Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Talk about the men in white, and everything Ulster!!

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germcevoy
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by germcevoy »

Somebody had put a load of lest we forget flyers in the urinals in the memorial stand bogs so people would pi$h on them all night.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by UlsterNo9 »

germcevoy wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:16 pm Somebody had put a load of lest we forget flyers in the urinals in the memorial stand bogs so people would pi$h on them all night.
If you don't remember much does that mean you didn't do it?

Poor sod that had to clean that up.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by germcevoy »

UlsterNo9 wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:28 pm
germcevoy wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:16 pm Somebody had put a load of lest we forget flyers in the urinals in the memorial stand bogs so people would pi$h on them all night.
If you don't remember much does that mean you didn't do it?

Poor sod that had to clean that up.
My memory is sharp enough. It is enormously difficult to become inebriated at Ravenhill these days unless you show up already goosed. The bar service is getting worse by the week. I’d rather they switched to cans or something.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by ding dong2u »

agree .. time they had pop up bars around the place and bring back the guys serving over priced bottles of beer from their back packs .. the Backline Bar is a disgrace ... needs to be made twice it's current size and with a better queuing system and drop the coffee sales ... they ran out of beer just after half time ffs !!!
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by big mervyn »

The staff at the Line-out were even slower and more inept than usual. I was overcharged as was the bloke beside me.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by Cap'n Grumpy »

HwoodMike2umate wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 9:23 pm Don’t remember much of it though.
Just another night at Ravers then? Same as most other nights there. :roll:
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by HammerTime »

What happens when they choose a corporation over local. Those Mount Charles ‘bars’ are soulless holes. A few club rugby shirts nailed to the odd wall ain’t gona change that.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by jean valjean »

I think mount charles were on a skeleton crew at short notice. Certainly there were a few new faces who weren't overly speedy for sure. The backline bar suffered from not having a steward to point patrons to a free till and was left to the bar staff to call people forward. People value speed over quality at a game as far as I'm concerned, so there should be no waiting around for pints to be poured which was what was happening on Saturday night.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by germcevoy »

jean valjean wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:11 pm I think mount charles were on a skeleton crew at short notice. Certainly there were a few new faces who weren't overly speedy for sure. The backline bar suffered from not having a steward to point patrons to a free till and was left to the bar staff to call people forward. People value speed over quality at a game as far as I'm concerned, so there should be no waiting around for pints to be poured which was what was happening on Saturday night.
Yup. Practically the whole workforce was mobilised on Thursday so it would have been staffed by those who were fastest to make themselves available.

And quantity over quality has to be the play for games like that. Pints should be queued up continually. I complete the survey every week with the same complaints but it just gradually gets worse.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by WestDr »

After a little reflection from having been at the match (although unfortunately not a re-watch of the match) it would be easy to lapse into that NI tendency to focus on the negative. The old 'positives and negatives' thread was always a good one... So, here goes with a few thoughts:

Things that are pleasing

1. We successfully closed out a match. Yes, despite what some might say, with a team containing Burns, Carter, Jones and Shanahan Ulster managed to stay in front up to and past the final whistle. Yes, it was close, but that has to be a better outcome than (a) Ospreys and (b) Munster.

2. We played different tactics even though we were 22+ points up and tried to put the opposition out of sight. Again, I was struck by how rarely we kicked long all game (once I think from McIllroy or Hume, but that one time was the right and obvious thing to do). Compare to Munster match.

3. We protected our own ball a lot better - and were not out-physicalled. Compare to the Connact, Ospreys and Munster matches. It did help that Tadhg Beirne doesn't play for Clermont.

4. We kept the pace up and played some intense rugby. By intense I mean sustained, varied, physical and pacy rugby with quick re-cycling (helped by a lot of not getting isolated, excellent ball presentation in the tackle and good support at the breakdown). I'm not surprised Dan McFarland is pleased with Vermulen's try. I too thought at the time of scoring that it was amongst the best team tries (as opposed to a strike move try) I've seen at Ravenhill in 15 years - love to watch it back and see how many players were involved in the whole sequence from our 22. No team can live with that - clearly we just need to do it more often..... That's the way the All Blacks and Leinster play and to an extent Connacht and Quins are trying to play too.

