Bath v Ulster

[kingofthehill]

What has happened to this forum this season.
There seems to be no enthusiasm, no interest, apathy reigns.
I do not contribute tbh but have allways enjoyed looking in regularly for the wit, energy etc for our boys.
Whats up ??

Not sure. Forum was down and maybe they just haven't returned.

No tappytalk.

100%.

Snorefest now unfortunately.

[Jackie Brown]

Hate to bring it up in a new thread, but, there is a correlation between the collapse of Ulsters support and the treatment of PJ and SO.

I haven't been in Ravenhill since the Ospreys game the night they were turfed.

[Jackie Brown]

I'm not the only one

[Bobbievee]

Yeah. Dead atmosphere at ravers synchronized with mood on here we need a good Friday night exciting fixture to get going again, European or not

[Jim W]

1. It's now an IRFU franchise in Belfast rather than anything like a recognisable provincial side. Far too few local players in the team (anything less than 10 in the XV and I won't watch).
2. The treatment of Ruan Pienaar.
3. The ostracism of Jackson and Olding.
4. The crass commercialisation of games.
5. Games only shown on pay TV.
7. Nucifora and the metamorphosis of the IRFU into despotism.

[bangorboy]

1. It's now an IRFU franchise in Belfast rather than anything like a recognisable provincial side. Far too few local players in the team (anything less than 10 in the XV and I won't watch).
2. The treatment of Ruan Pienaar.
3. The ostracism of Jackson and Olding.
4. The crass commercialisation of games.
5. Games only shown on pay TV.
7. Nucifora and the metamorphosis of the IRFU into despotism.

Nail on head. Went from every home match for 8 years to one last year and none this year ( although will be at Clermont match ).

I knew a few who stopped over Pienaars treatment, I stopped the year after due to Stu and PJ being thrown under the bus. Ulster quotient in team way too low for me -

[justinr73]

If Ulster Rugby became entirely privately run, without any involvement from the IRFU, do you think that:

A) the team would be (literally) packed with Ulsterman because that’s how it should be, like;

B) the team would be (literally) packed with Ulsterman because that’s all UR could afford;

C) the team would be the best one UR could assemble, irrespective of nationality, because it’s a professional sport and being competitive is kind of important?

[bangorboy]

Not for a moment suggesting UR should or could be privately run.

We don't produce the players other IRFU teams do. Whatever failings UR have, it ultimately comes down to how the provice is run. UR player development from a young age is not good. We're struggling to produce ebough good homegrown players to compete in the squad. What's the solution?

[jackthelad]

1. It's now an IRFU franchise in Belfast rather than anything like a recognisable provincial side. Far too few local players in the team (anything less than 10 in the XV and I won't watch).
2. The treatment of Ruan Pienaar.
3. The ostracism of Jackson and Olding.
4. The crass commercialisation of games.
5. Games only shown on pay TV.
7. Nucifora and the metamorphosis of the IRFU into despotism.

Haven't been since they we3re booted out and won't be back.

[justinr73]

Not for a moment suggesting UR should or could be privately run.

We don't produce the players other IRFU teams do. Whatever failings UR have, it ultimately comes down to how the provice is run. UR player development from a young age is not good. We're struggling to produce ebough good homegrown players to compete in the squad. What's the solution?

No worries - we'll let Jim answer that one.

Perhaps there are some green shoots at the moment, in terms of the results of the A side etc. I hope so.

The thinly veiled suggestion from some posters, however, is that the imports are phoning it in which the likes of Reidy, Herring and pretty much the lot of them would have every right to be upset about.

For every SvdM, there's probably 3 local lads who've drunk it up the wall in the Academy.

[bangorboy]

Not for a moment suggesting UR should or could be privately run.

We don't produce the players other IRFU teams do. Whatever failings UR have, it ultimately comes down to how the provice is run. UR player development from a young age is not good. We're struggling to produce ebough good homegrown players to compete in the squad. What's the solution?

