Ulster V Glasgee: Positives & Negatives

[cables]

We've taken 12 points from three home games that last season we took the grand total of 1 point from. We're unbeaten FFS! I think some people need to remember what a low base we have come from. This squad was always going to take a few months to gel, the players and coaches have said it themselves, the fact that we're still winning while gelling is a great sign IMO. There's a long way to go but that should be something to optimistic about.

It is true Harold that we did only take one losing bonus point in total last season in the home fixtures against Edinburgh, Glasgow and Ospreys. It is also true that we have bagged 12 points in these three home games this season. That is good and should never be sneezed at. However, we should also look at how these teams are performing this season. All three are in the bottom half of the League Table - yes we assisted in this by beating them at Ravenhill.

We have not won any game with a winning margin even equaling the median margin for ML games. I have not checked but they are probably lower quartile win margins. Every game we have played could easily have went the other way and we were very lucky away to Aironi IMO.

We are riding our luck ATM and if the gel does not set very quickly we will finish the ML outside the play-off zone.

A quote from the Prom this evening:-
"C'mon lads, Ruan can't do it all on his own."

You know what - he actually did!
Ruan 19 Glasgow 17.

[SparkyClarky]

Some of the sentiment on this thread cracks me up. Posters questioning the management, posters questioning our ambition! We've taken 12 points from three home games that last season we took the grand total of 1 point from. We're unbeaten FFS! I think some people need to remember what a low base we have come from. This squad was always going to take a few months to gel, the players and coaches have said it themselves, the fact that we're still winning while gelling is a great sign IMO. There's a long way to go but that should be something to optimistic about.

As for the game itself

Positives
The win
Diack
Trimble
Pienaar
Lineout/Best in general
Centres when they got some ball

Negatives
NOC lying far too deep
Two or three sloppy periods
NOCs injury
Smith's injury
Only one try

Harold

I think some people need to remember what a low base we have come from

I think if you look at the past base (as low as you seem to think) we were nearly top of the ML last season @ Christmas. We beat teams like Stade, Bath & Munster in the last two seasons and with a bonus point away! (@ Thomond) All this with a lesser team and lack of squad depth. If we are to qualify from the HC & make the play - offs from the ML we need to perform week in week out! This is the day for the professional rugby player and with what we have spent per £ we expect a return. & so far we have not got value for money.

Yes we are unbeaten, but we have not played the Blues, Munster, Leinster etc ( Look @ the Italions @ the bottom of the ML & tell me who have taken a bonus point from them - NOT ULSTER) but we will need complete team performances to take the French & Bath in the HC. It is time for Ulster fans to take off their rose tinted glasses and look at the style of rugby we are playing and believe that if we don't start to play better the chances of moving out of our HC group just is'nt as rosy as first thought when the groups were announced months ago!!!

[againstthehead]

'van der Merwe to race clear and score despite the despairing dive of Robbie Diack. '

spot on red hand - happened all night long. We butcher chances by drifting/going wide too early. AMateur.

[darkside lightside]

I thought that was an absolutely disastrously bad performance - we looked totally bereft of a gameplan, short of ideas, and shot through with errors.

Our pack were competitive, but maybe a bit complacent in the first half, we slipped off a few too many tackles, and whereas recently we've been crunching guys backwards round the fringes we lacked a bit of conviction. Better in the second half, but by then it had already become a dogfight. Best looked back to something like his best, looked hungry too - same for Court who was excellent in every aspect - he or Best would have been my MOTM, they were the ones who showed most urgency.. Muller good as usual, but Tuohy was off the pace, slipped off a few tackles I thought. Back row did ok, Diack made a lot of yards, Henry did a lot of work, Wannenberg maybe a bit quiet in the last couple of matches.

Pienaar was mostly good, but I wouldn't go wild the way some people are - a clear step up from our other options, and when he gets up to speed properly you know he's going to be a real weapon round the fringes, but a couple of his kicks from our half were poor, if Marshall had done them we'd be shouting at him. Also the missed shots were straightforward.. Few decent box kicks though.

NOC was poor - his kicking game was terrible, completely lacked conviction, and it certainly looked like Pienaar is used to bringing players outside him to the gainline, and NOC seemed reluctant to go there. I fear his injury will expose what IMO has been poor squad management, because Paddy I thought was off-colour for the second successive match, and just doesn't look comfortable at 10 - so our choice at 10 for the next game is: PW (slightly off his game, out of position), Pienaar (came to play 9, only his second game), iHumph (hasn't played a single second of competitive rugby this season)...

