Leinster v Ulster 5 Jan Match Thread

Happy with that. Performance deserved that final try.

troyzer wrote: »

I have no idea why everyone kept dropping the ball and flailing around with loose passes in the last 20 minutes

It's the first real cold night of rugby, it's freezing, maybe they don't have their cold weather fingers rolled out.

troyzer wrote: »

Adam Byrne is rapidly becoming undroppable.

It looks like he's finally able to tackle and hit hard which was the only thing ever stopping him.

I have no idea why everyone kept dropping the ball and flailing around with loose passes in the last 20 minutes

Trying too hard for a highlight reel moment. Forcing things too much.

Felt like I was the only one shouting at the match. Desperately quiet around me and a significant number left around the 60 mark.

Delighted with the result but the bonus point before half time really killed the match.

Sometimes I dunno about these people. Are they even people?

molloyjh wrote: »

Best moment of the match today was at the end of the game, the Ulster kit man popped over to one of the girls on the terrace asking if he’d seen her with a hip flask.

“Yeah” she says.

“What’s in it” he says

“Whiskey”

“Can I have some”

“Of course, here you go.”

He heads off and comes back a few mins later with one of the players jackets for her.

I love this game.

Please tell me it was binoculars shaped

Uninspiring game. It was over as a contest after the COB try as it completely deflated Ulster. It's hard to really get a feel for anyone who played really well as it has to be tempered by the fact that they face second/third string opponents on both sides.

With that said, I thought Josh Murphy, Molony and Reid had very tidy and under appreciated performances for Leinster. They all were the nuts and bolts to a solid win. There was one moment early after half time where we recycled just inside the Ulster half next to the sideline where Molony went in to play scrum half. I expected him to pick and go or pop it but he lashed a spin pass not only outside but I think he skipped first and possibly second receiver to a forward in midfield. His skills tonight were excellent (we were Deegan's whose hands were superb a couple of times).

Reid was very composed. When there was nothing on, he made something happen by finding a half gap, getting over the gain line and resetting. His passing was superb. There was a ridiculous wrist only pass to Byrne on the wing which created a break. `

Murphy just got through a mountain of work. He carried, he tackled and he was prominent in the set piece. Great showing.

awec wrote: »

In terms of Ulster, that was total garbage. Hard to watch. McCall will never make it at this level. McPhillips is deeper than the Titanic. Hume and Cave couldn't tackle a fish supper. Shanahan... what's the point?

It seemed to me that every single Ulster player was too small/weak for their position.

Every one of them was bullied by their opposite number.

There is a gulf in depth, no doubt. But, some of Ulsters lads are only coming back after long spells on the physio table.
Herbst and Lyttle come to mind and O'Connor is out about a month also.
I agree that McCall is below the required level and may never be a good option.
On a different perspective, Leinsters young players share the training paddock with some world class operators.
That fact alone probably makes them that much better.
It's a good victory for us and a poor defeat for Ulster, but all of the younger players will hopefully have learned from the experience.

Thermoman12 wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

It seemed to me that every single Ulster player was too small/weak for their position.

Every one of them was bullied by their opposite number.

They’re not familiar playing together as a team and just probably didn’t have the confidence in them and weren’t expecting to win from the start and you could tell that from the first half especially the way they were sliding off tackles and not trusting their inside man, tackling all comes down to attitude, not size or strength

That would explain why they didn't play well in general but that scrum was in constant danger of collapse and it looked like they all lost all of their collisions in open play.

I agree that there was an attitude problem but you shouldn't be getting rolled over constantly.

They were visibly smaller as well. Daly must have 10kg on Lyttle, same on the other side with Byrne and Kernohan.