Ulster Team Talk Thread IV... Go On My Henderson...

Paul Smeenus

It's being streamed but you have to pay for a Live Stream Pass.

https://ulster.rugby/content/ulster-rugby-live-re-launched-with-ulster-v-queensland-reds

Paul Smeenus

Actually quite enjoyed that.

bilston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123146799#Comment_123146799

Who played well?

How did Hume look in his first game back?

Any of the younger lads impress? McKee?

launish116

Hume looked good

Scrum looked shite!

bilston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123146984#Comment_123146984

Good to hear...and no surprise.

I see Sutherland is starting for Scotland on Sunday…if only...

bigmac86

McKee looked decent and took his try well. Morgan kicked better and looked good in patches in attack but the open game allowed it so not sure how much to read into that. Dalton put himself about, obviously an athlete and has an edge about him but tired very badly after 50 before being replaced. Thought McLoughlin was quietly effective, huge tackler and has potential. Stockdale hit the ground running again and Hume was good considering length of time out. Scrum still a worry though and maul ineffective tonight

launish116

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123147231#Comment_123147231

McGLoughlin does look good! if I was the Rea brothers id be looking over my shoulder and upping my game.

Who was 19, red scrum cap? Sherridan?

big-al

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123147231#Comment_123147231

McLoughlins footwork is going to take him places. He’s looks an effective athlete and will hopefully get more of a chance at Ulster next season, Matty Rea would be easily enough to get past you’d think.

bigmac86

Yeh sheridan had the red cap on which threw me too! Just wish he was 2 inches taller as he's listed as our heaviest lock now at 121kg and has an edge to his play

launish116

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123148800#Comment_123148800

Wasn't sure if it was him, he looks a lot bigger than the rest of the pack. Was hoping it was an academy player.

Hey_Ho_Lets_Go_3

Ulster Rugby Senior Men’s Coaching team 2025/26:

Richie Murphy – Head Coach
Jimmy Duffy – Forwards Coach
Mark Sexton – Backs Coach
Willie Faloon – Defence and Contact Skills Coach
Dan Soper – Development and Transition Coach

https://ulster.rugby/content/ulster-rugby-confirm-senior-mens-coaching-structure-for-202526

Scythica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123162819#Comment_123162819

No excuses next year

Paul Smeenus

Ulster Rugby team v Benetton Rugby, Sat 15 Feb, 5.15pm UK/Ire time, Stadio Monigo, BKT United Rugby Championship Round 11 (live on Premier Sports):

Across Rounds 11 and 12 the BKT URC is inviting teams, players and fans to celebrate the communities and people who helped launch the careers of the league’s players and coaches. The players’ origin clubs are included alongside their names below.

1. Jacob Boyd (Belfast Royal Academy)

2. Rob Herring (SACS) (245)

3. Tom O’Toole (Ashbourne RFC) (115)

4. Alan O’Connor (Capt) (Skerries RFC) (204)

5. Cormac Izuchukwu (Tullamore RFC) (37)

6. Matty Rea (Ballymena RFC) (106)

7. Nick Timoney (Blackrock College RFC) (158)

8. David McCann (Cooke RFC) (59)

9. Nathan Doak (Lisburn RFC) (80)

10. Aidan Morgan (King’s College) (11)

11. Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan RFC) (125)

12. Stuart McCloskey (Bangor RFC) (196)

13. James Hume (Malone RFC) (95)

14. Michael Lowry (Dromore RFC) (116)

15. Stewart Moore (Ballymoney RFC) (75)

Replacements:

16. John Andrew (Ballymena RFC) (130)

17. Bryan O’Connor (Crosshaven RFC)

18. Scott Wilson (Dromore RFC) (26)

19. Kieran Treadwell (Chipstead RFC) (171)

20. Reuben Crothers (Lisburn RFC) (5)

21. Dave Shanahan (Clontarf RFC) (96)

22. Jake Flannery (Kilfeacle & District RFC) (17)

23. Jude Postlethwaite (Lisburn RFC) (24)

Great backline. Interesting that there's no Cooney. Preparing for life after him? Also no Sheridan - I genuinely have no idea why not. He's a great young player and was absolutely crucial for us last season. And Murphy played him at U20s,

A 20-year old Academy LH making his Ulster debut. Two THs on the bench. (No short-term SA props for us.) Might be a long afternoon on the scrum front.

launish116

Hopefully better showing this week, where is Reid? Our tight 5 situation is shite!

