Ulster v Scarlets

[Big-al]

The fact that you make that statment,is laughable.if we arent that good what does that make you.ulster were lucky to come second last night,the scorline grossly flattered you

How so? Only TWO teams played so we were either going to finish 1st or 2nd. Boy you turks are a wee bit slow aren't you.

Everyone knows we were dredfull, just read the comments for feck sake

[BR]

some poeple on this board show a gross amount of ignorance IMHO

The game did not hinge on Boss it did not hinge on Paddy the game was once more decided by the Toss and the first penalty

Bellix - the game was decide by the 80'. While I accept that we probably got the shtty end of the weather stick, the weather was shtie for both teams.

With regard to Boss's game firstly the ball was wet hard to lift cleanly and easy to knock -on secondly having to play the short pass game effectively requires players to come on to the ball at pace again a wet ball means that those taking the pass drop the ball or fail to catch it cleanly


The prime objective in the second half was possession and keeping it as the game was always going to played for the most part in the Ulster half -- the last thing a scrum half should do in those circumstances is try to play fast pick-up and fancy passing and kicking was only going to give possession to the scarlets

Ball was wet for all 30 players and the scarlets handling skills were superior. Nobody's asking for fancy passing, just straightforward scrum-half passing, but not waiting for the defence to be back in place before even putting your hands near the ruck. Our pack was making little impact in the fringes; Boss isn't the worst 9 at making the break, but it was clear pretty early on, that he wasn't going to get any change from the scarlets pack last night. Agree that kicking had to be used conservatively in those conditions, but without the tactical kicking (of which Boss's box-kicking was a paramount), we wouldn't have been in their half during the 2nd 40'.

[GerryO']

Stupid? How so? Fit Trimble would walk into the team at 13- he's one of our best backs. Unfit, off-form Trimble should be dropped or confined to the bench until those problems are rectified. All I'm suggesting that for the Blues we have O'Connor at 10, Wallace at 12 and Dewey at 13. Seems perfectly reasonable.

It's not like I've suggested Trimble should be dropped entirely, he's a massive part of the future of Ulster Rugby ffs.

Yes you did! Or that's how it read. Now that you have explained what you meant it makes more sense. He is totally quality and there is no suggestion he is less than fit and to drop him on form after one crappy game on the wing on a dire night is too quick. He needs games after his long break. I believe he is the best 13 in Ireland if not the British Isles.

[bogboy]

Turk

The Scarlets are not a great side they did what they had to do

Win the toss

from that point on the game was tactically decided for them

The fact that Ulster gave them a ten point start was the bonus that the scarlets didn't add any further tries and the only difference was a try and that they were out on their feet and being run ragged should be sufficient proof that the scarlets are not a great side

a competent side with a better than average outhalf who has sufficient experience to play the elements and keep his side in the game but good--- the Scarlets side of two years ago were good but like Ulster last year its a side that has played its best rugby and has little room for improvement

BR

The result may be decided on the 80 but the tactics were dicated by the weather as Matt rightly stated to win the match Ulster had to go in at 1/2 15 points to the good -- they didn't

I note you don't dispute the prime objective of the second half was possession scrum halfs who try lift and pass quickly in conditions like Friday seldom provide an outhalf with good possession -- the question to be asked was

how often did Paddy actually receive a bad pass in the 80 mins -- have lift it off his toes or reach up to bring it down how often did Boss knock it on
How often was possession lost because of his actions ?

If any of those were frequent occurances I think you would have a basis for criticism but while Boss didn't set the game alight neither did he bellix things at the base

[browner]

The service from Boss was painfully slow...............fact.

[Ball Boy]

I thought Isaac's delivery was a good deal faster than at times last season, but he was guilty of his usual crablike sideways running that has the backline bunching up and pushing sideways to make room instead of running forwards.

[nonplussed]

The service from Boss was painfully slow...............fact.

doakesque almost!

[bootlace]

How did people feel re the ELVs in this game, it was certainly a game for Orcs,considering the weather maybe last year we would have seen more mauls.

[turkishdave]

The fact that you make that statment,is laughable.if we arent that good what does that make you.ulster were lucky to come second last night,the scorline grossly flattered you

How so? Only TWO teams played so we were either going to finish 1st or 2nd. Boy you turks are a wee bit slow aren't you.

