Ulster v Cardiff Friday April 19, 7:35pm - BBC2 NI / BBC2 Wales / TG4 / Premier Sports (UK) 2 / Premier Sports (Ireland)

[CIMANFOREVER]

Glad to get the win and who knows what a shot in the arm it will be for the team. Credit to Sheridan and mccann who both look like becoming stalwarts of this side for the next 10 years. Bar AOC and ewers that was a fairly inexperienced pack we had out and a backline with more years ahead than behind. We will need bolstered for next week, hopefully we get some back, hendo, Kitscoff and Herring are much needed. As said before our conditioning seems to be poor, Stewart needs a good summer gym programme if he has any inkling of remaining near the ireland set up.

Ewers went well last night, although how he didn't score is a mystery...

I wouldn't baulk at Issy getting starts over AOC- His cameo was excellent and should've been on earlier. Really not sure what has happened to AOC- He looks shell shocked..

[TinPig]

Sheridan, McCann and Lowry were all outstanding.
Mcilroy had a good game and Addison.

Doak was poor.

Every team in the league know Stockdale is a defensive liability he proved yet again he can’t catch a high ball and worse can’t defend one on one. To his credit he has perfected the diving miss tackle which looks brave but never actually touches anyone. Gilroy in commentary got a subtle dig about playing touch rugby.
He also went for the interception because he didn’t have the guts to make the tackle.

Lowry is everything that Stockdale isn’t and on a list which would include words such as Brave,Skilled, Relentless, I would include good value for money.

[CIMANFOREVER]

I'm in favour of getting Jared back.
Also would love to see Ruan back as a skills coach - we really need to improve our skills on tonight's performance

Payne has no track record as a head coach- punts in the dark are not what we need atm. Skills/ defencec etc defo yes..

[Bart S]

Gilroy's punditry was awful

[Big-al]

That feels like a bit like a robbery, but we often are on the other end so we’ll take it! Poor performance and would’ve been a disaster if we’d lost, so take the points and move on.

Positives was Sheridan was excellent + unbelievable tackle from Izzy at the end. Lowry looked sharp, and Cooney made a big difference. However, again our 22 defence was absolutely woeful, 2 incredibly soft tries and could’ve (should’ve?) been 3.

Lowry was at fault for the last disallowed Cardiff try. He went for a dander into midfield and left a huge gap down the blindside.

He is a really poor defender.

[Big-al]

I'm in favour of getting Jared back.
Also would love to see Ruan back as a skills coach - we really need to improve our skills on tonight's performance

We need someone to get our backline going. All they seem to do is throw 50/50 passes and offloads and hope it comes off, which they usually don’t.

The structure of the Ulster attack/backs is very poor.

I actually think the Ulster clean out has improved since Murphy took over.

[Big-al]

Sheridan, McCann and Lowry were all outstanding.
Mcilroy had a good game and Addison.

Doak was poor.

Every team in the league know Stockdale is a defensive liability he proved yet again he can’t catch a high ball and worse can’t defend one on one. To his credit he has perfected the diving miss tackle which looks brave but never actually touches anyone. Gilroy in commentary got a subtle dig about playing touch rugby.
He also went for the interception because he didn’t have the guts to make the tackle.

Lowry is everything that Stockdale isn’t and on a list which would include words such as Brave,Skilled, Relentless, I would include good value for money.

Lowry is a worse defender than Stockdale.

Poor under the high ball, poor positioning and got no length to his clearance kicks.

[justinr73]

Sheridan, McCann and Lowry were all outstanding.
Mcilroy had a good game and Addison.

Doak was poor.

Every team in the league know Stockdale is a defensive liability he proved yet again he can’t catch a high ball and worse can’t defend one on one. To his credit he has perfected the diving miss tackle which looks brave but never actually touches anyone. Gilroy in commentary got a subtle dig about playing touch rugby.
He also went for the interception because he didn’t have the guts to make the tackle.

Lowry is everything that Stockdale isn’t and on a list which would include words such as Brave,Skilled, Relentless, I would include good value for money.

Lowry is a worse defender than Stockdale.

Poor under the high ball, poor positioning and got no length to his clearance kicks.

Lowry caught at least two last night in very heavy traffic.

Heard a rumour that Stockdale has been missing recently because he dropped his nipper.

