Ulster v Munster

[Surrey Red Hand]

FFS calm down YM .. he has only had what 4 or 5 games, give him a chance - I'd be questioning McG's capability first

P*ssed off as much as anyone, MORE DRINK required then off to bed

[Dublin4]

what a boring game.
Straight out of the memory of 1970s and 1980s interpro rugby 6 3 type scorelines.

[Shan]

what a boring game.
Straight out of the memory of 1970s and 1980s interpro rugby 6 3 type scorelines.

It was raining all day in Belfast so hardly a surprise we didn't have a free flowing game.

[Surrey Red Hand]

FFS calm down YM .. he has only had what 4 or 5 games, give him a chance - I'd be questioning McG's capability first

P*ssed off as much as anyone, MORE DRINK required then off to bed

Okay lets see how he does when we get beat in Cardiff ...................more wine

Now yer talking

(un)fortunately I'll be there to witness the result - come what may

[Fly Half]

Pienaar hadn't a great game but he didn't cost Ulster the game either. AFAIK he was the only Ulster points scorer and his kicking % isn't any worse than NOC or iH in recent seasons.

Munster just about deserved to win because they can play smart rugby. Does anyone ask themselves why? Do Munster players have an innate rugby nous that Ulster don't? Of course not - they are coached that way!

IMO the criticism of the Ulster backs is a bit unfair, because Ulster made plenty of line breaks to create overlaps. So why didn't they score? IMO most of the players have been coached with a far too defensive mindset and so are more concerned with defending space rather than supporting breaks. I can't understand the ongoing love affair with the miss pass either. At times Ulster are so keen to get it wide they negate their overlap by spinning it wide too soon and so allowing the inside defence to cover the mismatch.

I don't blame Pienaar or Humphreys for the last try either. It was really lucky for Dineen that the ball popped up for him and if Humphreys had been able to ship it to Marshall Ulster could have won the game. Ulster again lost this game in the first half in what was a maybe a 10 point wind. Why they don't drop goals is beyond me.

[King Ding]

even after the last few bad years, i still think tonight was a new low for ulster, how we lost that game is beyond me As for our south africans atm muller is looking like the only good buy. How someone who is wannenburgs size cant make ground going forward is beyond me and before i am told he was marked out of the game im not talking from set moves, the amount of times he hit a man one on one and was either was driven back or stopped dead in his tracks was ridiculous.
As for peinaar i don't wana be to harsh on the guy, but how can someone who has 40+ caps, and kicked for them, not get one from in front of the sticks, I humph often gets critised for his temperament, but peinaars i dare say is worse when it comes to kicking, not even just at goal, kicking to touch he missed a few too and we only got away with it because of poor return kicks from munster. His general play was OK apart from one dodgy pass to humph iirc, but if good scrumhalf play is all we were going to get from him, why didn't we spend his rather sizeable pay cheque on a specialist SH.
As for the rest of the team no real stand out performances, although mention should be given to gerry cronin who was v good for a first cap, really solidified the scrum, one for ulster to keep a hold off, thought tuohy did well when he came on and humph had a decent game until the last play.

A long hard look in the mirror is required by the coachs and team, i just hope this downward spiral doesn't continue.

[King Ding]

Pienaar hadn't a great game but he didn't cost Ulster the game either. AFAIK he was the only Ulster points scorer and his kicking % isn't any worse than NOC or iH in recent seasons.

Have to pick up on this point, maybe his kicking % isn't as bad but this is probably due to the fact he hasn't been taking on the really hard ones, if NOC or iHumph missed that last kick they would be heavily critised and they would deserve to be, its bread and butter stuff for a kicker and just causes hes a big name doesn't mean he shouldn't be critised the same as others.

[mikerob]

I don't recall that many Ulster line breaks.

Michael Bradley was a studio pundit for BBC NI. OK, he isn't the world's greatest coach but he was saying the Ulster backs were going too wide, too soon, too many times.

