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

Ulster should have done enough here to get over the line and qualify but again a performance that leaves alot to be desired.

Stockdale couldnt catch covid tonight, not doing his Ireland credentials any good.

I think Ulster ultimately did well against a very competitive Sale outfit. Sale were animals at the breakdown in the 1st half. I'd love to see teams do more of that. It is good to see ulster win a 50-50 game. Well done tonight. They have been poor recently, let's see what happens in the next game...

Is there some logic I am missing that makes Ulster locked in at 8th? Because Montpelier are only 27 points ahead on PD and are currently losing by 21 to London Irish, if LI score again and that's the final score wouldn't that push Ulster up to 7th no?

Ill answer my own question, the second permutation is tries after H2H so that confirms Ulster are locked in. Only just found out.

Ah okay, I thought I read it say H2H was first.

Obviously noone saw this coming but even on Wikipedia it has Leinster v Ulster as a locked in fixture. Most people would write off LI today but surely not Wikipedia aswell?

Does anyone know why Frank Bradshaw Ryan hasn't been used by the senior team? Has he started once, or been brought on off the bench once?

Surprised so far, I'd thought he would have been an upgrade on Alan O'Connor, so wondering why he has been playing for the Ulster A team and not featuring in match-day squads at all.

I thought he was signed on a 1-year contract, so presumably he'll be moving on at the end of the season if he doesn't get any game time.

Yea, he's well liked by our fans because of his workload and consistency, but he's exactly the sort of player we need to improve upon if we want to even pretend to compete for silverware.

Didn't say anything about marquee players, I said we need to improve upon Alan O'Connor in order to win silverware, which shouldn't really be all that controversial imo. Buy them, develop them or conjure them out of thun air is fine by me.

I like AOC for the record, but the fact that he seems immovable from our starting team paints a disappointing picture to me. Is he even in the top 3 2nd rows in any of the other provinces? He might not be fourth in either leinster or munster.

He's absolutely fine as a squad player for us because, as you said, depth is important. For for me 8 'steady eddies' doesn't raise the bar - it caps your ceiling.

Yes Leinster have a steady baseline but they have 5 second rows who are all in contention for international caps and each bring a real point of difference to the squad. Ross Moloney might be a comparable player to AOC but is well ahead of him in the Ireland pecking order and is better in most areas of the field. Leinster also have world class talent scattered across the field, so it's not really a fair comparison. Leinster's own version of a consistent, not so flashy player who never lets you down when they last won in Europe would have been Scott Fardy - a capped international who was a decorated player in his own right.

I probably played down Fardy a little too much there, but he did the unseen work in a pack filled with internationals in their prime.

We'll take one of everything tbh - front row depth, a second row, another backrow and someone a step up from Burns. Not too sure the IRFU would be keen on an NIQ spot being used for a flyhalf given how shaky the position looks post-sexton.

I think Ulster need to forget this dream of signing one Marque player and sign 2/3 steady eddies who will intern raise the bar across the squad.

I'd love to know the push for Sheridan now? was big fan at U20s and would love to see him push on.

Doubt it - McF started Alby Mathewson ahead of Cooney when his form dipped - for a knockout game. He might be away, but I reckon he's not starting so that we have a good bench.

Adamson is the ref so this game will slow and turgid as hell.

Stewart Moore my pick so far, but Doak's been great.

Well he's given the try so he can't overrule it unless there is evidence it wasnt grounded.

Bit mental that was given.

JTA looking great for a third choice tighthead. Was doubtful about him to start with but injuries were probably troubling him.