Ulster v Connacht

[thecrouch]

So Connacht it is.

Unlike many, I think last Friday was a very mixed bag. In a knockout game, and an interpro at that, we'll be in serious bother if our defence is similarly flaccid like it was at the start against Edinburgh. Our attacking play was blunt and unimaginative.

Few injury worries, JTA may need to be wrapped in cotton wool all week.

Surely we'll have too much for Connacht at home. Losing this would be fairly depressing.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

What time is kick off?

Indeed, what day is kick off?

Will it be televised?

Asking for a friend.

Somebody had to.

[Dave]

So Connacht it is, so it is.

Fixed

[So It Is]

So Connacht it is, so it is.

Fixed

Ats us nai

[allezlesverres]

We very rarely get turned over by connacht at home so bookies will have us as heavy favourites. It's about the best qf draw we could have hoped for. Big stu will shore up midfield defence. If Marshall recovered I'd start him too, his presence in defence was a big improvement over Hume who sadly is really stuttering for form this year.

I think we will get past connacht handy enough but the real test will be if we have enough players left to face the stormers.

[Bart S]

What time is kick off? - same as always. When the ref blows the whistle.

Indeed, what day is kick off? - probably around day 5951, but I am sure another person on here can confirm exactly.

Will it be televised? - yes

Asking for a friend.- Connacht must be really disorganised if their coach doesn't even know when the game is.

Somebody had to.

[justinr73]

Connacht are a decent outfit and get written off on the 42 even more times than we do.

Despite our late, and significant, wobble just before Christmas in Galway, their first choice side didn’t really trouble us for 70 minutes.

We had a strong pack that night, including Hendy (but not DV), and we’ll need to hit our straps as they’ve been in good form.

It’s still the draw most of us would probably have preferred.

[Bobbievee]

So Connacht it is.

Unlike many, I think last Friday was a very mixed bag. In a knockout game, and an interpro at that, we'll be in serious bother if our defence is similarly flaccid like it was at the start against Edinburgh. Our attacking play was blunt and unimaginative.

Few injury worries, JTA may need to be wrapped in cotton wool all week.

Surely we'll have too much for Connacht at home. Losing this would be fairly depressing.

yeah last week didn't feel like watching the second best team in the league. And KIngspan was flat. Is that our fault? The teams fault?
I think we are becoming like England supporters. expecting to win, hopefully chasing kicks , but becoming boring with little or no excitement.

Too harsh?

[jean valjean]

Friday 5th at 7.35pm. Still nothing on tickets at time of posting.

[Neill_M]

Friday 5th at 7.35pm. Still nothing on tickets at time of posting.

Tickets for this fixture will be made available on a phased basis, with Season Ticket holders at the front of the queue.

Priority Window - From 10am on Tuesday 25 April until 9am on Wednesday 26 April
While playoff fixtures are not included as part of the Season Ticket package, we are pleased to confirm that Season Ticket holders will be able to secure the same seats / terrace locations they occupy for all regular season fixtures. Plus - they will also get a 25% discount off their own tickets as a goodwill gesture for their unwavering support this season.

Season Ticket holders will also get first access to purchase additional tickets during this window.

General On-Sale - From 10am on Wednesday 26 April
All remaining tickets will be available to the general public at ulster.rugby/buytickets.

[Dave]

Too warm for hoodies under jerseys?
What are the options when slightly warmer but enough for short sleeves?

[HammerTime]

So Connacht it is.

Unlike many, I think last Friday was a very mixed bag. In a knockout game, and an interpro at that, we'll be in serious bother if our defence is similarly flaccid like it was at the start against Edinburgh. Our attacking play was blunt and unimaginative.

Few injury worries, JTA may need to be wrapped in cotton wool all week.

Surely we'll have too much for Connacht at home. Losing this would be fairly depressing.

yeah last week didn't feel like watching the second best team in the league. And KIngspan was flat. Is that our fault? The teams fault?
I think we are becoming like England supporters. expecting to win, hopefully chasing kicks , but becoming boring with little or no excitement.

