Crisis or chronic illness??

[Columbo]

For the first time since McFarland was appointed I'm having serious doubts about the shape Ulster are in.. Is it a crisis, two bad days against good sides which we'll come back from stronger, or is this chronic? I really don't know what to think, but I'm starting to think the latter...

Firstly to give McFarland his due, he has completely reset Ulster, and we have seen consistent incremental improvements year on year, and are much-improved technically - to the extent that when we really hit our straps we can produce exceptional rugby and can compete with anyone (even last weekend for the 1st 40 we were in the ascendancy against Leinster IMO, even before the red card). So if I was to make the argument for this being a crisis, from which we can rebound, I would say that (a) the last 3 halves of rugby have in fact been extremely uncharacteristic of Ulster, (b) we are clearly seeing a defensive system which hasn't settled and (c) in the Sale game it was one where everything broke for them

The problem is I don't really believe any of that any more..

I think it's chronic.. Just to say it out loud, baldly - as a squad we completely lack resilience and leadership. We have no bottle. We don't appear to be able to deal well with setbacks, and frequently double up on errors. Lack of mental toughness means that as well as completely choking in matches that we should be competitive in (e.g. the last two weeks) we are incapable of accelerating when we're well in front, and frequently end up squeaking what should have been dominant victories... Our defence looks porous, a clear step back from last year IMO - and as a result of the ensuing disorganisation, our discipline has deteriorated, and we are giving away several plain stupid pens a match in a way we didn't used to.

The Leinster and Sale games obviously weigh heavy right now, but I remember being concerned by the wins against Scarlets, Lions and Munster for that reason - Scarlets in particular, we were exceptional for the first 10-15 mins, and then for phases for the rest of the game, but even though they played a bit of nice stuff that game should have been a 20-30 point win, instead of which we must have let them get back within a score 3-4 times.. Likewise against Munster, very solid first half, we were nilled second half, and ended up scraping a 1 pt win. (compare with Leinster yesterday, got a bit of the rub of the green against Racing who looked a bit off-colour, and they absolutely destroyed them from start to finish and never let up - or Sale today, again got a few breaks but completely drove us into the ground. We just aren't capable of that.)

As for last week's second half, we looked completely at sea, looking completely lacking in confidence, we didn't seem to be playing any kind of coherent gameplan, never took the initiative and looking back at my whatsapp I can see with 50 mins gone my mates and I were already saying 'we're losing this...' I don't even know what to say about today's match. It was appalling, and I dread to think what's going to happen in the rest of the European games...

Hopefully I'll end up looking back on this post and laughing about how I freaked out, but this is the most negative I have felt for 5 years..

[UlsterNo9]

McFarseland Out!

[kingofthehill]

McFarseland Out!

Bryn? The appointment of Bell was nothing sort of convenient and helping out an old mate.

Not going to win anything with the way ulsters defence has went backwards.


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[Dave]

Who you calling baldy?

[UlsterNo9]

McFarseland Out!

Bryn? The appointment of Bell was nothing sort of convenient and helping out an old mate.

Not going to win anything with the way ulsters defence has went backwards.


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The challenge is that it's just not one thing.

We don't attack the opposition 10. The time Du Preez and Byrne had on the ball in the last two games without any pressure is baffling.

Our scrum without Marty Moore on the pitch gets mullered.

Over reliance on maul. When it works, great, when it doesn't theres no plan B.

We struggle against big packs. Too be fair most teams do but you've got to at least try and move them around the park.

Aimless over cooked box kicks. Slow lethargic scrum half play.

Writing on wall since ease Scarlets scored against us.

[kingofthehill]

McFarseland Out!

Bryn? The appointment of Bell was nothing sort of convenient and helping out an old mate.

Not going to win anything with the way ulsters defence has went backwards.


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The challenge is that it's just not one thing.

We don't attack the opposition 10. The time Du Preez and Byrne had on the ball in the last two games without any pressure is baffling.

Our scrum without Marty Moore on the pitch gets mullered.

Over reliance on maul. When it works, great, when it doesn't theres no plan B.

We struggle against big packs. Too be fair most teams do but you've got to at least try and move them around the park.

