Ulster vs Munster, Sat 2nd Jan 3pm, Sky Sports

death1234567

Del.Monte wrote: »

Hopefully, today he has finally turned a corner in his career.

He hasn't. He'll still be the same Ian keatley he has always been. Winning an interpro match won't change that.

dubal

dubal wrote: »

Munster have pulled off some amazing results over the years. But this time the gap is bigger than ever...Munster by a score so :-)

Dubal

See, all to plan :-)

Dubal

shootermacg

Bridge93 wrote: »

Ok grand as a fan of a team competing for a top 4 spot I will be absolutely over the moon if that back 3 today plays regularly.

Exactly these guys are short of game time and it shows, but I'd be delighted with anyone other than Z & C, they've had their chance to set the world on fire and have failed.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

aimee1 wrote: »

Jackson is a fine player but his place kicking is why Madigan often gets the bench spot ahead of him for ireland

Generally speaking Madigan is the better place kicker but he's been known to miss when the pressure is on too.

Brewster

Jackson's first penalty was the key one, what happened? Did it come off the inside of post below the bar? Seem to hit the woodwork some way. It was a lovely strike, looked over all the way till it suddenly didn't make it over given the tv angle. 2nd kick was probably not on but you can hardly be too critical of Ulster taking it on. Jackson played very well given that his pack were on back foot all 2nd half, nothing on that performance to show he doesn't deserve to be on bench for Ireland.

irishbucsfan

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Generally speaking Madigan is the better place kicker but he's been known to miss when the pressure is on too.

Really? When was that?

Pink Fairy

Buer wrote: »

Complete waste of a jersey and a pay cheque. He has no interest in being there aside from topping up his bank account. The sooner he's on his bike, the better.

Tell us how you really feel

mansize

SUAF

Pink Fairy

Stheno wrote: »

Is he on one of those medical contracts? I forget what they are called, it's when you bring in a NIQ short term due to injury?

He's a joker! .......

vang

Wouldn't trust his kicking from the tee at Ireland level. Madigan is more reliable and better defensively

bilston

vang wrote: »

Wouldn't trust his kicking from the tee at Ireland level. Madigan is more reliable and better defensively

Jackson is a great little defender.

Sure Madigan is a better kicker than Sexton so maybe he should start for Ireland.

Plus Jackson's kicking has actually been grand this season.

vang

Maybe he just had an off day today but Joe doesn't seem to pick him as he doesn't have the versatility to play st full back or in the centre. Time is on his side as seems to be better this year.

Moflojo

Fair play to Keatley, he had an awesome game. Can anyone shed light on why Cathal Sheridan isn't playing these days? Has he had an injury setback? Both Munster scrumhalves were liabilities today. I don't remember seeing Keatley receive a single pass into the bread basket, and Scannell was forced off with injury after a hospital pass from O'Leary. Even the pass for Keatley's drop goal was behind him and over his head, he had to take two steps back and to his left before he kicked the drop goal. Keatley's performance was even more impressive considering the standard of delivery he received all day!

irishbucsfan

vang wrote: »

Maybe he just had an off day today but Joe doesn't seem to pick him as he doesn't have the versatility to play st full back or in the centre. Time is on his side as seems to be better this year.

He certainly didn't have an off day in the first half when Ulster were on the front foot, he was very good and their backline looked really nice when the forwards were able to keep the ball under control and give the backline time/space.

He's definitely the one I'd go with for Ireland at the moment.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Really? When was that?

I'm thinking of the kick to put us level (I think) with Argentina in the QF at the World Cup and then his kick against Scotland in the 6 Nations last year. We had the game well won but given we knew we would be looking at points difference at the end of the day there was a bit more pressure on him.

I'm not trying to slate Madigan here, he's unquestionably a better kicker than Jackson and even Sexton. I'm just saying when it's a last minute kick to win an important match even the best of kickers can miss.

Brewster

irishbucsfan wrote: »

He certainly didn't have an off day in the first half when Ulster were on the front foot, he was very good and their backline looked really nice when the forwards were able to keep the ball under control and give the backline time/space.

He's definitely the one I'd go with for Ireland at the moment.

Jackson had a great game. He should have got first penalty but it was such a lovely strike it would be hard to criticise him too much. 2nd penalty into wind wasn't on. Not sure who made call to kick it. His general play and control of game in first half was top quality.

vang

Agree that is why ROG was so great he thrived on pressure

bmm

A let off thanks to thanks to Jackson.

Axel gets to breath again.

Keatley played surprisingly well .

bilston

Anyway as far as the game is concerned I was convinced we'd lost from the moment it went 7-6. We were just far too inaccurate in the first half when we had possession and territory. Maybe it was the conditions and perhaps we overplayed it but the round the back passes failed to come off on three or four occasions. If we had converted say the opportunity when Marshall picked a great line off Williams only for Stevenson to muck it up we could have gone in 14-3 up and in those conditions it would have been hard for Munster to come back.

The second half was poor but Munster, thanks to Keatley got a stranglehold. We still had possession, but we didn't have territory, so fair play to Keatley for pinning us back.

