Ulster v Leicester

[Bart S]

Right bitches the next Mofo who says Step Through should be given a chance will be bitch slapped with my damp skiddies. Feckawayaffweeyees. I’d rather stick WeeD in the front row than Bryn’s video star.

Bryn signed Hond and Wiehann because he was told they had big game experience....

[Kofi Annan]

Step through should me given a chance

[Tender]

Get yer coat....

Cooney’s ball handling skill in the build up to OxO’s try was spectacular. He was thrown a wayward pass and somehow not only caught and controlled the ball, he laid off the perfect pass.
Which is why I raised a glass to him and gave him my MOTM vote.
Leicester weren’t impressive at all. Ford can hoist some Ruan like kicks, but that was all she wrote.

Don’t test me Kofi..don’t make go Boutros Boutros Ghali on yersorryass.

[Spiffsson]

Get yer coat....

Cooney’s ball handling skill in the build up to OxO’s try was spectacular. He was thrown a wayward pass and somehow not only caught and controlled the ball, he laid off the perfect pass.
Which is why I raised a glass to him and gave him my MOTM vote.
Leicester weren’t impressive at all. Ford can hoist some Ruan like kicks, but that was all she wrote.

Don’t test me Kofi..don’t make go Boutros Boutros Ghali on yersorryass.

Cooney is an outstanding player with a real rugby brain. Yet again he ran the show for Ulster. We would be lost without him. He also showed in the second half that, in addition to being a great SH, he is also probably Ulster's best 10 with his heads up game reading, passing and tactical kicking skills. Whatever Ulster are paying him - it should be at least doubled.
Also agree with the comments of Baggers above, that Timoney has developed into a very good backrower with skills, power and pace to burn.

[CIMANFOREVER]

Interesting to see what they do with Lowry now, if his future is as a 10 he needs to be getting experience there. Now sure why we started with Warwick rather than O'Sullivan, don't see Warwick as a better scrummager.

It was so much better with EOS and Moore. Warwick has nowhere near enough power for a LH.

Something of a negative selection I feel, my guess is that with Old Dan Cole, who's the antithesis of a merry old soul, they didn't want to start against him with an inexperienced prop. However I tell you this, for the second week in succession I am referring this to my scrum guru CIMAN, for to my eyes there were at least as many problems on the other side, just as last week when TOT was getting the rounds of the kitchen from Wee Den Buckley but people here seemed only to see Belham stuffing Warwick.

I await the decision of the oracle.

Warwick comes and goes during the season, finished the season very well last season having looked duff for months. But LOOK ..... it's not Big Licence's fault that Callum hated FOLK so much that he got his agent to talk to Worcester before Bryn had a chance to talk about a new contract, hated the guts of that weasel, Prof Twitchen, the worst coach ever to pull on an Ulster trackie. I mean FFFS Anscombe could drink his weight in booze on a daily basis but at least he had some idea about rugby. FOLK Even the useless STA would not see FOLK in his way as a coach. I'll say nothing about the liar Gibbes.

Firstly a comment about Lowry. The way he runs, his accelaration through the gap, his dummy/ sidestep and how he passes reminds me of one D. Humphries in his pomp. A long way for him to go, but just my opinion on initial viewings.

