Ulster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

.ak

Seriously puts a dampener on his Lions potential too.

durkadurka

Poor old fez. I really feel sorry for the guy.

CatFromHue

(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.

So much for Kidney directing Ulster to play Payne at 13 with Bowe at full back :rolleyes:

Gilroy on the bench too.

Good to see Best back and Wilson up against his old club.

Northampton team is out too
15 Ben FODEN, 14 Ken PISI, 13 George PISI, 12 Dom WALDOUCK, 11 Jamie ELLIOTT, 10 Ryan LAMB, 9 Martin ROBERTS
1 Soane TONGA'UIHA, 2 Dylan HARTLEY (capt), 3 Brian MUJATI, 4 Samu MANOA, 5 Courtney LAWES, 6 Calum CLARK, 7 Tom WOOD, 8 GJ VAN VELZE

Replacements
16 Mike HAYWOOD, 17 Alex WALLER, 18 Paul DORAN JONES, 19 Mark SORENSON, 20 Phil DOWSON, 21 Lee DICKSON, 22 Stephen MYLER, 23 Tom MAY

CIARAN_BOYLE

Fitzpatrick still injured?

Ulster could really do with him on the bench.

Has Lutton overtaken Macklin or is Macklin also injured.

jamiedav2011

CatFromHue wrote: »

(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.

So much for Kidney directing Ulster to play Payne at 13 with Bowe at full back :rolleyes:

Gilroy on the bench too.

Good to see Best back and Wilson up against his old club.

Serious team that!

This could be a cracking game.

bilston

CatFromHue wrote: »

So much for Kidney directing Ulster to play Payne at 13 with Bowe at full back :rolleyes:

Ermm, I think what was said was that Kidney wanted that but Ulster didn't so it wasn't going to happen;)

bilston

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Fitzpatrick still injured?

Ulster could really do with him on the bench.

Has Lutton overtaken Macklin or is Macklin also injured.

Both Fitzpatrick and Macklin are injured.

CatFromHue

bilston wrote: »

Ermm, I think what was said was that Kidney wanted that but Ulster didn't so it wasn't going to happen;)

Fair enough, it's still ridiculous though!

Ridiculous on two fronts
1) It doesn't make sense for Kidney to request it
2) If Kidney had requested it, due to his position in the IRFU, it should have been implemented.

What a team, and what a bench!

Impact and form everywhere.

Can't watch it live so will be steering clear of t'internet and boards.ie until I catch up in a hungover state on Saturday morning.

iamjenko

Deleted User wrote: »

What a team, and what a bench!

Impact and form everywhere.

Can't watch it live so will be steering clear of t'internet and boards.ie until I catch up in a hungover state on Saturday morning.

Was just about to say the same, nice looking team and serious options to come off the bench!

Fooker

zebo

CatFromHue wrote: »

(15-9)
So much for Kidney directing Ulster to play Payne at 13 with Bowe at full back :rolleyes:

I would think Kidney can't give directives for the European Cup. And if he were to, I would think Gilroy would be starting. Then again maybe he doesn't want someone taking Earls or Zebo's place. :rolleyes: He has criminally overlooked Gilroy in the past. :mad:

bilston

CatFromHue wrote: »

Fair enough, it's still ridiculous though!

Ridiculous on two fronts
1) It doesn't make sense for Kidney to request it
2) If Kidney had requested it, due to his position in the IRFU, it should have been implemented.

I agree

Sinbad_NI

Lets hope they play better than the last 3 matches. Although all should be well up for the big games.

Tomtom364

Should be Gilroy starting not Trimble.

kennyb3

What do people think of the chances of an Ulster win? I would of fancied it but would be worried about Court at scrum time.

CIARAN_BOYLE

kennyb3 wrote: »

What do people think of the chances of an Ulster win? I would of fancied it but would be worried about Court at scrum time.

Court is an excellent lh and wont let anyone down.

i would be more worried about afoa going down insured. it would be game over.

jamiedav2011

kennyb3 wrote: »

What do people think of the chances of an Ulster win? I would of fancied it but would be worried about Court at scrum time.

What's the worry around Court about?
He's a very solid LH.

bilston

No concerns over Court...but in saying that the form pick at LH would definitely be Callum Black who has superb recently and part of a dominant scrum in the last few games.

totallegend

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

What's the worry around Court about?
He's a very solid LH.

