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

I suppose the results are more important. Robert's is a good hooker. I imagine he comes right in.

Mccormick is

That's all in here:

https://www.rte.ie/sport/united-rugby-championship/2022/0125/1275863-mccloskey-and-cooney-likely-to-miss-scarlets-clash/

Moving forward Herring, Andrew, Stewart and McCormick should be enough.

Signing a journeyman IQ hooker would be short sighted IMO....unless Stewart and/or McCormick aren't up to it.

Jonny Murphy seems to be out of contract with Connacht at the end of the season.

Some serious selection head aches coming up, can't wait to see how we roll the dice.

Does EOS warrant a rest? I'd expect McGrath would love to start next week against Leinster. Odd to think we currently have 3 decent props competing to play now.

We're pretty tight in row also, if Kearny has left. Vermuelen could do with a week off also and would hope McCann could get up and running again.

Curtis & Moxham/Postlethwaite. Leave Madigan for out half/bench cover.

On the hooker note, fews names IQ being discussed; Niall Annett (Worcester), Byran Byrne (Bristol),George McGuigan (Newcastle), Tadgh McElroy (London Irish)

Madigan could fit into the outside backs somewhere as well which might mean a 6/2 split and Curtis and even Doak can cover 10 if necessary.

Lyttle was running through training with the team before the Clermont game.

I sked someone I know who's in the Ulster set-up (though nothing to do with players) what the crack was with Sexton. He seems to be scything through teams for Malone - was there concern about his basics? Were his nuts and bolts not good enough? Said they hadnt heard anything to that effect - he was still highly rated. They said they thought Dan just rated Moxham's physicality. Although they were equally perplexed themselves at Moxham being quite so far up the pecking order.

Not been overly impressed with Sexton whenever I've got to see him tbh but he's obviously someone worth persisting with, some players just take a little longer. Good to hear the coaches still rate him anyway.

Moxham was someone I thought would take a few years to get any consistent game time, I think I might have been 50/50 on whether he would get into the academy as well. His size and physicality were always his selling points but I thought his basics were a little behind, his defence has definitely improved anyway. He might be someone who tears it up in training but hasn't really shown too much in whatever game time he's gotten, so Dan's just being patient with him.

Said it before but I don't see it with Moxham. Maybe they want him to be the new McCloskey

Sexton on the bench! Hope to see what he can do?

More conservative than I thought.

Milasnovich didn't stay with Saracens to long.

Vermeulen looked gassed.

Good to see Kearny back.

No idea what Dan sees in Jones over McCann.

Yeah, sounds about right. I know we're all very excited about Europe but we can't put all our eggs in that basket. We need to keep up the pressure on the URC table.