Ulster vs Mexicans updates

[Hans Indaruck]

We made our annual trip to Ravenhill, which as always is a bit of craic. The banter with the Ulster fans is always great and I have to admit i felt delighted that you guys won not just because you were far and away the better side but you have something to play for , namely the Pro 12. It was great to see a set a backs that looked dangerous as we can only dream of such stuff nowadays.
Young baby face Henderson was awesome, from 9 to 15 you had all the cards. Gone are the days of Blue Magic and God at 13, we have managed to lose not just once but twice this year to the mighty Dragons!
Away I want to wish you guys all the best in your remaining fixtures and hopefully you go all the way and win it.Best of luck ( just be carefully of Gregor Townsend's lads).

Thanks for that wee c - glad you enjoyed the night if not the result.
All teams have to go through a fallow period at some point and it may be that Leinster are going through such a phase (if you can call reaching a European semi final and securing European qualification a fallow time!!).
Leinster have some great supporters and it was good to see so many make the trip on Friday night - there was some great craic!
GRMA!

[Wee Woman]

Just watched the match... again - it keeps on giving. Payne doing a 1F and forcing SOB back 5 yards at the start of the second half, just before Henderson did the same with Heaslip. Also, have a look at the wee burst of wide-eyed passion from Ludik after Gilly's try. A big tackle from Ruan towards the end... didn't think I'd see those words in the same sentence.

Is someone else having a big influence with coaching - Rory maybe??

How they played seemed so much more different, with the lads so much more focused, calm and united.

I also think our 3rd 20 was better than any other we've seen this season.

[BuckRogers]

How in the name of sweet baby Jesus should O'Brien have seen red? Yes it was a bit careless but it wasn't on his neck/shoulder and no harm came from it. A yellow was fair. As Tana Umaga remarked this ain't tiddlywinks.

You truly are an ass. So you believe that if you lift a player horizontally to your shoulder height and then throw him away, that doesn't deserve a red card?! The only thing that may have saved O'Brien was that Kirchner held on to him and that Henderson managed to twist onto his back before impact. Oh yes and the fact that O'Brien comes from God's own province.

What happened to having a duty of care to look after a player that you have lifted? O'Brien jettisoned Henderson without a thought or a care in the world with how he was going to land. Disgraceful.

If you think that's ok then maybe you should start watching WWF. Might suit you better.

Then I'm an ass. Correct-Henderson didn't land on his neck/vertically nor was he driven into the ground. What O'Brien did was careless but did not warrant a red IMO.

[solidarity]

Just watched the match... again - it keeps on giving. Payne doing a 1F and forcing SOB back 5 yards at the start of the second half, just before Henderson did the same with Heaslip. Also, have a look at the wee burst of wide-eyed passion from Ludik after Gilly's try. A big tackle from Ruan towards the end... didn't think I'd see those words in the same sentence.

Is someone else having a big influence with coaching - Rory maybe??

How they played seemed so much more different, with the lads so much more focused, calm and united.

I also think our 3rd 20 was better than any other we've seen this season.

The strong third 20 was one of the best things about the performance. 'Mature' as another poster called it.

[BaggyTrousers]

How in the name of sweet baby Jesus should O'Brien have seen red? Yes it was a bit careless but it wasn't on his neck/shoulder and no harm came from it. A yellow was fair. As Tana Umaga remarked this ain't tiddlywinks.

You truly are an ass. So you believe that if you lift a player horizontally to your shoulder height and then throw him away, that doesn't deserve a red card?! The only thing that may have saved O'Brien was that Kirchner held on to him and that Henderson managed to twist onto his back before impact. Oh yes and the fact that O'Brien comes from God's own province.

What happened to having a duty of care to look after a player that you have lifted? O'Brien jettisoned Henderson without a thought or a care in the world with how he was going to land. Disgraceful.

If you think that's ok then maybe you should start watching WWF. Might suit you better.

Gentlemen, apart from your contest of handbegs, I entirely concur with Hardyin, O'Brien had a pointy hat on him after he jokingly believes Lacey prevented him from stopping Hendo for his try

Sean was absolutely saved by having Kirchner doing the right thing and trying to bring Hendo down as the Laws require. SOB was utterly reckless and I believe there was a world of intent in his actions - I'm really not sure how anyone can think otherwise and but for Kirchener there was a serious risk of damage to Hendo. Lacey should have been thanking Kirchner, not chastising him.

