Ulster v Munster

[rumncoke]

Ciman

McIlroy as wing is a kick catcher the rest of his game is all promise and little delivery if he has to play its at full back

Moore is a much more promising player but i don't consider full back his best position

to be honest McIlroy recycles the ball well most of the time going into contact but tackled with out close support is a penalty every time

[justinr73]

Lovely day.

I would think it’s going to be a bit chilly later.

[CIMANFOREVER]

Great for running rugby from full back....
Good luck young Wilson

[Tel]

If we don’t win tonight it will be fairly calamitous. This match is much more important than a URC home fixture. It’s a test of where we are presently at . There has been a long wait to start the season. We were lucky against the Bulls and possibly a bit unlucky against Connacht . McCloskey will make a difference although I’d have loved to see him with young Jude as opposed to Moore . Also it’s time for Balacoune to flex his muscles. The real test will be for the front five and in particular McGrath. I would be concerned as to how the scrums will go …but hey I suppose I could be surprised. I am a bit peeved to be described as the 4th best province this week and perhaps it’s time to change that description . I remember when Davidson’s Ulster lost to Connacht in 1983 and then next match beat Munster by a point thanks to a brilliant late Crossan try . That game started a run that left us unbeaten for about ten years. Maybe I’m a dreamer but what’s wrong with that .

[Jetstream]

If we don’t win tonight it will be fairly calamitous. This match is much more important than a URC home fixture. It’s a test of where we are presently at . There has been a long wait to start the season. We were lucky against the Bulls and possibly a bit unlucky against Connacht . McCloskey will make a difference although I’d have loved to see him with young Jude as opposed to Moore . Also it’s time for Balacoune to flex his muscles. The real test will be for the front five and in particular McGrath. I would be concerned as to how the scrums will go …but hey I suppose I could be surprised. I am a bit peeved to be described as the 4th best province this week and perhaps it’s time to change that description . I remember when Davidson’s Ulster lost to Connacht in 1983 and then next match beat Munster by a point thanks to a brilliant late Crossan try . That game started a run that left us unbeaten for about ten years. Maybe I’m a dreamer but what’s wrong with that .

That 4th best Province seems to have come from Bernard Jackman who has an opinion on all things rugby. And if you don't like his opinion he will have a different one for you next week. He seems to have a particular hate for all things Ulster. He had a good playing career before an average coaching spell at Grenoble before he reached the heady heights of the Dragons.
Personally I ignore him. Any player who admits ( but hid most of them from coaching staff) to suffering over 25 concussions in his last playing season, is not someone whom I would put too much faith in.
He is taking over as head of high performance sport at Horse Ireland. Rather appropriate that he will be up to his neck in horse shiite.

[justinr73]

It’s caught on at the Left Foot pod too.

Not content with (intermittently) shooting the breeze with ice hockey expert Adam McKendry and that lass from Tyrone who just reads out her notes, JB from the BT, evidently a sucker for punishment, is now trading opinions with Luke Fitz on a weekly basis.

He seemed as willing as anyone to run with the fourth Province stuff, with the only contrary metric he was willing to concede was the fact that Ulster finished (significantly) above two thirds of the other Provinces in the league.

[MightyRearranger]

All the fourth province stuff is just a pound shop Stephen Jones looking for click-bait headlines. As things stand I'd be pretty confident for tonight, but for the scrum. As things stand, the bookies have us as two point favorites which seems about right. I suspect the odds would be quite similar with both
teams at full strength, the scrum would be less of a concern, but Beirne and POM are massive for them too. It'd be a very good one to win, but it's not the end of the world if we put in a decent shift lose narrowly due to any potential set-piece woes.

Munster looked utterly gash for most of last season and a couple of games out from the death weren't guaranteed top tier European rugby. A largely second string team losing narrowly in Galway doesn't mean Ulster would be going into a crunch match against Connacht with any fear, just like a loss tonight wouldn't be the end of our season.

[CIMANFOREVER]

All the fourth province stuff is just a pound shop Stephen Jones looking for click-bait headlines. As things stand I'd be pretty confident for tonight, but for the scrum. As things stand, the bookies have us as two point favorites which seems about right. I suspect the odds would be quite similar with both
teams at full strength, the scrum would be less of a concern, but Beirne and POM are massive for them too. It'd be a very good one to win, but it's not the end of the world if we put in a decent shift lose narrowly due to any potential set-piece woes.

Munster looked utterly gash for most of last season and a couple of games out from the death weren't guaranteed top tier European rugby. A largely second string team losing narrowly in Galway doesn't mean Ulster would be going into a crunch match against Connacht with any fear, just like a loss tonight wouldn't be the end of our season.

Good post MR

[thecrouch]

McGrath is an empty shirt.

[Jetstream]

That is the second time Ryan collapsed in the scrum. Murphy missed the first one

[thecrouch]

That is the second time Ryan collapsed in the scrum. Murphy missed the first one

The first one Ryan collapsed but McGrath had his knee on the ground just before that.

[Lurgan Lad]

Not sure I'm going to be able to watch much of this. Why Ulster wouldn't go for a lineout or even scrum when on Munster's line and Munster a man down. Why is the ref continuing to allow Munster to tackle people, literally tackle them near the ruck but not at the ruck. Not good.

[SparkyClarky]

I have no words!

[justinr73]

Pretty dismal twenty minutes…

[TopPoster]

Pretty dismal number of years tbh