Ref the Praps, where to start. Bateman and Cole are two very good props and that was a hoary old Tiggers Frontvrow. Its there best unit in an average team. Their bench frow is nowhere to that standard. Bateman had Kane on toast. Bateman has been around for donkeys and is a very good technical scrummager. He dominated against Saints the previous week as well. From what I saw, it was straight pressure and technique forcing Kane to drop or wheel repeatedly. He collapsed at least twice in a straight drive, as did Warwick. Now, in Kanes defence, a couple of the pens looked like a combination of his collapse and Cole getting a drive in on Rory. Cole had an easy ride from AW- When Cole drove straight Warwick buckled. Cole could do what he wanted, and was able to angle in on Rory putting extra pressure on 2 & 3. Some say illegally, I say fair do's. Ref was never gonna penalise Tiggers against a scrum in so much trouble. I dont think its a lock or back row issue either. We had a lions lock, a very solid scrummager in AOC, two very good international back rows and a good 8 locking that scrum. Its purely down to the fact Tiggers had two better starting props. AW is not at this standard and this has been shown repeatedly. Hes bench break glass at best. Kane is 22-23 and as you saw against Connacht, is ahead of TOT in pure scrummaging, but he was wrecked last night by an experienced technical scrummager. I wouldnt throw the baby out yet as I believe, like TOT he'll improve. Hes inconsistent and still learning. Next season will be his key season imo. Cole, although everyone takes the pi$h, is a multiple England and Lions TH. Not very dynamic but can hold up a scrum against the best, and miles ahead of AW so is anyone surprised Tiggers pinpointed our current scrum as their one point of advantage?
A word of caution- the Tiggers frow bench was weak, so when tiring Cole and Bateman were hauled ashore we should be careful conflating the steadying scrum. EOS is the future and looks as good a prospect as TOT at tight.
Moore, like Herbst, can lock a scrum. But like Herbst and RAY has ongoing fitness and weight issues to sort. If hes professional hes an asset. If all were fit and firing our tight heads would've been Moore and Herbst imo. At loose, until EOS and ANOTHER are signed or come through we're goosed for this season. I agree with Baggy, no way would EOS start versus Cole, and we miss Black- our version of Cole at loose.ps we were lucky Tiggers didnt have Genge fit!

[therealspratt]

It'll be quite some time before Ulster have a locally reared loosehead of any quality with Reid out of the picture, John McKee gone down south to play hooker, and O'Hagan seemingly not being worth giving a go.

[kingofthehill]

Forgot to record the match last night. Anyone able to put the match on YouTube?


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[nonplussed]

Forgot to record the match last night. Anyone able to put the match on YouTube?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you have BT sport it'll be on the BT player later today


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[kingofthehill]

Forgot to record the match last night. Anyone able to put the match on YouTube?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you have BT sport it'll be on the BT player later today


Sent from my EML-L09 using Tapatalk

Perfect,cheers.


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[Bart S]

Interesting to see what they do with Lowry now, if his future is as a 10 he needs to be getting experience there. Now sure why we started with Warwick rather than O'Sullivan, don't see Warwick as a better scrummager.

It was so much better with EOS and Moore. Warwick has nowhere near enough power for a LH.

Something of a negative selection I feel, my guess is that with Old Dan Cole, who's the antithesis of a merry old soul, they didn't want to start against him with an inexperienced prop. However I tell you this, for the second week in succession I am referring this to my scrum guru CIMAN, for to my eyes there were at least as many problems on the other side, just as last week when TOT was getting the rounds of the kitchen from Wee Den Buckley but people here seemed only to see Belham stuffing Warwick.

I await the decision of the oracle.

Warwick comes and goes during the season, finished the season very well last season having looked duff for months. But LOOK ..... it's not Big Licence's fault that Callum hated FOLK so much that he got his agent to talk to Worcester before Bryn had a chance to talk about a new contract, hated the guts of that weasel, Prof Twitchen, the worst coach ever to pull on an Ulster trackie. I mean FFFS Anscombe could drink his weight in booze on a daily basis but at least he had some idea about rugby. FOLK Even the useless STA would not see FOLK in his way as a coach. I'll say nothing about the liar Gibbes.

Firstly a comment about Lowry. The way he runs, his accelaration through the gap, his dummy/ sidestep and how he passes reminds me of one D. Humphries in his pomp. A long way for him to go, but just my opinion on initial viewings.