So a yellow was what was appropriate given what eventually happened but SOB was a very lucky man that yellow was all he got, his intent of throwing Hendo recklessly would have been a surefire red if damage were done.

[BaggyTrousers]

Just watched the match... again - it keeps on giving. Payne doing a 1F and forcing SOB back 5 yards at the start of the second half, just before Henderson did the same with Heaslip. Also, have a look at the wee burst of wide-eyed passion from Ludik after Gilly's try. A big tackle from Ruan towards the end... didn't think I'd see those words in the same sentence.

Is someone else having a big influence with coaching - Rory maybe??

How they played seemed so much more different, with the lads so much more focused, calm and united.

I also think our 3rd 20 was better than any other we've seen this season.

The strong third 20 was one of the best things about the performance. 'Mature' as another poster called it.

Tell you what Solids, that "another poster" turned to one of his mates after 55 minutes and said, "5 more minutes and we've got away with it". Damnable third 20 has been both an irritant and a disgrace that it hasn't been rectified until Friday.

As another "another poster" said, " we were still dung in the third 20", wasn't a mile away with that, but should have added, "at least we didn't sleepwalk this time".

[OneMore]

I'm going to go ahead and say it. Ruan hasn't been as good this season as he has in previous seasons. On Friday night some of his distribution was wayward, granted the conditions weren't great. His kicking over the last few weeks has been disappointing. He missed a couple of tackles on Friday night that would have Ian Humphreys wincing at the replay.

More broadly, that was far from a complete performance. The lineout misfired at important times, Wilson was poor generally. I still don't think Cave and Payne are our best midfield combo, much as they are getting better.

I loved that game, and I love beating them. There's plenty of work to do though or Munster may have our number in a fortnight, never mind Glasgow.

[BuckRogers]

I'm going to go ahead and say it. Ruan hasn't been as good this season as he has in previous seasons. On Friday night some of his distribution was wayward, granted the conditions weren't great. His kicking over the last few weeks has been disappointing. He missed a couple of tackles on Friday night that would have Ian Humphreys wincing at the replay.

More broadly, that was far from a complete performance. The lineout misfired at important times, Wilson was poor generally. I still don't think Cave and Payne are our best midfield combo, much as they are getting better.

I loved that game, and I love beating them. There's plenty of work to do though or Munster may have our number in a fortnight, never mind Glasgow.

It's really all relative Yin.

Ruan has perhaps not hit the 'heights' we have come to expect of him but that is probably in no small part because he bucked himself playing for RSA and our medical chaps set about getting him back onto the pitch asap such is his obvious importance to the side.

I thought Friday was Ruan getting back to his brilliant, fluent best. Whilst his kicking from the tee has been hit or miss I think it's just one of those things. In a pressure situation Id still back him to land the killer blow.

I don't have the stats to back it up but I thought our lineout was fine on Friday. Missed 1 or 2 but that's not a disaster. We also disrupted theirs at critical junctures. Big Dan put across a timely reminder to Joe as to what he can offer a side as well.

[Wee Woman]

I think Ruan had a shaky first 10-15 but then so did the rest of the team.

[Spiffsson]

I'm going to go ahead and say it. Ruan hasn't been as good this season as he has in previous seasons. On Friday night some of his distribution was wayward, granted the conditions weren't great. His kicking over the last few weeks has been disappointing. He missed a couple of tackles on Friday night that would have Ian Humphreys wincing at the replay.

More broadly, that was far from a complete performance. The lineout misfired at important times, Wilson was poor generally. I still don't think Cave and Payne are our best midfield combo, much as they are getting better.

I loved that game, and I love beating them. There's plenty of work to do though or Munster may have our number in a fortnight, never mind Glasgow.

Roger had quite a poor game by his own high standards and seemed a little lacking in his usual energy. But he has played consistently very well all season, so I'll give him this one. He will not be proud of his effort to stop Teo, who swatted him out of the way fairly easily. He did improve as the game progressed. Hopefully, it's a one-off.

