Leinster v Ulster, Sat 28 Dec 6:45pm; Live on RTE2, BBC2NI

irishbucsfan

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 Martin Moore, 2 Aaron Dundon, 1 Michael Bent.
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Mike Ross, 18 Jack O'Connell, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Dominic Ryan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Darragh Fanning.

Ulster: 15 Ricky Andrew, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Sean Doyle, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Tom Court, 18 Nicky Lutton, 19 Neil McComb, 20 Mike McComish, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Jared Payne, 23 Michael Allen.

Date: Saturday, 28 December
Venue: RDS Dublin
Kick-off: 18:45 GMT
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon, Eddie Hagan-O'Connell (both Ireland)
Citing Commissioner: Eugene Ryan (Ireland)
TMO: Sean Flannery (Ireland)

From planetrugby.com

awec

Draw

Lacey again?! :mad:

Glass Prison 1214

Ulster BP win

Great write up

molloyjh

Class. Who needs tables....

Buer

Tox56

awec wrote: »

Lacey again?! :mad:

I know he's not the most popular with ulster fans but his a fine ref, one of the better ones imo. It could be a lot lot worse is what im saying

awec

Draw

Tox56 wrote: »

I know he's not the most popular with ulster fans but his a fine ref, one of the better ones imo. It could be a lot lot worse is what im saying

awec disagrees!

awec

Draw

El Gringos vs Los Mexicanos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZYPa6tI43Q

OLE! OLE!

awec

Draw

Poll added.

thomond2006

Ulster BP win

awec wrote: »

Poll added.

No Delon Armitage / Dylan Hartley / Neil Francis / Mark McCafferty / Nigel Wray option?

molloyjh

Tox56 wrote: »

I know he's not the most popular with ulster fans but his a fine ref, one of the better ones imo. It could be a lot lot worse is what im saying

Guess who's on touch duty....

Teferi

Completely forgot to buy a ticket for this and it's sold out now I believe. Merde.

molloyjh

Teferi wrote: »

Completely forgot to buy a ticket for this and it's sold out now I believe. Merde.

Sullivlo mentioned she had a spare....

awec

Draw

I've been watching the ticket exchange and there has been about 8 tickets in the past 10 minutes. Need to keep refreshing just!

molloyjh

awec wrote: »

I've been watching the ticket exchange and there has been about 8 tickets in the past 10 minutes. Need to keep refreshing just!

Just about to say the same. 3 there now.

freyners

awec wrote: »

Lacey again?! :mad:

could be philips, count yourself lucky:P

phog

awec wrote: »

Lacey again?! :mad:

I think Lacey is a fine ref.

Swiwi.

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

Great write up

Yeah it's excellent. But no table. I mean all the great previewers always include a table. It's not rocket science. Says the pot calling the kettle black.

Swiwi.

The weather could kill this game. However, I'm happy to see Kirchner get a run at 15, in theory he should stand out, especially with Payne on the Ulster bench. Also, see how Gopperth copes with potentially "Windy Wellington"-like conditions. He might just feel right at home (although he's a New Plymouth lad, truth be told). Good to see SOB back, a sight for sore eyes, and potentially a difference between the 2 sides. Hard to see this being a high-scoring affair, so any points on offer will hopefully be gratefully received.

awec

Draw

Interestingly, our entire starting team from 1-15 are all Irish qualified players.

phog

George Hook IV is the team mascot for the game.

cloneslad

One of the lads was supposed to get me a ticket for the game but he let me down, looks like I'll be watching it on tv instead

Tim Robbins

Ulster BP win

phog wrote: »

I think Lacey is a fine ref.

Definitely better than Fitzgibbon. Would be interesting to see an assessment of Lacy or is it just a case people give out because they lose?

Hagz

Lacey is right up there with my least favourite refs. I don't like how unwilling he is to communicate with both teams. It's his way or no way. I find that he can be really pedantic at the breakdown one minute, and then very lenient the next. I'd imagine it's difficult for teams to have a clear understanding of what he's looking for.

Tox56

awec wrote: »

Interestingly, our entire starting team from 1-15 are all Irish qualified players.

Across the four starting 15s in the provincial derbies this weekend, only 4 of the 60 players are NIQ, and one of those (White) will soon be IQ. Great to see.

Morf

awec wrote: »

El Gringos vs Los Mexicanos.



OLE! OLE!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Rqdgna3Yw

.ak

Hagz wrote: »

Lacey is right up there with my least favourite refs. I don't like how unwilling he is to communicate with both teams. It's his way or no way. I find that he can be really pedantic at the breakdown one minute, and then very lenient the next. I'd imagine it's difficult for teams to have a clear understanding of what he's looking for.

Have to say I've found him the opposite. His communicating during a game is very clear and concise. Maybe that's just me, but I think he's the best Irish ref outside of Rolland

awec

Draw

Hagz wrote: »

Lacey is right up there with my least favourite refs. I don't like how unwilling he is to communicate with both teams. It's his way or no way. I find that he can be really pedantic at the breakdown one minute, and then very lenient the next. I'd imagine it's difficult for teams to have a clear understanding of what he's looking for.

I agree.

Ulster at the breakdown - can't get the whistle into his mouth quick enough.

Leinster at the breakdown - ah whatever yous want there lads, work away. Ah sure tackle the man there without the ball, it's not as if I'm going to give the deserved penalty try.

I do not rate Lacey. I find him infuriatingly inconsistent.

