Ulster v Connacht - Positives and Negatives

[ruckover]

POSITIVES
+ No real threat from the Westies, closed out their side very well
+ Jacko's goal kicking was very good
+ Line-out was mostly good
+ Good run-out for next weekend
+ We have a bench that we are confident will do the job if we bring them on, a few years ago we didn't have that
+ Thought Clampit had a half decent game (but not great!)

NEGATIVES
- No TBP when Connacht were there for the taking
- Back line looked very static and flat and made too many basic errors
- Williams injury
- Scrum has lost a bit of dominance
- Defence seemed quite poor at points, but maybe that was just my view

It's good we got the win but we have to tighten up against Castres. Connacht were there to be thrashed and we didn't oblige. I honestly think if we play like that next week we'll lose. A lot for MA to think about.

[Kofi Annan]

Negatives; two threads same subject

[againstthehead]

Negatives; two threads same subject

fixed!

A nice game full of positives but plenty of negatives to let me moan about too....

Positives
- set-piece purred for the most part. Scrum blew them off the park in the first half and led the foundation for the win. The one exception was restarts were we are still a bit shakey. If a side really had a go and mixed things up at the restarts I think we would struggle.
- a more measured performance from big nick. Kept the handling errors down but carried like the man-monster he is. Ferris was in his shadow in terms of carrying.
- took the last try very nicely - mixed it up with the cross-field kick. Nice.
- individually I thought all the players looked fairly sharp. Collectively, we just were not quite on the money but the guys look fresh and have another couple of gears in them.
- half-backs. Not spectecular but very effective. Marshall had a very solid game. Some very good box kicks, support play, darts etc. unlucky not to sneak a try or 2. jackon passed, tackled and kicked his points. solid.
- payne - another very composed performance with the odd break. Very clever on the ball with exceptional decision making skills. PW not too far behind.

Negatives
- well first - what the heck was that decision to kick for the posts about. connacht had been in their 22 for most of the match and realistically were never going to touch 17 points. We had all the momentum and a try looked a matter of time. I think that decision could have cost the BP. Not only did we not score the try but it lifted connacht. they reallised they could hold us out and that as I say lifted them. Poor decision in my mind.
- rarely have I seen an Ulster side dominate in terms of both posession and territory. Butchered a couple of tries but generally failed to squeeze connacht enough up front. Too wide too early was the root cause of a lot of it.
- NW again struggled at times to control the ball at the back of the scrum. maybe just a conincidence.
- finally the ref. I actually thought he got the vast majority of the decisions right but he killed the game with his whistle. On multiple occasions he could have played us advantage and let the game flow. However, he pinged far too early and slowed the game down which suited the men in green. Seen worse referees but spoiled the game for me.
-injury in Nick. A real downer on the night as he looked to have taken a heavy knock.

Overall, 5 wins on the bounce is incredible. Roll on the HEC.

[The Boo Radleys]

Positives:

Hate to go against the grain, but I genuinely think they were few and far between. OK, Connacht were more negative than the average Northern Ireland political campaign, but we singulalry failed to impose on them with a team that will be close to the starting 15 next week. Pluses would be:

- no Clancy next week
- maybe Castre will actually come to play rugby
- looking at he other results, Edinburgh lose and no-one else gets a try bonus point
- Swift missing Heaney's head/jaw with the elbow although he had a good go
- Paddy Wallace defying the years again - Ireland's loss, Ulster's gain

Negatives

- Williams out - what is 6/7/8 going to be next week?
- Small Paul seems to have developed the Boss two step before he passes...
- on another thread, decision to kick at 17-0 - spoke volumes of the level of inventiveness out there last night
- lots of first time rugby fans tortured by our inability to get go foward ball most of the night against Connacht's ability to do nothing other than be knarley for 80 mins and get away with it.

[scrum5]

Positives......a very emotional Ulster niled a side who thrashed the current European Champions the week before
We are top of the league with 5 out of 5 with all that has happened
Team still gelling together, some players still haven't had a lot of gametime (rustiness expected)
Pienaar and the Sarge still to come back into the team/squad

Negatives.....Some on here inspite of the above not happy and disappointed

[launish116]

NW again struggled at times to control the ball at the back of the scrum. maybe just a conincidence.

After watching a few games and seeing him struggle and are pack's dominance has been vgood! Leaving me thinking the speed in which the pack is moving forward is pretty imense and I can see how he could struggle, that a side what he lacking in ball control he's definitely catering for in yard's!

