The UAFC

Big-al wrote:Ferris, Henry and Wilson look toothless in terms of a scrap????

I've heard it all now!!!!

In open play, Ferris is as likely as anyone to break someone in half. But say he was having his finger bitten at the bottom of a ruck, he would rather have words with the referee than make sure it doesn't happen again in his own way.

If the opposition forward is lying on top of all 3 of them after a ruck has cleared preventing them getting up, which one of our boys is going to make him regret his foul play?

I'm not saying they're not big, or hard or great back row forwards, but I don't see any of them with the bite (figuratively speaking of course) to lay down the law. On the pitch, off the ball, who's making sure we have the upper hand?

Am I totally on my own with this, that our back row is less "scary" in Pedrie's absence?

Big-al wrote:Ferris, Henry and Wilson look toothless in terms of a scrap????

I've heard it all now!!!!

Ferris, Henry and Wilson is a back row to be feared by most in the Rabo and many in the Heinie. My problem is that we won't have Fezfor at least half the Rabo games and I truly believe we are going to lose Henry to Ireland duty much more than we already have. He's now an international class 7.

darkside lightside wrote:

OneMore wrote:Ideally our back row signing will be someone who's going to act as an enforcer. Pedrie would regularly have been the first man into a confrontation, and a first-choice back row of Ferris, Henry and Wilson looks completely toothless in terms of a scrap. Obviously, ball-in-hand Ferris is one of the most explosive players in the game, but he's not a man to get stuck into a fight. There's no-one in that back-row I can see as being dependable backup when things kick off.

Johann isn't scared to get stuck in, Tuohy too. I'd like any such Pedrie replacement to be a scrapper of sorts.

can I contest this idea that Pedrie is an 'enforcer'?? He clearly isn't - I don't think I have ever seen him engaged in fisticuffs, and even when handbags start, he isn't usually a key protaganist. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, he's extremely disciplined, nor am I saying that he is somehow 'soft' - I wouldn't like to be the guy who acted the horlix to his missus for example - but his 'hardness' manifests itself more through constantly sticking his hand up to do the hard stuff, taking the hits, making the hits, carrying the ball, sticking his body in harm's way; rather than strutting about the pitch trying to be the big lad, like Hartley or someone. For all we're losing when Pedrie goes, I don't think we're losing an 'enforcer'..

Aye, look, maybe my impression is a bit out. It sometimes can be - I've been saying for a long time that Willy Falloon was over-rated in here, when I've been chastised for not appreciating all his unseen work. Though maybe they were referring to some charity work he does on weekends, rather than on the rugby pitch.

Was it the Clermont game at home this season, when Rory was taking a couple of digs on the ground about halfway, near the Terrace, and Pedrie was the only man to come and clear out the trouble maker. It's entirely possible that it wasn't Clermont. It may not even have been Pedrie, but I'm almost certain it was, and it was definitely Rory taking the digs. And the opposition went and ran in a score on the far side of the pitch from the same passage of play. Sketchy, I'll admit.

Scranner wrote:

Big-al wrote:Ferris, Henry and Wilson look toothless in terms of a scrap????

I've heard it all now!!!!

Ferris, Henry and Wilson is a back row to be feared by most in the Rabo and many in the Heinie. My problem is that we won't have Fezfor at least half the Rabo games and I truly believe we are going to lose Henry to Ireland duty much more than we already have. He's now an international class 7.

Henry as a 7 works for us because of our style of play which relies on forward domination and tight play with a big defence all of which play to his strengths.
Management I am sure devised this game plan at the start of the season with this in mind.
If we were to play a fast open game I do not know if he would be the sort of 7 who would suit this style.
If we were to expand our game play perhaps we would look at recruiting a lighter, quicker more mobile 7 in the Martyn Williams mould.

"If we were to expand our game play perhaps we would look at recruiting a lighter, quicker more mobile 7 in the Martyn Williams mould."

Willie Faloon?

Near the top of my wish list would be NOC signing a 3 yr extension with the Westies

NOC is currently under contract.

It says a lot about David Humphreys that he is going out of his way to get a proven failure back to Ravenhill!!!

LastKnightoftheproms wrote:

Big-al wrote:NOC is currently under contract.

You are correct. Would you care to share who with?

LastKnightoftheproms wrote:

The only thing useful to Ulster in that photograph is the post protector!

Cornerfleg wrote:

LastKnightoftheproms wrote:

The only thing useful to Ulster in that photograph is the post protector!

According to the Indo he is signed, then again would not be the first time they got it wrong

We've signed a post protector .... magic ... now all we have to do is get NOC off it and it's ready to go for next season!

Cornerfleg wrote:

LastKnightoftheproms wrote:

The only thing useful to Ulster in that photograph is the post protector!

Harsh but both factual & hilarious Fleg.

Luckily I didn't go with my first attempt which was that the lack of proper spacing on email addresses left us missing the caption:

Dicks on digital!

Cornerfleg wrote:

LastKnightoftheproms wrote:

The only thing useful to Ulster in that photograph is the post protector!

Harsh but true, so very, very true.

Humph obviously so embarassed about it that he's waiting to drop it into the euphoric press release announcing the last NIQ player. Better hope thats not Nick Williams