now for everything good. Couldn't coach shyte last year but now is brill. Next, Paul Marshall will be praised for everything Cooney does.

[scrum5]

If he played any part in bringing Coetzee and Dysel to Ulster then hats off to him, if not then no, get rid off

[Cockatrice]

If he played any part in bringing Coetzee and Dysel to Ulster then hats off to him, if not then no, get rid off

He brought Gibbes in after his original choice turned us down so hats off to him for his perseverance on that... and of course D4 aren't looking at any big picture with Mr Gibbes.

[bazzaj]

Yep definitely pleasing aspects were back row back row and oh yes back row.
Suddenly we have go forward and with Hendy to come back in and McCloskey in the centres we have players that can do damage.
Chad looked like he had rolled back the clock.
Haven't seen him play that in years as he was freed up to play his own game.

It was pleasing to see CP given licence to get his hands on the ball to create havoc.
He is the sort of player who will lose interest if he isn't involved.
Halfbacks looked tidy as well.

That back line had never played together so tremendous credit has to go to them for their cutting of lines off each other and general fluidity.

However the cheetahs reminded me of a touch team who weren't interested unless they had the ball.
Their stats someone mentioned before the game was scoring 26 a game whilst conceding an average 30 odd last season was entirely understandable.

Sure we have bigger tests ahead but it was very much a step into the unknown last night which could have been greeted with a cautious approach
Very pleasing that we didn't panic either when they scored tries from errors but instead we kept faith in the game plan.

Defensive worries for sure but I wanted to see an open gameplan and I got one.
Don't care who was behind it or who gets credit just want to see more of the same from now.

Very good start.

[Bart S]

I wouldn't have been sorry to see Kiss go at the end of last season along with Doak and Clarke, but he was kept on and brought in his own choices. As Dave said elsewhere, he is in No Excuses territory now as any goodwill was lost by some of the shambkes of last season.

However, if things go well this season, I will absolutely give him credit along with the rest of the coaching staff. Like Bazza I couldn't care less who is responsible for this as the reality is, it will be all of them to some extent, as happy working relationships will be key.

Last night was a decent start in terms of the type of rugby we played and seeing a good aggressive backrow. It is still early days but most importantly, we may get some confidence out of that win. Also some gametime for the likes of McCall, Rea, Andrew and Nelson.

There will be some ups and downs and as a realist, I don't expect our current squad to be challenging Sarries for the SDC this season, but getting back into the top 4 as a minimum in the Pro14 and top 2 in our euro group are things we should be realistically aiming for as signs we are on an upward curve.

I do expect some poor performances as well and let's face it, when have we ever had a season where that didn't happen or indeed do any clubs have that kind of season? i prefer to keep the praise muted at this stage but equally not demand the players and management be sacked if we do have the odd bad game/result.

[big mervyn]

Less aimless kicking as well.

Apparently they always aimed but it was certainly less clueless.

[Tender]

Nope, he's a useless Kunt, in my opinion.
We've gone backwards under his leadership.

[Bart S]

The Cap'n started this thread to have a good oul' stir, but I reckon the rants associated with the first defeat will be pretty epic on here!