[Snipe Watson]

I agree with Buck. Ruan is getting back to his imperious best. His ability to create time for himself is a wonderful thing to behold.

[solidarity]

Just watched the match... again - it keeps on giving. Payne doing a 1F and forcing SOB back 5 yards at the start of the second half, just before Henderson did the same with Heaslip. Also, have a look at the wee burst of wide-eyed passion from Ludik after Gilly's try. A big tackle from Ruan towards the end... didn't think I'd see those words in the same sentence.

Is someone else having a big influence with coaching - Rory maybe??

How they played seemed so much more different, with the lads so much more focused, calm and united.

I also think our 3rd 20 was better than any other we've seen this season.

The strong third 20 was one of the best things about the performance. 'Mature' as another poster called it.

Tell you what Solids, that "another poster" turned to one of his mates after 55 minutes and said, "5 more minutes and we've got away with it". Damnable third 20 has been both an irritant and a disgrace that it hasn't been rectified until Friday.

As another "another poster" said, " we were still dung in the third 20", wasn't a mile away with that, but should have added, "at least we didn't sleepwalk this time".

Ah it was yerself was it. I'm afraid the old recall isn't what it was. It used to be a memory but now...
If our dung is getting better, we're on the right track.

[Russ]

I loved when Hendo up ended fat ross and the flying wedge dorce had created with him

Put ross back on his hoop and swatted dorce away

[Eggs]

I'm going to go ahead and say it. Ruan hasn't been as good this season as he has in previous seasons. On Friday night some of his distribution was wayward, granted the conditions weren't great. His kicking over the last few weeks has been disappointing. He missed a couple of tackles on Friday night that would have Ian Humphreys wincing at the replay.

More broadly, that was far from a complete performance. The lineout misfired at important times, Wilson was poor generally. I still don't think Cave and Payne are our best midfield combo, much as they are getting better.

Got to reply to this, as I basically disagree with almost all of it. Ruans kicking is a little off however, that is true.

But the rest of his game is still fantastic. He never was a prolific tackler. His distribution, and in particular the decision making with regards to that, could by no means be described as wayward.

I actually also now believe that Payne and Cave are our best midfield pairing, as much as Im sure Russ will want Payne out! Olding is in for a fight when he gets back, and as much as I am keen on him, Im not sure where Marshall fits into this Ulster side.

[BaggyTrousers]

I agree with Buck. Ruan is getting back to his imperious best. His ability to create time for himself is a wonderful thing to behold.

Only a chube wouldn't agree Snipe - sorry Yin but you did say you needed a bitchslap - I believe the rest weeks recently have done a power of good for Ruan, bloke has played for almost 4 years maybe 5 solid rugby barring injuries. Any doubters look at how quickly he picked out GP behind a welter of attackers for Gilly's try, bingo on the money pass & the rest was artistry from GP & good line & power from Gilly.

Roger Wilson, two blinding tackles early in the "Bermuda Triangle"period of the 3rd 20 when Ulstermen mysteriously disappear from games like the crew of the Marie Celeste, one a belter that took all stuffing out of the fading Toner. There is more to any single performance than "how did he play in general?", what did he do that mattered is often more important. All Hail Roger, 50/1 as next Top Gear presenter.

The lineout failure? Aye right, two overthrows from memory but both Dan & Franco stole their ball & that apart we were very solid.

Here endeth the lesson.

Now more important things - Gilly. It has been great to see him back to his best, but in reality to a place he has never been before. He has scored some blinding tries but just as noteworthy is his much improved defence, bravery both forward & back and quite a bit more all round aggression and purpose in his play.

Tommy is a great runner of lines & a man who finishes almost every opportunity he should score, Andy Trimble is a massive figure for Ulster & recently Ireland but I see a time coming soon where it will be Gilly and another such is his progress this year. Maybe no bad thing for the longevity of the other two, much as I wouldn't expect them to see it that way.

Eggs, you know what, I have to grudgingly admit that Payne is starting to make a shape of 13, just as Darren can make a shape of 12. Not either's best position in my opinion but certainly the die has been cast in that direction, and there is no good reason why Darren can't establish himself as regular 12. I also loved having McCloskey coming on, just when he was in position to do damage to tiring Mexicans.