Ulster Best Xv

Talk about the men in white, and everything Ulster!!

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Cornerfleg
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by Cornerfleg »

Colin Patterson was possibly the best 9 we've ever produced ourselves ...
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by Spiffsson »

BaggyTrousers wrote:
Snipe Watson wrote:
Jackie Brown wrote:15. Payne, 14. Bowe, 13. Cave, 12. Steinmetz, 11. Trimble, 10. D.Humphreys, 9. Pienaar

1. Kempson, 2. Best, 3. Botha, 4. Muller, 5. Harrison, 6. Ferris, 7. Henry, 8. Wilson

Sexton, Court, Herbst, Tuohy, Ward, Boss, Jackson, Gilroy

Lol, Boss, our 2nd best scrum half of the professional era...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Harrison :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: Jeremy Davidson was twice the player. Paddy Johns had a greater impact at Ulster too. Hendo is a better player already. Good lineout player and a decent enforcer, but as ineffective a ball carrier as Louis Stevenson on a bad day.
Never forget "I'm a world cup winner mate". He was a good man for getting onto refs, not to be underestimated, if your a pain in the crozier they ignore you, if you are too nice they ignore you, getting it right is a skill, Justin had it. Not of course that he was even the poor man's Johann.

Like Jackie, I'd take BJ anytime over the accursed Afoa, frequent flier though admittedly he was good briefly before family troubles & Mrs Hooks treachery.

And like Jackie, Boss on the bench points to the utter paucity of Ulster 9s, barring the saintly Ruan, perhaps 2nd best rugby player ever to play for Ulster, though I never saw that wonderful man Mr Kyle play. Personally I'd take Andy Matchett over Boss, in an era when Ireland capped all manner of chubes, Matchie was unlucky not to get one at least. Of course Colin Patterson is the best 9 ever to play for Ulster - as an Ulsterman and wouldn't happily concede second best to any man.

Those who never saw Michael Gibson play have, of course literally, but in rugby terms have no idea of the class that they missed, a magnificent player and natural athlete in the days before gigantic lumps of limited skills. Willie John was no mug either and was probably the most widely respected Ulster player not only for his playing ability but as a legendary captain.
If you are talking about past Ulster players who were natural athletes, Ken Goodall was something special. What a loss to Ireland when, at a young age, he took up Rugby League, where he was converted to a centre and played for GB in that slot. Could have been Ireland's best ever 8 if he had stayed in union.
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by big mervyn »

Once a Knight wrote:Was Harrison a World Cup winner?

Head coach at Narbonne now btw.
Unfortunately not. If he was, Engerland wouldn't have been >EW
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by big mervyn »

Another bad pint?

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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by BaggyTrousers »

Spiffsson wrote:
BaggyTrousers wrote:
Snipe Watson wrote:
Jackie Brown wrote:15. Payne, 14. Bowe, 13. Cave, 12. Steinmetz, 11. Trimble, 10. D.Humphreys, 9. Pienaar

1. Kempson, 2. Best, 3. Botha, 4. Muller, 5. Harrison, 6. Ferris, 7. Henry, 8. Wilson

Sexton, Court, Herbst, Tuohy, Ward, Boss, Jackson, Gilroy

Lol, Boss, our 2nd best scrum half of the professional era...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Harrison :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: Jeremy Davidson was twice the player. Paddy Johns had a greater impact at Ulster too. Hendo is a better player already. Good lineout player and a decent enforcer, but as ineffective a ball carrier as Louis Stevenson on a bad day.
Never forget "I'm a world cup winner mate". He was a good man for getting onto refs, not to be underestimated, if your a pain in the crozier they ignore you, if you are too nice they ignore you, getting it right is a skill, Justin had it. Not of course that he was even the poor man's Johann.

Like Jackie, I'd take BJ anytime over the accursed Afoa, frequent flier though admittedly he was good briefly before family troubles & Mrs Hooks treachery.

