Ulster Thread 2012-13

[tackle-bag]

Whats going on in Irish rugby?
Gone before their time-Flannery, Wallace, Leamy,Horgan
Very concerned about-POC,Ferris,Fitz,BOD.Kearney
All first choice internationals.
The oul player welfare program is creaking.

Had you extended your category to home-grown professionals, the list of additional names you could have cited is almost endless... David Pollock, Barry Murphy, Ian Dowling, Denis Fogarty, Conor O'Loughlin, Conor McInerney, Trevor Hogan, Ronnie McCormack, Darragh Hurley, Bernard Jackman etc.

[Mauler]

Whats going on in Irish rugby?
Gone before their time-Flannery, Wallace, Leamy,Horgan
Very concerned about-POC,Ferris,Fitz,BOD.Kearney
All first choice internationals.
The oul player welfare program is creaking.

Jerry Flannery was 33 years of age when he retired. He played over 130 first class games for Munster & Ireland not to mention his few seasons with Connacht.
David Wallace was 35 on his retirement, he played over 200 games for Munster and 72 times for Ireland plus 3 Lions Test matches.
Shaggy was 32 when he jacked it in and he played over 230 first class matches between Ireland, Leinster and The Lions.
Drico is still playing and will be 34 in January, he has played 120 times for Ireland, in 6 Lions tests and more than 160 games for Leinster.

That. by any standard is excellent longevity for those four lads. If they had not been in the player management programe I doubt we would have seen them play as many times or as long as we did.
Kearney picked up a serious injury v Connacht and fingers crossed will be back in January. Ferris has a dodgy knee but so did Ciaran Scally who had to finish up at just 20 years of age and only 4 Irish caps.

[Donny B.]

Ulster team named for Northampton challenge
Mark Anscombe has named a strong starting XV for his side's vital Heineken Cup Pool 4 clash against Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens this Friday (kick off 8.00pm).
A number of players who were rested for the trip to Scarlets on Sunday have returned to the fold, so the team has eight personnel changes and one positional switch.
Ruan Pienaar, Paddy Wallace and Jared Payne have been included at scrumhalf, inside centre and fullback respectively. Tommy Bowe, who was on bench duty last weekend, will line out on the right wing for his 50th Heineken Cup appearance. That means Andrew Trimble switches to the left at the expense of new Ireland cap Craig Gilroy. Paddy Jackson (flyhalf) and Darren Cave (outside centre) retain their places in the backline.

Up front, Ireland internationals Rory Best and Tom Court replace Rob Herring and Callum Black in the front row alongside John Afoa, while captain Johann Muller is joined in the second row by regular partner Dan Tuohy. Loose forwards Iain Henderson, Chris Henry and Roger Wilson provide a great combination of skills, and Ulster also have the luxury of having the impact of Nick Williams off the bench.

Ricky Lutton could make his Heineken Cup debut if he takes to the field at any time during Friday's game. The 26 year old development prop has made one previous appearance - as a substitute in the RaboDirect PRO12 win over Edinburgh last month.

Nigel Brady and Robbie Diack, along with Black, Lutton and Williams will be the forward options off the bench. Paul Marshall, Luke Marshall and Gilroy, who all featured for the Ireland XV in their fixture with Fiji last month, will offer great quality as replacement backs.

Ulster have no new injury concerns; they are missing Stephen Ferris, who underwent surgery on his ankle yesterday, Declan Fitzpatrick, Lewis Stevenson, and long term absentees Chris Farrell and Paddy McAllister.

Commenting on some tough selection calls, Anscombe said: "There were some difficult decisions but that's what you want. The guys who have missed out this week have been outstandingly positive and that's very pleasing."

Focussing on the forward battle in store on Friday, he said: "They have a strong pack and they build their game around that. They don't hide from that fact and they're confident in it. Their set piece is very strong and we've got to be excited about meeting that front on. We've got to conquer them up front if we're going to compete because you've got to have front foot ball. The tight five have to step up and show their qualities, but I'm confident in them, they've all played international rugby."

Having played each other in the pool stages in 2002/03 and again in the quarter final of the 2010/11 edition, this will be the fourth European encounter between the two sides. All three previous meetings have been won by the team playing at home.

Both teams are showing good domestic form. Northampton currently occupy third spot in the Premiership standings, just two behind frontrunners Harlequins, while Ulster have a nine point cushion at the top of the PRO12. With two wins from two in Europe, the Belfast based side also have a three point gap between themselves and their English opponents.

