Ulster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

PJ is slick, has been for years. Lets keep him out of Ireland squads till Ireland are ready to have him (not the other way round!).

leonard7

anyone know if you can buy this jersey?

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?start=100&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1525&bih=712&tbm=isch&tbnid=Dco9GK_cgUkfRM:&imgrefurl=http://www.irishrugby.ie/provincial/news/27132.php&docid=V_oFrH-NJAoI0M&imgurl=http://www.irishrugby.ie/images/news/StephenFerris3_lineout_UlstertrainRavenhill12.jpg&w=495&h=495&ei=0hxoUIPIM5GX0QXLqIDYBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=492&vpy=222&dur=470&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=158&ty=119&sig=112555873379708948306&page=5&tbnh=173&tbnw=197&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:22,s:100,i:161

totallegend

Preliminary Ulster Squad announced for Friday; Rory Best in line for first appearance. Still no Pienaar but a strong squad:

FORWARDS (14):
Rob Herring, Rory Best, Declan Fitzpatrick, John Afoa, Tom Court, Callum Black, Johann Muller, Dan Tuohy, Lewis Stevenson, Stephen Ferris, Mike McComish, Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, Nick Williams.
BACKS (11):
Paul Marshall, Michael Heaney, Niall O’Connor, Paddy Jackson, Paddy Wallace, Darren Cave, Luke Marshall, Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe, Craig Gilroy, Jared Payne.

backawaygo onahead

With Castres next week, Rory a likely starter, maybe Deccie to see if he is good to go & everyone seems to be expecting Fez back. Johann to return assuming fit.

Despite noises saying Allen may be fit I don't expect him so Patrick Wallace to start & Skywalker to bench.

thomond2006

totallegend wrote: »

Preliminary Ulster Squad announced for Friday; Rory Best in line for first appearance. Still no Pienaar but a strong squad:

FORWARDS (14):
Rob Herring, Rory Best, Declan Fitzpatrick, John Afoa, Tom Court, Callum Black, Johann Muller, Dan Tuohy, Lewis Stevenson, Stephen Ferris, Mike McComish, Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, Nick Williams.
BACKS (11):
Paul Marshall, Michael Heaney, Niall O’Connor, Paddy Jackson, Paddy Wallace, Darren Cave, Luke Marshall, Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe, Craig Gilroy, Jared Payne.

Pienaar is back next Monday, it will be interesting to see if Ulster give him time off since next week the HEC starts.

I reckon Ulster will name their strongest side, it will be interesting to see who starts between Gilroy and Trimble.

irishbucsfan

Looking at that side you realise just how good Ulster could be this year. I'd expect to see:

Court, Best, Afoa, Muller, Tuohy/Stevenson, Ferris, Henry, Williams; Marshall, PJ, Trimble, Wallace, Cave, Bowe, Payne

I'd expect McComish and Luke Marshall will be the two dropping out (NOC taking the dreaded 22 jersey )

Although as Thomond said, wouldn't be surprised if Gilroy is putting pressure on Trimble for his place these days... Great competition there.

backawaygo onahead

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Looking at that side you realise just how good Ulster could be this year. I'd expect to see:

Court, Best, Afoa, Muller, Tuohy/Stevenson, Ferris, Henry, Williams; Marshall, PJ, Trimble, Wallace, Cave, Bowe, Payne

I'd expect McComish and Luke Marshall will be the two dropping out (NOC taking the dreaded 22 jersey )

Although as Thomond said, wouldn't be surprised if Gilroy is putting pressure on Trimble for his place these days... Great competition there.

You are one wrong on the starting team, maybe 2 depending on your 2nd row selection;)

bilston

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Looking at that side you realise just how good Ulster could be this year. I'd expect to see:

Court, Best, Afoa, Muller, Tuohy/Stevenson, Ferris, Henry, Williams; Marshall, PJ, Trimble, Wallace, Cave, Bowe, Payne

I'd expect McComish and Luke Marshall will be the two dropping out (NOC taking the dreaded 22 jersey )

Although as Thomond said, wouldn't be surprised if Gilroy is putting pressure on Trimble for his place these days... Great competition there.

I think NOC will drop out and probably McComish...but in fairness to McComish he's played well when given the opportunity this season and in MA's mind he may still be ahead of Henderson in the pecking order...for now anyway...however I still expect Henderson will get the nod.