And like Jackie, Boss on the bench points to the utter paucity of Ulster 9s, barring the saintly Ruan, perhaps 2nd best rugby player ever to play for Ulster, though I never saw that wonderful man Mr Kyle play. Personally I'd take Andy Matchett over Boss, in an era when Ireland capped all manner of chubes, Matchie was unlucky not to get one at least. Of course Colin Patterson is the best 9 ever to play for Ulster - as an Ulsterman and wouldn't happily concede second best to any man.

Those who never saw Michael Gibson play have, of course literally, but in rugby terms have no idea of the class that they missed, a magnificent player and natural athlete in the days before gigantic lumps of limited skills. Willie John was no mug either and was probably the most widely respected Ulster player not only for his playing ability but as a legendary captain.
If you are talking about past Ulster players who were natural athletes, Ken Goodall was something special. What a loss to Ireland when, at a young age, he took up Rugby League, where he was converted to a centre and played for GB in that slot. Could have been Ireland's best ever 8 if he had stayed in union.
I was present at Lansdowne Road on 14th March 1970, a date etched in my mind, when Ireland beat a star studded Welsh team 14-0 including Edwards & John at halfback & Ken Goodall scored that try from the halfway line showing all that athleticism you rightly attribute to him.

Wales were magnificent during the 70s and Ireland didn't beat them again until 1980*** when Mrs T and I attended the 2nd Ireland game on our honeymoon, Paris for 2 weeks & back straight down to Dublin for a 21-7 win in which Davy Irwin scored a try as did BOD's uncle, John O'Driscoll . :cheers:

From memory Ken was a teacher but couldn't find a job so took the jump to rugby league and an income. A huge loss to Irish rugby, worse still the fact that he died young at 59. Could as you say Spiffer have been an absolute legend, I think his Ireland career was less than 20 caps and about 3 or 4 years, he was still a big kid at that stage. Shame.

EDIT: *** I should have pointed out that Ireland might well have beaten Wales in 1972 when the 6Ns was not completed due to Welsh & Scottish cowardice. Ireland had already beaten France at Stade Colombe and England at Twickenham (during a run of 5 successive wins over the dirt) but citing the fact that the IRA scared them shitless, the Cowardly Celts failed to travel.

Ireland played France again in April at LR in a "friendly" and beat them again. England got their greatest reception ever in Ireland in 1973 when unlike the Celts, they maintained a stiff upper lip and travelled, losing again 18-9 but ironically after some recent behaviour when they have been expelled, they saved the 5 Nations as it then was.
Last edited by BaggyTrousers on Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by Spiffsson »

BaggyTrousers wrote:
Spiffsson wrote:
BaggyTrousers wrote:
Snipe Watson wrote:
Jackie Brown wrote:15. Payne, 14. Bowe, 13. Cave, 12. Steinmetz, 11. Trimble, 10. D.Humphreys, 9. Pienaar

1. Kempson, 2. Best, 3. Botha, 4. Muller, 5. Harrison, 6. Ferris, 7. Henry, 8. Wilson

Sexton, Court, Herbst, Tuohy, Ward, Boss, Jackson, Gilroy

Lol, Boss, our 2nd best scrum half of the professional era...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Harrison :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: Jeremy Davidson was twice the player. Paddy Johns had a greater impact at Ulster too. Hendo is a better player already. Good lineout player and a decent enforcer, but as ineffective a ball carrier as Louis Stevenson on a bad day.
Never forget "I'm a world cup winner mate". He was a good man for getting onto refs, not to be underestimated, if your a pain in the crozier they ignore you, if you are too nice they ignore you, getting it right is a skill, Justin had it. Not of course that he was even the poor man's Johann.

Like Jackie, I'd take BJ anytime over the accursed Afoa, frequent flier though admittedly he was good briefly before family troubles & Mrs Hooks treachery.

