Positives & Negatives: Ulster V Connacht

[againstthehead]

Positives
- Ferris - possibly the only world class player on show tonight The man is a machine. The only forward to consistantly make hard yards. Time and time again he picked from the ruck and made vital yards. Super effort.
- PW - though paddy did well for having so little gametime
- scrum looked good until court and afoa went off. Hard to judge V connacht though...
- humph seemed to pick up confidence towards the end
- pack were a bit more direct in the second 40 - and I enjoyed the second try. We still go wide FAR too early though. We're so predictable. Ferris offered a new dimension and a few of the other guys followed his example.
- Best excellent in the loose.
- kept the penalty count low
- thoughht beagle had a decent game - some nice box kicks and looked sharp with ball in hand.
- defensively we looked solid enough. Some decent hits and we were patient without giving away silly pens.

Negatives
- lot of errors tonight. Mostly from trying to force the killer pass/off-load. Need more patience.
- couple of shocking lineouts
- muller crocked
- scrum a shambles when the props went off
- missed kicks from Humph
- general lack of precision and potency in the final quarter. rarely really threathened the connacht whitewash.
- never threatened a BP. It was there for the taking tonight but we never quite gelled.

Overall, a reasonable result and a half-decent performance. Sets us up reasonably for next weekend. It's a starting point and the main challenge is to build on this result. A win next weekend and the season is alive again.

[Big-al]

Paul Marshall was woeful - Porter was much better.

We created chances but made too many stupid handling errors. By far the better team

[againstthehead]

u reckon? I thought porter made one cracking kick but that was it - some poor passing too.

[bangorboy]

Thought Porter made an improvement when he came on... Deserves a start IMHO.

[ruckover]

Positives
- Clermont hammered by Stade Francais 37-16 and Leicester held at home 24-24 by London Irish
- Afoa, what a debut, amazing player, can't wait to see him next week
- 1F, how much have we missed him, lots of good runs and big tackles
- Looked very good in attack, especially when driving through the forwards
- Scrum was extremely good when afoa was on, very dominant
- iHumph looked very good but not back to his complete best yet (need ruan back for that)
- A lot of big hits going in, will need that next week

Negatives
- Small p, although not as bad as usual was still not up to scratch and should be replaced by porter
- Scrum faltered after afoa and ferris came off
- Far too many errors in connacht 22, connacht were there to be thrashed and we kept them in the game by dropping the ball nearly ten times in attacking positions, need to clean that up ahead of next week
- Lineouts weren't as good as usual
- Injury doubts to 1F, court and muller - not good

all in all a good win to up the morale ahead of the erc, roll on clermont!!!

[Big-al]

u reckon? I thought porter made one cracking kick but that was it - some poor passing too.

Nothing like the crap Marshall dished, if there's a slower distributing professional scrumhalf I've yet to see him

[gannonman]

Marshall's passing was poor but some of his box kicking was excellent.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

Paul Marshall was woeful - Porter was much better.

Nothing like having your mind made up in advance, eh?

Paul Marshall was not woeful. He wasn't Ruan, and he wasn't as poor as some other games, but he wasn't woeful.

Actually thought his passing was quite improved and he seemed a wee bit calmer than usual - someone must have taken away his blue smarties.

[damianmcr]

Was Ferris really that good? He made some good plays but didnt think he was great.

Maybe I was expecting too much and watching him too much. When he went down looking hurt I thought it was the end.

[gannonman]

Was Ferris really that good? He made some good plays but didnt think he was great.

Maybe I was expecting too much and watching him too much. When he went down looking hurt I thought it was the end.

Thought Ferris was outstanding. He makes a lot of ground even in very small space.

[damianmcr]

Maybe I was expecting him to pick a Connacht player up and run the pitch with him!

[Big-al]

Paul Marshall was woeful - Porter was much better.

Nothing like having your mind made up in advance, eh?

Paul Marshall was not woeful. He wasn't Ruan, and he wasn't as poor as some other games, but he wasn't woeful.

Actually thought his passing was quite improved and he seemed a wee bit calmer than usual - someone must have taken away his blue smarties.

He got caught in possession a couple of times and continues to slow down quick ball. Your correct, I don't rate him.

[againstthehead]

seemingly he's a doubt for next week damian... Aye, ferris was that good. He was a one man wrecking machine.

I think ur being harsh on beagle big al. He got caught badly once I think but he look a couple of nice quick taps and made plenty of ground. In addition, his box kicks look the pressure off humph. I'd give him 6.5/10.

[Rooster]

p was ok tonight

[damianmcr]

Ah youre joking chap. We need him!