Ulster.live

[stu]

Shame really, we should have won that.

I'm a big fan of Paddy but he had a poor game tonight. Would have seemed to have made more sense to bring him on for Whitten but maybe there was an injury involved?

Lots of positives to take though, the team played some great rugby until the subs seemed to disrupt our flow, Faloon and Whitten are really starting to look the part, Ferris had a decent return, scrum was top notch, lineout solid.

Have to say, Godman and Blair taught us a lesson on how to close the game out. Their kicking for territory in the last 10mins was excellent.

[Big Dog]

Agree Stu.

I thought Jim had a good match also. He has really upped his game in last couple of weeks.

[King Ding]

i hope all the people calling for paddy to start at 10 saw his performance tonight, dont get me wrong he is v good at 12 but he should only be slotting in at 10 when someone is injuried or having a nightmare, really don't know why humph was brought of, he looked fustrated by it, so im guessing no injury and i thought he had a good game until that point.

On a positive note jim played well as did shifty.

Ferris got that MOTM award on his reputation imo, he played very well but for me the stand-out player was faloon, didn't stop tackling the whole night and if he continues i cant see pollock getting the shirt back any time soon.

[baldeagle09]

We had that game comfortably won, until IH was substituted by Paddy. From where I saw it he contributed two passes, lost the ball forward in the tackle, had a weak attempt at a drop goal, kicked the ball straight into touch and failed to tackle Mike Blair and got binned for his sins. Not much better after the binning either. Jim played well on the wing. If only we had a kicker.

[adam]

Faloon was hugely lucky to stay on the field when he took Blair out without the ball, how did the ref and touch judges miss that?

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

very disappointing to lose that
were the better team for 60 mins, should have put the game to bed

IH missed one kick badly, others were tough enough kicks. still, paterson kicked 3/3, and none were easy...

total change once he came off and paddy came on (then off for 10mins) then back on
IH was playing well, few errors and really had the backs playing, running onto the ball, gaining ground.
edinburgh on the back foot.

if he wasnt crocked its a poor call by coaches and blame for loss lies with them - total backs reshuffle at the end and there wasnt a hope of closing it out or snatching something once we went behind.

good lesson in closing out a game away from home by edinburgh though - a team that isnt filled with big names, took their chances when they came, soaked up a lot of pressure, clinical. deservedly top of the league

but certainly for the 1st half, that was some of the best rugby ive seen ulster play in a long time - fluent, creative, threatening, really exciting stuff

and i can confirm that cigars on the terrace are good to go
new stand looked fantastic and there was great atmosphere at the match.

narrow loss, lessons to learn, only pity was the last 20 mins.

[adam]

A lot of truth in the above, a team that takes every goal kicking chance will always be hard to beat unless you can do the same, Edinburgh were clinical when they were presented with the chance to win the game and no way were Ulster going to be allowed to get back inti it once Edinburgh got in front.

[browner]

We had that game comfortably won, until IH was substituted by Paddy

For sure Paddy will want to forget that one but i think that's a bit harsh.

Failure to take opportunities with the boot meant we were never really comfortable against a tight and organised Edinburgh.
Hugely disappointed that we lost but we will suffer more of this without a consistent kicker.

[notj]

Place kicking is the biggest concern, but if our pack plays like that every week we will never be embarrassed and we'll probably shock a few more of the big boys.

[Jackie Brown]

Repeat after me, Paddy Wallace is not a Flyhalf, Paddy Wallace is not a Flyhalf.

In all seriousness, why not play players in their positions? Paddy Wallace is a 12, Trimble is not an Inside Centre.

Should have won that if we had got the kicks. Hope that's not the story of the season... Can Clint not kick anymore? Faloon is a tackling machine! We've found a real gem there. NIgel Owens, not one of his best games.

Love the new stand, bright, clean, noisy, pity about the PA system. Good to see Sparky has been running up and down hills with the rest of the squad. Lean mean dancing machine!

[StevieD]

So devastated we lost that! Better team for majority of the game!

IH missed a possible match winning 7 points but we looked dangerous when he was on the pitch!

Great game of Rugby! New Stand Awesome! Really adds to the Atmosphere, well at least for us in the terrace

Best rugby ive seen at ravers for a long while! Until last 20

Left ravers tonight upbeat and looking forward to the next one! Well done lads! Great night out!

[The Boo Radleys]

As many has written before, hugely disappointed to lose that one (against the current 6th best team in Europe), considering the work put in by the starting 15. Pack were awsome and the platform they gave the backs could have meant that we could have closed it out before half time, but once it got close, just knew it was going to slip away. Whitten and Cave showed just how much better than Trimble and Wallace they now are. Don't know what Paddy was thinking from the drop goal when we had great field position through the yellow card to the innocuous drop out when we needed to keep play going. Trimble showed nothing and was uncerimoniously dumped the first time he received the ball. Still, we're up to 6th and a run to Galway next week, so with the new play-off format, who knows. At least for 60 minutes we showed real passion.

[notj]

Must say the decision to replace Ian Humphreys was a poor one; he mixed good with bad, but our other outhalf options are bad with bad. Fair enough if he's not doing the business with the kicks, but bring Wallace on at inside centre and let him take them, or pass the duties over to Schifcofske. Don't pull off the only man we have who can (sometimes) play 10 at this level.

I thought Wallace and Trimble looked a long way short of match sharp, they'll both be lucky to get off the bench for the Connacht game.

By and large a great performance from the lads. Would have got us over the line against any other ML side, but Edinburgh deserve to be top of the league- they are the best team in the competition right now. Mike Blair was different class when he came on.

The old Sparky did his knee apparently. All new Sir with the Fur

[ColinM]

New stand is great and may even offer shelter at the back of the terrace, but where were the 2bc?never heard them all night

Though Shifty and Jim were 2 steps above their previous Ulster performances tonight and hope they can continue in that vein.

Overall Ulster were taught a lesson in game management tonight. By far the better team in all facets, just didnt get the points on the board at critical times, esp the first 30 mins.

Good to see us controlling the ball but Embra didnt have to work hard enough to break us down once they inevitably got hold of the ball in their few phases


Disappointed but not disheartened

[Rob6]

on the whole, tonight was the best rugby i've seen at ravenhill for a long time!!! Also the pack played amazing and for the first few scrums in the 2nd half drove them off the park

1f played really well and deserved his MOTM. Jim also had a good and with every game he is looking better.

Really baffled about the PW for ihump sub.... didn't look like ihump was injured.....


Also the new stand looks amazing!!!! Although hopefully they'll get the speakers sorted out for the next match!!!!!