And like Jackie, Boss on the bench points to the utter paucity of Ulster 9s, barring the saintly Ruan, perhaps 2nd best rugby player ever to play for Ulster, though I never saw that wonderful man Mr Kyle play. Personally I'd take Andy Matchett over Boss, in an era when Ireland capped all manner of chubes, Matchie was unlucky not to get one at least. Of course Colin Patterson is the best 9 ever to play for Ulster - as an Ulsterman and wouldn't happily concede second best to any man.

Those who never saw Michael Gibson play have, of course literally, but in rugby terms have no idea of the class that they missed, a magnificent player and natural athlete in the days before gigantic lumps of limited skills. Willie John was no mug either and was probably the most widely respected Ulster player not only for his playing ability but as a legendary captain.
If you are talking about past Ulster players who were natural athletes, Ken Goodall was something special. What a loss to Ireland when, at a young age, he took up Rugby League, where he was converted to a centre and played for GB in that slot. Could have been Ireland's best ever 8 if he had stayed in union.
I was present at Lansdowne Road on 14th March 1970, a date etched in my mind, when Ireland beat a star studded Welsh team 14-0 including Edwards & John at halfback & Ken Goodall scored that try from the halfway line showing all that athleticism you rightly attribute to him.

Wales were magnificent during the 70s and Ireland didn't beat them again until 1980 when Mrs T and I attended the 2nd Ireland game on our honeymoon, Paris for 2 weeks & back straight down to Dublin for a 21-7 win in which Davy Irwin scored a try as did BOD's uncle, John O'Driscoll . :cheers:

From memory Ken was a teacher but couldn't find a job so took the jump to rugby league and an income. A huge loss to Irish rugby, worse still the fact that he died young at 59. Could as you say Spiffer have been an absolute legend, I think his Ireland career was less than 20 caps and about 3 or 4 years, he was still a big kid at that stage. Shame.
I remember that try well Baggers. I was not down in Dublin but watched it on the telly. Goodall outsprinted the Welsh threequarters to collect his own chip ahead and score a tremendous try.
I remember also around the same time watching him play sevens for Derry at a tournament at Ravers. He was scoring tries at will and faster than any back on display.
Mervyn Davies acknowledged that he believed Goodall was a better 8 than himself. High praise indeed.
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by austintranslation »

Wee Woman wrote:Agree with Fleg, I immediately thought of Neil McMillan at 7 too.

Such as shame that his career stalled because of injury, same with David Pollock >EF
I was gutted when that fella retired prematurely. Also really like Neil Best.
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by Hans Indaruck »

Spiffsson wrote:
BaggyTrousers wrote:
Snipe Watson wrote:
Jackie Brown wrote:15. Payne, 14. Bowe, 13. Cave, 12. Steinmetz, 11. Trimble, 10. D.Humphreys, 9. Pienaar

1. Kempson, 2. Best, 3. Botha, 4. Muller, 5. Harrison, 6. Ferris, 7. Henry, 8. Wilson

Sexton, Court, Herbst, Tuohy, Ward, Boss, Jackson, Gilroy

Lol, Boss, our 2nd best scrum half of the professional era...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Harrison :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: Jeremy Davidson was twice the player. Paddy Johns had a greater impact at Ulster too. Hendo is a better player already. Good lineout player and a decent enforcer, but as ineffective a ball carrier as Louis Stevenson on a bad day.
Never forget "I'm a world cup winner mate". He was a good man for getting onto refs, not to be underestimated, if your a pain in the crozier they ignore you, if you are too nice they ignore you, getting it right is a skill, Justin had it. Not of course that he was even the poor man's Johann.

Like Jackie, I'd take BJ anytime over the accursed Afoa, frequent flier though admittedly he was good briefly before family troubles & Mrs Hooks treachery.

And like Jackie, Boss on the bench points to the utter paucity of Ulster 9s, barring the saintly Ruan, perhaps 2nd best rugby player ever to play for Ulster, though I never saw that wonderful man Mr Kyle play. Personally I'd take Andy Matchett over Boss, in an era when Ireland capped all manner of chubes, Matchie was unlucky not to get one at least. Of course Colin Patterson is the best 9 ever to play for Ulster - as an Ulsterman and wouldn't happily concede second best to any man.

