Ulster Vs Munster Fri 21st Dec @ 19.35 Premier Sport

[Gary]

One thing I discovered tonight - Ulster shoulders are higher up the body than Munster shoulders. Very strange

[Dave]

We made hard work of that one. Munster were very physical in defence but did not really offer much going forward. Addison was our best back. I can't believe how good he has been. Marcell was the best forward. He is really coming into full fitness, he was absolutely everywhere. Hume is definitely a serious talent. EOS again was class, some great carries.

Pity about the injuries and HIAs. Cooney looked quite groggy. Wee dave did quite well. I don't rate Burns so much. His passing and kicking was not great at times. Nagle was definitely up for it.

[big mervyn]

One thing I discovered tonight - Ulster shoulders are higher up the body than Munster shoulders. Very strange

Aye. Correct me if I'm wrong but we didn't get one To add insult to injury, we were penalized 10m and 3 pts for pointing out that the big screen showed one "high tackle" to be no more than a hand on the shoulder.

[Bart S]

Thought Balocoune was lucky as that could have been a red, particularly if the Munster player had needed treatment.
Addison and Coetzee were our stars (again). Young Hume impressed and along with Lowry and EOS we have found 3 players who look comfortable at this level and can hopefully go on to bigger and better things.

Would like to see MvPhillips given a decent chance at 10. He’ll probably be sent down to the RDS with the rest of the lambs and that will be it.

[Bogbunny]

The ref missed quite a lot tonight.

Were there any ARs out there at all?

Shanahan was Glacial tonight and got scragged what four times. Burns and Clocker got man and ball almost every time.

Give Stewart a run of games for the next month at least.

[justinr73]

Not surprised that BB Kicked long when RB got back on the pitch!

[222toHounslow]

Got out of jail, a red card should have been issued in the first 10 seconds.

Ridiculous effort by Ballymena

[solidarity]

Young Bala probably should have gone off for good. Tackle with force and 'intent', not even close to 'unlucky'.We really did get away with that one. Still, maybe it balanced out the calls that didn't go our way. Liked the look of Bala later on, when he did get his head together and he was in the right place at the right time for the try. Safe pair of hands under pressure. Hume and McP also looked up for it in their cameos. So maybe we do have some decent young guys coming through.

[UlsterNo9]

One thing I discovered tonight - Ulster shoulders are higher up the body than Munster shoulders. Very strange

Aye. Correct me if I'm wrong but we didn't get one To add insult to injury, we were penalized 10m and 3 pts for pointing out that the big screen showed one "high tackle" to be no more than a hand on the shoulder.

True, though the referee did let Balaclava tackle a Munster player by the ankles using his shoulder. I felt he spent the rest of the game evening out what was a borderline red.

[CIMANFOREVER]

Balacoune was a straight red. Ref bottled it. Hard on him cos he was pumped but very lucky. Fair play to Sweetnam for not milking ut.

BB was shocking again not helped by Shanners but he just shovels on the hospital pass and is an easy read. Poor kicking again from hand, when defences pressure him. McCloskey also MIA and schooled by Taute.

Turnips 2's much more physical bar MC and Nagle to be fair. If Nagle keeps going Id have him with Hendo and AOC for the run in. Treadwell is like a perished rubber band with little muscle definition and physicality. We need trench warfare specialists.

Not one Ulster born player starting in the pack- shocking. Some lovely backs coming through for a year or twos time. Like the look of Hume- great feet. Rob Lyttle back playing too? Hume Curtis Balacoune, Mcp, Lowry, Lyttle, Sexton, Stockers, Stewart- all backs tho.Maybe Gilroy should move to France...

We need to crowdfund to keep Marcel but i fear he'll be let go.

Mcphilips and Lowry starting / bench 10's and 15's for Westies and will Cave be fit?

[WeeWorld]

I'd say Balacoune slept badly last night.

[solidarity]

Not sure I'd agree about Treadwell, Ciman. I think, along with AOC and Nagle, we could be ok for the rest of the season, assuming Hendo won't be about much for one reason or another.

[Dave]

They doubled up on McCloskey and left Addison with too much space. Will shredded them a few times. McCloskey passed more than he ran. He was used as a decoy with good effect. He's probably due a rest.

[Cockatrice]

Young lad was a red and should/should have cost us the game.. Hopefully he will learn very quickly and at least he took his try well.. I am prepared to stick with the Dan Plan because he can't really fail. Nothing much is expected, he has the time and if he bloods several of our future home grown stars he will be moving us in the right direction. After the fool we had before things can only get better.

Speaking of fools a few of the usual Xmas crowd plus maybe one or two of the old snowflakes one comment being it was good to see seven Ulstermen starting in the pack (only Coetzee not being) and that these local youngsters would be the bedrock of a future European triumph. Seriously you can't make this shyte up.

Somewhat general we are still great at going side to side and we must have the best stats in the league and Addison looked the only capable of opening them up. As for Prince William elect still not convinced although it seemed a smart move at the time I feel that McPhillips development will suffer to the extent that it will impact on both him and us. He needs run and not just to the Xmas slaughter in Dublin..

[Tender]

I imagine Ballyhurl was pumped up and the red mist had descended. It was a red card and if the Ref hadn’t bottled it, we’d have had to play 80 minutes with 14. I dont think we’d have managed the win, as we made heavy work of Turnip11’s.
The Turnips seemed to target Eagle at every breakdown. There was a lot of holding and shirt pulling nonsense going on, but Big Bird seemed very willing to give as good as he got. I was pleasantly surprised by his performance and he’ll be useful for the rest of the season and we may have him longer than that when Marcell moves on.