Ulster v Leinster

[AyeYerMa]

They sent a team which would beaten the one we fielded six days out of seven. Today was not the seventh day.

[bootlaced]

Bootlaced please change your name to Bullshit, it will remind me not to read anymore of your drivel. As for Pienaar he is a very good player who did very little wrong. Unfortunately he was playing behind a pack in reverse, compared to Boss playing behind a pack in overdrive.

Henry is as good a ball carrier as borthwick.

now that has made me laugh,

[ulster32]

I think the criticism of Pienaar is unfair. From playing with Morne Steyn and the likes to playing with Niall O'Connor.... Gulf in class so tough job when your technically playing 9+10 as the player at 10 offers nothing at all to the team, harsh on the guy but he is not an ulster player! If ulster are to move forward they must bring pienaar in at 10 when required and start trying to bring Jackson in to get some game time.

[Snipe Watson]

Chris is not a natural 7, but lacks the dynamism to play 6 or 8 at this level and he isn’t good enough to play the David Wallace type 7 role. O’Brien showed today how a smallish 8/6 can play. Chris is a grafter and usually sticks his head where I wouldn’t put my boot, but he is a bench player at this level. Willie is our only real 7. That experiment along with the NOC project should end, now.

[notj]

Please... talk of Pienaar being poor is ridiculous. Of the crucial backrow-halfbacks axis, he was the only one who didn't have a shocker.

Is this because he's a saffer? We all know that were he Irish he would be an INSTANT selection for the national side. There were quite a number of Ulster players out there today who were much worse than he was- yet the talk is about Pienaar. Ridiculous.

[Neil F]

Notch, I fear that it's more to do with the price tag - if he costs as much as most people think, you know, he should be like Superman and sh1t... I don't know what people expect from Pienaar but I think his performances in the two games against Bath show exactly what he has to offer. If that's not enough, I wonder which scrum-half is good enough for Ulster? I sometimes fear that the ambitions of Ulster fans are so low that they want a player who makes the native Ulstermen look good and little more...

Snipe - I agree; Chris is a player right out of the Matt McCullough book. I'd rather an Ulster squad and 22 with him in it than without but he's not, nor will he ever be, a world beater. He's a good, honest player and that is what the success of all Irish provinces in recent times has been based on. He's the sort of player that Ulster need but he's not a top player - compare him to Ferris in terms of both speed and build and you'll see that.

[Shem]

This evening showed us how much we rely on Humph for our attacking options. We looked like we had no ideas going forward. Also, the reason why we had to run the ball from our own half in the first half is because of the lack of confidence in the kicking of NOC; I can't see any other reason (the wind wasn't the reason btw) for not pinning them back when NOC is known for his hefty boot?
No more IH v NOC debates please...the results are conclusive!

[nonplussed]

if NOC is an ML standard OH then I am a Volvo S40!

[bangorboy]

In the last few games we have had, the combination of a good 9 & 10 has given our back line plenty to work from, and that has showed in the wins and the tries.

Tonight the backs were getting no service at all, no flair, no creativity, no breaks, it was difficult to watch.

Contrast that with the substitution of NOC, Marshall at 9 RP at 10 and we actually made some gains, and looked like we could actually score!

NOC is a nice guy I'm sure, and I'm also sure he tried his best, the simple fact is that his best is not good enough and slow and stilted delivery from the 10 is knocking on to our backs being in effect, neutered.

As others have said, we need to bring the academy guys forward a bit to give us some options at 10.

On a positive, great to see the likes of Gilroy, Spence and Marshall coming through... quality in the making if they are handled properly.

[29xThePain]

The talk of the blame being at Pienaar's door is absolutely ridiculous. His tackling around the fringes was superb, wrapped Bossy up a few times when he should've made a break!

At half time I was calling for Marshall to replace NOC, with Pienaar to drop into 10, although that happened at the 70 minute mark. I was screaming at the TV the majority of the time when NOC was in possession, the failed kick to touch for Sean O'Brien's try was dreadful, and he should be dropped for that alone. NOC's tackling wasn't great either.

Back row appeared outclassed today. O'Brien is a class act - although I think P3 could've at least attempted a tackle on SOB before he went in for a try.

Our front row improved when the Greek, Deccy Fitz and Bear came on IMO.

Ulster were good to watch for the first 5 minutes or so, although I'm struggling to think of anything else positive.

Oh yeah, Rory Best should be available for Munster, that's a positive

[troupe86]

I thought that NOC was extremely poor tonight and was - above anyone else - the worst performer on the Ulster team.

Despite the fact that our pack was outplayed tonight, NOC's complete invisibility, poor 'tackling', abysmal tactical kicking and shocking distribution make him the donkey. How many times did our pack win back possession for NOC to simply to boot the ball into the hands of Nacewa again? The NOC experiment has run its course.

Marshall's appearance at 10 in the final few minutes was full of enterprising vim and he should see more game time over NOC who just hasn't stepped up to the mark. You can tell that the other players have seemingly lost faith in his ability to run a game.

[King Ding]

This talk of peinaar being poor is pure rubbush, apart from the miss on SOB i thought he was superb, and i too was really wanting him to be at 10 from about the 8 minute mark. Never mind peinaar doing more in 5 minutes than NOC, Luke marshall also did more with ball in hand in the 5 minutes he got than NOC did the whole game, really gave it a go and actually looked comfortable on the ball.

Im currently debating whether to travel to munster or not and if NOC is starting i will not bother my Brennan, if he gets a contract for next season serious questions need to be asked.

[browner]

Leinster wiped the floor with us, plain and simple.

Don't understand the criticism of Peinaar who i thought was excellent as was Boss for Leinster.

Too many of our players were anonymous...Diack, Danielli and O'Connor the most obvious.

[aarons]

There's not much complaining about Clancy boy on here... Makes a change. I can't put my finger on his performance but we certainly didn't get the calls in the way we did in the two games against bath...

[Snipe Watson]

Browner, there's only one ejit criticising Ruan