Ref the Praps, where to start. Bateman and Cole are two very good props and that was a hoary old Tiggers Frontvrow. Its there best unit in an average team. Their bench frow is nowhere to that standard. Bateman had Kane on toast. Bateman has been around for donkeys and is a very good technical scrummager. He dominated against Saints the previous week as well. From what I saw, it was straight pressure and technique forcing Kane to drop or wheel repeatedly. He collapsed at least twice in a straight drive, as did Warwick. Now, in Kanes defence, a couple of the pens looked like a combination of his collapse and Cole getting a drive in on Rory. Cole had an easy ride from AW- When Cole drove straight Warwick buckled. Cole could do what he wanted, and was able to angle in on Rory putting extra pressure on 2 & 3. Some say illegally, I say fair do's. Ref was never gonna penalise Tiggers against a scrum in so much trouble. I dont think its a lock or back row issue either. We had a lions lock, a very solid scrummager in AOC, two very good international back rows and a good 8 locking that scrum. Its purely down to the fact Tiggers had two better starting props. AW is not at this standard and this has been shown repeatedly. Hes bench break glass at best. Kane is 22-23 and as you saw against Connacht, is ahead of TOT in pure scrummaging, but he was wrecked last night by an experienced technical scrummager. I wouldnt throw the baby out yet as I believe, like TOT he'll improve. Hes inconsistent and still learning. Next season will be his key season imo. Cole, although everyone takes the pi$h, is a multiple England and Lions TH. Not very dynamic but can hold up a scrum against the best, and miles ahead of AW so is anyone surprised Tiggers pinpointed our current scrum as their one point of advantage?
A word of caution- the Tiggers frow bench was weak, so when tiring Cole and Bateman were hauled ashore we should be careful conflating the steadying scrum. EOS is the future and looks as good a prospect as TOT at tight.
Moore, like Herbst, can lock a scrum. But like Herbst and RAY has ongoing fitness and weight issues to sort. If hes professional hes an asset. If all were fit and firing our tight heads would've been Moore and Herbst imo. At loose, until EOS and ANOTHER are signed or come through we're goosed for this season. I agree with Baggy, no way would EOS start versus Cole, and we miss Black- our version of Cole at loose.ps we were lucky Tiggers didnt have Genge fit!

I’d agree about the D Hump comparison there My concern for the lad would be with his undoubted talent that he gets shoved between 10 and 15 too much, as in the absence of Ludik i would say he is already our best option at fullback after Addison. Fine for the shirt term, but if the lad really has the potential to be a top class 10 we should give him a run there, as IMHO we are treading water there with Burns.

As for the propping situation.....next week is Hond time.

[rumncoke]

Lowry looks to have the game but at the moment lacks the frame for the game at Pro level .

Needs a bit of upper body development not too much .

He is not quite up to the task at out half yet because of it — and the coaches seem to agree because the option existed last night but they went for Cooney to outhalf when KB went off .

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[Lurgan Lad]

Interesting to see what they do with Lowry now, if his future is as a 10 he needs to be getting experience there. Now sure why we started with Warwick rather than O'Sullivan, don't see Warwick as a better scrummager.

It was so much better with EOS and Moore. Warwick has nowhere near enough power for a LH.

Something of a negative selection I feel, my guess is that with Old Dan Cole, who's the antithesis of a merry old soul, they didn't want to start against him with an inexperienced prop. However I tell you this, for the second week in succession I am referring this to my scrum guru CIMAN, for to my eyes there were at least as many problems on the other side, just as last week when TOT was getting the rounds of the kitchen from Wee Den Buckley but people here seemed only to see Belham stuffing Warwick.

I await the decision of the oracle.

Warwick comes and goes during the season, finished the season very well last season having looked duff for months. But LOOK ..... it's not Big Licence's fault that Callum hated FOLK so much that he got his agent to talk to Worcester before Bryn had a chance to talk about a new contract, hated the guts of that weasel, Prof Twitchen, the worst coach ever to pull on an Ulster trackie. I mean FFFS Anscombe could drink his weight in booze on a daily basis but at least he had some idea about rugby. FOLK Even the useless STA would not see FOLK in his way as a coach. I'll say nothing about the liar Gibbes.