Outside NOC, while Trimble looked hungry, we showed nothing. That was the most disappointing thing. Absolutely zip. Danielli fair enough was rusty. But all match long we dotted the ball from side to side, like RHH says a horrendous amount of lateral running, nobody running any lines, all their defence had to do was drift comfortably across and then double up on the guy on the outside. Our handling was poor. We just looked thoroughly unlikely to make a line break from start to finish, never mind score a try. I found it a depressing, depressing spectacle.

[for dog and ulcer]

Positive- Glasgow didn't bring on their try machine- Rob Dewey!! We would have been in trouble then, wouldn't we? Maybe not.

[Shem]

People, I think theres a meansure of truth in saying that look at our results this season compared to last, we have to be happy! If we were told at the start of our season that the record would be P5, W4, D1, L0, we would have snapped it up without a doubt. Personally, I think that the boys are trying to hard to play expansive, attractive rugby. Think I described it last night as 'Ingnition starting but no petrol in the tank'. Basically the beginnings of a good team are there but its just not catching fire yet. But it will happen, we just have to be patient! We've 2 tough games ahead, away to the Ritz and the Eds in the ML. They will be a big test and depending on our results then, will show us just how far we've come!

Positives: Diack, Trimble, Result, Best, Court and Pienaar!!!
Negatives: NOC, Restarts, Basic Errors!

[Rooster]

+ we won
Pienaar class act
- the entire outfit is a mess when it comes to scoring trys.

[backawaygoonahead]

Have yet to watch it again but I think I fall between the doom-mongers & the everything's OK because we are unbeaten.

Positives

Another "we would have lost that last year" game, which has to be positive.
Losing with 10-15 to go & winning - thats what good teams do even when not playing well
Pack looked excellent - in the 2 spells when they got their dander up - 10-15 minutes in middle of first half & last 15 minutes.
Rory Best - well played skipper, no line-out losses and around the pitch much more like the old Rory. Took more balls at 10 than NOC although not sure that is completely positive!
Ruan Piennar - far from perfect, missed 2 easy kicks but you could see he has it, see he will occupy back rows. Passing generally good, box kicks mixed. A little rusty but he has class.
Muller & Barker combo - not together long but boy do they work. So much more grunt.
Props- very good, hats off to BY.
Chris Henry - full of aggression for the full 80 even if he clearly isn't a 7 - the only forward to do so other than Rory.

Negatives

Another "dull" performance
Little sign of backs knowing what they were doing as a combination - that said once more we had changed/new combinations - good to see Danielli back, he needs the game time.
NOC - I am unable to defend the indefensible, having supported his selection and being content to hope for him to develop,especially when RP played with him, he was truly awful. His game had no redeeming features whatsoever and although it is a vicious thing to say it, his injury may be the best thing to have happened to Ulster, assuming it is as bad as it looked. I had hoped that removing the kicking duties may have helped him but it appeared to remove any last vestige of confidence. Frankly he didn't appear to know what he was doing.
The Pack - much as they looked the better 8 when they stirred themselves, they only really went for Glasgie twice in the game and seemed to coast for much more of it.
Jamie Smith - a little unkind perhaps as it wasn't all bad but his positioning is woeful eg Glasgow's try - Trimble misses the catch and nobody is at home, back door left wide open - simple run in.

MAIN NEGATIVE

The absolute half-wit who stands 10 yards away from me who roars "get in the hole" for every place kick. It has never been funny/anything but idiotic in golf, it is the work of a total cretin at rugby. I hope the gentleman has early onset throat cancer and has lost his voice by the end of the season. If not perhaps someone would hire a hit-man?

[promsandwich]

From what I have read on this thread this morning there is a lot of quite severe criticism about the teams performance last night, some of which I understand but some of which is over the top quite frankly.

IMO we scraped a win last night when I thought that we ought to be winning by 10 points pre-kick off. I thought in the the first quarter the team were unusually flat. Having said that it is four wins out of 5 and still unbeaten so there is a lot to be positive about. Here goes:

Positives:
- Ruan Pienaar: world class. What a pass, the most outrageous dummy, a try, everything.
- lineout: Muller is pure class, Rory threw well which is a massive plus
- Best: back on form. Won a loose ball in the second half which was just pure commitment
- Trimble: outstanding ball carrier
- Diack: really seems to be benefitting from the competition this year
- scrum was solid
- Danielli's return.

Negatives:
- backs still not doing anything, too much lateral running
- Wattabeast: don't want to be overly critical but he is starting to go into contact too high
- Henry: great player at 8, not so great at 7
- restarts

There is a lot of the usual NOC bashing going on here today about him being too deep, out of position etc. Maybe he was at times but a new 9/10 combination is always going to take some time to settle. Personally I didn't feel he did a lot wrong. It seems highly unlikely that the management are going to play iHumph next week so NOC needs some backing.