Aimless over cooked box kicks. Slow lethargic scrum half play.

Writing on wall since ease Scarlets scored against us.

Defence and discipline are the two things that need addressed.

Is it 8 yellow cards in 3 games?


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[UlsterNo9]

McFarseland Out!

Bryn? The appointment of Bell was nothing sort of convenient and helping out an old mate.

Not going to win anything with the way ulsters defence has went backwards.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The challenge is that it's just not one thing.

We don't attack the opposition 10. The time Du Preez and Byrne had on the ball in the last two games without any pressure is baffling.

Our scrum without Marty Moore on the pitch gets mullered.

Over reliance on maul. When it works, great, when it doesn't theres no plan B.

We struggle against big packs. Too be fair most teams do but you've got to at least try and move them around the park.

Aimless over cooked box kicks. Slow lethargic scrum half play.

Writing on wall since ease Scarlets scored against us.

Defence and discipline are the two things that need addressed.

Is it 8 yellow cards in 3 games?


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Don't think it's close to that on the card count in last three games to be fair.

Don't think we had a yellow against us in opening five games of season.

[UlsterNo9]

5 yellows in last 3. Or 6 in last 4. No cards in opening 5 games previous to that this season.

5 in 3 is still too high

[kingofthehill]

5 yellows in last 3. Or 6 in last 4. No cards in opening 5 games previous to that this season.

5 in 3 is still too high

Feels like it’s over 2 a game. Warwick should of seen at least a yellow.

Would love to know ulster penalty count per game under Payne to Bell.


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[StandUp]

McFarseland Out!

Bryn? The appointment of Bell was nothing sort of convenient and helping out an old mate.

Not going to win anything with the way ulsters defence has went backwards.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Worcester’s and Gloucester’s defences weren’t exactly stellar. A ridiculous decision to bring him here.
This is professional sport. The players and coaches contracts should contain some sort of performance metrics. If those targets aren’t met then fcuk off somewhere else.
Nepotism has no place in professional sport and Petrie needs to get a grip of this farce before serious damage is done.

[Big-al]

Timoney has been found out this season.

Doak hopefully in a slump, but he’s too slow.

Burns is rubbish, always has been. He would be fine coming off the bench, but not as a starter.

Treadwell is a fast track bully, AOC is on the wane, Vermeulan is a poor man’s Coetzee.

The lack of development of McCann and the continued selection of Matty Rea and Greg Jones over him is baffling.

The treatment of Sean Reidy last season was harsh.

Stockdale is low on confidence, but unless he’s carrying an injury shouldn’t have been hauled ashore. He done okay today.

The disappearance of Luke Marshall is also worrying.

[Dave]

Petrie out

[Dave]

Timoney has been found out this season.

Doak hopefully in a slump, but he’s too slow.

Burns is rubbish, always has been. He would be fine coming off the bench, but not as a starter.

Treadwell is a fast track bully, AOC is on the wane, Vermeulan is a poor man’s Coetzee.

The lack of development of McCann and the continued selection of Matty Rea and Greg Jones over him is baffling.

The treatment of Sean Reidy last season was harsh.

Stockdale is low on confidence, but unless he’s carrying an injury shouldn’t have been hauled ashore. He done okay today.

The disappearance of Luke Marshall is also worrying.

Stockdale went off hobbling.

[kingofthehill]

Timoney has been found out this season.

Doak hopefully in a slump, but he’s too slow.

Burns is rubbish, always has been. He would be fine coming off the bench, but not as a starter.

Treadwell is a fast track bully, AOC is on the wane, Vermeulan is a poor man’s Coetzee.

The lack of development of McCann and the continued selection of Matty Rea and Greg Jones over him is baffling.

The treatment of Sean Reidy last season was harsh.

Stockdale is low on confidence, but unless he’s carrying an injury shouldn’t have been hauled ashore. He done okay today.

The disappearance of Luke Marshall is also worrying.

Luke is injured


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[nonplussed]

Its a DNA issue. We've always been soft and happy with the odd heroic performance. All barista and no ba5t@rd

I saw a much better match at my local club yesterday