Positives & Negatives: The Magners Semi Final

[rocky]

Bopeep, I don't know who you are or where you're from but, If you've nothing sensible or constructive to say, just take your sheep and flock off into the night.
Rocky.

[Rooster]

Bopeep, I don't know who you are or where you're from but, If you've nothing sensible or constructive to say, just take your sheep and flock off into the night.
Rocky.

very clever dodging the word censor rocky

[Lurgan Lad]

Clearly we need to be playing our best hooker, who that is I wouldn't be certain, Best, Brady and Kyriacou all have their merits. Best's biggest weakness is obviously his lineout throwing which is crucial. I wonder is part of it due to so much time away with Ireland, and as a result not having the timing and chemistry that Brady and Kyriacou would have with work. Part of it clearly is his lineout throwing has always been a liability under pressure. For next season I would want Muller to be captain and have a fair fight for who gets most time as our starting hooker, Best will be at a disadvantage if he is at the WC.

[Tenyarder]

Interesting crowd figures for the weekend - RDS - 14476 (16 April - 17670) and Thomond 13147 (18 September - 18400). The league equivalents are also shown.

Lack of interest or lack of time to organise? Probably the latter. The Chavs were the only ones who had to really travel, but I think that the six day notice of the 7 pm kickoff on the Friday impacted on our travelling support to some extent.

The only solution may be to play a few more Magners (Fiat) rounds during the 6N so that there is sufficient time for fans to organise and plan for the semis and finals. The 6 or 7 day turn round after the last round was just too short.

That said, I enjoyed the trip down Mexican way. The error count cost us dearly. When we were getting so little quality possession we just had to make every bit count and it was not to be. Some of the criticism of iH is a bit unfair. Ruan also missed a few tackles but he has not come in for much criticism. Missed tackles aside Ruan was majestic again. The priority must be to make sure he graces the Ulster shirt in 2012/2013 and after. I few on the Leinster fans beside me were speculating what they could do with him behind their pack and ahead of their backs.

Main positive has been a very enjoyable season supporting Ulster.

[Rooster]

Makes you wonder why they need 18k for the final, ok needed for Turnips v Ladyboys, perhaps even more seats needed for that one but if it was Welsh v Irish or Scottish sides then no need for big stadium.

[ColinM]

Positives:
+Scrum went well, I thought beforehand that Deccy would shut up some of the Leinster press. Cronin did well too, VDM is no rookie scrummager if you look at the impact he had on Leinsters HEC semi when he came on.
+Decent crowd of Ulstermen in support.
+ Humph coped well with the traffic down his channel, he's still weak when they attack his inside shoulder, but head on he's not scared to put himself in the way.

Negatives
- Lacked a cutting edge, the type Ferris brings up front and Wallace brings in the backs
- Lineout misfunctioned every time we got into deep Leinster territory in the 2nd half and looked to put the pressure on.
- Lack of 'occasion' for a semi final.... not so much as in thomond though.
- Finished with a whimper, they'd taken so many people off by 50mins we should have been looking to push on. Lineout killed it.

[OneMore]

Positives:
+Scrum went well, I thought beforehand that Deccy would shut up some of the Leinster press. Cronin did well too, VDM is no rookie scrummager if you look at the impact he had on Leinsters HEC semi when he came on.
+Decent crowd of Ulstermen in support.
+ Humph coped well with the traffic down his channel, he's still weak when they attack his inside shoulder, but head on he's not scared to put himself in the way.

Negatives
- Lacked a cutting edge, the type Ferris brings up front and Wallace brings in the backs
- Lineout misfunctioned every time we got into deep Leinster territory in the 2nd half and looked to put the pressure on.
- Lack of 'occasion' for a semi final.... not so much as in thomond though.
- Finished with a whimper, they'd taken so many people off by 50mins we should have been looking to push on. Lineout killed it.

On the lineout, after the first couple I thought it was functioning well, and it was setting us up with solid platform, but it wasn't to be after that. There was one in particular, down in our end (north stand), I think it was JM who went up in the 4 position, and the ball was just kinda lobbed at him - Leo Cullen went up in front of him and clawed it away. It looked like Cullen barely even needed lifted, all a bit weak.

Disappointed we didn't switch Best out earlier. Apart from his throwing, he was responsible for at least one of our knock-ons IIRC. It's not like our backup option is very poor either - AndiK offers a lot around the park in my opinion, and deserves a decent stint, which he should get during the RWC.

[ColinM]

Overly kind to Rroy there OM, I can remember two high profile knock ons in this game from him. Not getting at him at all, he normally wins 2-3 turnovers in open play every game, but IMO when he has a bad game he trys too hard to rectify it and the error count gets bigger, the management need to sub him earlier when this happens.

Perhaps if JM takes the official captaincy next year there will be less pressure for Rory to play all of the time. He'll be away at the world cup so nows a good time to give Johann the hypothetical armband

[OneMore]

Aye, you're probably right. Think we need to get away from the idea about the captain playing as much as he physically can though - being a leader and a good organiser and inspirational doesn't make them better on the pitch at a given moment in time than the man on the bench. The captaincy can easily shift, in my opinion, and as long as the players a level-headed enough there shouldn't be an issue - Johann, Chris Henry, Paddy Wallace, whoever.

[aarons]

Makes you wonder why they need 18k for the final, ok needed for Turnips v Ladyboys, perhaps even more seats needed for that one but if it was Welsh v Irish or Scottish sides then no need for big stadium.

it's an aspirational call and to be honest if they can't see 18k tickets for a final, regardless of the team playing, we may as well shut the league down and go home.

[UtahOne]

I keep a pretty low profile because I just don't feel qualified on rugby but if you will forgive me:

Little Bopeep has lost his brain
and doesn't know where to find it
Leave him alone
and he'll feck off home
Dragging his flock off behind him.

[rocky]

You may not be qualified on rugby (how many of us really are?) but you sure can tell an idiot when you come across one, Utah.
Cheers,

Rocky.

[gannonman]

Thought Fitzy gave away some really stupid penalties. Needs to be more disciplined

[jackthelad]

Thought Fitzy gave away some really stupid penalties. Needs to be more disciplined

That should read 'Needs discipline.'

[Rooster]

=ve the music at the stadium AC?DC thunderstruck for the Leinster team coming out matches their style of play perfectly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKmYlnQv_dg