Ulster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

opinionatedfan

I wouldn't agree for Ulster this year Trimble has certainly outplayed Gilroy.

Bowe suffered a fairly serious injury aswell so god knows how long it will be until he gets back to the same sort of form.

(ligament damage to an athlete who relies a lot on his pace at the age of 28 can't be discounted)

thomond2006

rchendz92 wrote: »

Team for Glasgow

(15-9): R Andrew, M Allen, A Trimble, S Olding, N Walsh, P Wallace, R Pienaar;
(1-8): C Black, N Brady, J Afoa (Capt.), N McComb, D Tuohy, C Joyce, A Birch, R Diack;
Replacements (16-23): R Herring, R Lutton, A Warwick, A O’Connor, M McComish, P Marshall, D Cave, C Cochrane.

10-15 looks all over the place.

awec

thomond2006 wrote: »

10-15 looks all over the place.

Well, 15 is fine as Andrew plays there. 10-14 looks suspect.

irishbucsfan

Actually the team looks a little weak in general. Glasgow might fancy this one.

MolBee

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Thing is...

With Gilroy now pushing Trimble hard, Trimble is going to be cover on the bench in future I'd guess. It seems it'll be Bowe and Gilory as Ulster's starting winger. Maybe they want to give Trimble time in the centers to expand what he offers off the bench again?

I really hope Trimble isn't demoted to the bench anytime soon. In my opinion he's not only been our best and most consistent winger this season but our best and most consistent player, or at least right up there (maybe Henry might just sneak that accolade).

awec

MolBee wrote: »

I really hope Trimble isn't demoted to the bench anytime soon. In my opinion he's not only been our best and most consistent winger this season but our best and most consistent player, or at least right up there (maybe Henry might just sneak that accolade).

I think they are talking about next year and beyond.

Being able to play in a different position won't do his Ireland chances any harm either, at the moment he isn't going to be selected for the bench.

opinionatedfan

bilston wrote: »

Agree on Olding, I'm delighted he is still in the team, he really impressed last week and I think he's going to be a top player, not sure in what position though!

He is an interesting player, 12 looks a bit stacked at Ulster once Farrell returns from injury and Marshall fully establishes himself as first choice.

Backup OH is wide open and I think Olding would fit fine there, especially as going forward PJ will be even more involved with Ireland.

Question is could he play 13? IIRC he played there last year for the under 20s off the bench.

Or could he play 15? he started there already for the under 20s this year.

He doesn't strike me as a long term player at either of those positions but a player who at that level is very versatile.

Fez101

Would swap Olding and Wallace around, very surprised Wallace is at 10. Its been a while sinse Trimble played 13, he was pretty good their when he started his Ulster career, but that's quite some time ago, this is going to be a tough one tomorrow night.

Sinbad_NI

Anyone any insider knowledge of when Payne is back... I feel we're really missing him at the moment.

bilston

opinionatedfan wrote: »

He is an interesting player, 12 looks a bit stacked at Ulster once Farrell returns from injury and Marshall fully establishes himself as first choice.

Backup OH is wide open and I think Olding would fit fine there, especially as going forward PJ will be even more involved with Ireland.

Question is could he play 13? IIRC he played there last year for the under 20s off the bench.

Or could he play 15? he started there already for the under 20s this year.

He doesn't strike me as a long term player at either of those positions but a player who at that level is very versatile.

There are some who say he'll do more than be backup at OH to Jackson. I haven't seen enough of him there to make such a bold statement though.

He did fine at FB against Wales the other week. 13 is an interesting possibility, he played well for the U20s there last season on two or three occasions, but again with Marshall and hopefully Farrell, not to mention Cave who is only now coming into the prime of his career, we're well stocked there. The two or three times I've seen him at 12 now he really has looked good though.

bilston

Sinbad_NI wrote: »

Anyone any insider knowledge of when Payne is back... I feel we're really missing him at the moment.

No inside info, but I did read March on UAFC, to be fair that could be as soon as next weekend or it could be as late as a month away. But yes you're right, we miss him badly.

totallegend

opinionatedfan wrote: »

I wouldn't agree for Ulster this year Trimble has certainly outplayed Gilroy.

Bowe suffered a fairly serious injury aswell so god knows how long it will be until he gets back to the same sort of form.

(ligament damage to an athlete who relies a lot on his pace at the age of 28 can't be discounted)

Even before his injury, I'd have said Trimble was outplaying Bowe (and Gilroy). Bowe is a class act but he hasn't been playing well enough to justify being a guaranteed starter.

irishbucsfan

awec wrote: »

I think they are talking about next year and beyond.

Being able to play in a different position won't do his Ireland chances any harm either, at the moment he isn't going to be selected for the bench.

Yes

Although thinking about it Bowe can play 13 anyway.

bilston

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21535697

Balls...

lologram

bilston wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21535697

Balls...

That's very sad to see. Unfortunately it just doesn't seem like he can reliably stay fit in recent times.

jacothelad

bilston wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21535697

Balls...

Says it perfectly.

CatFromHue

bilston wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21535697

Balls...

If he were Australian it's debatable whether they'd give him another contract. Look at Elsom for example.