[bootlaced]

Hump for me showed tonight why I don't rate him,he is a glory hunter,he likes to get the adulation,and as long as he looks good he is happy,whereas NOC is a team player,we are losing at the moment with Humps,time to bring NOC back into the fold,at least he is a team player.Pienaar needs a kick up the backside and needs to be reminded that he is being paid a lot of money to be more than a 50/50 kicker,not to fumble at the back of a scrum or ruck,not to throw wayward passes,and the kicking duties should be taken off him,but then again the coaches should also take some of the blame,we are now looking at our comfort zone at around 7/8 in the league at the end of the season.

[King Ding]

Hump for me showed tonight why I don't rate him,he is a glory hunter,he likes to get the adulation,and as long as he looks good he is happy,whereas NOC is a team player,we are losing at the moment with Humps,time to bring NOC back into the fold,at least he is a team player.

OK he didn't have a great game, but NOC being there would have been worse for us, humph at least kicked the corners reasonably well and im assuming these glory moments are the kicks and runs he took for himself, at the least when humoh does these hes doing them to try and attack and break the line, whereas when NOV does these things it creates nothing apart from mumbles in the crowd.

[bootlaced]

He is still a glory hunter though,and I'm sure NOC could have kicked those lines just as well,and talking of lines where was the markings anyway,no white lines anywhere

[Cap'n Grumpy]

He is still a glory hunter though,and I'm sure NOC could have kicked those lines just as well,and talking of lines where was the markings anyway,no white lines anywhere

Let me guess?

Maybe that wet stuff that fell out of the sky for the past 24 hours and flooded the roads etc had someting to do with it

[King Ding]

He is still a glory hunter though,and I'm sure NOC could have kicked those lines just as well,and talking of lines where was the markings anyway,no white lines anywhere

Your entitled to your opinion but i still don't buy it, the grubbers to the corners were good play and Humphs defence was actually v good tonight.

[Jackie Brown]

Humph had a good game and was not the reason why we are tom kite.

Do our Coaches do anything all week, cause it doesn't look like it. I have never been so despondant leaving Ravenhill. PIenaar couldn't kick my granny. Don't be fooled, that was a poor Munster performance tonight. Stringer was gash and their fullback was kack, yet as a team we couldn't pick up on this. We run laterally, can't work out how to score. we miss first up tackles but our hands were improved tonight but we had no ideas. Do our coaches have a game plan? Humph can kick the corners as proved tonight, yet instead of sticking with it we throw it wide to early, run laterally, kick when we should run, run when we should kick. The decision making and ideas are poor. McIlwaine is a fullback, play him there or stick him on the bench. Marshall and Spence both have loads of potential, especially Spence, so play them in their positions. D'Arcy trys hard but lacks expeience when making decisions, that'll come in time.

Falloon looked like he hadn't played in weeks, Diack was effective yet pulled ashore on 60mins, Pedrie is a lot of bark and no bite. Muller trys harder than anyone and really needs to knock seven lumps of tom kite out of the rest of them, Barker and Tuohy were both effective. PaddyMac again was noticeable but feck, Hayes did him over in the Scrums which is embarrassing. Brady had a good game and Young played no better than I expected. It doesn't take a team like Munster long to realise that 95% of our lineouts are thrown to one player.

One final point, the Ulster branch in their wisedom have now decided to lock the gates out onto ravenhill Park Gardens! WHY?? Surely H&S wise it is CRAZY to funnel everyone from the Prom, STand and approx 1/4-1/5 of the Terrace who leave via the Aquinas end through the Memorial Arch.

Nothing surprises me about the Ulster BRanch though, the money for Pienaar would have been better spent on a coaching team who knew what they were doing. Few of us were fooled by the scrapped wins against poor opposition at the start of the season.

[fuzzylogic]

by Jackie Brown » Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:34 pm

PaddyMac again was noticeable but feck, Hayes did him over in the Scrums which is embarrassing.

I agree with nearly everything you say Jackie but that part is just taking the pi$h!!!

John Hayes - 36 years old, 102 Ireland Caps, 2 Lions Caps and 185 Munster Caps. Paddy McAllister 21 years old with 8 Ulster caps.

You are the only one who should be embarassed tonight making a statement like that!!!!