Ulster v Saints - Positives and Negatives

[ruckover]

POSITIVES
+ It's a big kick up the rear for us. After thinking we were invincible, we've landed back to earth with a thud. This loss can be a positive for us.
+ Gilroy is a real player. Thought when he came on he caused a lot of problems.
+ Our HC dream isn't over

NEGATIVES
- Bowe's injury
- Other injuries (Jackson and Tuohy)
- I thought our defence was a bit ragged at times
- Scrum was dire. After dominating so much last weekend, they were destroyed. Very poor.
- We were outmuscled at the breakdown. Again, after dominating the last game, we were terrible.
- Goal kicking was poor again, and at the top you need all the kicks you get.
- Williams is not a 6.
- Backline produced nothing.

[breakdown]

Don't see the point in making p/n after that as they are blaringly obvious, first up tacklin, etc but really, we need Muller. Without him we lose our composure and any real leadership. I just dispair when he is eventually forced out or retires.

[AyeYerMa]

+

Gilroy
LBP.

-

Ulster have nobody even vaguely close to filling Muller's boots as captain, Big problem moving forward.

[KingLuba]

Positives - We were due a defeat and as of the present time it does not need to have been a damaging one.
Muller was missing, had he played and we performed like that it wouldve been far more concerning.

Negatives - The forwards simply werent up for it, most likely complacency being the major factor.
Expected a big surge of energy and momentum in the second half but it never really materialised and that is a worry!

An intriguing match up in store next week with Leinster heading for a hatrick of defeats or Ulster two home defeats in a row after a 13 match winning streak!

[Snipe Watson]

We had a bad day at the office, nothing more.
First half we rushed everything anxious and snappy. The balls that stuck last week were dropped tonight. We tried to repeat the dose and couldn’t.
Saints were always going to come out punching tonight. They were humiliated at home last week and when we didn’t pick up where we left off, we let them in. They were tougher than us at the breakdown and we just didn't finish well enough.

[Wee Woman]

We had a bad day at the office, nothing more.

+1

It's a bummer but I'd sooner lose our unbeaten record to these guys rather than Leinster or Munster.

Let's keep things in perspective though, we've lost 1 game, it's not all doom & gloom. Hopefully this will be a wake up call & will spur the boys in for our next 2 big games.

Hope Tommy's ok, that's the 1st time I can ever remember a gurnie being bought on to the pitch.

[Thelaw]

I was at the match and I just watched it àgain on tv. I felt really we let ourselfs down. We droppedd the ball didn't press when we had it and our goalkicking is a problem. I know we had to lose eventually but tonight we went with a wimper. Hendy is a flanker - Nick isn't. Well played saints.

[ruckover]

Just watched it back too. The amount of basic errors is absolutely shocking. We deserved to lose that simply down to the errors we made, it was far, far, far too many.

But yes, I agree with Snipe, it was a bad day at the office. In my eyes, I'll try and think of it as we lost at FG with a LBP and then thrashed them at Ravenhill. Sadly that was not the case, but I'll look at it that way.

I just hope it doesn't lose us a home QF.

[breakdown]

To be honest I would have rather have lost against Leinster or Munster next week than Saints tonight. If we lose a league game, we have time to make it up, plus we have a bit of a gap that we could afford to lose if worse comes to worst.

But in the HEC, it's 6 games that can make or break your season. If the group is hard and we lose at home, it'll be tough, which is will now. As Ruck says, our chances of a home QF are still very possible but we have made life hard for ourselves.

But anyway, you can't win them all. We'd have to lose eventually! Onwards and Upwards!

[Joe Schmo]

You lot are stronger men than me, I came home and deleted it I'm not too concerned about the kicking, there's something not right with the line outs though and we've been getting turned over a bit too often in recent matches. The main thing is that both kickers are striking it well.

[ruckover]

Joe - why are you happy that both kickers are striking it well but the kicks don't go over? If Jackson struck every kick 'well' and still missed every single one, would you be happy???

You're right about the line-out though. Something fundamentally wrong there that must be fixed. I've always thought Rory's darts have been iffy - he always messes up at least one every match.

[Scranner]

Agree with Snipe. Bad day at the office. Didn't get the rub of the green. Set pieces were poor. Big Nick is not a 6. Diack is! Rory needs to sort the darts - whether it's aim or timing. Thought Nigel had a worse game than any of our players. Need 10 points from Glasgow and Castres. Hope Tommy recovers quickly.

[Joe Schmo]

Joe - why are you happy that both kickers are striking it well but the kicks don't go over? If Jackson struck every kick 'well' and still missed every single one, would you be happy???

You're right about the line-out though. Something fundamentally wrong there that must be fixed. I've always thought Rory's darts have been iffy - he always messes up at least one every match.

Confidence, when the confidence isn't there the strike isn't there, they're missing their kicks by narrow margins, it won't take much adjustment to get direction. When I say strike I'm talking about how the ball comes off the boot, compare their ball flight with O'Connor having bad day and its like day and night. They'll work on it, they've both got great technique they'll come good when we rally need them (obviously excepting tonight! Lol)

[damianmcr]

Positve
Only 1 week to our next home game to make amends.

Negative
Its against Leinster.

In all seriousness we could go back over that but I just want to take it on the chin and move on. Wasnt our night. We could have win it had a pass or two went our way.

[BPH]

Owens' performance seemed worse at the ground, in fairness. Watching it back, it was standard enough.

Muller is a huge, huge loss - but Lewis would have softened the blow a bit. Have to remember we were down to out 4th choice SR

Bowe is so, so dangerous - we're suffering a serious loss if that injury's bad, even with our strength in depth on the wing