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

07-05-2023 07:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120566841#Comment_120566841

Why would it be desirable or a good thing if Leinster have to pay the guy more?

I rate Boyle extremely highly - he got a couple of appearances this year (which isn’t bad considering he was injured from Sept to Feb or thereabouts).

He 100% has the potential to push past Ed Byrne next season and Cian Healy surely hasn’t long left either, so he’s competing with Michael Milne for a spot in the first 23 realistically.

07-05-2023 07:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120567199#Comment_120567199

The more leinster have to pay, the less room they have in their budget. We are rivals after all. The more you guys have to pay for players, the better surely for us.

07-05-2023 07:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120567172#Comment_120567172

I’m unsure how that works. Surely they would allow other provinces to match that offer just to keep him in ireland if leinster don’t?

07-05-2023 07:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120567216#Comment_120567216

Meh, I doubt David Nucifora or the IRFU would agree that that’s a good approach for Irish rugby. All that would happen is it would force Leinster to offer a senior contract to him earlier than they would have anticipated.

Don’t get me wrong - if Leinster were to lose him I’d far rather lose him to any of the other Irish sides than Exeter, but they haven’t typically lost guys like this that they clearly rate very highly.

07-05-2023 07:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120567237#Comment_120567237

Well yea generally you can’t do that for that very reason. But if a foreign club is already involved, i don’t see why we can’t also put in a competitive bid.

They don’t lose guys like that generally because of your first paragraph. The irfu doesn’t want provinces out bidding each other. So, its very hard to motivate the best guys to move.

Playing time alone isn’t a compelling enough reason in the current environment .

07-05-2023 07:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120567250#Comment_120567250

I can’t see a scenario where anyone is going to financially stress Leinster if they decide they want to keep him.

Leinster have a few guys leaving this year (D Kearney, possibly Nick McCarthy) and have had a good few move onto central contracts, plus have had a lot of big home games this year which must have boosted the coffers.

Exeter could offer him silly money, but they’ve got a salary cap, and he’s 21 and has already had a serious knee issue.

If he’s going to be as good as think he can be - he’s best off staying at Leinster. I think they’ll manage to convince him that too.

07-05-2023 08:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120567284#Comment_120567284

Agreed on that. This is an agent making sure Leinster put him on a senior deal right now at decent money.

awec · 08-05-2023 09:47AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120563983#Comment_120563983

Not unless there are coaching changes.

McFarland has lost the dressing room IMO, but even aside from that there are just too many mistakes to overlook. His selections are ridiculous. Why were Sheridan and Rea dropped out of the sqauad? How does a fit Luke Marshall not get a spot on the bench, or even start ahead of an out of form Hume?

Two knockout games this season, two defeats, but the bigger issue is it was 2 defeats without even firing a shot. Add this to a long list of screw ups, losing v 14 men Leinster, not seeing out Toulouse last year, not seeing it out against 14 man Stormers last year, Leicester. The run of absolute garbage form around Christmas this year.

Of course the big problem is Ulster gave him a new contract last year until 2025, so I doubt he's going anywhere.

Ulster are on the edge of a cliff, it could very easily all unravel very fast from here.

Jump_In_Jack · 08-05-2023 01:08PM

I feel your frustration, but the achievement of finishing 2nd in the league is surely something that McFarland can point to in his defence.

The knockout games can be a toss of a coin, Ulster were so close to scoring at the end except for a penalty turnover at the breakdown on the tryline.

My main question for McFarland would be how did Ulster concede so many penalties at the rucks, is there a deficiency there in the personnel, or were there messages sent on to the pitch or was the referee changing his interpretation from previous matches? etc.

Dubinusa · 08-05-2023 01:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120568958#Comment_120568958

I'm with you. It's beyond maddening at this stage. It's like Ulster get up to a point and then the wheels fall off. There's no learning from McFarland previous mistakes.

Marshall should have gotten a look. So should Sheridan. I hope Dan moves on. He's not getting this current squad anywhere.

launish116 · 08-05-2023 02:46PM

We're back were are squad is without forwards and lacking depth across the board. Said this before we don't need marque players we need the bench mark across the board raised to a squad of steady eddies all equally as abrasive.

2nd in the league says more about the league than it does us.

Sometimes I look at other teams and just wonder if they had our fans, stadium, resources how much more they would get out of their squads.

**Edit

Uafc mentioning that Ben Griffin who played in the AIL final for Clontarf is joining for preseason with hope of gaining a contract. Have a lot of time for people with some want and fighting for contracts!

08-05-2023 03:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120570679#Comment_120570679

Ben Griffin was good yesterday. He's still only 21 and was training with Leinster A at the beginning of this season. Not the most athletic prop in the world but looks a solid scrummager.

10-05-2023 02:48AM

I think we majorly regressed this year. We have a great maul and that’s really it. Our pack is nowhere near powerful enough or nasty enough to play this off nine bully ball that we want to play. Our best players are almost all backs and we somehow went from an environment where they flourished to one where they were stifled.

