Leinster v Ulster Mon Jan 1 5:15pm KO

[Neill_M]

Ulster beat Leinster & Connacht

Leinster & Connacht both beat Munster

Does this mean we're the No 1 Irish team?

We beat munster as well. Is the Irish shield still available?

Yes, still around. Only counts re derbies now and no impact on European qualification.

Current standings after 4 games

Leinster 14 points
Ulster 13 points
Connacht 10 points
Munster 3 points

[rumncoke]

Frank once Ulster got a two try lead it was odds on Frank would penalise Ulster - Leinster into the corner for a try .
The thing is to avoid giving him opportunity to penalise you and Ulster did that quite well .
But take the last 3 minutes Ulster get the ball into the corner going for a try bonus and get penalised for crossing Leinster get a second penalty for a possible try bonus win and Byrne messes it up— hate to think what the outcome would have been if he hadn’t .

Praise for Frank I think not leopards don’t change their spots but to be honest he avoids making up laws to suit decisions which he seemed to do on occasions

[justinr73]

You mention Dalton and McBurney yet both have shown, at Newcastle and Edinburgh respectively, that they’re simply not good enough.

How’s that feck ing anything up?

McBurney was one of the outstanding players in the U20 team that got to the RWC final in 2016, scoring tries for fun, including the final. A team that included Stockdale, Daly, Keenan, Porter, Ryan and Deegan. Even when Best and Herring were playing, he had best darts in the club and had an edge to him. The fact that UR backed Andrews says a lot.
Dalton played a few games for us when we were on the bones if our a#se for locks, similar to AOC, and played pretty well. Then never selected again. Similar litany down through the years- raw material not developed or stalled.

The one true talent whom I believe genuinely shot HIMSELF in the foot was Caldwell. All the talent but no brain. Even Moyes would've failed to have got the best from him.

UR, not just Df, has consistently failed to maximise the raw talent at its disposal. Hence why McKee went to Leinster, Little retired, Taylor went to UBC and eventually jacked in Rugby, as did Macklin ( who played TH in Europe and scored) Farrell to France, Steenson never even got a chance etc etc etc. Whitten had to go to Exeter, Seymour to Glasgow, then Scotland and the Lions. Love to see how some of those named would've progressed at Leinster or elsewhere with a more professional development pathway from 18-22, rather than UR. If DF spunks this batch through his own hubris, shame on him.

McBurney’s demise and subsequent departure was purely miss management by Dan.
Adam was picked to play as first choice against Connacht on a Saturday fixture in Belfast, yet on the Thursday he had a wisdom tooth removed, McFarland knew this and still picked him, surprise surprise he wasn’t fit to take the field and had a howler, subbed after 50 minutes and fell down the pecking order which subsequently led to his departure. Bryan did his best to keep him.

Oh.

Is Dan to blame for him getting nine starts in two and a half years at Edinburgh too?

[CIMANFOREVER]

Ulster beat Leinster & Connacht

Leinster & Connacht both beat Munster

Does this mean we're the No 1 Irish team?

Turnips were shocking tonight. Connacht were decent but by feck Munster were total gash. Probably finish 8th again and win it....

[Deraless]

None of our 3 tries from rolling mauls. Gotta be disappointed not getting the BP. Had chances.

Generally our line-out hasn't been great all year but the Leinster guy beside me said opposition line-outs have been Leinster's most effective set piece recently!

The most delicious thing was watching the Mexican in the seat in front of me repeatedly go apoplectic. I was in the South Stand behind the goals getting soaked and he was calling forward passes in the far 22 and doing a wee mental dance every time Leinster didn't get a call. Lost count of the "high tackle", "no arms" and "use it's" I had to endure. At the end he was banging his wee hat off his seat. I laughed my head off. Funny that a Munster ref can be adjudged to have a bias against both Leinster and Ulster by both sets of fans!

Would like to watch tries again. Thought JGP joined the rolling maul try in the second half in the side and in front of the ball. Is that not illegal any more? Thought another of their tries a couple of guys broke off the maul and took out some Ulster defenders without the ball. But might have been the disallowed one. Another of theirs was jammy as get out when the ball rebounded off the bar.

[solidarity]

Just read the discussion on Babbling Brook. Have to say, the Leinster fans' post match comments were very balanced. As you would expect, there were criticisms of Murphy and their own team but pretty much all the comments about Ulster were positive.

Fair play til D4 and his mates.

[jean valjean]

The only legitimate criticism of Murphy from a leinster pov was the reffell pen in the second half when he appeared to be not supporting his weight. There was no consequence, however, as hendo was pinged at the lineout, which was another controversial call. Leinster are the masters of messing up rucks, joining from the side and stepping around to collapse around the ball and slowing it down. They definitely are in a transition mode with the coaching set up. I wonder how the dynamic between cullan and neinaber is working out?
I'd be worried about the lack of form from henshaw, he was pretty anonymous tonight. For all the stick Harry Byrne is getting for the 2 kicks, he did more in his time on the pitch to win the game than prendergast.

[Deraless]

Looked like Sheridan was there as injury cover and seemingly without textbooks.

[Spiffsson]

Fantastic win. Not many visiting teams do it in Leinster. How does Timoney rate in the Ireland back row peck order at the moment? He does not get much exposure compared to the other current whiz kids, but he's big, powerful,consistent, very fast and can play all three positions. Yet all the talk is about Doris, VDF, Conan, Connors, Baird, Deegan, Penny, Prendergast, Hodnett, Ahern .....