Those who never saw Michael Gibson play have, of course literally, but in rugby terms have no idea of the class that they missed, a magnificent player and natural athlete in the days before gigantic lumps of limited skills. Willie John was no mug either and was probably the most widely respected Ulster player not only for his playing ability but as a legendary captain.
If you are talking about past Ulster players who were natural athletes, Ken Goodall was something special. What a loss to Ireland when, at a young age, he took up Rugby League, where he was converted to a centre and played for GB in that slot. Could have been Ireland's best ever 8 if he had stayed in union.
Equally Robin Thompson was a superb athlete (track & field as well as both rugby codes) and leader on the pitch - real gentleman off it too. Forced into retirement at only 25 - could have been one of the greats.
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by Russ »

Hans Indaruck wrote:
Spiffsson wrote:
BaggyTrousers wrote:
Snipe Watson wrote:
Jackie Brown wrote:15. Payne, 14. Bowe, 13. Cave, 12. Steinmetz, 11. Trimble, 10. D.Humphreys, 9. Pienaar

1. Kempson, 2. Best, 3. Botha, 4. Muller, 5. Harrison, 6. Ferris, 7. Henry, 8. Wilson

Sexton, Court, Herbst, Tuohy, Ward, Boss, Jackson, Gilroy

Lol, Boss, our 2nd best scrum half of the professional era...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Harrison :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: Jeremy Davidson was twice the player. Paddy Johns had a greater impact at Ulster too. Hendo is a better player already. Good lineout player and a decent enforcer, but as ineffective a ball carrier as Louis Stevenson on a bad day.
Never forget "I'm a world cup winner mate". He was a good man for getting onto refs, not to be underestimated, if your a pain in the crozier they ignore you, if you are too nice they ignore you, getting it right is a skill, Justin had it. Not of course that he was even the poor man's Johann.

Like Jackie, I'd take BJ anytime over the accursed Afoa, frequent flier though admittedly he was good briefly before family troubles & Mrs Hooks treachery.

And like Jackie, Boss on the bench points to the utter paucity of Ulster 9s, barring the saintly Ruan, perhaps 2nd best rugby player ever to play for Ulster, though I never saw that wonderful man Mr Kyle play. Personally I'd take Andy Matchett over Boss, in an era when Ireland capped all manner of chubes, Matchie was unlucky not to get one at least. Of course Colin Patterson is the best 9 ever to play for Ulster - as an Ulsterman and wouldn't happily concede second best to any man.

Those who never saw Michael Gibson play have, of course literally, but in rugby terms have no idea of the class that they missed, a magnificent player and natural athlete in the days before gigantic lumps of limited skills. Willie John was no mug either and was probably the most widely respected Ulster player not only for his playing ability but as a legendary captain.
If you are talking about past Ulster players who were natural athletes, Ken Goodall was something special. What a loss to Ireland when, at a young age, he took up Rugby League, where he was converted to a centre and played for GB in that slot. Could have been Ireland's best ever 8 if he had stayed in union.
Equally Robin Thompson was a superb athlete (track & field as well as both rugby codes) and leader on the pitch - real gentleman off it too. Forced into retirement at only 25 - could have been one of the greats.
Is he not playing 10 for Banbridge?
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by Wee Woman »

big mervyn wrote:Another bad pint?

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Bad press aside after he left our shores, I did love big Harry lol.
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by BaggyTrousers »

austintranslation wrote:
Wee Woman wrote:Agree with Fleg, I immediately thought of Neil McMillan at 7 too.

