If the season finished today ....

[Rule13b]

You cant argue that this has been abig improvement on the last couple of seasons.
I tend to agree a bit about the luck. The fact still remains that we have played poorly in some games but still have ground out a win which previously would have been a defeat.
Lets just sit back and enjoy.
I dont think that the team is the finished article yet but at least we seem to have bottomed out and are now rising once again.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

If the season finished today ........ I would be completely and totally disappointed .....

..... how would I fill my Friday nights between now and May ......

..... will I get refunds on my travel and accommodation for Milton Keynes .....

..... and ......

..... will UR give a refund on the unused part of my season ticket?

[againstthehead]

lol, very good cap'n. very good.

[darkside lightside]

the way I see it, the HEC is a good test of your first XV, and the league is a good test of your full squad. On the basis of our HEC performances so far, while it's an improvement on the last decade, it is still the bare minimum in terms of my pre-season expectations, and it would be more than a bit depressing if we defined exiting our group as major progress. The fact remains that we still haven't won away in France or England in Europe, and the beating that we shipped in the second half against BOPB was as humiliating as any we've suffered in the last decade. Real progress therefore is doing a job on the Saints - a good time to get that monkey off our backs!

In the league is where we have been very disappointing - bizarre selections, inconsistency, recurring and unremedied weaknesses in our play (handling, restarts), inability to turn possession and pressure into points. Some good showings, but unfortunately offset by some absolute shockers. I believe top 4 was well within the compass of this group of players, anything less won't be good enough.

I'm not completely down on this season so far - McL & co have steadied the ship, and we seem to have staunched the losses of important players, and we seem to be on the way to building a strong and settled squad of players. As I've said elsewhere, my view is that we need a different head coach with more and wider experience of coaching at top club level in order to drive our levels higher next year.

[Bart S]

the way I see it, the HEC is a good test of your first XV, and the league is a good test of your full squad. On the basis of our HEC performances so far, while it's an improvement on the last decade, it is still the bare minimum in terms of my pre-season expectations, and it would be more than a bit depressing if we defined exiting our group as major progress. The fact remains that we still haven't won away in France or England in Europe, and the beating that we shipped in the second half against BOPB was as humiliating as any we've suffered in the last decade. Real progress therefore is doing a job on the Saints - a good time to get that monkey off our backs!In the league is where we have been very disappointing - bizarre selections, inconsistency, recurring and unremedied weaknesses in our play (handling, restarts), inability to turn possession and pressure into points. Some good showings, but unfortunately offset by some absolute shockers. I believe top 4 was well within the compass of this group of players, anything less won't be good enough.

I'm not completely down on this season so far - McL & co have steadied the ship, and we seem to have staunched the losses of important players, and we seem to be on the way to building a strong and settled squad of players. As I've said elsewhere, my view is that we need a different head coach with more and wider experience of coaching at top club level in order to drive our levels higher next year.

agree with the bit about the defeat in Biarritz being as disappointing as any, but what about the win against Bath (surely an away win in England)? Haven't we at least got that monkey off our backs?

[darkside lightside]

agree with the bit about the defeat in Biarritz being as disappointing as any, but what about the win against Bath (surely an away win in England)? Haven't we at least got that monkey off our backs?

sh*t I was aware of something nagging me as I wrote that, whoops

yes quite right, don't know how I forgot it, because I was there freezing my knackers off watching it...

actually that changes the complexion of the season slightly, in a positive direction, in that last year's victory in Bath was slightly cheapened by the red card, this year's was a good win, albeit Bath were pretty poor - Saints will be much sterner test.

[Jackie Brown]

In fact we haven't lost in England since Hairqueens in October 2008!