Context to last week, Zebre beat Edinburgh at home last night also.

Locke_Lamora

Very shaky handling so far but I'll take any sort of lead

niallm77

Izuchukwu off injured

Utah_Saint

We look pretty dung

Utah_Saint

Timoney yellow

Never looked at Morgan getting clotheslined 5mins earlier

Utah_Saint

How have Ulster become so shite?!

These player used to be good urc level players.

niallm77

What is TOT at?

realhorrorshow

why is Evans applying the head process framework to foul play?

bingobango12

Absolutely bizarre decision. Intentional elbow to the face, penalty only. O’Toole probably looking at a ban for that you’d imagine.

niallm77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123174841#Comment_123174841

Did he actually connect with the head?

Utah_Saint

Benetton should be much further ahead. They must feel sorry for us

Utah_Saint

How was that not a yellow for shoulder on head against ToT

Utah_Saint

ToT missed with the elbow, hit his upper arm

Utah_Saint

Terrible performance but some very poor decisions against Ulster. Benetton should have had two yellows in second half

bingobango12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123174848#Comment_123174848

Don’t think so, he went for it though. Might save him from a ban that he missed I guess.

bilston

WTF is happening?

We are serious pish at the moment. I'm not seeing any improvement, in fact I'm seeing the opposite.

We have good players, players that have been leaders at U20s level for Ireland. Why aren't they kicking on? Why do they never kick on? What's happened to McCann? Where is Sheridan? Why hasn't Doak improved? Is Baloucoune still alive? Is Stewart injured again (he looked like the best young hooker I'd ever seen at 20s level 5 years ago).

Is there is a serious attitude issue within the squad? I don't mean they are a bunch of w@nkers or anything like that. I sometimes wonder if some of them are just happy to be known as Ulster players, some of them feel that they've made it and they don't need to go that extra yard. They go out play the occasional blinder, get paid at the end of the month and go home happy. Thats great for them, but they might also be known as being part of the worst Ulster squad in living memory. Maybe I'm completely wide of the mark on this. But this is at least on a par with the Matt Williams days.

But whatever about that, the other embarrassment is out Irish representation. We have 4 players in the senior squad and 3 in the A squad...7 players in total!

Leinster have about 35 players across the two squads.

That is a damming indictment. We're at the point now where 3rd...THIRD...yes 3rd!!!! choice Leinster players are considered better than 1st choice Ulster players. How can any of these Ulster players possibly be happy with that?!

I'm not able to provide any solutions or answers other than hoping for 4 or 5 years where we produce an amazing crop of players, but even then I suspect most of them would fall by the wayside. Our U18s are supposed to be really good, let's see on 4 or 5 years time how many of them are in Ireland squads. Right now I'd wager very very few. I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

HanShotFirst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/110068784#Comment_110068784

Henderson walks one mile south, one mile east, and one mile north and ends up right back where he started. He sees a bear and shoots it. What color is the bear? 

Scythica

I'd love to have a thoughtful discussion on this but honestly I'm none the wiser. Sometimes just seems the players don't give a flying fk. Whether things need time to settle more than we thought I dunno.

Went to Treviso, lovely spot and weekend, but jesus we just shot ourselves repeatedly with indiscipline. Worst part is, the traveling support was barely bothered in the end, it was almost expected.

Cooney all but confirmed gone just not official, not hearing any rumours of hulking big 2nd rows or props (or scrum halves!) Waiting to be announced.