No worries - we'll let Jim answer that one.

Perhaps there are some green shoots at the moment, in terms of the results of the A side etc. I hope so.

The thinly veiled suggestion from some posters, however, is that the imports are phoning it in which the likes of Reidy, Herring and pretty much the lot of them would have every right to be upset about.

For every SvdM, there's probably 3 local lads who've drunk it up the wall in the Academy.

Academy?

We have too small an Academy - can't put out a 15 man team never mind a match day squad without pulling in senior team reps or player outside Academy structure. We run a sub Academy which to my mind as a bloody insult as its asking youngsters to commit time and effort for absolutely nothing. Academy selections have to be cleared by IRFU.

An academy league would be a good option. Not an 'A' match where you can throw in senior players - proper competitve matches that play the Academy as a whole. Will naver happen here but works in other countries. Just look at Espoirs leagues in France.

[justinr73]

Most things boil down to funding at the end of the day of course, albeit France's population is 67 million compared to about 1.9 million in NI.

I shall be personally boosting that population myself in 2020 but I'm afraid I'm too old for the Academy. Unless it's just bulk they're after.

[LegsLikeSausages]

1. It's now an IRFU franchise in Belfast rather than anything like a recognisable provincial side. Far too few local players in the team (anything less than 10 in the XV and I won't watch).
2. The treatment of Ruan Pienaar.
3. The ostracism of Jackson and Olding.
4. The crass commercialisation of games.
5. Games only shown on pay TV.
7. Nucifora and the metamorphosis of the IRFU into despotism.

This. Plus-

8. A few prolific posters no longer post Baggy (as previously mentioned), Snipe, Cap’n Grumpy, Russ
9. Apathy is contagious. I would definitely post more if there were more posts to respond to.

I’m at the Rec tomorrow. Hoping my apathy will subside for a couple of hours with a few pints of Gem on board.

[rocky]

Unbelievable negativity from some of you on this board right now.
Firstly, you continue to punish UR for things over which they had no control. Ryan Pienaar was kicked out by Nucifora, not by Ulster. It was Ulster, on the other hand, who signed John Cooney and he has proven to be a very good replacement for Ruan.
Jackson and Oldinng were kicked out by Dublin (and SL) but you continue to moan about this, even though the culprit here has gone. Since then, Ulster have brought through such as two Reas, Lowry, Hume, Lyttle, Moore and Balacoune, all exciting home-grown young players.
Yet you whinge about the lack of home-grown players. Well, if you can identify any other such players who are worthy of their place in the senior squad, let me know or, even better, let Bryn Cunningham know. You also forget that the academy and fringe players have been clearly improving over the last season or two.
Even though UR has gone through the dreadful disruption of season 2017-18, the performance last year was far better than anyone was forecasting - knockout stages in both league and cup. At present, we are second in our section, having lost players to the RWC and suffered a bad run of injuries in the back division.
But, having said all that, for me, the worst thing is that you call yourselves fans and supporters of Ulster. Well, my belief is that a fan is someone who turns up and actively supports their team through the bad times. Anyone can be enthusiastic when things are going well, only to disappear when the sh1t hits the fan.
Ulster Rugby, to survive, let alone be a top European side, has to balance the books. That means having the best possible players we can afford to pay. Many of our players are not Ulster born but no-one, in my opinion, can question their commitment and loyalty to the Ulster shirt. If they ever read this forum, they must be pretty angry at some of the stuff posted by so-called supporters.
You should give up on all the negative stuff and forget what is past (oh, sorry, this is Ulster - we don't forget stuff, do we?) and start to support the team again, as I know many of you did in the recent past.
Rant over, I'm off to Bath to support my team.

[justinr73]

10% off in the club shop for travelling fans - a nice touch by the club I thought.

You can always join in my other forum if you get lonely.

https://www.pne-online.net/forum/index.php

41,000 replies on the Brexit thread alone and that's from a club with a regular home support that is probably a bit less than UR.