The UAFC

Big Stu McCloskey is on his way. They need to call up Andy Warwick at loosehead.

The draw for next season's Heineken Cup and Challenge Cup takes place next Tuesday . If I've understood it right, Ulster, as URC semi-finalists, are in tier two, and will play home and away against one of the tier three teams from the Top 14, and one of the tier three teams from the Premiership - so...

It's a matter of priorities. Ireland's priorities when selecting seem to be Leinster players and imported project players. If you're neither you'll have an uphill struggle to get picked no matter how good you are, and if you do get picked you'll only get a run out against Italy. Don't know how many ...

Flyhalf is the biggest problem yet. People forget that it was Burns’ very poor pass around 75minutes that gifted the stormers field possession and ulster never got out of their half for the rest of the match. I’m hoping Flannery hits the ground running and can get good Gametime off the bench next s...

Sounds like an operation to remove ragged edges of cartilage.

My take on how each position stands at the end of this season, and predictions for next season. Loosehead: Andrew Warwick , Eric O'Sullivan, Callum Reid. Warwick made the position his own this season, and O'Sullivan was on the Pro14 Dream Team last season, so we're solid for first and second choice....

This was my first season as a season ticket holder, and it was a good season. I didn't go in with the expectation of winning the URC or the Heineken Cup, and while I was disappointed to go out of both competitions, we did pretty well and gave some memorable performances in both. My pick for player o...

The URC Dream Team has been announced, and Nick Timoney and James Hume are in it. All players come from six teams from Ireland and South Africa - the Stormers (5), Bulls (3), Sharks (2), Ulster (2), Munster (2) and Leinster (1). 1. Ox Nche (Sharks) 2. Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls) 3. Thomas du Toit (Shar...

Back from Ravenhill. Much better performance than the last outing against Munster, and Cooney had a spring in his step he hasn't had for a while. Great pace to cut off a Munster break and kick the ball into touch. He hasn't been at his best this season with the injuries, so it was nice to see him pe...

Is the rule still that we can have four NIQ players? We have three. So if we need to make an emergency signing, say in an injury crisis, we can sign someone from anywhere and don't need to worry about Irish qualification. That looks like sensible squad management to me. What did Sam Carter do to Sta...

Alan O'Connor has won the URC's Tackle Machine award , for the highest tackle success rate for players who have made 150 or more tackles. Nick Timoney was in fifth place. Meanwhile, Marcus Rea came third in the Turnover King award . The Golden Boot will be announced tomorrow, Top Try Scorer, Ironman...

I think there's adequate cover in most positions except for hooker and the back row. David McCann looked good in the early part of the season before Vermeulen arrived, but we haven't seen much of him since - hopefully he'll get more game time next season, and if Jordi Murphy can get back to his best...

I think it's more that the gap between the southern hemisphere players and ours is much narrower than it was. We played against Siya Kolisi and Lukhanyo Am last week, and they didn't outclass us the way South African internationals would have done five or ten years ago. Fringe Ireland internationals...

I think we're stronger in the front row than some seem to think. All the hype before the Sharks game was about the size and power of their front row, and we matched them in the scrum despite not having Marty Moore available. With McGrath and Kane leaving, the prop depth chart is: Loosehead: Andy War...

Yeah, those guys already have photos on Wikipedia - probably the same ones you found. The only players in the current squad who have photos are Sam Carter (with Australia), Jordi Murphy (with Ireland), Duane Vermeulen (with the Boks), Billy Burns (in a coat on the sidelines, probably with Gloucester...