Ulster Team Talk Thread III: Les Miserables SEE MOD WARNING POST #1924 + #2755

stephen_n

awec wrote: »

Someone who McPhillips can deputise for will do.

If he gets any game time that is.

awec

stephen_n wrote: »

If he gets any game time that is.

Why wouldn't he? The new signing is hardly going to be as good as Lealiifaano, and if it's Donald he's not exactly a spring chicken either.

awec

BelTel are now running the Stephen Donald story. They have been pretty accurate recently with transfer news.

stephen_n

awec wrote: »

Why wouldn't he? The new signing is hardly going to be as good as Lealiifaano, and if it's Donald he's not exactly a spring chicken either.

I don't get your logic, a few days ago McPhillips isn't good enough, therefore CL should play every minute posssible. No room for player development at all. Now suddenly McPhillips is good enough because Stephen Donald isn't as good (subjective) as CL?

awec

stephen_n wrote: »

I don't get your logic, a few days ago McPhillips isn't good enough, therefore CL should play every minute posssible. No room for player development at all. Now suddenly McPhillips is good enough because Stephen Donald isn't as good (subjective) as CL?

Do you really think that player development means throwing players in to matches as often as you can?

How do you know McPhillips was training well enough to demand inclusion in the senior team earlier in the season? Was he training well enough for us to take off Lealiifaano in matches? We were selecting Peter Nelson ahead of McPhillips, it's not unfair to suggest that perhaps he wasn't showing that he was ready at that stage.

We won't have Lealiifaano any more. McPhillips has been given a go or two and shown he may have something. Our next 10 won't be as good as Lealiifaano, the barrier for him will be lower. He'll get his chance. I don't expect much from him, I think it's still very early in his development.

But of course, Ulster should just not play one of their most important players because random appearances for a young guy who isn't ready yet are of utmost importance.

errlloyd

BBC reporting the Beaver. Happy days for Ulster fans, he had a great season last year.

stephen_n

awec wrote: »

Do you really think that player development means throwing players in to matches as often as you can?

How do you know McPhillips was training well enough to demand inclusion in the senior team earlier in the season? Was he training well enough for us to take off Lealiifaano in matches? We were selecting Peter Nelson ahead of McPhillips, it's not unfair to suggest that perhaps he wasn't showing that he was ready at that stage.

We won't have Lealiifaano any more. McPhillips has been given a go or two and shown he may have something. Our next 10 won't be as good as Lealiifaano, the barrier for him will be lower. He'll get his chance. I don't expect much from him, I think it's still very early in his development.

But of course, Ulster should just not play one of their most important players because random appearances for a young guy who isn't ready yet are of utmost importance.

Is everything black and white with you? Schrödinger’s cat must really piss you off. It’s called balance, what happened if CL blew his ACL in November? Or if Donald gets injured in a few weeks time? Do you not think it’s better to have a player with at least some limited experience playing lesser sides? It’s gas you go on about Leinster advantages of depth, but completely ignore how they came about. Giving Ross Byrne limited game time was what got him to the point he could start, when Sexton was out. Same with pretty much every position on the pitch though.

awec

stephen_n wrote: »

Is everything black and white with you? Schrödinger’s cat must really piss you off. It’s called balance, what happened if CL blew his ACL in November? Or if Donald gets injured in a few weeks time? Do you not think it’s better to have a player with at least some limited experience playing lesser sides? It’s gas you go on about Leinster advantages of depth, but completely ignore how they came about. Giving Ross Byrne limited game time was what got him to the point he could start, when Sexton was out. Same with pretty much every position on the pitch though.

I bet you that Ross Byrne got game time with Leinster once he showed in training he was ready for it, and not a minute before that.

If Donald gets injured in a few weeks time Ulster are absolutely screwed. It wouldn't matter how many 20 minute performances or starts against Pro14 basement dwellers McPhillips had, we'd be no less screwed.

Squidgy Black

awec wrote: »

I bet you that Ross Byrne got game time with Leinster once he showed in training he was ready for it, and not a minute before that.

