Ulster v Toulouse 7.45pm Friday 11th December; BT Sport

crisco10

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Like Cooney perhaps?

He could have saved the situation but your 9 clearing a ruck on 2nd phase isn't ideal.

All uphill now. Ulster had their chances.

awec

Sure fcuk it anyway.

The way the competition is setup this year that’s us out.

vienne86

Ulster had chances but Toulouse deserved the win IMO.

crisco10

Ulster did everything to put themselves in a winning position but then had some average moments in the 2nd half. E.g. Cooney forward pass, lost lineout on Toulouse 5m.

TRC10

You cant help but feel Ulster threw that away. Blowing a 12 point lead in the first half. The stockdale elbow penalty in the 2nd half was a huge turning point because Ulster were on top at that stage but that swung the momentum completely. And Ulster than blew multiple chances and a man advantage. That's probably them out now given the format this season.

launish116

Dan did not look happy there!

Thought Ulster played well with the resources available

bilston

awec wrote: »

Sure fcuk it anyway.

The way the competition is setup this year that’s us out.

Yeah...pretty much...over before it started...joke we end up as top seeds and get Toulouse as the 4th seed because they stopped the Top 14 halfway through! Luck of the draw I suppose...

Once we lost Coetzee and Carter, as well as already missing Henderson we had no chance

letowski

Great game. I thought Ulster played well, but just came up short against a good Toulouse team.

Captain Hindsight here, but I think with a man up, 4 points down and 10mins on the clock, I think take the 3 points. I reckon the analytics in that scenario would favour an Ulster win moreso than going for a converted try. Ultimately Ulster didn't execute when they had the chance to win it and that will disappoint them.

Buer

awec wrote: »

Sure fcuk it anyway.

The way the competition is setup this year that’s us out.

Unfortunately, I agree. I think we're going to see several teams throw in the towel after the opening weekend. Northampton have already said they're going to put out a weakened side next week which is mad after the opening weekend.

If any team loses a home game, they're very unlikely to qualify.

bilston

The French teams might do well this year with no, or very few fans at the away games.

ersatz

TRC10 wrote: »

You cant help but feel Ulster threw that away. Blowing a 12 point lead in the first half. The stockdale elbow penalty in the 2nd half was a huge turning point because Ulster were on top at that stage but that swung the momentum completely. And Ulster than blew multiple chances and a man advantage. That's probably them out now given the format this season.

I'm sure he needed the break but Herring coming off weakened Ulster big time. He played really well.

bilston

ersatz wrote: »

I'm sure he needed the break but Herring coming off weakened Ulster big time. He played really well.

John Andrew has been playing very well recently, so it.may have been a premeditated call...but in the circumstances I'd have kept Herring on...he was arguably Ulster's best player tonight.

Locke_Lamora

Fantastic watch, much better than the 30 point hammering I was expecting. Can't help but but frustrated though, we had plenty of chances, a great home record and it was a rainy night to stop them running the ball - so if we were to win won against them it had to be tonight I think. They are a much deeper squad with some world class players and we were missing some of our best.

Rea has been on a bit of a roll recently which is what we wanted of him. Sam Carter getting back in our good books as well.

Madigan has his moments, but with him as our backup and Burns with an injury record I feel we're in a little trouble at flyhalf if they don't trust Lowry there. Madigan has some poor decision making at times and isn't a great passer.

Stockdale is clearly not looking to do the fancy stuff anymore when running the ball back, which might not be a bad thing, he's using his size and strength better.

ersatz

Locke_Lamora wrote: »

Stockdale is clearly not looking to do the fancy stuff anymore when running the ball back, which might not be a bad thing, he's using his size and strength better.

I didn't see it from a wide angle so maybe it wasn't on but I was expecting him to chip to the corner when he made that break off Madigan's kick. He did exceptionally well not to get turned over though.

razorblunt

That will be infuriating for Ulster, did all the hard work that a win would warrant but Toulouse lactched on to 3 mistakes and punished them severely.
Fine margins in the end, Toulouse gambled by spoiling one Ulster mail cynically and got away with it, they knew the ref wouldn’t give out a second yellow in as many minutes.

Stockdale’s elbow fend really came back to bite them as he doubled down by getting stepped after it.

Some of that early composure in the last 20 minutes could have seen Ulster over the line. Disappointing result against an impressive Toulouse and will be a tough game to top this weekend.

Shelflife

launish116 wrote: »

Dan did not look happy there!

Thought Ulster played well with the resources available

Typical ****e from a beaten coach, focus on a marginal decision and call that as the reason they lost.

Nothing to do with missed tackles, knock ons or poor tactical decisions, its all the refs fault !

Hands Like Flippers

Akrasia wrote: »

Cooney panicked and left that gap.

Very few people will chase down Dupont at full sprint

Nope. Madigan too slow to close gap and Lowry turned shoulders too early.