EPCR Semi Finals

congrats Ulster that was a performance to be proud of, I don’t think there was a single player who didn’t play well. Good luck for the final.

Montpellier haven’t got there yet and while they’re a good side, they’d be no one’s definition of a powerhouse European team.

This is a team who’ve never gotten out of their pool in the European Cup.

Ah makes sense given he got the nod since Farrell dropped SP.

The move to Connacht should be good for him under Lancaster - my prediction is he'll be backup to Crowley soon enough

I might have 4 tickets (to both finals) for face value (€660 total) as our group isn't able to go due to unforeseen circumstances. Let me know if that is of interest. I do just have to make absolutely certain the others in the group haven't changed their minds but I don't think they will.

and Neinaber has ruined Leinster, Ringrose, Ireland etc. Same excuses being trotted out time after time.

At this stage a blind man could see that Sam Prendergast won't cut it given his defensive issues. He just isn't up to it at this level from a physicality perspective. And the rest of his game just isn't outstanding to make up for it. He would need to be outstanding in every other facet of the game to excuse how poor he is defensively.

There are none so blind as those who refuse to see...

Ah come off it Podge. You're always finding an excuse for the guy's inexcusable defensive frailties.

He can't defend to anything near the required level in any area of the pitch. Simple as. His career is going nowhere unless he sorts that out. Or else becomes a world beater in every other facet of play. It's that bad.

He hasn't the pace to tackle on the wing, or the physicality to tackle anywhere on the pitch. It's at the point where his team would nearly be better off with 14 on the pitch when he's anywhere in the defensive line.

I get that he's trying, but he's not improving at all.

Yeah but Sexton and Ross Byrne were on the scene then. Standard of other contenders now is leagues lower with Harry and Sam.

JGP is running the show anyway most of the time, if he's there you need someone who can kick goals and tackle and keep things ticking over passing wise.

Sam is probably the best passer of the two and can do most damage with a dominant platform... but it doesn't matter a fiddlers when he's not even a turnstile in defence. Harry Byrne is extremely flaky and prone to days like today. He's still a better option than Sam though.

Frawley might not be a better outhalf than either at their best but he won't give you days like today at his worst is my feeling on it.

Yeah, all fair points.. but he's only had 19 games at 10 in blue and I don't know how many of them are starts.

I don't think Leo will suddenly start playing him now but I reckon he'll bench

I presume the theory yesterday was at 29-11, the game was safe enough to give Sam some minutes rather than putting Luke on the wing.

His attempt on Drean was horrendous but it’s not a situation many OHs ever find themselves in, he got caught in two minds completely.

But yes, he definitely is improving on the whole, but still a looong way to go

I think the issue though is that there's nowhere to hide him in the defensive line against the top teams. Yes, he shouldn't have been caught out wide yesterday. But it's a CC semi final against three time winners Toulon stacked with internationals in their side. They are going to stretch any defensive setup and get it out of alignment. The fall back then is that you expect professionals at this level to make a 1:1 tackle on a player who had to slow up to collect a cross field kick. It's inexcusable at this level.

I'd debate his defensive improvement too. Yes he's improved vs. when he first came on the scene. But it's not a large improvement and it's still miles off the level required. I remain unconvinced he can get to a passable level in defence. And as I've said previously I'm not convinced either that the rest of his game is good enough to be ignoring his defensive issues.