Too harsh?

At Kingspan the crowd always feed off the team. If the team is flat ... boring predictable tactics, box kicking, knockons, no big hits then the stands are flat.

[Dave]

So Connacht it is.

Unlike many, I think last Friday was a very mixed bag. In a knockout game, and an interpro at that, we'll be in serious bother if our defence is similarly flaccid like it was at the start against Edinburgh. Our attacking play was blunt and unimaginative.

Few injury worries, JTA may need to be wrapped in cotton wool all week.

Surely we'll have too much for Connacht at home. Losing this would be fairly depressing.

yeah last week didn't feel like watching the second best team in the league. And KIngspan was flat. Is that our fault? The teams fault?
I think we are becoming like England supporters. expecting to win, hopefully chasing kicks , but becoming boring with little or no excitement.

Too harsh?

At Kingspan the crowd always feed off the team. If the team is flat ... boring predictable tactics, box kicking, knockons, no big hits then the stands are flat.

Agreed. I had to stop a group of fans singing SUFTUM because Doak was about to launch a box kick into the bleachers.

[BaggyTrousers]

Atmosphere? It's a joint effort, team and supporters.

However I do think that it has suffered in the last 5 years and that is not because the rugby is any worse, the fact is the rugby's markedly better. When I was departing for Spain, PJ & Wee Stu were being brutally dismissed by the horrible Donal Spring (I wish he'd hurry up and die so I can celebrate) on behalf of the FIRFUCs. That happened less than a month before I left.

After the last match in 2017-18, I threw my Ulster shirt into the office suitably inscribed with a message for SLogan and asked that it be given to him, my rage was at a pretty toxic level, I suspect I was not alone. My theory is that a sufficient number of Ulster-supporting stalwarts got a feckin' sickener and voted with their feet, never to return. Stout-hearted Ulstermen & Ulsterweemin who declared "Up with this I shall not fcuking put". My ageing and drink-addled brain tells me there was an immediate drop in crowd figures of approx. 1500 but of course, the powers that be feel such figures are irrelevant to the new fans they have garnered with that clown SLogan's "This is how we behave" bullshit, which sadly has been carried on by the new regime.

In general, rugby crowds do not need to be told how to behave, unless of course you are in Glasgow or sometimes Wales and increasingly at D'RDS, the treatment afforded the Stormers there recently was just shocking and every bit as poor as the nasty denizens of Scotstoun regularly supply - classless oaves. In most places, for decades miscreants have been properly chided by their peers and embarrassed into silence.

It is just about conceivable that I could be wrong, I was wrong once before when I thought I'd made a mistake but had been right all along. It is possible that a slide to gentrification was underway with many old hands from the Terrace & Prom settling into old age and literally taking a seat. It's possible that these guys who guldered en-masse whilst standing and quaffing pints were afflicted with the general malaise that happens when you get a row of corporate clowns behind you, one-week hearing a discussion on Seamus-come-latelies Manchester City, the next some experts from the local knitting circle waxing lyrical about a drop-stitch whatever the holy feck that may be. The only thing these folk have in common is a lack of any rugby knowledge, though in fairness, the knitting ladies knew more than the Man City fans - no surprise there I suppose.

One thing is certain, even with a decent-quality soundbar it is rare that I detect anything approaching atmosphere these days, barring when something utterly sublime happens.

Before I shut my trap, I hear some clowns have been suggesting that Ulster should have awarded this QF game as a freebie to ST holders, due to the heinous FIRFUCs bowing to the ECPR, who broke the Laws of World Rugby by not staging a pitch inspection on the scheduled day of the match against Stade Rochelais or LR as some call ROGer's troops. And all because Frere Grenouille wanted to scurry back to GarlicMunchingLand in time to watch the Wendyball World Cup Final. How I laughed when Les Singes du Surrendre got snattered on spot-kicks.

It is a fact that the eternally stupid, like the poor will always be with us. I've heard estimates between 700K - 850K as the hammering the coffers of UR took thanks to this act of treachery to which the FIRFUCs were complicit. What level of Moron must you be to then consider that the game should be free gratis? Some people are just as dumb as a beg of racks.