As for the team I've learnt not to second guess MA but I'll do it anyway. I think he'll want to get as close to his HEC XV onto the pitch from the start as possible, however there are 5 or 6 spots that are either up for grabs or else have players just returning from either rest or injury. However there are some interesting questions:

15 Payne
14 Bowe
13 Cave
12 Wallace - Marshall has done well but Wallace really was excellent against Cardiff, we'll find out how Anscombe sees it.
11 Trimble - I think Trimble will get the nod but I wouldn't rule Gilroy out for a start, he's impressed from the bench and has looked a bit more threatening than Trimble IMO.
10 Jackson
9 Marshall
1 Court
2 Best - This is Rory's first game so he may start from the bench?
3 Afoa
4 Muller - Muller is just back from a slight knock, maybe Stevenson might start and Muller will be protected?
5 Tuohy - Stevenson has been excellent this season, does he deserve to be dropped? But then Tuohy was very good last weekend!
6 Ferris - Apparently he has a bit of a shoulder injury, nothing serious I assume but I wouldn't be surprised if Henderson started this one with Fez held back on the bench.
7 Henry
8 Williams

irishbucsfan

Maybe it would be a good idea to get Fitzpatrick another bit of game time as he'll probably not get many full games during the H Cup/AI period.

backawaygo onahead

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Maybe it would be a good idea to get Fitzpatrick another bit of game time as he'll probably not get many full games during the H Cup/AI period.

Bingo.

backawaygo onahead

Late news: Michael Heaney signed until end of season.

thomond2006

backawaygo onahead wrote: »

Late news: Michael Heaney signed until end of season.

I'm not surprised, his peformances have merited it.

bilston

thomond2006 wrote: »

I'm not surprised, his peformances have merited it.

He's done alright and certainly seems to be better than McIlroy, Heaney was pure muck against the Ospreys though, however to be fair to the lad he was paired up with you know who! He seems more comfortable playing alongside PJ who he played with at school.

thomond2006

bilston wrote: »

He's done alright and certainly seems to be better than McIlroy, Heaney was pure muck against the Ospreys though, however to be fair to the lad he was paired up with you know who! He seems more comfortable playing alongside PJ who he played with at school.

Yes it's a bit difficult I'd say to play with a guy who is permanently rooted to a spot 20 metres behind you.

profitius

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Looking at that side you realise just how good Ulster could be this year. I'd expect to see:

Northampton are favourites for their HEC group. The saints are good but I think Ulster have a much better team.

thomond2006

profitius wrote: »

Northampton are favourites for the HEC group. The saints are good but I think Ulster have a much better team.

Foden will miss the first couple of HEC games which will hurt them, their props aren't 80 minutes players. They'll never achieve if they don't stick to playing the same outhalf, plus neither are up to it. If I were Mallinder, I would get rid of both Myler and Lamb and sign a player the level of Nick Evans.

totallegend

thomond2006 wrote: »

Foden will miss the first couple of HEC games which will hurt them, their props aren't 80 minutes players.

Plus Hartley is doubtful for the opening rounds as well so Saints could be down a couple of points before Ulster come up against them

thomond2006 wrote: »

They'll never achieve if they don't stick to playing the same outhalf, plus neither are up to it. If I were Mallinder, I would get rid of both Myler and Lamb and sign a player the level of Nick Evans.

I agree, just not sure how many players of the level of Nick Evans are floating around, he is a class act and not far off the best OH in the competition.

bilston

The group could be tight enough. I fancy Ulster will win all three home games, and actually I'd be hoping for 12 points minimum from our home games but actually I think we're capable of getting 14.

Away from home it gets tougher obviously, Glasgow is never an easy place to go, if the lads are focused they should have enough for a win but if they're off their game they'll lose.

Castres away is the last game, that suits us perfectly as I expect they'll be out of contention by then and while French teams always turn up at home I really do think this will be the year we break our duck on French soil (notwithstanding our pre season win in Bayonne:D).

Northampton away will be tough but strangely the Glasgow away game worries me more. I'm just totally unimpressed by the AP, I watched Northampton a few weeks ago, I think it was Exeter they were playing and to be honest while they'll obviously be hard to beat at Franklins Gardens I think we're more than capable of beating them.

Anyway I've always felt the key to Ulster this season was how PJ went at 10. So far the signs are very good, if he stays fit and keeps up his current level of performance (and improves) then I think we'll have a good season.

backawaygo onahead

Like your post Bilston, FG will not be any easy game of course but it should never be forgotten that BJ was just back from injury & TC boaked on the pitch before the game at MK.

2 years on I don't think either of their props are as good as then & our forward strength is considerably better plus of course we have deprived them of Roger.

I always fear the trip to Weegies, they are crap but have a habit of bringing others down to their hateful style of play - completely negative & hoping to scavenge.

Assuming we wreck Castres first up & do a job at Weegies the following week I see Saints being the team playing catch up.

thomond2006

Random question: When is Pienaar's contract up?

totallegend

thomond2006 wrote: »

Random question: When is Pienaar's contract up?