Ulster have played 52 matches away from home in the Heineken Cup, winning only 12. In contrast, they come up against a side with a record of 29 wins and only 7 losses on home soil. A 13th away success would not only secure a 50th overall tournament victory, but it would also put the Ulstermen in the driving seat for qualification to the knock out stages.

Ulster XV & replacements to face Northampton Saints, Heineken Cup, Friday 7th December, Franklin's Gardens (8.00pm):
(15-9): J Payne; T Bowe, D Cave, P Wallace, A Trimble; P Jackson, R Pienaar;
(1-8): T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (c), D Tuohy, I Henderson, C Henry, R Wilson;
Replacements (16-23): N Brady, C Black, R Lutton, R Diack, N Williams, P Marshall, L Marshall, C Gilroy.

[Donny B.]

Northampton Saints
15Ben Foden14Ken Pisi13George Pisi12Dom Waldouck11Jamie Elliott10Ryan Lamb9Martin Roberts1Soane Tonga'uiha2Dylan Hartley3Brian Mujati4Samu Manoa5Courtney Lawes6Calum Clark7Tom Wood8Gerrit-Jan van Velze16Mikey Haywood17Alex Waller18Paul Doran-Jones19Mark Sorenson20Phil Dowson21Lee Dickson22Steve Myler23Tom May

[Donny B.]

Hhmmm, didn't know Foden was back from injury. Gives their attack a different dimension. Savage front five but shite half-backs. Ulster to squeeze home.

[Leinster Lout]

Northampton have been fairly shite this year but there aren't many 'meaner' packs than that. It's like they've scouted the local correctional facility..

[simonokeeffe]

On the injury front my guess is Ferris' problems stem from the chronic knee cartiledge problem (these things have a knock on effect throughout the body) where he is almost bone on bone. More worrying was the outbreak of major hip problems amongst younger players at leinster but thats now been solved

Saints pack are a shower of gurriers but that could work against them too and not like Best, Muller, Henderson, Henry going to be bullied/shy from work
Hartley, Clark, Manoa, Lawes all discipline cases and Hartley has suspect big match temperament which is bad in a leader
Theyre pack IMO is overly balanced on the piano players rather than piano movers side; if the whole pack wants to get on the ball they might under commit to rucks
18-20 on their bench are the good unseen work players but better off starting with that, both second rows starting are also backrowers

Saints bench maybe better for closing a game out but definitely not chasing one, opposite to Ulsters

[kendalgerty]

Don't know much about the Saints 8 and 9. Anyone able to help me out? I thought Dickson was seen as a key player over there. Maybe with the new 'use it' rule he doesn't get to flap his arms about at the back of the ruck as much as he'd like and it's thrown him off a bit.

[cormac]

Don't know much about the Saints 8 and 9. Anyone able to help me out? I thought Dickson was seen as a key player over there. Maybe with the new 'use it' rule he doesn't get to flap his arms about at the back of the ruck as much as he'd like and it's thrown him off a bit.

Roberts used to be at the Scarlets, similar type of player to Dickson. Their no.8 seems to spend as much time in the bin as he does on the pitch so he's fitted in seamlessly at Stains since his arrival.

[[Jackass]]

Any streams going lads?

[[Jackass]]

Found one here for those interested: http://mypremium.tv/

Click on Sky Sports 2 tab.

edit: argh, that one went down, try here: http://www.time4tv.com/2011/09/sky-sports-2.html

[Donny B.]

http://www.coolsport.tv/stream15.html

These are nearly always good. Great kick from Jackson for the Trimble try

[Donny B.]

Lamb bottling it yet again. How is this man constantly paid to fail?

[Donny B.]

French ref letting Saints away with murder in the scrum.

[[Jackass]]

Phenominal scrum from Ulster on their own line to turn it over.

[Donny B.]

Bad couple of minutes from Jackson there. Fumbling the ball to concede the 5 metre scrum was bad but then overcooking the kick to touch after his pack won a penalty was very poor. Needs to get his composure back.

[Donny B.]

Payne playing some class stuff

[[Jackass]]

What was Bowe trying there??

[Donny B.]

Get in Tommy!!!

[berniemac67]

French ref letting Saints away with murder in the scrum.

it's a french tradition

uladh going to win this comfortably