Fans opinion, team for Llanelii

[BPH]

I wish fans would desist from calling Schifcofske, Hillary ,as a play on the players first name which is Clinton. Why not Bill? I think that calling one of our new signings for Hillary is not clever and is in fact slightly derogatory. No more Hillary, in my opinion. Thank you.

Never mind being "derogatory" (which I don't think it is) it is completely and utterly unfunny. I mean, genuinely abysmal. Whoever came up with it should be hanging their heads.

Let's not embarrass ourselves

[ColinS]

I think Shifty is suffice.

I never actually got the whole "Hilary" shin-dig til I read it was about the Clintons...

[Royster]

I like the look of Off The Top's team. Wallace did not look out of place against the All Blacks on Irelands recent tour so he should be a shoe in for a Magners League match. Trimble to the wing and Boss and Humph junior to start with Willis and O'Connor on the bench. Slightly worrying is the fact that Ulster alone of the teams I've read about this pre season seem to be furthest away from selecting a near full strength team in the last pre season friendly. I know that Llanelli were beaten by Bath (at Bath)the week after we played them but they have also beaten Wasps. On the other hand they have lost Peel, Popham and Barry Davies, and it looks like Regan King will be out injured for a few weeks. Ulster definitely need to win this first match to get our season going and Llanelli are one of the few teams who have no fear of playing at Ravenhill. Lose this one and Cardiff away will be a mountain to climb, though I believe that Ulster should have the talent and nous to prevail on Friday night.

[boris_becker]

15- Shifcofske
14- TImmy
13- Cave
12- Dewey
11- Trimble
10- Wallace
9- Boss

8- Diack
7- Pollock
6- Ferris
5- Caldwell
4- Del Fava
3- Court
2- Best
1- Young

16- Hanna
17- Botha
18- O'Donoghue
19- Anderson
20- Marshall
21- Humph
22- Cunningham

[The Cove]

Boris

I like the look of that team altho i'd have brady on the bench. Hanna has only played 30 mins, after a year out. Brady has been good and i don't blame him for the lineout not functioning against worcester.

It seemed like jumpers and lifters weren't singing from the same page.

I hope Botha is ready, it should boost the players to see their biggest signing out there.

I've still no preference at 10, hopefully someone really dominates the 10 jersey this season.

[bogboy]

McCrea showed alot of promise last year and seldom if ever had a mare

and one bad performance should not be held against him esp if it was his first game of the season and having had his mare hopefully he would want to make amends at the earliest opportunity

Diack was acquired as both a blind side and 8 and if Matt is not fast enoungh as a blind side and to involved in line outs to perform in that position then I see no reason why Diack could not play as a Blindside and/ or they could swop roles

eg Diack at 8 for set scrums either Ulster's put in or close to the side lines and as wing forward in the line out

I believe both players could play either role but consider Diack maybe faster over the first ten yards and therefore less likely to be beaten my pace and or his reactions maybe a little quicker than Matts similiar to the difference between a slip fielder and an out fielder both have to catch the ball but a slip has less time to see and react to the opportunity

[Cap'n Grumpy]

I think Shifty is suffice.

All together now .....
"There's only one 'F' in Shifty, one 'F' in Shifteeee ....."


(And "There's only one 'F' in Filo, one 'F' in Filo" ...)

[Setanta]

Llanelli Scarlets without Regan King, Popham and Evans for Ulster game;
What a pity, what a shame.

[ColinM]

I think Shifty is suffice.

All together now .....
"There's only one 'F' in Shifty, one 'F' in Shifteeee ....."


(And "There's only one 'F' in Filo, one 'F' in Filo" ...)

But "There's two 'Fs' in Schifcofske, two Fs in Shifcoooofskeeee"

[brianc]

Bogboy, would be absolutely astounded if Diack starts anywhere other than 8, we have loads of decent 6's, (Matt, TJ, Henry), & no other 8's, (I doubt Ferris would start there on Friady without any game time). Also doubt if McCrea will start, even given the number fo wing injuries. He is a good strong runner, but in all honestly that is about it. His tackling is fairly poor & overall skills very low. Hopefully he will develop, but cant see him playing much part at the moment.