[Rooster]

Put it another way last time we got to quarter finals we won it
What was it Johann said, "once we qualify then we will plot how to win it " ? or something like that.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

I think it was along the lines of, "First you qualify, then you plan how to win it"

[Rooster]

I think it was along the lines of, "First you qualify, then you plan how to win it"

Sounds good enough for me Grumps Hope he is at the planning stage now then

[backawaygoonahead]

the way I see it, the HEC is a good test of your first XV, and the league is a good test of your full squad. On the basis of our HEC performances so far, while it's an improvement on the last decade, it is still the bare minimum in terms of my pre-season expectations, and it would be more than a bit depressing if we defined exiting our group as major progress. The fact remains that we still haven't won away in France or England in Europedoubly inaccurate, and the beating that we shipped in the second half against BOPB was as humiliating as any we've suffered in the last decadewrong - several have been worse. Real progress therefore is doing a job on the Saints - a good time to get that monkey off our backs!

In the league is where we have been very disappointing - bizarre selections, inconsistency, recurring and unremedied weaknesses in our play (handling, restarts), inability to turn possession and pressure into points. Some good showings, but unfortunately offset by some absolute shockers. I believe top 4 was well within the compass of this group of players, anything less won't be good enough.

I'm not completely down on this season so fargiven the undeniable improvements in so many areas it would be ridiculous, even for a man of your demanding standards, if you were - McL & co have steadied the ship, and we seem to have staunched the losses of important players, and we seem to be on the way to building a strong and settled squad of players. As I've said elsewhere, my view is that we need a different head coach with more and wider experience of coaching at top club level in order to drive our levels higher next year.

Such a poor post in so many areas DL, you are better than this.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

I think it was along the lines of, "First you qualify, then you plan how to win it"

Sounds good enough for me Grumps Hope he is at the planning stage now then

I put the exact question to McGlock the other day .... apparently he is!

[stickinout]

Compare this season to last 4:

a) we have qualified for the HC quarters, and very nearly won our group again. One step further than last year. A great achievement, full stop, regardless if you think we've been lucky in any way. There's plenty of years where we've been unlucky so luck is disregarded IMO. We've taken our chances and that's all that matters in my book. The only blot was the second half in BO where we were blown away.

b) Our ML performances have been fair to good so far, the only disappointments being the 2 Munster games and Leinster. We haven't really blown any teams away yet. One bonus from early on this season is that we have demonstrated we could win tight matches that would have been lost in past years. We lie 6th, which is not great but this year, i don't have the feeling of other years, that we're going on a downward trajectory from here on in to a dog fight with Connacht at the bottom. Does anybody think we'll end up at 8 or 9 like the past few years? I don't, hopefully we don't go there.

The momentum of qualifying for the HC can not be overstated, it will concentrate the minds of all of the personnel over the next half a dozen games, further developing a winning mentality. Everyone has a place to play for in the quarters so hopefully we win a few ML games to prepare for the HC leaving us in a good position in the league. Will be interesting to see how the team reacts if we don't go on to win the quarters. If it happens, hopefully we'll be in with a chance of getting a top 4 slot in the ML and therefore have plenty to play for to fix the minds and continue the momentum that's been built up this year.

I think we're a team suited to cup rugby, and we have a chance of making it to the semis at home..... will be interesting to see how things pan out. The one thing against us is our lack of experience in the HC but sure, that's what we're building right now.

Overall, i think we've made huge inroads into where we want to be in two or three years time so this season has been a success if it finished today. Hopefully this is just the start of a run of HC qualification, though I concede it is ultra competitive and getting more and more difficult as the years go by. Additionally, I will be happier when i see more Ulster teams going up in the AIL, genuinely competing at the top. Grass roots is what's it's all about IMO.

[UlsterJock]

It cant finish the good bit is yet to come see you in MK

Just to re-cap though:

Ulster RFC - Season 10/11 Part 2 Dec-22Jan11


Ulster RFC - Season 10/11 Part One

Can't wait

How many sleeps dad!????

[Glynncommando]

Excellent work Usterjock. "Too many sleeps" is the answer....roll on Milton Keynes!
GC