They have it that you have to be ft for a % of games for your club but it's hard to work out in Ireland as an International player will never play a huge amount for their club e.g. Sexton played in 16 games out of a possible 33 for Leinster last season and he had no major injury worries, maybe a game here or there but that's it.

Teferi

I'd be surprised if Fez makes it to 30 as a professional to be honest.

jm08

CatFromHue wrote: »

If he were Australian it's debatable whether they'd give him another contract. Look at Elsom for example.

They have it that you have to be ft for a % of games for your club but it's hard to work out in Ireland as an International player will never play a huge amount for their club e.g. Sexton played in 16 games out of a possible 33 for Leinster last season and he had no major injury worries, maybe a game here or there but that's it.

Last contract Ferris signed (2 year extention) was in Sept 2010 and finishes in June 2013. I haven't seen any mention of him being in negotiation for a new contract for next season yet (though I'm sure he won't be shown the door considering he is injured and it would really be very poor form of the IRFU to leave him in the lurch with no contract and his injury history).

I'd imagine they would work out how many game they are available for rather than how many games they played (though Sexton would have played 25+ game last season between Leinster & International so would obviously not be an injury risk player).

CatFromHue

I meant if he were going for a contract next season.

Podge_irl

I like the guy as a player but I don't necessarily think it would be poor form to question a new contract at all. The guy is being paid a lot of money to barely play. At the least I would suspect any new contract would be heavily weighted to playing time. Just the nature of pro sports unfortunately.

Swiwi

Podge_irl wrote: »

I like the guy as a player but I don't necessarily think it would be poor form to question a new contract at all. The guy is being paid a lot of money to barely play. At the least I would suspect any new contract would be heavily weighted to playing time. Just the nature of pro sports unfortunately.

I would agree. Excellent player...but he should get good coin only if he plays. I think most player unions take out injury insurance, though. I'm pretty sure all the NZ players, from SXV up (or even maybe ITM cup up) have collective injury insurance or such, so that their salary is still paid if not playing. Does this exist in Ireland?

bilston

We will see what happens but I cant see him getting a central contract. Maybe he will get a contract from Ulster which could be upgraded to a central contract dependent on number of games he plays for Ireland. For example if he gets through the AIs and Ulsters HEC pool games maybe he gets upgraded?

I just hope we havent seen the last of him. He is still only 27 or 28, he should be in his prime.

CatFromHue

I remember Donal Lenihan saying on RTE just after he got injured that it was a lot more serious than thought and he could be out for awhile.........then someone talked over him and that was the end of that.

overshoot

ok cheerier part, the playing of the h cup qf... what end are ulster getting? best up on ticket master now are behind the goals, l14-17 or l33/34. any suggestions?

[Jackass]

As if being an Ulster fan wasn't enough fun lately, in addition to Ravenhill's development racing ahead...



Plans have been released for the new 40,000 all seater stadium redevelopment of Casement Park - which imaginably the Ulster union will look to do a deal with GAA for use for any potential home Heineken Cup semi final, without the need to travel to Dublin, and who knows, might even open the door for some usage for a game or two a season similar to how Leinster use Lansdowne Road.





I don't know why they show hurlers, as it's practically non-existant in Ulster...

Superb facilities being put in place in Belfast now.

On a side note, for those of you like me who just love stadiums / sporting infrastructure, the 18,000 capacity Windsor Park not only looks great, but looks way bigger than 18,000 too - i.e. the same size as Ravenhill once developed...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prgq3tivl_k

It's getting very lonely around Leinster with our sh*tty facilities. Really wish something would be announced with RDS soon, or some miracle investment in Donnybrook!

totallegend

[Jackass] wrote: »

Plans have been released for the new 40,000 all seater stadium redevelopment of Casement Park - which imaginably the Ulster union will look to do a deal with GAA for use for any potential home Heineken Cup semi final, without the need to travel to Dublin, and who knows, might even open the door for some usage for a game or two a season similar to how Leinster use Lansdowne Road.

Would Ulster sell 40,000 tickets for a quarter-final? Couple of stumbling blocks to this anyway;
1) The Ulster GAA lads were the most vehemently opposed to the use of Croke Park. As Casement will be under the control of the Ulster Branch, rather than Central Council, it might be a hard sell.
2) If Ulster sell the naming rights to Ravenhill, then it might not be possible to move the game at all.

Still, exciting times in Belfast.

awec

totallegend wrote: »

Would Ulster sell 40,000 tickets for a quarter-final? Couple of stumbling blocks to this anyway;
1) The Ulster GAA lads were the most vehemently opposed to the use of Croke Park. As Casement will be under the control of the Ulster Branch, rather than Central Council, it might be a hard sell.
2) If Ulster sell the naming rights to Ravenhill, then it might not be possible to move the game at all.

Still, exciting times in Belfast.

I'd say a quarter final involving us that stays in Belfast could fill out a 40,000 stadium. It would depend on the opposition.

But you are otherwise right, the Ulster GAA are the stumbling block.

postitnote

I'm not sure how the residents in the area would feel about having 40000 rugby fans walking up the Andytown Road. In fact, i'm not sure how i'd feel about that either.

awec

How different is it to 40,000 GAA heads walking up it?