Connacht vs Ulster Sportsground 27/12/2020 Eir Sport 1

irishbucsfan

Blade has been excellent

launish116

Fair play Ian Madigan

lawrencesummers

Conor Oliver has almost everything you want in a backrow.
Speed
Dynamic
Hands
Footwork
Aggression
Intelligence





But just to small.

irishbucsfan

Should have been a penalty the other way there. Extremely harsh on Connacht playing against that wind

realhorrorshow

lawrencesummers wrote: »

Conor Oliver has almost everything you want in a backrow.
Speed
Dynamic
Hands
Footwork
Aggression
Intelligence





But just to small.

Yeah pretty much, good squad player but his size holds him back.

[Deleted User]

Penned in our 22 for 30mins after they had 20% possession in the first half.. depressing.

SqueakyKneecap

Bitterly disappointing second half. Ulster have used the wind masterfully in fairness.

lawrencesummers

When Marty Moore can’t make shyt of Connachts second choice prop who stands on 5 caps and 7-10kg lighter it’s probably fair to conclude that he is not going to be adding to his internationals caps anytime soon.

KBurke85

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Penned in our 22 for 30mins after they had 20% possession in the first half.. depressing.

Being against a wind that was stronger in the second half hasn’t helped there along with stupid errors

Utopia Parkway

Not being able to kick into this gale has killed Connacht this half. Ulster have everyone up in the defensive line bar one and can just go all out for turnovers.

Should have had a bigger lead at HT but a bit unlucky with how the wind picked up so much.

sydthebeat

Connacht have been almightidly dumb tonight

SqueakyKneecap

This was a must win game too really.

its_phil

sydthebeat wrote: »

Connacht have been almightidly dumb tonight

Why?

irishbucsfan

Ulster have done well to take the advantages they've been given tonight and turn it into a win

ClanofLams

Unlucky with the wind but defensive performance well below par in second half. Ulster were smart second half in fairness, launch ball down and capitalise on errors.

Ulster team as unlikeable as I can recall visiting Galway, from Saracensesque behaviour to Madigan doing salutes after successful goal kicks, lad is a superstar in his own head and back up ten at Ulster in reality.

sydthebeat

its_phil wrote: »

Why?

Well, for one instance... After the Murphy try on a turn over, blade tried to give a one handed off load out of a tackle behind his back on the ulster 22..... And knocked it forward.....

And on 80% possession in the first half against a team that didn't even have one attack... To go in only 5 points up was criminal.... Mainly down to stupid discipline.

They may be pretty, but they're pretty dumb too

lawrencesummers

Jordi MOTM says more about the quality of the match than the quality of his performance, albeit he was the best ulster forward.

Bazzo

sydthebeat wrote: »

Well, for one instance... After the Murphy try on a turn over, blade tried to give a one handed off load out of a tackle behind his back on the ulster 22..... And knocked it forward.....

And on 80% possession in the first half against a team that didn't even have one attack... To go in only 5 points up was criminal.... Mainly down to stupid discipline.

They may be pretty, but they're pretty dumb too

You'll need more than one example for that unbelievably harsh judgement.

TimHorton

realhorrorshow wrote: »

Murphy has been terrible.

LOL Just been awarded MOM

mfceiling

I presume the Garda will be outside the sports ground now because Ulster absolutely robbed that.
Connacht really made poor work not to win that.
Ulster played smart with the wind but that was a poor game of rugby by both teams.
Stewart Moore was very bad tonight and didn't think Hume did a lot well either.

Digifriendly

realhorrorshow wrote: »

Murphy has been terrible.

MOTM. What have you to say now?

sydthebeat

Bazzo wrote: »

You'll need more than one example for that unbelievably harsh judgement.

That connacht were incredibly dumb tonight??

Jeez, I assume you've just watched the same game.

How many turnovers did connacht give away out wide in those conditions???

9 turnovers to 4 in ulster's favour show just how easily connacht played into ulster's hands.

Incredibly dumb, and I've no problem at all sticking to that

Digifriendly

mfceiling wrote: »

I presume the Garda will be outside the sports ground now because Ulster absolutely robbed that.
Connacht really made poor work not to win that.
Ulster played smart with the wind but that was a poor game of rugby by both teams.
Stewart Moore was very bad tonight and didn't think Hume did a lot well either.