Tox56

awec wrote: »

I agree.

Ulster at the breakdown - can't get the whistle into his mouth quick enough.

Leinster at the breakdown - ah whatever yous want there lads, work away. Ah sure tackle the man there without the ball, it's not as if I'm going to give the deserved penalty try.

I do not rate Lacey. I find him infuriatingly inconsistent.

What you're accusing him of there is bias, which is something a lot bigger than inconsistency. Not going back into that game again but leaving it aside I've always found him an above average ref, in fact his communicating to players was what made him stand out to me in the first place. I'll see what happens tomorrow and I'll keep a closer eye on him, but most of the time I watch him I'm impressed

former legend

awec wrote: »

I agree.

Ulster at the breakdown - can't get the whistle into his mouth quick enough.

Leinster at the breakdown - ah whatever yous want there lads, work away. Ah sure tackle the man there without the ball, it's not as if I'm going to give the deserved penalty try.

I do not rate Lacey. I find him infuriatingly inconsistent.

Are you seriously suggesting he's pro-Leinster and anti-Ulster?

We've all had matches that haven't gone our way. Time to move on.

awec

Draw

former legend wrote: »

Are you seriously suggesting he's pro-Leinster and anti-Ulster?

We've all had matches that haven't gone our way. Time to move on.

No, I'm not really suggesting that. My post was partly tongue in cheek.

Though I don't like him as a ref. Hopefully he has a better game tomorrow.

.ak

Awec was suggesting that! Get him!!

Morf

There's not really any ref I like all the time.

They are up and down and being strict on one thing and lax on another even without the emphasis from above on a certain element after elite referee conferences.

Being interesting to see what's being blown up for at alarming regularity in the first two rounds of the 6N.

Then again a certain sexy idol of mine has an opinion of criticising referees . . .

connemara man

Dear Ulster and Leinster please please please can you give us a better spectacle of a match than Connacht vs Munster yours truly a Connacht fan

.ak

connemara man wrote: »

Dear Ulster and Leinster please please please can you give us a better spectacle of a match than Connacht vs Munster yours truly a Connacht fan

Ah to be honest that's down to the weather. Wouldn't hold your breath.

connemara man

.ak wrote: »

Ah to be honest that's down to the weather. Wouldn't hold your breath.

Oh I know but even if the discipline is better itll be a better spectacle

Morf

connemara man wrote: »

Oh I know but even if the indiscipline is better it'll be a better spectacle

connemara man

Morf wrote: »

Skirmishes are grand its more at the breakdown and offside I meant

Morf

connemara man wrote: »

Skirmishes are grand its more at the breakdown and offside I meant

I was just being silly.

I'll be happy if Leinster can just win the punch-up tomorrow.

[Jackass]

Ulster BP win

With Munster pulling away at the top and second place up for grabs, as well as a really tight arm wrestle between 5 teams for 4 play-off spots, this is a must win game for both sides.

Given it's the home leg, Leinster must absolutely win this game.

Looking forward to it.

sullivlo

molloyjh wrote: »

Sullivlo mentioned she had a spare....

I will know tomorrow & post accordingly!

phog

A draw would be great :-)

sullivlo

sullivlo wrote: »

I will know tomorrow & post accordingly!

Have put a ticket for north stand on ticket exchange.

durkadurka

sullivlo wrote: »

Have put a ticket for north stand on ticket exchange.

There's normally tons of tickets on the exchange. Why is this game so high demand?
Gonna be a great crowd by the look of it.

P.C.

.ak wrote: »

Ah to be honest that's down to the weather. Wouldn't hold your breath.

Weather looks like ti will be OK: http://www.yr.no/place/Ireland/Leinster/Dublin/hour_by_hour.html

Swiwi.

durkadurka wrote: »

There's normally tons of tickets on the exchange. Why is this game so high demand?
Gonna be a great crowd by the look of it.

Most people on holidays, sport during the festive period is always sell-out material eg the annual Boxing Day (=Stephen's Day) test match in Australia...admittedly they always have incredible weather...but then Dublin is smiling on its locals so far today.

durkadurka

I appreciate that but I don't remember such demand for a Christmas game before.


Anyway my main hope is that we grind out a win tonight. After failing to win the last two when we had the chance, and watching munstrr do it, I think we really need to dig out a win by hook or by crook.

Swiwi.

durkadurka wrote: »

I appreciate that but I don't remember such demand for a Christmas game before.


Anyway my main hope is that we grind out a win tonight. After failing to win the last two when we had the chance, and watching munstrr do it, I think we really need to dig out a win by hook or by crook.

Munster are making winning a habit at present, even if their supporters despair somewhat at the method. This game could go either way alright, and I think I would just take a win, any sort, to get the ship back on track.

Thomas D

I just picked one up on the exchange. Has anyone ever presented the ticket on their phone to be scanned? I've no printer where i am now.

Swiwi.

Thomas D wrote: »

I just picked one up on the exchange. Has anyone ever presented the ticket on their phone to be scanned? I've no printer where i am now.

I thought about using that trick for the Aviva match - but glad I didn't, as there is no way the iPhone would fit! I went to a local hotel who printed out the ticket for me. But maybe the RDS might be OK.

Thomas D

Swiwi. wrote: »

I thought about using that trick for the Aviva match - but glad I didn't, as there is no way the iPhone would fit! I went to a local hotel who printed out the ticket for me. But maybe the RDS might be OK.

They usually have the hand scanners. Its a risk.