[Cap'n Grumpy]

Frank once Ulster got a two try lead it was odds on Frank would penalise Ulster - Leinster into the corner for a try.

Paranoid nonsense.

The thing is to avoid giving him opportunity to penalise you and Ulster did that quite well .

The "thing is" to avoid giving any ref opportunity to penalise you - Ulster sometimes do that well, other times they don't. It's not something that is exclusive to Frank.

But take the last 3 minutes Ulster get the ball into the corner going for a try bonus and get penalised for crossing Leinster get a second penalty for a possible try bonus win and Byrne messes it up— hate to think what the outcome would have been if he hadn’t .

Ulster were penalised for the same offence Leinster were when he disallowed what would have been a second try for them to take the lead earlier in the game. That's not bias, that's consistency - applying the laws equally to both teams.
I note you don't criticise Frank for the second penalty at the end, but hate to think what might have happened if Byrne hadn't messed up. Well the fact is Byrne did mess up, Frank didn't influence that in any way, and Ulster won - end of. Literally.

... I think not ...

We know.

but to be honest he avoids making up laws to suit decisions which he seemed to do on occasions

Good to know that he avoids doing things that he seemed to do.

We all know that Frank aint the best referee in the business. Ergo there are better than him. But Frank aint the worst referee, not by a long way, which if we take off our Ulster against the rest of Ireland, we should be able to acknowledge. We've had some good results in recent years with him officiating, and I for one don't worry and start worrying before the match kicks off. He'll possibly prove me wrong before the end of the season by having a howler, but most refs have bad days, just as players have bad days but that is no reason to allege bias.

BTW, who was the ref when we beat Leinster at the RDS 2 years ago?
Ah, yes, it was Frank - that well known biased referee who does for Ulster every time.
And for the avoidance of doubt, that was sarcasm Rumn - just in case you thought I was coming round to your way of thinking.

[Jetstream]

Man for man better is a stretch.

Cooney isn’t better than JGP, McCloskey isn’t better than Henshaw and Addison sure as hell isn’t better than JOB.

I wouldn’t swap TOB for the flaky Baloucoune either.

Luke Marshall is just back from an extended spell out as well.
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User avataroffshorerules
Seán Cronin
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Joined: October 19th, 2012, 1:51 pm
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Re: Leinster v Ulster RDS 1st January 2024 at 17:15
Post by offshorerules » December 30th, 2023, 10:35 am

I don't particularly rate Burns either so I'd rather have Prendergast too. I know he lacks experience at this level but heaps of talent.


These posts didn't age very well on Babbling Brook. Pride comes before a fall.

[jean valjean]

Timoney like burns has fallen into the 'he had his chance with ireland and isn't up to it' group in the minds of many Irish supporters and journalists.
Put either of them into a consistent winning environment like leinster, and they'd still be in the chat around ireland. Ireland still have a problem at 10, with crowley in the driving seat, but he is by no means the messiah. Look what happened to carbery when he was appointed the special one.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

Would like to watch tries again. Thought JGP joined the rolling maul try in the second half in the side and in front of the ball. Is that not illegal any more? Thought another of their tries a couple of guys broke off the maul and took out some Ulster defenders without the ball. But might have been the disallowed one.

I thought the same re JG-P but it was a close call. I'm not prepared top say ref got it wrong as it was a tight one.

As for their break-off maul taking out some of our defenders, it wasn't the disallowed one, and again I was shouting for that, but on re-watching, it was our defenders tackled them, not the other way round. Our players could safely have let them go, knowing that if they had the ball, their maul was illegal, or if they didn't have the ball, well, what's the point in tackling them? Just lacking in nous for that one, I'm afraid. I too lacked the nous to call it in real time, but then I'm not a prefessional rugy player and I am in my 60s so there's an excuse for me.

[thecrouch]

Billy Burns put on a masterclass last night and tore them apart.

And fair play to McFarland for getting the tactics spot on, we can’t beat them in a forwards battle so a strong kicking game to their questionable back line defence was exactly the right call.

The line out is a big concern. Some silly calls, going for big throws to the back when the line out is jittery rather than just playing it safe and going to 1 or 2.

[HammerTime]

Man for man better is a stretch.

Cooney isn’t better than JGP, McCloskey isn’t better than Henshaw and Addison sure as hell isn’t better than JOB.

I wouldn’t swap TOB for the flaky Baloucoune either.

Luke Marshall is just back from an extended spell out as well.
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User avataroffshorerules
Seán Cronin
Posts: 3064
Joined: October 19th, 2012, 1:51 pm
Location: The Beverly Hills of South County Dublin
Re: Leinster v Ulster RDS 1st January 2024 at 17:15
Post by offshorerules » December 30th, 2023, 10:35 am

I don't particularly rate Burns either so I'd rather have Prendergast too. I know he lacks experience at this level but heaps of talent.


These posts didn't age very well on Babbling Brook. Pride comes before a fall.

They’re a wild cocky lot these days. Was quite funny the last few years listening to them on the lead up to their finals/semi finals … all they had to do was turn up. In general though at the RDS they aren’t the worst bunch.

Massive 4 points for us as it probably wouldn’t have been factored in. Unfortunately, it only cancels out the atrocious Edinburgh result. Good result for the league. Lineout is/was farcical, opposition 5m line outs always result in easy try’s for them. Addison is done. Fair play Burns. I see Soper and not DMF was singled out by players for coming up with the winning game plan.