Robbed and well beaten by 13 points? That makes no sense. You must have been watching a different game. Was the TG4 match different to Premier Sports?

irishbucsfan

sydthebeat wrote: »

Well, for one instance... After the Murphy try on a turn over, blade tried to give a one handed off load out of a tackle behind his back on the ulster 22..... And knocked it forward.....

And on 80% possession in the first half against a team that didn't even have one attack... To go in only 5 points up was criminal.... Mainly down to stupid discipline.

They may be pretty, but they're pretty dumb too

Don't really agree with this. Their discipline really wasn't so bad in the first half. One of those penalties was extremely harsh/incorrect, and if you take that away two kickable penalties in 40 minutes is not a bad return.

The other example is Blade, who was probably the best player on the pitch for my money. I thought it was a silly offload but I'm wasn't sure he didn't try to keep it in hand just to have it slip out as he got hit. One handling error from the only half back on the pitch who looked like creating anything in open play, in opposition territory, is completely fine by me.


Connacht had no kicking game in the second half. Ulster completely dominated them because of that. There's almost no way out of that unless your opponent lets you out. You're going to be constantly outnumbered if your opponents can just keep 2 of their back 3 in the defensive line, unless your continuity is world class. And, in my experience at least, when the wind is so bad that you can't even attempt a low kicking game, then it's also usually going to have a pretty significant effect on passing/handling when playing into it, which takes away creative exits out wide and makes defensive rucks even easier again. The only blunder Ulster really made in the territory game was when Moore(?) kicked it dead.

It was a game of two completely different halves and it suited Ulster perfectly the way it ended up. Connacht still managed to play the best rugby in both halves, which is a positive for them.

ElisaAtWar

When toh went off it was just one directional. Anyway so be it. The lad seems to be an injury player. Pity, he has such ability. As for the get, well Ulster were deserved winners. You have to have more than ordinary rugby to win these games

its_phil

sydthebeat wrote: »

Well, for one instance... After the Murphy try on a turn over, blade tried to give a one handed off load out of a tackle behind his back on the ulster 22..... And knocked it forward.....

And on 80% possession in the first half against a team that didn't even have one attack... To go in only 5 points up was criminal.... Mainly down to stupid discipline.

They may be pretty, but they're pretty dumb too

Blade caught the ball after it deflected from a blockdown and didn't have proper control of the ball.

Sorry but have you ever seen a game in the Sportsground? If you are able to kick penalities from 40m out in one half and then the other side can't get the ball further than 10m with their kicks to gain any sort of territory. The other side isn't going to

Two tries from four/five entries into the Ulster 22 is not a bad return and about 6 minutes of that possession was on reset scrums. It's criminal to only go five points up if Connacht had that same 9 point breeze. When the cards fall the way they did for Connacht tonight, you're not winning the game.

Utah_Saint

Ulster won by 13 points with 33% possession...

We would have lost that game last year by about 21 points

Tristram

That was a tough watch this evening. Thought both sides were poor but think Ulster will be happy to win ugly like that. The conditions must have been something else in the second half and I'd like to give Connacht the benefit of the doubt that this wasn't an accurate sign of where they are at but they really do contrive to shoot themselves in the foot.

ElisaAtWar

It's so frustrating. Tiernan adds so much to Connacht but it is one injury after another. When he left the scene Connacht had nothing to show. He really needs an injury free period

Shelflife

“Connacht still managed to play the best rugby in both halves, which is a positive for them.”

Buccs I’m not having a go at you personally but I hear this a lot lately.

Fine we play pretty Rugby but that’s f all good to us when it’s points we need on the board.

If you swap Munster 2nd team with Connacht tonight they win that game every time. They’re cuter and play smarter rugby, they slow the ball down and don’t give away pens and if they do they’re not kick able!

Simple fact of the matter is that they lost that in the first half, 80% possession, totally dominant scrum, wind at our backs and we go in only 5 points ahead and had a man advantage for 10mins.

Good teams in this situation put their opponents to the sword ! We don’t seem to have this ruthless side to our game and it’s sadly lacking.

Too many lineouts lost, too many turnovers , too many pens given away.

That wasn’t a strong Ulster team by any measure and they turned us over easily.

We’re not in a good place at the moment !