The UAFC

Stockdale on now as the scapegoat.

Eng suffocating defence causing us to kick from deep in broken play.....let’s see if Stockdale can break the line with the ball.

Yessaaassssssssssss

Men against boys and shocking lineout. England could tackle all night and win.

Positives: Doris, Keenan, Ross Byrne and Farrell. And thank God there was no crowd to sing about the chariot.
In a year to forget, this was a match to forget. Roll on the vaccine.

The only positive regarding Ross Byrne is that he now knows how to get the better of the English defence.

Assuming he was actually watching Billy and not sat in the bath, that is.

Thought when the Ulstermen came on they made a real difference, lineout stabilized with Herring and Hendo, Burns and Stockdale linked for the try. Byrne was consistently standing too deep to let whoever he passed to have any chance of getting close to the gainline, would be surprised if he is the future with the other young out halfs coming through.
It felt like we were repeatedly trying to do the same thing and get a different result, the definition of insanity. At least in the 2nd half the forwards changed to taking the ball closer to the gainline, and often with a few people to push them on. But 5m lineout after 5m lineout and no real variation.
Ryan gave away too many penalties, Kelleher clearly will need to improve his lineout throwing (and whoever made the calls), but to be expected of a young hooker against such a strong lineout.
Turned the volume off after 50 minutes, just couldn't listen to it any more.

so which Ulster player should get the blame this week?

I assume the defeat was due to not having enough impact off the bench?

Stockdale now 7th on the all-time Ireland try scoring list with 18 from 31. Not bad at 24.

Badly malfunctioning lineout, esp 5/10m out....and yet kept doing it. Kick the points build into the game, give the forwards a breather.
Keenan got better as game went on, decent positioning overall. However......only a couple of his takes were actually contested. His kick length ain’t great / needs work. He will make his tackles ish.....however currently too slight, no dominant tackle in him. Turned over couple of times also. Should have won the ball for mays 1st try.
If Byrne was any deeper he’d have a Dublin postcode.
I don’t know the stats but bearing in mind the tackle stats Ire must have had 65%ish possession- for 7pts - poor attack.
Another feck up lineout & Farrells missed tackle cost mays 2nd - as did a poor scrambled chase. Farrell at 13 I actually thought was pretty decent. Lowe over kicked. Ire need Addison creativity at FB. Furlong & Leavy can’t come back quick enough.
Not sure this the right coaching ticket.
Farrell is starting to sound like Les Kiss.

Don’t forget with the best strike rate in Irish rugby history Merv.
Not a bad game to be on the bench for.....will be interesting the comments on off the ball monday.

justinr73 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 21, 2020 6:34 pm The only positive regarding Ross Byrne is that he now knows how to get the better of the English defence.

Assuming he was actually watching Billy and not sat in the bath, that is.

Very true.

[quote=Dharper post_id=696398 time=1605982401 user_id=494
Farrell is starting to sound like Les Kiss.
[/quote]

Totally agree. Seemed to have approached the game with a loser mentality. Said he was proud of the performance today.

A poor selection of games to day. Ireland were poor but in someways England were worse not being able to capitalise on Ireland’s
performance and to bury Ireland.
This should be Ross Byrnes swan song. I feel that Ireland’s back row selection was wrong and Stander did not really feature at 6 but Doris was the most effective in the back row. Ringrose was badly missed in the centre, there was no X factor in the starting backline with perhaps the exception of Earls who looked competitive with the ball in hand.
Not entirely un happy with first half performance as it illustrated the difference when the Ulster men came off the bench.
I agree that Farrells interview after the game was embarrassing.

Ire need a 2nd playmaker if playing a top defensive team like Eng.....Byrne at 10, instead of Sexton really just further highlighted it. Killed the attack dead in the tracks.

The much maligned rumn had a few posts that rang true.

The English smashed our forwards, with the offside line also taking a hammering in the first half.

Don't know what to making of jgp but playing with no 10 doesn't help. We needed the ball cleared and there was no one about.

Missed ringrose two. Farrell went well for the most part, getting over the gain line. But needed a few more kicks in behind before that.

Pressure seemed to get to the captain.

As much as the try may well have been a training ground move. It's hard not to see the individual is being stifled by following instructions.