Exactly. People hear the word "Court" and immediately associate it with "Twickenham", it's a bit annoying.

the_doctor199

Sinbad_NI wrote: »

Lets hope they play better than the last 3 matches. Although all should be well up for the big games.

In fairness, two of those was virtually a b side, even last week wasn't a full side so it's a little harsh to hold those against them, as horribly poor as they were.

This game has the potential to be an absolute cracker.

bilston

the_doctor199 wrote: »

In fairness, two of those was virtually a b side, even last week wasn't a full side so it's a little harsh to hold those against them, as horribly poor as they were.

This game has the potential to be an absolute cracker.

The issue is whether the returning players can gel straight away. In saying that Hartley, Lawes and Foden are all short on games so maybe it evens itself out.

I was trying to do a had to head earlier and I was trying to decide between Foden and Payne. What do you all think? Foden at his best is a contender for the Lions IMO but Payne is such a classy player.

shaungil

whats Annscombe like for using the bench, will Marhall and Gilroy get a decent run?

Tox56

bilston wrote: »

The issue is whether the returning players can gel straight away. In saying that Hartley, Lawes and Foden are all short on games so maybe it evens itself out.

I was trying to do a had to head earlier and I was trying to decide between Foden and Payne. What do you all think? Foden at his best is a contender for the Lions IMO but Payne is such a classy player.

If Foden has only just come back it has to be Payne, from what I can remember he has played nearly every game this season (and he wasn't called away for internationals) so he'll be completely match fit, unlike Foden.

Sinbad_NI

the_doctor199 wrote: »

In fairness, two of those was virtually a b side, even last week wasn't a full side so it's a little harsh to hold those against them, as horribly poor as they were.

This game has the potential to be an absolute cracker.

Yeah I know, but they were hard to watch even with getting the wins.

Fez101

Tomtom364 wrote: »

Should be Gilroy starting not Trimble.

Away from home on cold wintery night, its absolutely the right decision to go with experience, Trimble is a fine winger, fronts up well for Ulster, just never seems to get a fair crack with Ireland.

Fez101

Fez101 wrote: »

Away from home on cold wintery night, its absolutely the right decision to go with experience, Trimble is a fine winger, fronts up well for Ulster, just never seems to get a fair crack with Ireland.

this, plus if needs be, Anscombe wont be afraid to get him off the bench for a bit of electricity.

jm08

Fez101 wrote: »

Away from home on cold wintery night, its absolutely the right decision to go with experience, Trimble is a fine winger, fronts up well for Ulster, just never seems to get a fair crack with Ireland.

He has 49 caps. To put in context, Jamie Heaslip (the same age) has 52.

Edit: Tommy Bowe has 51 (and they are both 28).

backawaygo onahead

Rock solid selection, Maaaak has gone with experience all the way in the tight choices. What actually compliments this is that it leaves game changing possibility on the bench. Pretty much exactly what you would look for.

Saints will provide a big test but the latest weather forecast indicates a dry night which will suit Ulster.

People a little too hung up on the Italian job & West Wales whipping. Italy was with the bare bones of the squad, Llanelli a wet wee hole but we were never really troubled.

Tomorrow comes down to the guys gelling quickly after a month apart. My guess is that they will be like frustrated lovers who can't wait to get it on.

As for Stevie, my sources say no HC pool games but possibly ready for the home quarter final serious but not terminal ..............yet. By the time he is fit to return who knows if he will be ahead of Henderson in the pecking order? Young lad is a bit special.

CIARAN_BOYLE

backawaygo onahead wrote: »

As for Stevie, my sources say no HC pool games but possibly ready for the home quarter final serious but not terminal ..............yet. By the time he is fit to return who knows if he will be ahead of Henderson in the pecking order? Young lad is a bit special.

Ferris could be forced to 7 or 8 yet

CIARAN_BOYLE

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Ferris could be forced to 7 or 8 yet

Far more likely we'd see him at 6 with Henderson in the second row.

Or else Ferris being used as a super sub to prolong his career.

Imagine playing 60minutes of top pace rugby and then see Stephen ****ing Ferris coming off the bench to take up the blindside flanker role against you.