If Donald gets injured in a few weeks time Ulster are absolutely screwed. It wouldn't matter how many 20 minute performances or starts against Pro14 basement dwellers McPhillips had, we'd be no less screwed.

Actually Ross Byrne only got gametime initially at 10 because of a long string of injuries, Sexton was out as was Cathal Marsh. Carbery played 10 instead but then got injured too. So Byrne was pretty much our only choice and Isa/Noel Reid were backup 10.

stephen_n

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Actually Ross Byrne only got gametime initially at 10 because of a long string of injuries, Sexton was out as was Cathal Marsh. Carbery played 10 instead but then got injured too. So Byrne was pretty much our only choice and Isa/Noel Reid were backup 10.

Ross Byrne had been getting limited game time the season before last, even starting a game against Dragons iirc, he then got injured. We don’t know if he would have been ahead of Marsh or not, before Sexton and Carbery were away with Ireland. All we know is a fit Marsh has never been picked ahead of Byrne since.

swiwi_

errlloyd wrote: »

BBC reporting the Beaver. Happy days for Ulster fans, he had a great season last year.

As a 12. He’s quite a decent 2nd five. Not sure about 10 though anymore. He’s kind of like Keatley 3 steps forward then a step back. Nice guy from all accounts would no doubt fit in well.

typhoony

awec wrote: »

I bet you that Ross Byrne got game time with Leinster once he showed in training he was ready for it, and not a minute before that.

If Donald gets injured in a few weeks time Ulster are absolutely screwed. It wouldn't matter how many 20 minute performances or starts against Pro14 basement dwellers McPhillips had, we'd be no less screwed.

I think Ross Byrne was initially 4th or even 5th choice for Leinster October\November 2016 and then marsh\carbery\sexton and nacewa had injuries and he was thrust into the team and hasn't taken a step back and is now arguably 2nd choice and an able deputy for sexton. Don't forget he was ahead of carbery in the u20's team so no real surprise I guess

molloyjh

Carbery and Byrne basically got dropped in and performed well enough from the off. McPhillips did well against Leinster. That didn’t come out of nowhere. There’s no way that he was too poor for game time 2-3 weeks ago and suddenly was able to produce a very decent performance against Leinster in the RDS behind a beaten pack.

While I’m sure Ulster could have gotten away with a serious injury to CL and dropping McPhillips in last minute it was still a risky approach. They need to get him a decent chunk of game time now because he is worth it and giving him the game time now will better ensure he’s able to step up if/when required.

Yeah_Right

Hope you have some good fishing spots up in Ulster to keep Beaver entertained. Looking forward to seeing him play. Just hope he shows more interest than he did in his time at Bath.

awec

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Hope you have some good fishing spots up in Ulster to keep Beaver entertained. Looking forward to seeing him play. Just hope he shows more interest than he did in his time at Bath.

Yea mate we have the atlantic ocean and the irish sea.

Rugby Pod just said Quade Cooper

awec

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/42628930

No harm to Hendo, but interviews like this really frustrate me. It's the same thing we've heard for years. I'm tired of hearing players going on about how they're putting in the hard hours and how they're working to fix the problems. It's one thing talking about it, it's about time Ulster actually did it.

I'm glad to hear they are aware that the defence isn't good enough. Hopefully this hasn't been something they've only recently realised.

awec

On another note he says the contract isn't sorted because of logistical issues around personnel which I take to mean it's delayed because Nucifora is presumably taking a bit of time after the sad news about his daughter.

Utah_Saint

awec wrote: »

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/42628930

No harm to Hendo, but interviews like this really frustrate me. It's the same thing we've heard for years. I'm tired of hearing players going on about how they're putting in the hard hours and how they're working to fix the problems. It's one thing talking about it, it's about time Ulster actually did it.

I'm glad to hear they are aware that the defence isn't good enough. Hopefully this hasn't been something they've only recently realised.

That's a few players who have said the same thing about working really hard. I believe them, so I assume the lack of results means the things they are working on are not the right systems, processes and routines

bilston

awec wrote: »

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/42628930

No harm to Hendo, but interviews like this really frustrate me. It's the same thing we've heard for years. I'm tired of hearing players going on about how they're putting in the hard hours and how they're working to fix the problems. It's one thing talking about it, it's about time Ulster actually did it.

