Petrie departs…..

[Gerald the Mole]

Scotland RFU CEO announced a few months back that he was stepping down after 6Ns , I believe the wage packet is about 6-700k he give himself a healthy pay rise a few years back , Did Petrie not say a few weeks ago he was here for the long haul ? If that’s the case trust is a big issue !

[BelfastBoy2024]

Did JP apply and get the job that was advertised with Scottish Sports Council? that would be a good bet probably

Correct. Said it here a few weeks ago. Looks like his departure has been “expedited” though. Dublin making moves.

[Big Smoke Culchie]

I'm pretty certain Nuciforia finished up when the 6 Nations ended, so this would be Huphries making a move to distance himself from any failure with that Ashton's fingerprints on it. Wouldn't surprise me if the wimens game got the same treatment after their 6 Nations is over.

[thecrouch]

In all seriousness, Bryn Cunningham has been part of the management at Ulster for 10 years. Is he genuinely not part of the problem, or is he likely to be following Petrie out the door?

I think I have a hard time believing that Cunningham has just been hamstrung by the various coaches and the two CEOs he has worked under.

[Dave]

So.... Can we get someone (not a Siberian coke seller) with a business background or just an ex pro to give it a lash?

[justinr73]

DN leaves after his jollies at the Olympics.

DH was said to be working alongside him from some point in March so they’re likely to have found a desk for him by now.

[horslips]

When you consider all that has happened in the past few weeks its hard not to attribute significant IRFU involvement in proceedings.
The "removal" of DMF running in parallel with Burns move to Munster. The swift appointment of RM as interim head coach, along with the emergency deployment of Fogarty and now Petrie,s departure. I cannot see these events as a series of unrelated events but consider them to be part of a co-ordinated restructuring process. If nothing else the speed and timing of them, in my view, confirms the deployment of an already formulated plan.
Let us also not forget that the incoming High Performance Director will more than likely have had a say in these matters, perhaps even settling a few scores and laying down clear markers as a warning to others.
So logically the most pressing matter to resolve would be the number 10 position. I don't really believe that D4 have that much faith in either Doak or Flannery, but given the number of decent 10's going spare in Mexico perhaps creating the right environment in Ulster makes a move north an attractive option, particularly if if was seen as a viable route to a green jersey.

[justinr73]

Unlikely if they’re not gonna be kicking at goal.

[UlsterNo9]

IRFU bail out incoming. Never going to be handed out while Petrie still in position to oversee more squandering.

Now.... where the feck is BO'D when you need him to call Ulster a basket case. Reset button complete.

[Dave]

IRFU bail out incoming. Never going to be handed out while Petrie still in position to oversee more squandering.

Now.... where the feck is BO'D when you need him to call Ulster a basket case. Reset button complete.

Will they give it to Bryn?

[Cockatrice]

Best remembered for turning the club into a house investor spending half a million cash on something totally unrelated to sport never mind rugby whilst gurning about the loss of £700k on a match..

Maybe had they not got rid of the groundsmen without replacing them in advance of the cancelled game that knowledge might have made the pitch playable .. instead they turned the lights on two days before in an attempt to defrost the pitch .. amateur hour

[horslips]

Best remembered for turning the club into a house investor spending half a million cash on something totally unrelated to sport never mind rugby whilst gurning about the loss of £700k on a match..

Maybe had they not got rid of the groundsmen without replacing them in advance of the cancelled game that knowledge might have made the pitch playable .. instead they turned the lights on two days before in an attempt to defrost the pitch .. amateur hour

Sorry whats that about getting rid of the groundsmen?

[Jetstream]

"As of mid-April in the 2022-23 season [i.e. near the end of it], they had 16 players who had played less than 200 mins. As I wrote at the time: "They have paid three outhalves [Madigan, Flannery and Curtis] for the entire season to play 310 mins, less than four full matches. They have paid two scrum-halves for the entire season to play 68 mins, less than a single match."

The board will also have been desperately dissatisfied with the number of Ulster players contributing to Ireland's Six Nations triumph. Only three players played [McCloskey, Henderson, O'Toole], only one player started [McCloskey] and he only started one game. Ulster players contributed something like 2.3% of Ireland's gametime minutes. It's an appalling return."

I read the above thought provoking comments on Leinster site. It is all true of course. But I wonder where the information came from. IRFU source that was tracking events?

[thecrouch]

"As of mid-April in the 2022-23 season [i.e. near the end of it], they had 16 players who had played less than 200 mins. As I wrote at the time: "They have paid three outhalves [Madigan, Flannery and Curtis] for the entire season to play 310 mins, less than four full matches. They have paid two scrum-halves for the entire season to play 68 mins, less than a single match."

The board will also have been desperately dissatisfied with the number of Ulster players contributing to Ireland's Six Nations triumph. Only three players played [McCloskey, Henderson, O'Toole], only one player started [McCloskey] and he only started one game. Ulster players contributed something like 2.3% of Ireland's gametime minutes. It's an appalling return."

I read the above thought provoking comments on Leinster site. It is all true of course. But I wonder where the information came from. IRFU source that was tracking events?

What information? The minutes played? That's all published on the Ulster site / various other sources.

[justinr73]

Nothing you can’t find out at all.rugby with a spare 30 minutes and, if you need it, a calculator.

To an extent, the Ireland team stats bleed into the Ulster squad of course but, equally, just because we’ve got to stockpile tom kite IQ players to fill a squad it doesn’t mean we have to pick them.