I’d like to see some coaching changes.

edit: i think having a great maul will just get you tons of tries and wins in a league format, but it isn’t enough on its own in a knockout format.

awec · 10-05-2023 08:53AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120577745#Comment_120577745

Our tactics are just ridiculous. We play for penalties then go for mauls. It's the tactics of a team with a monster pack and **** backs, which is literally the opposite to us.

Works against the dross in the URC and also works when the better teams send their rotated sides up to Belfast. Doesn't work when you come up against anyone decent.

Iamabeliever · 10-05-2023 10:24AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120567237#Comment_120567237

Beirne?

stephen_n · 10-05-2023 10:38AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120578627#Comment_120578627

They didn’t lose Beirne, they didn’t offer him a contract based on his injury profile.

10-05-2023 11:00AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120578627#Comment_120578627

Yeah, what @stephen_n said; it wasn't that they wanted to keep Tadhg Beirne but lost him.

They've also lost some younger depth guys they didn't want to lose, but very rare to lose a guy who they feel is destined for the first team in time.

Dubinusa · 10-05-2023 12:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120578231#Comment_120578231

That's the coaching. Time for an overhaul. I don't think the squad is poor, just that they aren't getting the best out of the squad.

10-05-2023 05:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120578231#Comment_120578231

It makes zero sense except maybe it raises the floor. However, it also lowers the ceiling quite a bit.

10-05-2023 05:50PM

Leinster don’t really miss on evaluations but they don’t really have to choose until 19 at least and they have very little real competition for those players. Three years of evaluation (the amount of time a guy is in the NTS) is a lot of time to watch someone in practice and make decisions.

In saying that, their pick rate is still impressive.

stephen_n · 10-05-2023 05:58PM

The problem for Ulster seems to be there forwards aren’t big enough to bash teams up or skillful enough to play expansive rugby. Which is a pity as it waists so much talent in the backs. When the Ulster backs had the ball last Friday. They always looked threatening. They also made some good meters with ball in hand. Playing a more Leinster style, with forwards offering themselves more and acting as pivots, could really make space for the backs to exploit. I haven’t really seen that kind of handling from the forwards yet.

10-05-2023 06:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120580391#Comment_120580391

I would say we don’t know if they are skilful enough but it is definitely a different form of fitness and training to play that kind of game. So, there would have to be a transition to it. Its hard to know how much of this is just by choice though.

There are definitely ulster forwards who i feel could fit in that type of game though.

Dubinusa · 17-05-2023 11:38AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120580391#Comment_120580391

That's the thing with Ulster. Physically the forwards are decent sized but, they play below that size. There's areas of strenght amongst the forwards and there are quality players. In my mind the players are not coached well.

Jump_In_Jack · 17-05-2023 01:37PM

In my opinion, Leinster and Connacht have both been playing a high skill based style of play (both forwards and backs) for a few seasons now, Munster have only begun to adopt this style this season, and I think Ulster should adopt that style next season too.

All provinces should be on the same wavelength and it would feed into the national setup which also plays with a similar style.

The big difference I see between Ulster and the other provinces this season, is I don't see as many offloads and link play in the forwards. I think the way to improve would be to use flankers more like centres that can join the attacking line and also create gaps against other packs in tight exchanges.

One out crash ball without any other options will yield limited success against better teams, whereas keeping an option to change the point of attack via offloads and multiple quick short passes before contact means the defence every now and then will misread the attack which leads to easier metres gained, and hopefully less smash tackles which should result in fewer traumatic injuries.

The other half of that style requires the wingers to come off their wing more often. I can't say for certain but I get the impression that Ulster aren't getting the most out of their wings in this regard.

Now it may seem rich talking down Ulster's performances after they finished 2nd in the league stage, but I expect McFarland and his team will be looking to see where they go next season with their tactics, and I think they may well decide that this is where they could evolve, particularly with the influx of talent coming in from the academy and the clearout of some of the older lads retiring and moving on.

launish116 · 18-05-2023 01:38PM

Telegraph stating we’ve signed James French.

Really is criminal Toomaga-Allen wasnt resigned.

Sums up Ulster’s ambitions!

jacothelad · 18-05-2023 02:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120612558#Comment_120612558

Zero ambition and zero intellect. Waste of time and money unless there are siesmic changes to plans and people. The

Toomaga-Allen decision is beyond woeful. Bunch of entitled clots entrenched at Ravenhill.

RuPi · 18-05-2023 03:59PM

JTA wasn’t allowed to re sign by the IRFU. Ulster and him wanted to stay.

Dubinusa · 18-05-2023 04:15PM

No academy intakes updated,

stephen_n · 18-05-2023 05:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120613304#Comment_120613304

Is that confirmed or fan chatter? It makes absolutely no sense for the IRFU to block it.

Former Former Former · 18-05-2023 05:28PM

Having Kitshoff here on a 3 year deal might have made the retention of JTA a bigger ask.

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

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