Ulster 2019-2020

[LeRouxIsPHat]

The intercept looked good to me. There was another player who ran back and wasn't onside but not the catcher.

Great kick to win it, lovely strike in tough circumstances even if it wasn't on an angle.

They were blessed to get through that game. Next week will be interesting!

Thought Marler was exceptional. He went the distance (or close to it anyway) and was still all action near the end, including a great last ditch tackle on Faddes who had a nearly got away from him.

[Oldschool]

Saint Cooney blew a simple two on there because he was selfish again.

He is Schrödinger's Scrum Half.

He should both be in the Irish team and nowhere near it

My truest post ever

Dunno, think I prefer the uncertainty.

[blockhead]

Another victory! Next week is going to massive and crucial if they entertain hopes of a QF spot.

[blockhead]

Great try at the end of the half by you know who. Poor quality game so far, Ulster had 2 very kickable pens which they turned down and got nought. Both packs looked exhausted. Could be a high scoring 2nd half.
Quins 3-10 Cooney

[fourthirtythree]

That was juat a super try and Cooney's work rate was great but all the others in the move were outstanding.

[Dave Cahill]

He had been rubbish up until the try though

[fourthirtythree]

He had been rubbish up until the try though

Pretty good there too.

Thar said, my point was that all the others were textbook in handoffs and fixing defenders.

[Dave Cahill]

That was a nice piece of opportunism it must be said

[blockhead]

Quins 10-34 Ulster
BP win changes everything, strong contenders for a QF spot now, maybe even home QF.
Cooney is a GOD!!!
Billy Burns is turning into a nice piece of business for the wildlings. Clever player, Farrell take note. Cotzeeeah is a gold plated wrecking ball.
Marshalls try was brilliant too.

[Ruckedtobits]

Really smart win. An Ulster team which never dominated Quins collected 5 tries on a filty night with some lovely first phase attacks and some simply brutal tackling of Quins ball carriers.

Stockdale gave a display which announces the competition with Larmour for the Irish 15 jersey. Cooney gave more notice of how influential a scrum-half in form can be to a team. Jordi put up his hand for back-row slot and Marty Moore and Rob Herring showed they should be in the National Squad. Equally Marshall should not be forgotten.

A good night for Ulster and their Coaching team. Real team work. Good basics and plenty of bottle.

[Leinsterimp]

Was impressed with Billy Burns last night although not seen much of Ulster this season, is he in with a shout for national call up?

[Oldschool]

The "cat" was very much alive tonight.
Will Farrell select on form?
The alternatives are old wives' tales or ligindary status, tbh there's not much difference between the two.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Curtis did his ACL in the game against us, poor guy. His size is against him but he's a really good player who can't catch a break.

[Ruckedtobits]

If that Ulster backrow can be someway competitive, they could give Munster a serious competition with the front five and backline they have selected.

However, if that backrow competes, we will have a serious confrontation at half-back and that will be worth the price of admission and the two hour drive each way.

[Aird]

Ruckedto bits Two points Ulster are at home at the Kingspan so they will be competitive as our record proves.
Secondly won’t be worth the two hour drive up as it is sold out so unless you have already purchased your ticket it’s a case of watching on the TV.

[hugonaut]

I'm looking forward to this game.

I think that van Graan has selected an interesting and quite progressive team, certainly by the standards he has shown at Munster over the last couple of years. He has made a good few calls – Shane Daly at fullback, Knox at tighthead and O'Shea as a lock – that vary from what he typically does, i.e. select Haley [26 games last season, 10 of 13 so far this season], Archer [29 appearances last season, 13 of 13 so far this season] and Holland [24 games last season, 11 of 13 games thus far this season].

Holland and Archer are hard-working players [and BH has a particularly intelligent rugby brain, who will do well as a coach], but you'd want to be a total Munster anorak to have any interest in seeing them tog out for the 200th+ time. They're pretty f*cking ordinary rugby players.

Haley is a different case, because he's playing the best rugby of his Munster career, but it is a good move to select Daly in something approaching the first choice Munster backline in order to see how he performs with better players around him. I've seen the lad play in person a few times [for Munster A and Cork Con] and there's a bit of blue blood in him somewhere – he's an impressive athlete and a good footballer, and looks like a player with a high ceiling. He's certainly not the sort of nuggety threequarter that you typically see in the Munster academy and then in the Munster squad for a couple of years before they get the chop.

O'Shea is a player that van Graan has got f*ck all from thus far; in fact, Munster as an organisation have done a really, really poor job in developing this guy as a player. Ireland don't produce many players of his dimensions, and height is such an important element in a second row's game that you can't afford to just put a lad like this on the back-burner and give him about half an hour/month. You've got to have a plan to progress him, and you've got to amend that pan when it's not working and push the player when he's not working to the plan. As we've probably all recently seen, second row is an expensive position to contract. When one arrives on your doorstep, you don't just wait around until he gets the hump and f*cks off.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I don't think I've ever seen a high ball defended like that by Daly. You see players slap the ball out on purpose but don't think I've ever seen a player bat it away with the intention of cleaning it up because they knew they couldn't catch it and risked a try if they failed. Very very clever.

Addison is still a threat but Rob must be watching this and wondering why he isn't in the Irish squad after those basic errors he's made.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Earls having another nightmare in defence.

[arsebiscuits1]

Earls having another nightmare in defence.

Shocking to get stepped by Cooney. Plenty of cover he didn't need to scramble so hard. It seems like he just didn't see him.

Biting in on Marshall was just stupid too. Turned a very easy defensive set into a certain try.

Although Munster were definitely getting a man in the bin if the try wasn't scored so maybe he played a bit of 3D chess and it was a deliberate concession lol

[cormac]

Absolutely daft penalty conceded by Earls