Such as shame that his career stalled because of injury, same with David Pollock >EF
I was gutted when that fella retired prematurely. Also really like Neil Best.
Nah Lostin, you thought you did, but in truth not even his Da liked him, told me he had never been to see his son play. :roll: :roll: :roll:

Nice eh? What a ballix. >ES
NEVER MOVE ON. Years on, I cannot ever watch Ireland with anything but indifference, I continue to wish for the imminent death of Donal Spring, the FIRFUC's executioner of Wee Paddy & Wee Stu, and I hate the FIRFUCs with undiminished passion.
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by BaggyTrousers »

Hans Indaruck wrote: Equally Robin Thompson was a superb athlete (track & field as well as both rugby codes) and leader on the pitch - real gentleman off it too. Forced into retirement at only 25 - could have been one of the greats.
Robin was a friend of my Da, he lived on Church Road Dundonald and one day, heard a commotion next door where an elderly lady lived alone. Armed with a poker Robin strode round to find two brave lads trying to rob his neighbour.

When the ould Sergeant from the barracks in the village arrive to take custody of the two lads, he made no comment about the lumps Robin had bate out of them with the poker. These of course were the days when if a "prisoner complained about being mistreated, the kindly men of the RUC would ensure that they got a grip of how things should be done.

I like natural justice, as long as administered by the good guys............... like Robin Thompson. I've another quality yarn about Robin but it will keep for now. >EW
NEVER MOVE ON. Years on, I cannot ever watch Ireland with anything but indifference, I continue to wish for the imminent death of Donal Spring, the FIRFUC's executioner of Wee Paddy & Wee Stu, and I hate the FIRFUCs with undiminished passion.
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by Deraless »

Robin taught my da at school. They had a Teachers v 1st XV match with a British Lion on the teachers team who by all accounts wasn't for taking it easy!
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by BaggyTrousers »

Deraless wrote:Robin taught my da at school. They had a Teachers v 1st XV match with a British Lion on the teachers team who by all accounts wasn't for taking it easy!
He wouldn't.

Teachers are like that, a certain Stephen Hilditch was in charge of the golf team at mine. We played at Holywood in the Ulster Schools qualifying and as it was all over well within school time & nobody wanting to go back we had a little teachers v pupils 9 holes on the back nine. I parred the first 8 holes & we were slapping them badly, on the 18th tee on my backswing he let a gulder out of him to try to put me off.

No chance, drive wedge, 2 putts and 9 consecutive pars. I don't think I did that before or after, I'd usually have a birdie or two & a dropped shot or three. :roll: I liked Hilditch, good bloke, both he and Ronnie Gilliland taught me physics (anyone doesn't know the names both were international refs), my favorite subject.
NEVER MOVE ON. Years on, I cannot ever watch Ireland with anything but indifference, I continue to wish for the imminent death of Donal Spring, the FIRFUC's executioner of Wee Paddy & Wee Stu, and I hate the FIRFUCs with undiminished passion.
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Re: Ulster Best Xv

Post by Deraless »

BaggyTrousers wrote:
Deraless wrote:Robin taught my da at school. They had a Teachers v 1st XV match with a British Lion on the teachers team who by all accounts wasn't for taking it easy!
He wouldn't.

Teachers are like that, a certain Stephen Hilditch was in charge of the golf team at mine. We played at Holywood in the Ulster Schools qualifying and as it was all over well within school time & nobody wanting to go back we had a little teachers v pupils 9 holes on the back nine. I parred the first 8 holes & we were slapping them badly, on the 18th tee on my backswing he let a gulder out of him to try to put me off.

No chance, drive wedge, 2 putts and 9 consecutive pars. I don't think I did that before or after, I'd usually have a birdie or two & a dropped shot or three. :roll: I liked Hilditch, good bloke, both he and Ronnie Gilliland taught me physics (anyone doesn't know the names both were international refs), my favorite subject.
Lol. I think the oul boy tried to tackle him and his just kept running without breaking stride, dragging dad along the ground hanging onto an ankle.

Can he be cited retrospectively?
Never wrestle with a pig. You end up covered in muck and the pig loves it.
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