Hopefully this will serve as a kick up the arse ahead of next week.

flouncer

dubal wrote: »

See, all to plan :-)

Dubal

If you keep saying as above you are bound to be right eventually. Todays game proves how important a functional Ian Keatley is to the Munster team. And I agree the backline is non-functional. I blame that on TOL giving such obvious ball that it is easy to cover and the fact that saili never passes the fecking ball

Del.Monte

bmm wrote: »

A let off thanks to thanks to Jackson.

Axel gets to breath again.

Keatley played surprisingly well .

Very accurate analysis.

BBDBB

flouncer wrote: »

If you keep saying as above you are bound to be right eventually. Todays game proves how important a functional Ian Keatley is to the Munster team. And I agree the backline is non-functional. I blame that on TOL giving such obvious ball that it is easy to cover and the fact that saili never passes the fecking ball

That's right, TOL is too ponderous at the breakdown. He's no Harry "Green Cross Code" Ellis but given his excellent mobility if he could just speed up half a second per breakdown we would make so much more ground before defences set

Utah_Saint

Utahs steaming conclusions

Ulster were poor
Munsters towards were a bit better than ulster's hence the win
Munster Fans are sound
Munster have no back plays at all. Honestly I would panic as a Munster fan. There is zero ability in your back line at present.
Ulster were poor hence the defeat.
Keatly will never play for Ireland again.
Ref was reasonable fair

8 pints later in feeling ropey

Utah_Saint

Utah_Saint wrote: »

Utahs steaming conclusions

Ulster were poor
Munsters towards were a bit better than ulster's hence the win
Munster Fans are sound
Munster have no back plays at all. Honestly I would panic as a Munster fan. There is zero ability in your back line at present.
Ulster were poor hence the defeat.
Keatly will never play for Ireland again.
Ref was reasonable fair

8 pints later in feeling ropey

And if the rumors are true about ludik leaving ill be gutted...

Now...more water..................................

former total

Munster need to go shopping for as many backs as they can lay hands on. Scannell looked decent at 12 and Saili will put in a good shift but there's a definite lack of class and creativity.

Keatley kicked very well, great awareness of where the space was and executed perfectly, but in terms of creative backline play, not much to talk about.

Ulster were just really inaccurate. They had enough possession to win at a canter but too many handling errors and obviously their try should never have stood. Jackson was poor enough I thought, sprayed some lovely passes around in the first half but to no real effect, didn't offer much in the second half at all.

Good result for Munster but not sure Foley will be happy with too many aspects.

Utah_Saint

former total wrote: »

Munster need to go shopping for as many backs as they can lay hands on. Scannell looked decent at 12 and Saili will put in a good shift but there's a definite lack of class and creativity.

Keatley kicked very well, great awareness of where the space was and executed perfectly, but in terms of creative backline play, not much to talk about.

Ulster were just really inaccurate. They had enough possession to win at a canter but too many handling errors and obviously their try should never have stood. Jackson was poor enough I thought, sprayed some lovely passes around in the first half but to no real effect, didn't offer much in the second half at all.

Good result for Munster but not sure Foley will be happy with too many aspects.

Good post

Yes, ulster couldve won easily but very inaccurate

TheGoldenAges

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I'm thinking of the kick to put us level (I think) with Argentina in the QF at the World Cup and then his kick against Scotland in the 6 Nations last year. We had the game well won but given we knew we would be looking at points difference at the end of the day there was a bit more pressure on him.

I'm not trying to slate Madigan here, he's unquestionably a better kicker than Jackson and even Sexton. I'm just saying when it's a last minute kick to win an important match even the best of kickers can miss.

Not excusing the Scotland miss (Was an easy kick by international standards) but the Argentinian miss was a tough kick. It was just over the half way line on his bad side. Many easier kicks were missed by better flyhalfs throughout the tournament. Don't forget he's nailed many pressure kicks throughout his career.

flouncer

former total wrote: »

Munster need to go shopping for as many backs as they can lay hands on. Scannell looked decent at 12 and Saili will put in a good shift but there's a definite lack of class and creativity.

Keatley kicked very well, great awareness of where the space was and executed perfectly, but in terms of creative backline play, not much to talk about.

Ulster were just really inaccurate. They had enough possession to win at a canter but too many handling errors and obviously their try should never have stood. Jackson was poor enough I thought, sprayed some lovely passes around in the first half but to no real effect, didn't offer much in the second half at all.

Good result for Munster but not sure Foley will be happy with too many aspects.

hard for any backline to be creative if they dont get quality distribution. example connacht yesterday. so dont blame the backline. they can only work with what they are given and what they are currently given is rubbish.

thomond2006

That Saili drop under the posts from Jackson's miss was a knock on right? That was a big let off for Munster IMO, although I haven't seen it back.

irishbucsfan

thomond2006 wrote: »

That Saili drop under the posts from Jackson's miss was a knock on right? That was a big let off for Munster IMO, although I haven't seen it back.

I thought it went backwards myself