I'm glad to hear they are aware that the defence isn't good enough. Hopefully this hasn't been something they've only recently realised.

The interviews do get very samey after a while.

Although he probably can't say anything else.

Utah_Saint

Utah_Saint wrote: »

awec wrote: »

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/42628930

No harm to Hendo, but interviews like this really frustrate me. It's the same thing we've heard for years. I'm tired of hearing players going on about how they're putting in the hard hours and how they're working to fix the problems. It's one thing talking about it, it's about time Ulster actually did it.

I'm glad to hear they are aware that the defence isn't good enough. Hopefully this hasn't been something they've only recently realised.

That's a few players who have said the same thing about working really hard. I believe them, so I assume the lack of results means the things they are working on are not the right systems, processes and routines

I imagine the coaching goes like this:  

https://youtu.be/kxCbMXhuHaU

stephen_n

What do you expect him to say? “Well we are just dialing it in really and couldn’t be bothered. We pretty much know we can’t be dropped no matter what, as there’s no one to replace us. Les is a nice guy and so is Jono but we just can’t be arsed really.”

stephen_n

stephen_n wrote: »

What do you expect him to say? “Well we are just dialing it in really and couldn’t be bothered. We pretty much know we can’t be dropped no matter what, as there’s no one to replace us. Les is a nice guy and so is Jono but we just can’t be arsed really.”

People were asking the same thing when Leinster players were making similar platitudes during the MOC era.

Interestingly it came up on the Irish times podcast recently and Luke Fitzgerald still talks positively about MOC.

Buer

Pretty underwhelmed if Donald is confirmed but that's on the asusmption that he's going to be able to command a tidy little salary for himself given he's a RWC, multi-capped outhalf. If they're getting him on the cheap, then it's a grand move. I was pretty disappointed with him at Bath and he didn't bother his arse much there at all before seeking early release. He admitted himself that he lost interest and put on a huge amount of weight during his time there.

“I struggled in the Premiership, it simply wasn’t my style of rugby. To be fair I came over after we’d won the World Cup and found myself thrown into the English winter.

“At times I battled for motivation. That’s probably why I put on about 10kgs and was a bit of a fat-arse over there.”

He's a tidy player but he's a guy that I look at with a large dose of caveat emptor given his history and age.

irishfan9

Deleted User wrote: »

People were asking the same thing when Leinster players were making similar platitudes during the MOC era.

Interestingly it came up on the Irish times podcast recently and Luke Fitzgerald still talks positively about MOC.

Lukey is delusional.

awec

Buer wrote: »

Pretty underwhelmed if Donald is confirmed but that's on the asusmption that he's going to be able to command a tidy little salary for himself given he's a RWC, multi-capped outhalf. If they're getting him on the cheap, then it's a grand move. I was pretty disappointed with him at Bath and he didn't bother his arse much there at all before seeking early release. He admitted himself that he lost interest and put on a huge amount of weight during his time there.



He's a tidy player but he's a guy that I look at with a large dose of caveat emptor given his history and age.

We are pretty desperate really and beggars can’t be choosers.

awec

I guess another way of looking at it is Donald is younger than Terblanche was when he signed for part of a season and that one worked out ok.

bilston

Donald, if confirmed, would be decent. As long as McPhillips get a few starts and decent gametime then I'm happy enough.

We probably have 9/10 games left after CL leaves so there will be opportunities to give McPhillips a go while protecting a top 3 finish.

awec

The bookies spread for our game on Saturday is only 1 point. :eek:

La Rochelle -1, I'd be all over that like flies on a jobby. Free money if you want it.

prawnsambo

awec wrote: »

The bookies spread for our game on Saturday is only 1 point. :eek:

La Rochelle -1, I'd be all over that like flies on a jobby. Free money if you want it.

I actually would be wary of putting money on La Rochelle, even with that spread. ULster have only lost once at home this season and that was against Leinster. Then there's the whole yo-yo/bungee thing that Ulster seem to have going on, so there's every chance that the bookies have this about right.