[Rooster]

Big negative I see is the lack of impact Fez now has, is he holding back for next week or has he been overtaken by some of our not so well thought of players ? It worries me far more than lack of bonus point or Clowncy killing yet another match.

[Dave]

+
The scoreline was good despite no bp.
Jackson's kicking was spot on when required.
Paddy Wallace had a good game and trucked it through the middle when others didn't. Super cross kick to Bowe and a monster clearance too.
Scrum was again excellent and penalty try was well won.
Thought the line out was superb with Muller, Touhy and Ferris dominant. Couple of great steals too. Not bad for Rory's first start think just one crooked throw.
The last try was excellent. Great vision and super offloading and support play.
Thought Nick had another very powerful performance he could be our top try scorer at this rate. Controlled the ball at the base of the scrum for the pen try.

-
Scoreboard didn't reflect the possession dominance and we left a few tries out there.
We seemed to take the wrong option and didn't seemed to adjust our play according to what was working and what didn't.
Connacht seemed expectant of a wide expansive game and targeted isolating players out wide by getting numbers to the breakdown to at least slow us up. We didn't adapt to this as I think playing narrower going through the phases would have worked better. More patience required I feel. This was typed in one play as we moved the ball and Ferris got the ball in central position and didn't take the contact but passed it wide and we ended up losing the ball into touch.
These are all things that can be easily fixed.
Also I think that we really miss Ruan. beagle played as well he can but Pienaar's delivery is so crisp and he gets the percentages right in terms of the options he takes. Expect more next week.

[Mac]

Big negative I see is the lack of impact Fez now has, is he holding back for next week or has he been overtaken by some of our not so well thought of players ?

Have to concur with Rooster on this. The thought ran through
my mind last night when a couple of us mentioned how little
an impact he seemed to be having in the game. I put it down
to the fact that he's only had the couple of outings but I don't
believe I'm wrong in saying that there was a little something
missing. Could have been the type of game that unfolded &
we can't always expect the man to achieve his own crazy high
standards every time he sheps onto the field.
...........Castres next Friday.

[Snipe Watson]

Big negative I see is the lack of impact Fez now has, is he holding back for next week or has he been overtaken by some of our not so well thought of players ?

Have to concur with Rooster on this. The thought ran through
my mind last night when a couple of us mentioned how little
an impact he seemed to be having in the game. I put it down
to the fact that he's only had the couple of outings but I don't
believe I'm wrong in saying that there was a little something
missing. Could have been the type of game that unfolded &
we can't always expect the man to achieve his own crazy high
standards every time he sheps onto the field.
...........Castres next Friday.

Rooster is on the raz..........

1F had a quiet game last night.

[ColinM]

Thought the same about Ferris vs Munster and for certain parts of last season in white and in green.

I tend to think he is playing to keep himself fit and therefore gainfully employed, he is shirking the big hits on the carry probably for his own good. Going forward he was outdone by Touhy, Fat Nick and Afoa; but with those three on the pitch maybe thats sensible

He took some terrific lineouts though.

[Bart S]

Positives - a convincing win (how can a 25-0 scoreline where the opposition only had 1 realistic chance of crossing our line be considered otherwise?) but with plenty of things to work on this week before we go into the Heiny next weekend. In my book that's just about the ideal scenario. Confidence building but not giving the kind of complacency a much bigger win could have provided.

RP to come back and the likes of Best and Ferris still to get fully up to match fitness should mean there's more to come. The backs just need to work on a few things and the tries should come.

I thought Clancy was fine last night and that if it had been another ref he wouldn't have come in for as much stick as some on here are giving him. Of course refs make mistakes but I thought that overall he was fine.

[Bart S]

Agree re 1F last night but not at all worried about it. As a good pro he won't like the fact that NW is getting all the plaudits and I'm sure we'll see a big effort from him over the next couple of weeks when it is really needed.

The fact that there are guys coming through will mean he'll be chomping at the bit when the big games come.

We've reiled on massive performances from him over the past few seasons and for all of our ball carrying in the pack, so time to cut him a bit of slack and watch some of the others step up!

[Bart S]

Ulster wining 25-0 and concerns over 1F's form. Who'd have thought we'd ever been saying that!!

[ruckover]

For what he was lacking in his attack last night, check out Fez's defence and work at the breakdown. I think it's outstanding.

Agree he's playing to avoid injuries, but I simply think his work is being overshadowed by Williams. Fez still goes through the motions, making the yards, making the tackles, turning the ball over. I honestly think we're just not noticing it as much as before because of the amount of bashing Williams does.