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

Does a quick throw have to be straight if the lineout isn't set?!

That could end up being a really important conversion

That's a great win, congrats Ulster

Brilliant Ulster performance to the very end. So many good performances but Sheridan and McCann never taking a backward step was great to see.

Love watching this Ulster backline. If they can get that scrum right they can match anyone. Probably still a question about whether mentally they can pull a win in a tight contest against a top team but they look to be on the up and the players are really pulling together.

The Sharks are a shambles, culture of the players seems to be rotten. They should boot a few of those players out. Am has fallen some amount, a sub in the 75th minute. Was the best 13 in the world a couple of years ago.

So. Enjoyed that.

To win with a scrum being so thoroughly monstered is no mean feat. The scrum is a cause for concern generally, albeit they won't come up against a better front row than that. (It's better, in fact, than quite a few international front rows.)

I was starting to get a sinking feeling in the first quarter of the second half. We've been here before - running up great scores and then being wound back in and ground down. In fact, it was the Sharks we were 19-0 up against last season, only to lose 19-22. But it didn't happen. The scrum was taking its toll, but we still managed some great play to keep scoring. (Shout out to Tom Stewart, who played the whole 80 mins, transferring to back row after Reffell went off, and still had the juice to score that try. And he started that transition by passing the ball to Hume).

After a quieter previous season for McCann and particularly Sheridan, they look to have come roaring back. Sheridan is an absolute defensive menace against mauls.

Doak has gotten back to the promise he showed when he first burst through. Cooney was injured and so Doak knew the position was his when he got his first caps. I don't know if it's the run of games or not having Cooney breathing down his neck that has seen him improve again. But he is playing very well.

I can see why we kept on Sam Cream, to be honest. Hasn't let us down. Hell not have to worry about an Ireland call-up, but I could see him becoming quite dependable.

I am worried now about the Lions. I'll be gutted if we bonus point beat the Bulls and the Sharks only to lose to them.

But we won't have Hendo, Timoney, Gusty or Reffell in the pack. Do we even have enough back rows to line out?

I could see Kok giving openside a lash.

NB - I mean that he'd absolutely give it a go, not that Richie would pick him there.

Went off injured.

Excited to see what Bryn Ward can do at the next level - he was excellent at U20s.

Yeah - to be honest, from the limited amount I'd seen, I'd have had him ahead of Hopes.

Our depth will be tested this week without Stockdale, McCloskey, Timoney and Henderson as well as the injured players and this is where I think we might struggle a bit. We'll cope in the backs with Ward, Baloucoune and Postlethwaite all likely to come in, but I'd be concerned about the second row and back row. I'd love to see Bryn Ward get some sort of run.

While I don't like the fact we don't play again for a month after Saturday, it may not be the worst thing in the world for us given how light our depth is. But this will be the sort of week where we start to build depth by playing the likes of Hopes and Ward Jnr, maybe Irvine as well.

I have only one vague memory of this happening (but cannot for the life of me remember who), where an extra week was added after an unsuccessful appeal.

But even then, it was in the circumstances where the club / player obviously still felt it worth it, as a successful appeal would've had the player back in time for a Champions Cup game; something along those lines. (You'd imagine clubs have all these variables gamed out before hand).