Ulster V Connacht at the Aviva Sunday 23rd August

[Lurgan Lad]

I see the "Ulster are brill" delusions continue post lockdown.

No, game was meaningless for UR, trying players and combinations, can see what they are trying to do, don't needs fûcks coming on here and slagging them off to be fair, if you don’t like it go back on Twitter bitching about Aggie in Tesco not wearing a mask or you neighbour having a bbq with No social distancing and sharing the same shît house,

I'm not going to throw myself off a cliff or anything, but some of the basics were pretty disappointing even taking account of it being a meaningless game, which it was for Connacht too.
Currently think Hume is a liability defensively, Gilroy too, Stockdale wouldn't be great, and obviously Madigan got steamrollered by Aki so concerned the backs need to improve the basic of tackling.
In the forwards obviously the lineout was quite a big issue, having only watched it once it seemed to be a combination of quite a few different things going on and obviously Connacht competed at it well. McBurney will probably get most of the blame from your average supporter, but I thought his throws were in the main ok but not great, timing was an issue, lifters I saw on one occasion didn't lift well.
In short after not seeing Ulster play for such an extended period of time can totally understand people's frustration.

[rumncoke]

What annoyed me the most was so many passes from the base of the ruck went to players standing still .

Nobody was running on to the ball and if they did get any steam up they ran sideways . you can't win going backwards.

Of course the Ulster effort wasn't helped by" two not grounded " trys and the speed applied to give a try that never was I think gives a bit of a clue to the refereeing standard. ( i.e not to sure about the adherence to the off side line by Connaught and there may have been a few forward passes overlooked ) but that said -- Connaught looked like they were attempting to win --Ulster didn't.

The unfortunate thing about the game was Ulster didn't need the win and the same thing is true of the Leinster game thus for some players the game is survival not winning , in the knowledge they're two games away from competition time ,
being a semi final -- possible final and then a European fixture .

but I hope by that time the forwards and backs start to take the ball running straight pace rather than standing still.

I think Gilroy's defence is basically make believe since his back injury -- I don't think he trusts his back to stand-up to the impact.

I'm also of the opinion that the selection of Stockdale at fullback maybe a Dublin request with Kearney on the way-out
Ireland's option's at full back are either Larmour or ?? Addison who is injured or ??

[justinr73]

You may be right. I think we’d all feel more secure with LL at FB.

[nonplussed]

poor performance, Connacht played a lovely brand of rugby, always looking for space rather than faces (bar Bundee of course) while we played pass, bosh, recycle, pass, bosh, turnover...repeat ad infinitum... hopefully we'll see improvement next week, as this side isnt as bad as they were yesterday!

[Silverstu]

Disappointing/frustrating to watch, although there where some flashes of what we are capable of. Marcel and McCloskey fought hard and the young props in the second half where impressive. Lots of rusty performances, while understandable, wasn't reflected by Connacht who had the same circumstances but lots of guys got a runout, hopefully a more impressive performance against Leinster will be forthcoming or we will get hammered. Back three is a bit of concern, missing Addison's creativity and Balacoune's ability in attack and defence. Hopefully Lyttle or Faddes can add something and I'd be tempted to spring McIlroy from the bench- we need a bit more spark there, Stockdale is great and Ludik is very dependable but there needs another element there to challenge defences.
Not the end of the world just yet..

[Marco]

You’d think after watching the same old for decades now, I’d learn just to accept that average is the Ulster way, but I haven’t, no hang on, I actually have, because I really wasn’t that drunk off at the end. Craig’s pirouettes, Stu’s accurate pass to the Connacht centre, Stockdale positioning, one armed carries, line out wtf, knackered players, nope, this is our thing, effin embrace it!

[Aird]

Not wishing to knock Hume but I felt that we badly missed Luke Marshall at 13, he is normally a threat there and seemed to have built up a confidant partnership with McCluskey. His defensive work is also normally very strong and organised. I appreciate that the younger plAyers need to get exposure/ experience but I think Dan made the wrong call at this time. Hume could have come off the bench when we had established a lead.
When the team was picked we needed two points to be assured of qualifying and the r3ults from Saturday hadn’t been decided, we might have guessed the Edinburgh result but couldn’t have been sure.
I don’t know why Marshall was absent but he was missed. I also appreciate there was probably some pressure to get Madigan and Allie on to the pitch at some point so there were limits on who could bench. Good and exciting player that Lowry is I still have doubts over his physicality in defence and with Aki in opposition it was a problem. I have no question over Lowry’s determination in defence it simply a matter of physics with opposing weight differences.

This result was a classic example of a team Playing a team much lower than themselves in the league with a result which on paper should have been a shoo in except that they sat back waiting to go ahead with confidence but left it too late.
It was a real banana skin waiting to happen .
There were also too many key players missing, the loss of Herring Riedy and O’Connor Was significant. Henderson being missing is something we are used to and with a full pack could have dealt with.
Carter whilst a good replacement has had very little pitch time with Ulster then we threw a substitute Hooker into the mix so our Lineout was not up to scratch.
I thought the front row off the bench looked more how shall I put it “ more dynamic” than our starting combination.

[Bobbievee]

You’d think after watching the same old for decades now, I’d learn just to accept that average is the Ulster way, but I haven’t, no hang on, I actually have, because I really wasn’t that drunk off at the end. Craig’s pirouettes, Stu’s accurate pass to the Connacht centre, Stockdale positioning, one armed carries, line out wtf, knackered players, nope, this is our thing, effin embrace it!

Took me a minute to realise that the politically correct spellchecker had put the word "drunk" for what you actually said!
There have been mentions above of not using space and lack of creativity. This sums it up. In coaching this squad into " no backward steps" " we seem to have forgotten that sideways ones are actually allowed, even encouraged in other teams. Everything that we do is predictable. Where will we get any originality from.......Or as others on here see it, going off script. Addison has it, Lowry has it, young o'D at hinch has it.
But we need it from somewhere. Or just settle for where we are........ the fifth or sixth or seventh? best team in the pro14.

[justinr73]

We’re in the semis and are 4th on points, not to mention the European QF.

Let’s not take a narrow defeat, after a 6 month lay-off, our of context.

Anyone figured out how McBurney butchered those two tries yet?

[jean valjean]

Mcburney didn't have the nous to know if the line out started 10m from the line and appeared to be moving at a rate of knots he didn't need to stick his head in and keep driving. He's still young and i hope he has learned from it as I think he is one of the few with a genuine aggressive nature. Also think aki got to him after a shaky start, if ferris's comments are to be believed.

[justinr73]

He seemed to lose his bearings as you say and has youth on his side for a while longer.

I suppose the point I’m making is that we should have won despite playing way below the standards we set earlier in the season.

Being without Addison and Bobby B at this stage of the season is very frustrating but Edinburgh are still there for the taking if we can get our act together, and a player or two back.