Positives and Negatives: Ulster V Dragons

[againstthehead]

Positives
- winning BP 5 pointer which consolidates our position on top of the tree.
- backs looked somewhat more dynamic than in recent weeks.
- scrum back on top
- lineout slick. Particularly in relation to the driving maul. Would have been very easy to run everything in the dry conditions but thought we mixed it up superbly well.
- some tremendous indvidual performances. Henderson was a monster - a very Ferris like performance. Trimble was a man-possessed. Trimble is a man who thrives on gametime. Every season he takes a few games to get into it. Just hope the Ireland break doesn't disrupt his form. Big nick made his usual dynamic impact and was a constant threat going forward. henry was simply a master at the breakdown.
- subs made a real impact. Props looked solid, Nigel threw some superb darts, jackson sublime, Marshall hard as nails and a threat, McCormish disrupting ball, Wilson adding a bit of solidity Good stuff.
- nice balance overall between doing the hard yards and going wide. As well balanced in this regard as I have seen for a long time from an Ulster side.

Negatives
- another game ruined by pedantic refereeing. 90% of his desisions were technically correct but then again you could blow ur whistle every 10 secs and be techincally correct. Killed the game with his whistle. No flow whatsoever.
- far too many errors - handling and in relation to giving away cheap penalties
- Ruan's goal-kicking was very poor on the night
- bonus point wins for Munster and Scarlets so no ground gained on those two....
- big nick with his usual couple of basic errors.

Overall, another superb result with a reasonable performance. Just need to keep ticking over whilst the internationals are having their break.

[John_e_boy]

Positives:

- our backline - swapping positions and looking fluid. apart from (see first negative)
- callum black in particular when he came on but our scrum in general
- Henderson: immense
- Trimble: immense
- restart kicks!
- Pienaar in general (apart from first negative)
- 5 points and........ another win against the taffs. Yes
- second half score against us: 3 points and no tries

negatives

- HANDLING ERRORS. WTF!!
- discipline

[Agers]

Negative: Tom Court's footballesque celebration

[ayepod]

Negative: Tom Court's footballesque celebration

Bound to spark a debate now but I completely agree. No need for it really, and its that sort of caper that i loathe in the likes of Ashton!

[ColinM]

Positive: Trimble has learned to catch and pass

[againstthehead]

Negative: Tom Court's footballesque celebration

Bound to spark a debate now but I completely agree. No need for it really, and its that sort of caper that i loathe in the likes of Ashton!

I thought that was very odd indeed. I am wondering if it directed more at the media than the Dragon's fans. He's had 2 poor games and I think big Tom was out to make an impression tonight.

[John_e_boy]

Negative: Tom Court's footballesque celebration

agreed, what was thon about?

[Yoda]

Negative: Tom Court's footballesque celebration

Bound to spark a debate now but I completely agree. No need for it really, and its that sort of caper that i loathe in the likes of Ashton!

disagree, ashton's arrogance was all about celebrating before scoring, tom just showed a bit of passion. No issue at all

[BaggyTrousers]

5 points
Can bully teams away from home
Dominating the league & heading in the right direction for a home semi
Not even an Brennan of a game wrecking ref could defeat us
Too many of the penalties weren't simply a figment of the gibbonfecker's imagination but fair cops.
Nipper Henderson picking up a Dragon and marching him backwards like Fez at the RWC
Welsh on ScrumV - yes Ulster can win both (HC & RABID)
Trimble looking in excellent form
Henry again excellent
Scrum much better than last week especially when big John appeared, but didn't make much capital from dominance.
Beautiful switch pass from wee Paddy for last try.

[richardt84]

Positives -
First and foremost, the fact we have negatives after an away game which previously provided little but tonight provided 5 points.
The performance of Iain Henderson and Chris Henry amongst others.
Tommy Bowe certainly showed he is an option at FB.
Negatives -
Maybe being a bit too picky but the Tuilagi try, along with a few others, hinted at a weakness towards a vulnerability towards repeated phases in our own 22. (Another example being the Castres match)
I wasn't entirely happy with the consistency of the referee but we seemed to improve in this respect towards the end of the game.

[Big-al]

With the decent performance from Bowe at FB and good performance from Marshall at 12 (when he came on), Wallace and Cave are under serious pressure from Marshall and Payne nowadays. Our midfield was very soft tonight in the 1st half until Luke came on and lacked the pace to split open the defence.

[interlooter]

It says a lot that the main negative mentioned so far was a moment of questionable taste from a very pumped up prop who had just finished off a belter of a try.

[breakdown]

negative for me is that the game didn't record!! anyone know when it will be up on iplayer or the like?

[fuzzylogic]

by John_e_boy » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:37 pm

Positives:

- Henderson: immense

Henderson was a liability tonight, his youth and inexperience really showed up this evening.

Gave away 6 points in front of the sticks.

Made 2 carries of note ... knocked on at the end of one.

Fell off a couple of tackles.

and

Cocked up quick ball inside the Dragons 22 after the Marshall/Trimble break storming in at 1st receiver and trying to take a pass that was the perfect height and weight to float out to Ruan at 10.

Bar picking up Chavhanga and carrying him back he generally did look a little out of his depth.

[Snipe Watson]

the pink shirt is going to get some stretch this week..........Big Tam size

Scandalous celebration..........even for a prop..........