Rant Ends.

[thecrouch]

Atmosphere? It's a joint effort, team and supporters.

However I do think that it has suffered in the last 5 years and that is not because the rugby is any worse, the fact is the rugby's markedly better. When I was departing for Spain, PJ & Wee Stu were being brutally dismissed by the horrible Donal Spring (I wish he'd hurry up and die so I can celebrate) on behalf of the FIRFUCs. That happened less than a month before I left.

After the last match in 2017-18, I threw my Ulster shirt into the office suitably inscribed with a message for SLogan and asked that it be given to him, my rage was at a pretty toxic level, I suspect I was not alone. My theory is that a sufficient number of Ulster-supporting stalwarts got a feckin' sickener and voted with their feet, never to return. Stout-hearted Ulstermen & Ulsterweemin who declared "Up with this I shall not fcuking put". My ageing and drink-addled brain tells me there was an immediate drop in crowd figures of approx. 1500 but of course, the powers that be feel such figures are irrelevant to the new fans they have garnered with that clown SLogan's "This is how we behave" bullshit, which sadly has been carried on by the new regime.

In general, rugby crowds do not need to be told how to behave, unless of course you are in Glasgow or sometimes Wales and increasingly at D'RDS, the treatment afforded the Stormers there recently was just shocking and every bit as poor as the nasty denizens of Scotstoun regularly supply - classless oaves. In most places, for decades miscreants have been properly chided by their peers and embarrassed into silence.

It is just about conceivable that I could be wrong, I was wrong once before when I thought I'd made a mistake but had been right all along. It is possible that a slide to gentrification was underway with many old hands from the Terrace & Prom settling into old age and literally taking a seat. It's possible that these guys who guldered en-masse whilst standing and quaffing pints were afflicted with the general malaise that happens when you get a row of corporate clowns behind you, one-week hearing a discussion on Seamus-come-latelies Manchester City, the next some experts from the local knitting circle waxing lyrical about a drop-stitch whatever the holy feck that may be. The only thing these folk have in common is a lack of any rugby knowledge, though in fairness, the knitting ladies new more than the Man City fans - no surprise there I suppose.

One thing is certain, even with a decent-quality soundbar it is rare that I detect anything approaching atmosphere these days, barring when something utterly sublime happens.

Before I shut my trap, I hear some clowns have been suggesting that Ulster should have awarded this QF game as a freebie to ST holders, due to the heinous FIRFUCs bowing to the ECPR, who broke the Laws of World Rugby by not staging a pitch inspection on the scheduled day of the match against Stade Rochelais or LR as some call ROGer's troops. And all because Frere Grenouille wanted to scurry back to GarlicMunchingLand in time to watch the Wendyball World Cup Final. How I laughed when Les Singes du Surrendre got snattered on spot-kicks.

It is a fact that the eternally stupid, like the poor will always be with us. I've heard estimates between 700K - 850K as the hammering the coffers of UR took thanks to this act of treachery to which the FIRFUCs were complicit. What level of Moron must you be to then consider that the game should be free gratis? Some people are just as dumb as a beg of racks.

Rant Ends.

Yea the atmosphere at Kingspan has been destroyed by the gentrification and the SUFTUM marketing stuff. When was the last time you heard a guldering "ULSTER, ULSTER" when we were defending our line or attacking our opponents line? Doesn't really happen any more.

They try too hard to turn it into a big experience being at the match. All the lights, music for tries etc. Ruins the atmosphere.

You forgot to mention the band though. They're gone now (I think?) but unfortunately this was another mis-step. I mind one time Ulster were doing some serious defence of our line in a pretty big game, a really critical time of the match. How did the band respond to this? They started playing I'll tell my ma... I mean WTF.

I am loathe to be too critical, cause like you I watch most games on the TV (though I don't think the weather here in Wicklow is as salubrious as your Iberian villa), but it's a shame that they've taken something that was once excellent and totally ruined it.