Firstly a comment about Lowry. The way he runs, his accelaration through the gap, his dummy/ sidestep and how he passes reminds me of one D. Humphries in his pomp. A long way for him to go, but just my opinion on initial viewings.

Ref the Praps, where to start. Bateman and Cole are two very good props and that was a hoary old Tiggers Frontvrow. Its there best unit in an average team. Their bench frow is nowhere to that standard. Bateman had Kane on toast. Bateman has been around for donkeys and is a very good technical scrummager. He dominated against Saints the previous week as well. From what I saw, it was straight pressure and technique forcing Kane to drop or wheel repeatedly. He collapsed at least twice in a straight drive, as did Warwick. Now, in Kanes defence, a couple of the pens looked like a combination of his collapse and Cole getting a drive in on Rory. Cole had an easy ride from AW- When Cole drove straight Warwick buckled. Cole could do what he wanted, and was able to angle in on Rory putting extra pressure on 2 & 3. Some say illegally, I say fair do's. Ref was never gonna penalise Tiggers against a scrum in so much trouble. I dont think its a lock or back row issue either. We had a lions lock, a very solid scrummager in AOC, two very good international back rows and a good 8 locking that scrum. Its purely down to the fact Tiggers had two better starting props. AW is not at this standard and this has been shown repeatedly. Hes bench break glass at best. Kane is 22-23 and as you saw against Connacht, is ahead of TOT in pure scrummaging, but he was wrecked last night by an experienced technical scrummager. I wouldnt throw the baby out yet as I believe, like TOT he'll improve. Hes inconsistent and still learning. Next season will be his key season imo. Cole, although everyone takes the pi$h, is a multiple England and Lions TH. Not very dynamic but can hold up a scrum against the best, and miles ahead of AW so is anyone surprised Tiggers pinpointed our current scrum as their one point of advantage?
A word of caution- the Tiggers frow bench was weak, so when tiring Cole and Bateman were hauled ashore we should be careful conflating the steadying scrum. EOS is the future and looks as good a prospect as TOT at tight.
Moore, like Herbst, can lock a scrum. But like Herbst and RAY has ongoing fitness and weight issues to sort. If hes professional hes an asset. If all were fit and firing our tight heads would've been Moore and Herbst imo. At loose, until EOS and ANOTHER are signed or come through we're goosed for this season. I agree with Baggy, no way would EOS start versus Cole, and we miss Black- our version of Cole at loose.ps we were lucky Tiggers didnt have Genge fit!

Thanks CI for that, much appreciated. So purely on scrummaging ability it is something like Moore, Herbst, Kane then O'Toole on the tight head, and Warwick, then EOS on the loosehead. SVDM probably does need a runout if his performance for Banbridge was as good as it sounds, on the TH unfortunately it appears our most dynamic guys round the pitch are the biggest liability at the scrum. Think for Champions Cup play the best scrummagers and in the Pro 14 give the younguns as much experience as possible and allow them to develop.

[BR]

So with the benefit of hindsight:
Taking the 3 v kicking for the corner?

As Budge Poutney (excellent summeriser, btw) was at pains to point out (without the hindsight), it is defending those threatening lineouts and the pressure they create even IN the 1st 40', that burn out the big, powerful tight fives, and create the opportunities later in the game.

So 0-3 seemed to be an acceptable gap at HT, but I wonder had it got to 6 or 9 would Best have started to nod to the posts to claw back a few points?

[Dave]

Great analysis CIman.

[Bart S]

the one guy we had who even as a young’un could hold his own in the Euro games was Kyle McCall a few seasons ago. Could play a bit too. I remember him being one of our best performances against a very good Sarries team away from home.

Real shame the injuries caught up with him.