Everyone knows we were dredfull, just read the comments for feck sake

Its called a figure of speech mate,im other words i was highlighting how much better we were than you and how lucky you were to finish so close to us, i know there were only two teams and one has to come second,i didnt think people were so thick it would have to be explained boy you irish are a bit slow.i just find it amazing to,be described as not a good team when we completley dominated you.two seasons back we ripped you a new one in the HC.like i said if we arent a good team then your screwed

[fermain]

theres nothing like a bit o' banter!!

[bootlace]

Its called a figure of speech mate,im other words i was highlighting how much better we were than you and how lucky you were to finish so close to us, i know there were only two teams and one has to come second,i didnt think people were so thick it would have to be explained boy you irish are a bit slow.i just find it amazing to,be described as not a good team when we completley dominated you.two seasons back we ripped you a new one in the HC.like i said if we arent a good team then your screwed

Alright TD, there are peeps posting on the forum that we were beaten by a better side,you really need to chill out a bit and not get so wound up,the Ulster side are a young team, and within 36 months or so will be quite a handful for any team.You seem to have a view or two, and I still look forward to your opinion re the Welsh fifth province,and as I have asked before,how many north Wales fans support your team and come down for ''home games'' ,in anticipation.Also you may also find the caps lock button an advantage when posting.

[Big-al]

The fact that you make that statment,is laughable.if we arent that good what does that make you.ulster were lucky to come second last night,the scorline grossly flattered you

How so? Only TWO teams played so we were either going to finish 1st or 2nd. Boy you turks are a wee bit slow aren't you.

Everyone knows we were dredfull, just read the comments for feck sake

Its called a figure of speech mate,im other words i was highlighting how much better we were than you and how lucky you were to finish so close to us, i know there were only two teams and one has to come second,i didnt think people were so thick it would have to be explained boy you irish are a bit slow.i just find it amazing to,be described as not a good team when we completley dominated you.two seasons back we ripped you a new one in the HC.like i said if we arent a good team then your screwed

jeepers lad i was only having a bit of craic

[bogboy]

Turk

You won the first 10 mins of a game against a backrow that has played together for 30 mins prior to those
10 mins

If you think the scarlets are a GOOD side you need a service under the mental health act

Ulster will play better than they did on friday--- will the scarlets ?

[BR]

BR

The result may be decided on the 80 but the tactics were dicated by the weather as Matt rightly stated to win the match Ulster had to go in at 1/2 15 points to the good -- they didn't

I note you don't dispute the prime objective of the second half was possession scrum halfs who try lift and pass quickly in conditions like Friday seldom provide an outhalf with good possession -- the question to be asked was

how often did Paddy actually receive a bad pass in the 80 mins -- have lift it off his toes or reach up to bring it down how often did Boss knock it on
How often was possession lost because of his actions ?

If any of those were frequent occurances I think you would have a basis for criticism but while Boss didn't set the game alight neither did he bellix things at the base

The prime objective of the 2nd half was to score 2 points more than the scarlets! Keeping possession was indeed a major factor, but a balance needed to be acheived between keeping possession and getting out of our half! As I said, Boss's box kicking did get us there a couple of times, but as you rightly point out at the cost of our possession. There has to be a happy medium, and with professional players, surely playing the phases with a little more urgency would have been a risk worth taking the odd time.

[bogboy]

If we had played high risk in the second half we could have been turned over -- one dropped ball might have been enough

The big factor was when the ball was fed to the backs Paddy ran with it and passed late

firstly Paddy doesn't have the power or presence to play crash ball and into that wind and rain Ulster were never going to run in a try from their own half

my view of Boss is

Boss has never cost Ulster a game and has won some for us

Willis in the first match - which I was at - tended to be erratic

And Marshall would have been and does tend to be a little rash at times

So I'll go with Matt's choice

I am on record as saying to a member of this board at half time I would have had O'Connor on from the start of the 2nd half

But that would have put Paddy on the Bench instead of Cave as Matt I think would have wanted a sound defensive Midfield

At 77 mins the introduction of O connor was a little too late-- but it nearly worked -- I think if we had started to open the game on 65 mins instead of 77 we would have got the the draw

but my biggest regret is we lost the toss