Can be in a position to have excuses next season.

Utah_Saint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123182202#Comment_123182202

This was supposed to be the time the promising young players come of age. I think there is talent there, but maybe they are just following the lead of the senior leadership team...bad examples being set and young players just think that's how you behave when you 'make it' ?

The worst thing is, I'm not even angry anymore. I'm completely apathetic about Ulster rugby. I know plenty of others who are the same. And that's not good for Ulster as a business going forward.

RichieRich_89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123182202#Comment_123182202

Yeah, it's players not making the jump from being good U20s to being good Test players that's the problem. Soper in the new transition coach role is a big positive step. But you still need a high performance senior environment for players to kick on and get the best out of themselves. There are huge questions over Murphy for me. I don't get the same sense at all of excellence in what they're doing that was there under Anscombe and at times under McFarland. Some help on the signing front couldn't help either. We'd probably be hearing a lot more about it if Munster or Leinster only had one NIQ.

jacothelad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123182552#Comment_123182552

I saw my first Ulster game in the 1950s. Almost 70 years of support. I have been fortunate to have witnessed many truly great Ulster players in that time. Now I find I couldn't care less. I have been worn down. As Bils remarks above, where in the name of Ethel the Tea lady do the good young players go. Into the Academy and down the toilet it seems.

awec

It's not fair to compare Murphy to Anscombe. Anscombe inherited a very strong Ulster team that had just reached a Euro final.

I honestly think the issue is caused by a combination of factors.

The players have it too handy. They get their contract, they get the celeb status and the free car etc and they think they have made it. There is no real consequence for achieving nothing, there's no real consequence for phoning it in. Too many fans will fall at the feet of these lads just because they sign a few autographs or they go to the same church or some nonsense, no matter how they play they get coddled.

The Irish system is unfortunately a contributor. Usually, in high performance environments, there is a carrot and there is a stick. The carrot in our case is getting test status or winning trophies, so you are relying on players wanting to achieve greatness, and by extension to bag bigger contracts, to motivate them to play better and improve their own game.

This is problematic when you encounter players who don't have the right mentality, because in the Irish system there is no real stick.

These lads know that because Ulster can only play Irish players that there is realistically very little chance of them ever being let go, cause Ulster can't replace them. Very few players who reach senior status with Ulster and get regular game time ever get let go.

In most high performance environments if you phone it in you are managed out. That can't happen in our setup, you are only at risk if someone better appears in your position and this usually doesn't happen.

A great example here is Doak. He knows Cooney is going next year, so he knows Ulster have to invest time in him this year. Similarly, he also knows that there is absolutely nobody else going to take his spot any time soon, so he's in a situation where his place in the team is pretty much under no threat. This is not conducive to him growing as a player, it's more likely to see him coast.

I think this is a large part of why lads look great good and then taper off. They look really good when they're fighting to get into the squad, but then once they're in it drops off cause they know they're pretty much sorted at that point.

This system is never going to change and we're never going to have an academy that produces players to the rate where all senior players have someone at genuine risk of taking their spot, so the lack of threat will remain.

The system has been proven to work, in the case of Leinster, who have players with the right mentality for the carrot, but the output of the Leinster academy is also capable of wielding a stick. I don't want to get into the ins and outs again as to how they do this.

Munster are also improving, I think driven by a stronger mentality than Ulster.

To be clear, I am not blaming the system, it's just unfortunate that when you get into the situation Ulster is in the system can compound the issue.

I don't know how we fix this. The mentality of the club needs fixed from top to bottom.

Ben Bailey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123183763#Comment_123183763

Excellent points. I was surprised when Murphy took the HC job at Ulster. At U20 he had to coach an ever changing squad to his own high standards. At Ulster the squad remains more static than most - a completely different challenge.

bilston

So any of the following players that we can hang our hats on?

Daniel Green

Clark Logan

Henry Walker

Tom McAlistair

Walker must be decent enough given this is his second year with the 20s?

