Jackie Brown wrote:He can't tackle a fish supper, but he's a better place kicker than NOC, better at getting the backline moving, has a turn of speed and a break. Territorial play is on a par.
Both of them are as weak as dishwater though, when the pressure comes on, but at least iHumph has shown he has the potential to win a match.
Jackie Brown wrote: but he's a better place kicker than NOC.
Would say NOC edges it, and is improving. He's nailing the monsters and the ones he's missed he hasnt missed by much. Remember iHumph near hitting the cornerfleg with one at the Bath match.
Like it or not I think we're stuck with NOC for the season. If/when iHumph gets a run due to injuries or whatever, he'll probably be so eager to impress that he'll take too much on and make a ballix of it
NOC has always been good wih long rang kicks but its the closer ones he struggles with. I heard Ihumph isn't even released to play club rugby this weekend.
For whatever reason it now seems obvious that I Humph is 4th choice and very much out in the cold...O'Connor has been handed a wonderful opportunity and i hope McLaughlins faith in him is repaid coming into a crucial period of games, starting tonight...lets get behind him.
ps....does anyone else think like me that the playing "Wallace at 10 at Kidneys behest "was a yarn or what.
Jackie Brown wrote: but he's a better place kicker than NOC.
Would say NOC edges it, and is improving. He's nailing the monsters and the ones he's missed he hasnt missed by much. Remember iHumph near hitting the cornerfleg with one at the Bath match.
Like it or not I think we're stuck with NOC for the season. If/when iHumph gets a run due to injuries or whatever, he'll probably be so eager to impress that he'll take too much on and make a ballix of it
Colin with respect, he might as well miss the ones he does miss by a mile. There aren't any points for "hard luck young man that was close". So if he's kicking 50%-60% and can't get the backline moving why pick him??
Even if IH had similar kicking stats his ability to create havoc in defences (yes I know ours included:lol:) get the backs moving and scoring tries, is far superior to NOC (IIRC Cables had some stats on this last year ) and with tries come valuable bonus points which we may well be needing come HC and Play Off time. So surely he deserves a chance to show what he is capable of in competitive games this season and especially against the likes of the weegies . At least we will have some up to date performance based evidence to judge what's what, and which of the two is actually playing better.
Jackie Brown wrote: but he's a better place kicker than NOC.
Would say NOC edges it, and is improving. He's nailing the monsters and the ones he's missed he hasnt missed by much. Remember iHumph near hitting the cornerfleg with one at the Bath match.
Like it or not I think we're stuck with NOC for the season. If/when iHumph gets a run due to injuries or whatever, he'll probably be so eager to impress that he'll take too much on and make a ballix of it
Colin with respect, he might as well miss the ones he does miss by a mile. There aren't any points for "hard luck young man that was close". So if he's kicking 50%-60% and can't get the backline moving why pick him??
Even if IH had similar kicking stats his ability to create havoc in defences (yes I know ours included:lol:) get the backs moving and scoring tries, is far superior to NOC (IIRC Cables had some stats on this last year ) and with tries come valuable bonus points which we may well be needing come HC and Play Off time. So surely he deserves a chance to show what he is capable of in competitive games this season and especially against the likes of the weegies . At least we will have some up to date performance based evidence to judge what's what, and which of the two is actually playing better.
Good one GMAC, bonus points are really what are required, especially in HEC, win the 3 home matches plus one away and score 2 bonus for losing 2 matches and I will say we might as well have lost all the matches as it will not be enough, aim is to pick up at the very least 20 points or sit and watch the rest progress as usual.
“That made me feel very special and underlined to me that Ulster is more than a team, it is a community and a rugby family" Rory Best
Rooster wrote:Good one GMAC, bonus points are really what are required, especially in HEC, win the 3 home matches plus one away and score 2 bonus for losing 2 matches and I will say we might as well have lost all the matches as it will not be enough, aim is to pick up at the very least 20 points or sit and watch the rest progress as usual.
Agreed - exactly what happened last year
I suspect plan is to play it tight, establish some forward dominance, score a couple of tries, kick our pens, move RP to 10 with 20 mins to go and let loose to try and get bonus point
If IHumph's only limitation when compared to NOC is his defence then can measures not be taken to counteract this? I'd rather have the attacking options available from the start to take advantage of the opportunities as they arise - just like Bath/Stade at home last year rather than scrambling in the last 10 minutes looking for extra tries like Bath away last year
Conservative coach = Conservative results, the same conservatism hurt us last season in Europe and I fear it will happen again, would rather watch iHumph with ball in hand than NOC kick all the day long.......check out last seasons game at home to Stade for attacking rugby.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0jAnMC4PkM
Last edited by scrum5 on Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
In memory of Nevin Spence 1990- 15th Sept. 2012
Axel..... 30 October 1973 - 16 October 2016
Pedrie Wannenburg. 2 January 1981 - 22 April 2022.
"McLaughlin lands Ulster coach job
Brian McLaughlin
McLaughlin was Ireland skills coach during Eddie O'Sullivan's reign
Belfast teacher Brian McLaughlin will be confirmed as the new Head Coach of Ulster Rugby on Tuesday.
The appointment of the 50-year-old former Ireland skills coach was finally agreed by the Irish RFU last week.
McLaughlin will sign a two-year deal and is scheduled to be unveiled to the media on Thursday.
The Head of PE was granted a second career break by RBAI so that he could fill the vacancy created by the sudden departure in May of Matt Williams.
The choice of McLaughlin as coach had been anticipated but, before everything was confirmed, due process had to be observed in relation to the IRFU, RBAI and his personal contract.
It is a dream job for the Newtownards-born McLaughlin who always wanted to coach his home province.
Ulster officials are understood to have earmarked McLaughlin for the job after conducting interviews earlier in June.
McLaughlin now faces a massive task to lift Ulster's fortunes after a disappointing 2008-09 season.
While McLaughlin may not be the big name coach many had hoped for, he still has plenty of experience and knows most of the players.
His three years working with Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland squad was a success in relative terms.
An excellent technical coach, McLaughlin is a stickler for the basics, but is not afraid to promote flair and a little ingenuity.
McLaughlin's rugby life started with his home town club Ards where he was a back-row forward alongside Ireland stars Philip Matthews and Nigel Carr before injury interrupted his career.
He had success at Ulster and Ireland age group level winning the Five Nations Grand Slam alongside O'Sullivan in the early 1990s.
His other coaching duties included spells at club sides Malone and Instonians while behind the scenes he quietly guided Division Two outfit Ballynahinch to a clean sweep of titles last season.
He is most recognised, however, for his work at schools level. He coached Wallace to a couple of cup finals and then guided RBAI to seven cup finals in 12 years, winning five of them.
He also won the inter-provincial title with the Ulster Under-21 side where he coached the current captain Rory Best.
McLaughlin will continue with the same backroom staff who were in position at Ravenhill, with Jeremy Davidson and former pupil at Wallace Neil Doak his main assistants."
and how much better are we playing this year, even before we have feilded our strongest team. I think Mcglock is doing a good job so far. OK there are problems, the odd eyebrow raising selections but all in all much better. While chatting to some of my terrace companions how different it feels complaining about our inability to get a bonus point rather than listening to some Ulster fans boo the team.
) and with tries come valuable bonus points which we may well be needing come HC and Play Off time. So surely he deserves a chance to show what he is capable of in competitive games this season and especially against the likes of the weegies . At least we will have some up to date performance based evidence to judge what's what, and which of the two is actually playing better.