5. In the last 5 minutes, the crowd finally stopped being 50% spectators and 50% supporters (a perennial curse of big matches whether Christmas interpros - full of kids back from uni in England or Scotland meeting up - or European games) and became 100% supporters. I'd say that made some difference to both sets of players. When Ravenhill is like that amazing things can happen (cf QF v Sarries back in 2014 when the noise post Jared's sending off was fantastic, and nearly took 14 men over the line).

6. Burns was excellent in both offence and defence. And really mixed up his game in all sorts of ways. I've always thought he needs to go to the line himself a bit more, but with Duane V, General John and Big Stu around him, not so much need. But on Saturday with two from three missing, he did it a lot more. And I'd contend that it kept Clermont pretty honest and provided Curtis and Hume with that little bit more time and space. Two great passes for two tries.

7. Nick Timoney just carries on doing his stuff now to the high level he's set himself. Didn't stand out, but along with O'Connor, Treadwell, Marty Moore and Rea just kept at it. I do miss Sean Reidy though.

8. Our set-pieces, both scrum and line-out, were pretty secure. Not pushed off the ball in the scrum, ?0 or 1? scrum penalties and over 90% line-out success. Lots of variety - liked the way Jones was a good substitute in the later line-outs.

9. Substitutions: unlike my fellow watchers (one of whom had her hands over her eyes at this point), I thought Shanahan was the right choice and at the right time. Needed his energy and also his insight in the last two minutes or so. His arm-waving to get the walking pack into position for the next phase not once, but three or four times, was just what was needed at that point. He knew (unlike Nathan Doak) that a re-vitalised Clermont wouldn't give him the luxury of hanging around at the back of the breakdown.

10. The way McIlroy held the line to keep the winger honest to allow the space for Lowry's first half try. Good hands in attack and some great tackling up against Raka. Seems to specialise in big Pacific Islanders.

11. We scored 17 points when they had 14 men. Usually it's we concede 7 when they have 14.

12. Luke Pearce was excellent. Hardly noticed him, consistent decisions and not tempted to spend ages with the TMO re-watching tries, tackles (cf the ones on Hume and Lowry looked a bit iffy, especially the Hume one, but he gave the relevant penalty and moved rapidly on) or yellow cards.

Things that would concern me, but are probably fixable

1. No turn-overs won. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but none whether jackalling or otherwise. However turned over ourselves a couple of times and some silly penalties conceded - that was what was keeping Clermont in the match (cf. Ospreys, Munster and Northampton home).

2. An inexperienced defensive unit for the last 10 or so. Having picked the bench he did, with no Madigan, at some poimt we were always going to have Lowry at 10 if Burns had to go off. Couple with Shanahan and Moxham, leaving Hume as the most experienced/bulkiest in the 9/10/12/13 area, then something that definitely needs work. It'll happen again this season, but it's something that can only be resolved partly by playing them. Lowry is yet to be really tested at this level in organising a defence from 10 in the way Burns can. Bravery gets you so far, effectiveness is what is required. That will come I'm sure.

3. As noted (as did I think in one of the press reports) a few instances of school-boy individualism with added running side-ways. It's more noticeable when Lowry does (in the first half ran sideways in front of three of his own midfield players rather than let the ball do the work). Corrected it though - and used it to good effect to score his first try.

4. Clermont made their subs - Camile Lopez and Damien Penaud amongst others - and then finally changed their tactics. JJ did what Burns is always accused of doing (just shipping the ball on). Well, he did it well, kicked not at all and Clermont scored 3 tries in 15 minutes. Thank goodness we didn't have to put up with that all match ! An example of what happens when you don't keep the ball/give it away with over-long box kicks etc.