Locke_Lamora

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123188299#Comment_123188299

None of them have looked like standouts to me so far, but it's a bit of a mis-firing u20 side ravaged by injuries to their most important players. McAlistair would've seen less game time in a healthy squad but hasn't let himself down imo, and it's a rare enough sight to see and Ulster prop trot out for Ireland at any level so I'm not complaining. I thought the side could've benefited from a change at halfbacks but the coaches seem to like something about Logan. I know nothing about Green other than he came through the IQ pathway but he'll be back next year and I'm curious as to whether he's more of a flyhalf or fullback. Conor Magee isn't in this weeks squad but he's playing up a year at hooker and seems to have plenty of size so he might be one to watch next year.

Not like me to be pessimistic, and I'd hate to add negativity to a wonderful few weeks for us…but both Walker and Green weren't developed in Ulster and I think next year might only be slightly better in terms of representation. Not a great look for us.

bigmac86

Any update yet on the injury izzy picked up?

bilston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123189111#Comment_123189111

The year after should in theory be better though? But a lot can happen in 2 years and as I said before I fully expect our U18s to be overtaken by their Leinster counterparts over the next 2 years because that it what always happens.

bilston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123189634#Comment_123189634

Ankle injury I think. Don't know the severity though.

Paul Smeenus

Looking at the Ireland A squad again and I'm seriously scratching my head.

I really can't understand why Sheridan and Wilson aren't there (ahead, specifically, of Fineen Wycherly and Paddy McCarthy / Jack Aungier). I'd be tempted to take McCormick instead of Diarmud Barron as well. McCann is possibly caught in no man's land (although I don't think he's even been in an extended training squad for the senior team). Doak has played himself out of any discussion.

ljsulster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123191689#Comment_123191689

Doak pictured training with the A squad

Paul Smeenus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192290#Comment_123192290

Lucky to be there. Very much so.

bilston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123191689#Comment_123191689

The problem is we are losing to both Zebre and Benetton, it's hard for the Ulster lads to mount that much of a case at the moment.

A games are brutal anyway. I don't like them, to me players end up playing themselves out of contention rather than into it. It's different if it's the like of the Emerging Ireland squad (or the old Churchill Cup) where the lads are together for 3 weeks and play 3 matches, but one off games are bollix IMO.

Paul Smeenus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192382#Comment_123192382

And now starting. Shows what I know. But I am bewildered - he's been tasked with speeding up, and we've seen that in parts, buts he was absolutely woejous against Benetton - not a single contestable kick, it felt like.

big-al

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192382#Comment_123192382

Looking at the ‘a’ squad, I’d very much doubt they’d beat Treviso being down a man for almost a half either.

A very underwhelming team full of players who have yet to do anything at pro level.

big-al

he was indeed pish, but bar Stockdale, McCloskey and perhaps Hume, no player had even close to a good game.

bigmac86

Re. McCann's lack of call ups. Gave this some thought recently and if you go through the irish test team, nearly every single forward, back 5 especially, has a USP.

Beirne (turnovers), Ryan (rucking), McCarthy (size and aggression), Vdf (stamina and workrate), Doris (Dynamism and workrate, complete player), Pom (lineout and leadership, albeit final season). Even on the bench you have Conan (hard carrying), Baird (elite athlete).

McCann is pretty mobile, undeniably works hard and is a willing carrier without making massive gains but at the top level everyone works hard so maybe he's missing something that makes him stand out to coaches? Potentially the same case for Sheridan. Izzy has been selected but again he has elite athleticism compared to most in his position. Performances like benetton won't have helped McCann but when team form eventually improves I'm still not sure how much we'll see of him in green despite captaining at u20s. Hope I'm wrong!

Paul Smeenus

That's an interesting comment - will have to think properly about that. I'd agree McCann has no USP in that sense. Even Timoney - speedy, fit player. Although I don't think Prendergast has one, really.

Will mul that over.