Ulster Says Noooooo!!!!!!......

toomevara

...to attractive, flowing and above all, winning, rugby? Following Ulster's dire display against the Dragons last weekend and the apparent lack of quality in the squad, could this be the season where Connacht overtake the Red Hand in the provincial pecking order (part. following such an excellent display against the Hairsprays).

What has gone wrong at Ulster, what's happened to fortress Ravenhill? Any thoughts, insights?

buck65

Things are obviously bad there, how long can they hold onto Ferris? That was a woeful display on Sunday. The Dragons are getting better every year and Rodney Parade is becoming a tough ground to play well in for the visitors.

Tim Robbins

buck65 wrote: »

Things are obviously bad there, how long can they hold onto Ferris? That was a woeful display on Sunday. The Dragons are getting better every year and Rodney Parade is becoming a tough ground to play well in for the visitors.

The Ulster lads don't have the tax thing and some of their top players Neil Best, Wilson and Tommy Bowe play elsewhere.

irishbucsfan

Tim Robbins wrote: »

The Ulster lads don't have the tax thing and some of their top players Neil Best, Wilson and Tommy Bowe play elsewhere.

I never considered this before... Kind've means Ulster are always going to be at a disadvantage keeping Irish players in comparison to the other 3 provinces

[Jackass]

I honestly can't get my head around it. I mean, the messed up thing is, I actually think they've got a really strong squad!!

The main areas of concern is the half backs and the lack of a reliable kicker, but still, with players like Best, Caldwell, Botha, Pollock, Ferris et al, they've got a good pack.

In the backs, Trimble, Wallace, Cave, the SH winger which name escapes me, and the full back I wouldn't even try and spell his name...

I mean, that's the guts of a decent team, yet their performances have been dire!!

I think a main problem is that they can't keep a head coach long enough to put his stamp on the team and get them playing in a consistant manner with a consistant game plan and team.

I think Williams was really starting to make progress and he was a massive loss.

I'd love to see Ulster as a Quarter-Final standard Heineken Cup team...from an Irish rugby perspective at very least, but I like having strong opposition and for the Irish and ML teams to be doing well, but can't see it happening for Ulster in the near future.

Ravenhill used to be such a fortress, it's really gone soft over the last while. But even when you see performances like in Thomond Park last season, Ulster are capable of being a great side, if only they could get (and keep) good coaches and have a level of consistancy.

sickpuppy

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I never considered this before... Kind've means Ulster are always going to be at a disadvantage keeping Irish players in comparison to the other 3 provinces[/QUOTE
Ah come on your saying Connacht have an advantage in keeping players over
Ulster.
Cant drum uo the figures but they have a bigger budget than connacht very good support but the match againest Dragons they were woeful.

I would not blame Ferris for hitting England or France its a short career ahes too good of a player be stuck in the mud with ulster.
They still have some high quality players so being a connacht man would love to see them finish below us but cant really see it happening.

buck65

The IRFU will pay dearly to keep Ferris in Ulster.

Wheeker

One match played- maybe a bit too soon to be writing off Ulster's season! :rolleyes:

But I must say they were woeful on Sunday, just when we thought there might be a new dawn with the new coaching team. I agree that Matt Williams was a loss, though his new dawn never really came to fruition either :mad:

There is the basis of a strong team there but confidence would seem to be pretty low. Such a shame we don't still have the likes of Tommy Bowe, Neil Best or Roger Wilson. Hopefully by the first home match v Edinburgh things will have improved, as "Fortress Ravenhill" needs to be rebuilt!

anonymous_joe

Injuries don't help.

Problems in key positions don't help.

Look at it this way - Ulster's best players are an injured hooker and captain, a blindside flanker and an inside centre.