5. Can we play like that again ? And on a replicable basis ?

6. In the medium term, the media hype-train is beginning again around the younger players (Lowry, Hume, McIlroy etc). They entirely deserve the accolades around their performances and their support of their team-mates (e.g. getting Curtis into the photo at Northampton even though he'd not got on the pitch) is overwhelmingly brilliant. We've been there before with Jackson, Olding, Gilroy, Marshall, Henderson etc etc. I'd be confident that (a) Dan McF has it better under control off the park than Les Kiss and (b) compared to Shane Logan, Jonny Petrie knows that mobile phones have cameras and social media is where stuff ends up.

7. Noted 4 people from CATU outside the Mount Merrion gates. Fair play to PSNI and UR for letting them be there, and to the CATU people for having the courage to do it. No trouble about it either way from what I could see. Let's get that inquiry sorted asap. And get Stephanie Barwell QC to go after UK Govt and Arconic too......

Answers to questions
A: IMHO without substitutions a winning team at 65 minutes is not a winning one at 80.

A: The first four or five rows of the Grandstand are not sold to season-ticket holders (the Grandstand roof doesn't cover those rows so sensible season-ticket holders sit further back when there's space). So those either go to (a) the away support who if they're French are a good crack, and if they're Munster and Mr & Mrs Keatley Snr and Mr & Mrs O'Connell Snr then both a pleasure and a good crack. If you think Paul O'Connell is fearsome, meet his Dad at a match, but none of them are going to SUFTUM. Or (b) it's the inevitable event junkies (how else does the crowd go from 11k to 18k ?) who are there are as spectators, expecting to be entertained, rather than supporters and participants. We spent 3 years sitting in the rows immediately behind them. Horrible. Arrived late, talked all over the match, keener on getting a drink than watching, left early. In fact, it was just like being at the Aviva. Still, their money's good, just don't expect much of them.

A: Where do the prawn sarnie brigade sit ? In the VIP Box seats in front of the glass windows of the /AL Goodbody Premium Lounge (AL Goodbody = posh Dublin-based corporate lawyers).
Last edited by WestDr on Mon Jan 24, 2022 3:49 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by big mervyn »

Have to say, the bankers in the Premium seats were more vocal than the terrace for much of the match.

Probably best not to use the Marseillaise for knock ons against French opposition!
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by WestDr »

big mervyn wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 3:32 pm Have to say, the bankers in the Premium seats were more vocal than the terrace for much of the match.

Probably not to use the Marseillaise for knock ons against French opposition!
Good to hear.

As for the Marseillaise, on the Prom side, that's a bunch of 5 or 6. Thought they'd given up trying what is a rugby song to which they don't know more than a few words (Napoleon went to.... etc etc), but they're back. Someone also tries the NI football one from time to time. Which mercifully died a death too on Saturday.... definitely not one for the Grandstand dwellers.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by Hans Indaruck »

WestDr wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 3:23 pm

Answers to questions
A: IMHO without substitutions a winning team at 65 minutes is not a winning one at 80.
Sorry - can’t agree with this. Too many needless and senseless substitutions have ruined games in recent years. I give you Thomond Park, Easter Sunday 2012, Heineken Cup Quarter Final when we kept the same 15 on the pitch ( bar Chad’s 10 mins in the bin!) right through to the end and produced a famous victory! That is the last time we kept the starting 15 on the pitch for the entire match as far as I can recall!
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by flatpass »

Excellent post WestDr. Though I’m a bit ambivalent about the substitutions. Thought Vermeulen had maybe picked up a Knock as it seemed unusual to sub him at 54 mins.
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Re: Ulster v Clermont Sat Jan 22 5:30pm BT Sport 3

Post by justinr73 »

flatpass wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:45 pm Excellent post WestDr. Though I’m a bit ambivalent about the substitutions. Thought Vermeulen had maybe picked up a Knock as it seemed unusual to sub him at 54 mins.
Marty went off with him - looked like we were protecting two key forwards.
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