I thought Smith did well at fullback. He's a strong fella for his size and doesn't lose the ball in contact.

an absolutely disgusting amount of lateral running in the backline, drifting sideways in attack is something that shouldn't be seen at U-14's never mind in a professional rugby team

This says it all. The number of times we looked like we could exploit space and numbers out wide that were destroyed by not doing this basic right. We're not asking for much, just straighten the line to use the space outside. Also need to see some decoy runners cutting back inside to give the defence something to look at.

Leaving that aside Pienaar was a joy to behold. The speed with which he gets the ball away from the ruck and the speed of his pass itself, just terrific. He looked worth every penny last night.

The result was great, but the performance and the match was a bit of an anti-climax. The backs need to step up to the level of performance that the forwards are producing. Could do better.

[Tenyarder]

+ ve

I have to say P5 W4 D1, tied at the top, but Rounds 1 - 5 have been very kind to us, and 7 tries with no bonus points indicate deeper issues.

RP - added an extra dimension particularly during 10 - 25 and 65 - 80 mins. The problem was that those outside were not ready for the quicker, flatter and longer passing. Kicking options were a bit aimless at times - perhaps he was anticipating a better chase. His 5 from 8 at 60% seems to be just on the Ulster par.

Scrum and Lineout

- ve

The RP dimension showed NOC up as a poor 10 unable to capitalise on the extra space available. If he is not to take the kicks, what is he to do? I have supported him in the NOC/iH debate but I think we need to look at other options now. His confidence is pretty much shot to pieces and injury may now allow for a graceful exit.

Poor result against a very average, inexperienced Glasgee team

Unable to sustain possession due to errors and poor kicking options

I agree with backaway, the idiot behind - "Get in the hole" - perhaps he was muttering to himself, let's hope so!

Finally, the Cap'n's antics at the end with the red head hi vis and the box of Roses !!! - definitely deserved a yellow, but sadly the ref seemed to have lost his cards last night.

[bigchiefally]

I know we havent played fantastically well, and the opposition has hardly been Leicester, Toulouse, Stade, Munster and Leinster quality but lets not get too down. We have played 5, won 4, and are unbeaten. No bonus points, should be 5 from 5, not that fluent, backs yet to click and glaring holes at full back and 10 but hardly a disaster of a start to the season. Certainly no worse than a B+, pack looks mean and we appear to be developing a winning mentality. Bar a disaster we will likely go to Biarittz having played 6 won 5 and no defeats.

Could be a lot lot lot worse.

[Big-al]

Thought we played alright - couple of tweeks here and there i.e Humphs at FH, D'arcy and FB and better allingment in the backs and we'll be ready for the Hcup.

[fuzzylogic]

by backawaygoonahead » Sat Oct 02, 2010 9:07 am

The absolute half-wit who stands 10 yards away from me who roars "get in the hole" for every place kick. It has never been funny/anything but idiotic in golf, it is the work of a total cretin at rugby. I hope the gentleman has early onset throat cancer and has lost his voice by the end of the season. If not perhaps someone would hire a hit-man?

At least you were 10 yards away, that clown was right behind me for a bit!

[Rooster]

by backawaygoonahead » Sat Oct 02, 2010 9:07 am

The absolute half-wit who stands 10 yards away from me who roars "get in the hole" for every place kick. It has never been funny/anything but idiotic in golf, it is the work of a total cretin at rugby. I hope the gentleman has early onset throat cancer and has lost his voice by the end of the season. If not perhaps someone would hire a hit-man?

At least you were 10 yards away, that clown was right behind me for a bit!

Bring a golf ball next week and wedge it in his throat.

[Tenyarder]

One of the unintended consequences of the hiviz police clearing the front walk way is that with no kids gathering there we are getting a good silent respect for place kickers - not up to turnip standards but good nonetheless.

The idiot (and I use Gusher's description on the box) who shouts out "Get in the hole" needs to be stopped - it's a nasty import from the USPGA Tour and no place in any sporting venue on this side of the pond.

Let's hope this thread will embarrass him into silence, or at least convince his friends, if he has any, to shut him up.

Otherwise we may need to photo, name, shame and ostracize. If the surrounding crowd could all step 2 paces away he will soon get the message. I may be wrong but I place him somewhere about 15 - 20 metres on the scoreboard end about 3/4 of the way back. Does anyone have a more accurate GPS?

Maybe the hiviz police could eject him on elf and safety grounds - his own.