End of next season afaik

jacothelad

totallegend wrote: »

End of next season afaik

I think it's the end of next season. He renewed for 2 years I think.

bilston

Mark Anscombe has made five changes to the starting team for the PRO12 derby against Connacht at Ravenhill on Fri (7.05pm).
Rory Best will play for his Province for the first time since the Heineken Cup final in May. Declan Fitzpatrick, Johann Muller, Stephen Ferris and Paddy Wallace are all called into the starting XV.
Ulster XV & replacements to face Connacht, RaboDirect PRO12, Friday 5th October, Ravenhill (7.05pm):
(15-9): J Payne; T Bowe, D Cave, P Wallace, A Trimble; P Jackson, P Marshall;
(1-8): T Court, R Best, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (c), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, N Williams;
Replacements (16-23): R Herring, C Black, J Afoa, L Stevenson, M McComish, M Heaney, L Marshall, C Gilroy.

Only slight annoyance is the selection of McComish over Henderson on the bench...in saying that McComish has done well so far this season so probably deserves it, but we all know that Henderson won't be behind McComish for too much longer...

irishbucsfan

Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Henderson was to take a step back now and really focus on filling out his frame. He has the potential to be a massive guy and I'd hope he'll go on to fill in for Muller when his playing days come to an end. Ulster have Ferris, Diack and McComish so it's not like they're really stuck for blindside flankers.

Wexfordboy89

Michael Heaney has extended his deal until the end of the season

http://www1.skysports.com/rugby-union/news/15184/8137026/Ulster-reward-scrum-half-Michael-Heaney-with-extended-deal

jacothelad

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Henderson was to take a step back now and really focus on filling out his frame. He has the potential to be a massive guy and I'd hope he'll go on to fill in for Muller when his playing days come to an end. Ulster have Ferris, Diack and McComish so it's not like they're really stuck for blindside flankers.

Henderson is already heavier than anyone else at Ulster apart from Afoa. If he gets any heavier he will lose a lot of what makes him a potentially great player - his pace.

irishbucsfan

jacothelad wrote: »

Henderson is already heavier than anyone else at Ulster apart from Afoa. If he gets any heavier he will lose a lot of what makes him a potentially great player - his pace.

It's not about adding weight. It's about a year in the gym adding power. You cannot be a great 2nd row without being able to generate power in the scrums and in the tight.

I don't think he'll necessarilly have to sacrifice speed to manage that. Although he may be too short to be able to realistically maintain his athleticism as a professional lock.

jacothelad

irishbucsfan wrote: »

It's not about adding weight. It's about a year in the gym adding power. You cannot be a great 2nd row without being able to generate power in the scrums and in the tight.

I don't think he'll necessarilly have to sacrifice speed to manage that. Although he may be too short to be able to realistically maintain his athleticism as a professional lock.

Is 6'6" too short? I'd have thought being bigger and faster and more athletic than POC and DOC, Tuohy and Ryan and the same height or taller was a good place to start.

irishbucsfan

jacothelad wrote: »

Is 6'6" too short? I'd have thought being bigger and faster and more athletic than POC and DOC, Tuohy and Ryan and the same height or taller was a good place to start.

I didn't say he was too short to be great. I said he may be too short to stay as athletic as he is right now. The players who keep that range are guys like Richie Gray who can get away with it at scrum time.

I don't think he needs to add any weight, never said he did. He needs to add power and fill out properly, like every emerging 2nd row player at this point in their career. Do you really think he is ready to scrummage against a top class outfit?

jacothelad

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I didn't say he was too short to be great. I said he may be too short to stay as athletic as he is right now. The players who keep that range are guys like Richie Gray who can get away with it at scrum time.

I don't think he needs to add any weight, never said he did. He needs to add power and fill out properly, like every emerging 2nd row player at this point in their career. Do you really think he is ready to scrummage against a top class outfit?

" Although he may be too short to be able to realistically maintain his athleticism as a professional lock."

I really don't understand this. Are you really suggesting that there are no athletic 6'6" locks e.g. Mick Galwey, 6'4", Paul O'Connell, 6'6" or Donacha Ryan also 6'6", or Dan Tuohy who is very athletic at 6'5". It is obvious to me that there are in fact, many, but for some reason Henderson is 'too short'.? Tom Croft is 6'6" and very athletic but I'd rather have Tuohy, Ryan or even the under rated Stevenson ahead of him as a lock. I'd even rather have Henderson ahead of him as a lock. Maybe he'll grow another inch. Maybe he'll turn into a grunt merchant only. We don't know.

I wouldn't want him to turn into a 20 stone player like Bob Casey and you are correct that he needs to carry a lot of hard muscle. As for his scrummaging ability - how would we know? I guess that his coach thinks he will need a while and he has fierce competition from 3 good players plus McComb who is a decent operator as well. . We can only guess that he needs time. At what age was POC good enough even though he was / is 'smaller'? I'm pretty sure he was about 21 or 22 when he got his first cap. How would you rate Devin Toner's 'athleticism? Is he too tall to be athletic? Ally Kellock is 6'9" and not very atheltic. Go figure.