Other thoughts on the team:

- Dont know much about front row, but Rory is obvious plus Court & Fitzpatrick, (Botha off the bench)
- Carlo & Ed in the second, (Caldwell off the bench), think this is pretty obvious
- Diack, Dawson & Matt,(hopefully Ferris off the bench), would be amazed if Pollock starts in front of Dawson
- Isaac, (absolutely no doubt here!!)
- Paddy or iHumph, (no idea what Matt will be thinking, but certainly wont be NOC
- Cave & Paddy, (if iHumph starts) or Cave & Dewey, (if paddy is no.10)
- Trimby & Jim on the wings
- Hillary at full back, (or Clinton to those easily offended)

All of the above assumes full fitness for Ferris, Cave, Paddy etc

[Tazz #15]

15 - Shifty
14 - Nagusa
13 - Trimble
12 - Dewey (To bash away at the opposition defence for 50, then paddy to come on for last 30 to run rings round the tired, battered defence. Reckon Rob and Paddy could work on a rotation system this year, just as long as it works better than mr benitez's at liverpool!)
11 - Cochrane

10 - Humphreys
9 - Boss (IMO played a very good game against reds, and looked to be on his way back to form)

8 - Diack
7 - Ferris
6 - McCullough (loved what i seen of Anderson in preseason, excellent young player, but not altogether sure he is ready to take the step up into ML/HEC rugby, not as a starter anyway, perhaps ease him into the fold slowly. I would probably go with Matt in the mean time because of experience at this level)
5 - Del Fava
4 - O'Donoghue (Excellent in pre-season, looks like we have captured a real jem here!)
3 - Court (It is impossible for BJ to be fit to start a rugby match 4-5 days after travelling so far)
2 - Best
1 - J. Fitzpatrick (He may well be getting old, but IMO he's still one of the best props we have, great, solid scrummager. Haven't seen enough of Bear in the pre seasons to be able to comment on whether he has improved from an awful last season)

Replacements:
16 - Hanna
17 - BJ
18 -
19 - Pollock
20 - Marshall (I personally do not see the point in bringing one of Leinster's most promising young talents up here on a short term contract, especially when we all know he will jump at the first chance he gets to go back, its Leinster's job to develop their young talent, we are our own province!!! And besides this, i think marshall is a great wee player!)
21 - Wallace
22 - Cunningham

[brianc]

Tazz, couple of things which I think are almost certain, (dont necessarily agree with them by the way!!!).

Dawson will start at 7, Ferris on bench if fit. Paddy will start, (10 or 12), Cave will start if fit, absolutely no chance of Cochrane playing.

Other than that cant really disagree with much else!! Either way we will stuff the taffys!!!!!!!

[Cap'n Grumpy]

But "There's two 'Fs' in Schifcofske, two Fs in Shifcoooofskeeee"

Tried that at the Bath match, Colin - got a bit tongue tied!

Can you imagine the headlines if some tried to sing it after a few shandies?

Accusations of "'F' -ing" bad language that we could do without!

[LETS_GO_ULSTER]

Llanelli Scarlets without Regan King, Popham and Evans for Ulster game;
What a pity, what a shame.

Pretty sure the Scarlets are going to be without Popham for more than just this weekend....

[bootlace]

Obviously being stuck over here it is difficult to make an assessment on who should play,so it is quite good seeing various fans opinions on what they think the team will be taking the field.I hope all these opinions are based on what they have seen,but what my humble opinion is that we should have a blood and thunder pack assault on the Scarlets, putting down a marker for the rest of the season,our defence should be rock solid and make the opposition s~~t scared of even daring to think of attacking our line, and when we get the ball it should be as if a bottle of champagne has been opened [not knowing where that explosion of spray is going to strike]. Bring it on