[big mervyn]

Sheridan, McCann and Lowry were all outstanding.
Mcilroy had a good game and Addison.

Doak was poor.

Every team in the league know Stockdale is a defensive liability he proved yet again he can’t catch a high ball and worse can’t defend one on one. To his credit he has perfected the diving miss tackle which looks brave but never actually touches anyone. Gilroy in commentary got a subtle dig about playing touch rugby.
He also went for the interception because he didn’t have the guts to make the tackle.

Lowry is everything that Stockdale isn’t and on a list which would include words such as Brave,Skilled, Relentless, I would include good value for money.

Lowry is a worse defender than Stockdale.

Poor under the high ball, poor positioning and got no length to his clearance kicks.

Lowry caught at least two last night in very heavy traffic.

Heard a rumour that Stockdale has been missing recently because he dropped his nipper.

Yep. I felt a lot more confident when the ball was skied in the direction of the smallest man on the pitch. Thought he read them well last night and had a very decent game.

Sheridan was absolutely on fire. Gusher and McWhirter essentially said the MOTM award hung on the final result. I don't get that especially in a tight game. When was the last time somebody on the losing side got one? Last one I can remember is Josh Adams v Italy but that was because Jiffy had awarded it too early and he gave it away to Capuozzo

[Big-al]

Sheridan, McCann and Lowry were all outstanding.
Mcilroy had a good game and Addison.

Doak was poor.

Every team in the league know Stockdale is a defensive liability he proved yet again he can’t catch a high ball and worse can’t defend one on one. To his credit he has perfected the diving miss tackle which looks brave but never actually touches anyone. Gilroy in commentary got a subtle dig about playing touch rugby.
He also went for the interception because he didn’t have the guts to make the tackle.

Lowry is everything that Stockdale isn’t and on a list which would include words such as Brave,Skilled, Relentless, I would include good value for money.

Lowry is a worse defender than Stockdale.

Poor under the high ball, poor positioning and got no length to his clearance kicks.

Lowry caught at least two last night in very heavy traffic.

Heard a rumour that Stockdale has been missing recently because he dropped his nipper.

His opposite number scored two tries down his wing and nearly a 3rd because instead of staying on the blindside decided to jog around to the open side and leave a massive hole.

Our back 3 has leaked tries all season, even more so when Stockdale isn’t there.

He was shocking under the high ball last week.

Lowrys defence is a massive issue. He is not a solid, safe pair of hands in the mould of a Louis Ludik or Jimmy O’Brien.

Sheridan was the best player on the pitch, whether or not Farrell will consider him big enough for lock will determine if he becomes a test player.

He is going to be the cornerstone of our pack for next decade and a real leader. He is significantly better than Alan O’Connor was at 22, and he turned out alright.

[So It Is]

An ugly, ugly win. But a win none the less.

We are not good, but we all knew that anyway. Good to see Sheridan and McCann playing well, but some of our basic handling skills are awful.

As mentioned by others, a lot of coaches need bucked out this summer. Only then can the true rebuild begin.

[justinr73]

I don’t think anyone is suggesting that Lowry’s defence is as good as LL’s was.

But you need to pay a bit more attention Big-al.

Cabango’s first try was off the back of a lineout, not down Lowry’s wing.

Cabango’s second try was not down Lowry’s wing because Lowry was in fact on the left wing at the time!

We were a man down because McIroy needlessly stayed inside at a ruck. I appreciate Lowry and JP were both wearing red hats which must be what confused you but there’s a bit of a size difference.

If you want to have a go at him for the (illegal) turnover ball four on two chaotic foot race when he’s running on empty because it suits your narrative, then fair enough.

[Big-al]

I have a whole seasons worth of evidence to back my claim up that Lowry is not a good defender and not solid under the high ball.

[TinPig]

I have a whole seasons worth of evidence to back my claim up that Lowry is not a good defender and not solid under the high ball.

I disagree but whatever

I can see a 6” yellow stripe down Stockdale back.
You want to see it, you see it
You don’t, you don’t

[Bart S]

I have a whole seasons worth of evidence to back my claim up that Lowry is not a good defender and not solid under the high ball.

Defence my not be his strength but I don't think it's that bad.

Stockdale's basic error count is far too high