You'd hope for an absolutely quality scrum half, out half or even openside. They've got decent players there, but a lot of 'em are off form. Isaac Boss for example, is now fifth or sixth in the pecking order for the national side.

iHumphs has obviously regressed again, meaning they still haven't replaced his older brother, while the likes of Trimble are great blunt weapons, they've no rapier. They need a bit more subtlety.

tommy57

you c,ant judge them on one game. munster we,re beaten and leinster so you have to give them time. they played very well last year in the henicken cup so theres potential they just d,ont seem to have the belief in themselves any more.

toomevara

tommy57 wrote: »

you c,ant judge them on one game. munster we,re beaten and leinster so you have to give them time. they played very well last year in the henicken cup so theres potential they just d,ont seem to have the belief in themselves any more.

Absolutely fair point, but really the last couple of years have been a litany of massive underachievement and mediocrity as far as Ulster's concerned...Unless there's a massive sea change were looking at yet another season of damage limitation for Ulster.

I hope I'm proved completely and utterly wrong but I don't see them doing anything in any competition this year. Lets face it if it weren't for Irelands provincial system which guarantees the big 3 HC places every year they wouldn't make the cut for the HC.

NickNolte

I think it's a bit early to write Ulster off to be fair. Their performance was definitely sub-par but it's the first competitive game of the season so let's reserve judgement for a while. A demoralised Ulster isn't good for Irish rugby so let's hope they step up a few gears as the ML progresses. It's not like they're completely lacking the talent or anything.

phog

I didn't see the game but I saw the Munster :mad: and Leinster play and wouldn't think there was too many positives for either camp after their displays last week-end either.

On a side note - I wouldn't mind seeing Connacht take the 3rd Irish spot on the ML table for a year or so.

MickTipp

Ian Paisley

skregs

If Connacht do manage to overtake them, should Ulster be the province to only receive half funding? Bit crazy to have an underfunded "development team" outperforming one the IRFUs full strength teams

nerophis

If Connacht finish above Ulster there will be much racking of brains on Lansdowne Road to see how they can still keep them out of the Heinken Cup. Not that that's going to happen in any case. Third from bottom is probably going to be their highest showing for the season:(

Wheeker

MickTipp wrote: »

Ian Paisley

WTF

anonymous_joe

nerophis wrote: »

If Connacht finish above Ulster there will be much racking of brains on Lansdowne Road to see how they can still keep them out of the Heinken Cup. Not that that's going to happen in any case. Third from bottom is probably going to be their highest showing for the season:(

That's not really fair on anyone.

The reason the IRFU 'hates' Connacht is that there's far less rugby played in Connacht than in any of the other provinces. It's not fair how they treat 'em, but it does make sense.

In terms of Ulster, Ulster are historically a fantastic team. They've had dire luck with coaches, players, etc, and will always struggle, because unlike the three teams based in Ireland, Ulster are based in the UK, and so pay tax differently, which means their players earn less, leading them to be more likely to jump ship.

Imagine a back row with Stephen Ferris, Pollock, Wilson, Neil Best, Henry, etc all competing for places. A backline with Wallace, Bowe, Cave, Trimble, etc competing. It wouldn't be as strong as Leinster or Munster but it wouldn't be bad by any means.

Ulster have the guts of a great team...

They'd have one of the best front rows in Ireland at full strength, a very decent second row and back row, and some good backs.

The real problem area is looking like out-half again, and also the general passing in the backs, Paddy Wallace aside. They need better distributors basically, rather than the likes of Trimble, whose just a poor man's Nonu lately. All power and no subtlety.

Spore

anonymous_joe wrote: »

the likes of Trimble are great blunt weapons, they've no rapier. They need a bit more subtlety.

Lovely metaphor! That sums it up, no attacking ability. They set up some good multiphase play through their forwards but as soon as the ball got into the hands of the backs they inevitably coughed up possession. Their breakdown game was a joke, no support play, players constantly isolated / running away from support. Trimble looks like a very average player IMO. Boss and Ian Humps were hopeless at steering the game. Why they didn't bring on Darren Cave is beyond me, he looked really good last season.