Isaac Boss - why bother

[Lisburnsooty]

Yep an old chestnut. But come on, despite a generally gutsy performance by most of the team Isaac Boss really played so poorly.
he is devoid of any creative ideas and is slow slow slow.
How long does he have to wait before passing from a ruck. And after that he has to take his customery twelve steps before releasing the damned thing.

I must be honest and say that from the start I never really rated him and I am sorry to note that I was right all along.

No way he can start next week - or even get near the squad.

When Willis came on, the whole back line came alive.

[BR]

[Cap'n Grumpy]

Whatever anyone's opinion on Isaac Boss's ability (or anyone else's for that matter), I deplore the attitude of a couple behind me who were shouting at him almost from the start, and possibly even before he had touched the ball, that he was "Rubbish" and should "take himself off".

Can I suggest that such "support" is not support at all, and those who indulge in it should consider if THEY should take themselves off?

[rosetintedgoggles]

Give the guy a break. He is a far better player than some of you guys give him credit for.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

Give the guy a break.

from playing?

Come on now, there are those who think he's actually a far better player than some of you guys give him credit for.

[BR]

I don't think he's too bad a player. His passing is more accurate than our lternatives. His box kicking is better; but box kicking was not a great option yesterday. He used to offer more of a threat around the fringes; but again, no #9 is going to get much change from the Paris backrow. My problem is threefold:

1) The amount of time he spends organising himself (and to be fair others) before he plays the ball from a ruck removes all momentum from our attack.; which are few and far between already.

2) His positioning while he is doing 1) above. He stands 5 m behind the ruck, so if things go wrong (as they do) he is too far away to do anything about it.

3) The oft mentioned crabbing before he passes.

[bogboy]

This the tread for the Ruck Ball Watchers Society and the Short Sighted Short Memory Assocation of Boss Beaters

For educational purposes I suggest they watch Springer in action for Munster on Friday night and then complain about Issac

[for dog and ulcer]

Stringer got the ball out faster.

[Neil F]

I don't think he's too bad a player. His passing is more accurate than our lternatives. His box kicking is better; but box kicking was not a great option yesterday. He used to offer more of a threat around the fringes; but again, no #9 is going to get much change from the Paris backrow. My problem is threefold:

1) The amount of time he spends organising himself (and to be fair others) before he plays the ball from a ruck removes all momentum from our attack.; which are few and far between already.

2) His positioning while he is doing 1) above. He stands 5 m behind the ruck, so if things go wrong (as they do) he is too far away to do anything about it.

3) The oft mentioned crabbing before he passes.

Largely agree with this. The major issue I have is number three. This made sense when Boss posed a very serious threat around the fringes. In some ways, however, this is a reflection of how laboured and telegraphed a lot of Ulster attacking positions have become. When Ulster were crashing around the park in 2005/6 and the 2006 part of the 2006/7 season, the opposition backrow couldn't close down as quickly as they can now. This has sniffed out Boss' abilities around the fringes in my opinion but the trouble is that Boss has had the guts of two seasons to adapt to this and expand his repertoire and improve the speed of his delivery but he really hasn't.

In the last couple of seasons, I fear that Boss has become a very negative player for Ulster. He's still one of the finest defensive scrum-halves around but he looks much more comfortable with 29 players and the referee in front of him than in any other position on the pitch.

His box kicking is a difficult thing to really quantify - in a number of situations, it is now the best option because he can't pass back into the 22 but he now seems to do it any time Ulster are just outside of the 22, when O'Connor or even Wallace could get much greater distance with a kick straight down the middle. Boss' reading of the game seems to have deteriorated drastically over the last couple of seasons.

Boss' game is reflected in the way Ulster have played in a lot of ways - both have become very predictable in recent times, but it's still disappointing that Isaac hasn't gone off and worked on the aspects of his game that have been shown up recently.

[silvergellar]

He's a decent enough player but he just wasn't at the races on Saturday.

And I don't mean races as in O'Garas favourite past time!

[BR]

. He's still one of the finest defensive scrum-halves around .

Indeed - it was remiss of me not to include that in his advantages. I was concentrating on our attack (or lack thereof). As a foill to Stringer, he had some merit in the Ireland squad. But as you say, things change and Boss should have been developing along with them.

[Rooster]

Several times when we were close to their line he had a picnic before passing the ball out, while he did string it out a fast pass was never on either as he had not enough players lined up to take it on and a panic would probably have lead to us losing possession anyway, in these situations the forwards and backs need to get their arses in gear a bit quicker to take advantage of the situation, a fast pass out not going to hand against Stade's rush defence would have lead to 7 points at the other end of the pitch.

[Snipe Watson]

Stringer got the ball out faster.

Stringer had a real mare. His game is all about his pass and his passing was all over the place on Friday.

For my money, Isaac is trying to do it all himself. He spends too much time trying to read the game from 9; which is difficult with Robbie Diack's backside in your face so he stand up and has a look ( whick is OK once in a while). He needs to put more faith in 10 & 12 to read the game and concentrate on getting the ball away at speed.

[for dog and ulcer]

Stringer got the ball out faster.

Stringer had a real mare. His game is all about his pass and his passing was all over the place on Friday.

For my money, Isaac is trying to do it all himself. He spends too much time trying to read the game from 9; which is difficult with Robbie Diack's backside in your face so he stand up and has a look ( whick is OK once in a while). He needs to put more faith in 10 & 12 to read the game and concentrate on getting the ball away at speed.

Agreed on all- I didn't say Stringer was good- just that he got the ball out faster. I felt, as others did, that Willis encourages NOC to play much more- with positive results. Sometimes our forwards faff about too much with the scrum ball too- meaning an even longer wait for the backs. Good example early in the game when a Stade boot through to our slow ball resulted in a turnover.

[bigchiefally]

Boss wasnt great, but I've never seen anything from Willis or Marshall to suggest they are leagues better, whereas in years gone by I have thought Boss has had several very good runs of games.