[2013/14 Pro12] Round 11

[Draggs]

Will add graphics later.

 

[Draggs]

Talei is shît. Why are we playing him over Ieuan Jones?

 

[LittleGuy]

Ospreys winning on a late try, didn't catch much of the other games, but Glasgow are back in the win column.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

22-16 win for Munster over Connacht. The highlight of the game was the final whistle.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

Prediction: 53-3 to Ulster. (We'll give them a consolation penalty at the end).

Starting XV (not that anyone probably cares since it's the Rabo..)
Leinster
15: Zane Kirchner
14: Dave Kearney
13: Brendan Macken
12: Noel Reid
11: Luke Fitzgerald
10: Jimmy Gopperth
9: Isaac Boss
1: Michael Bent
2: Aaron Dundon
3: Martin Moore
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Mike McCarthy
6: Rhys Ruddock
7: Sean O'Brien
8: Jordi Murphy

Ulster: R Andrew, A Trimble, D Cave, L Marshall, C Gilroy, P Jackson, P Marshall; (1-8): C Black, R Herring, D Fitzpatrick, L Stevenson, D Tuohy, R Diack (Captain), S Doyle, R Wilson

Edit: Leinster all over Ulster, we've barely got into their half but Leinster don't take their chances. 3-3.

 

[big ginger 8]

Yes Lukey, great finish from Murphy. That's a long time coming.

 

[Peat]

10-6 at half-time. Frankly, that's an incredibly good score for Ulster considering the story of the half. We have barely seen the ball and we've had to defend like mad.

 

[Peat]

19-6 full-time, Ulster got what they deserved i.e. nothing. Fair dos to Leinster, played a good enough game, but I don't think we made them work nearly hard enough for that.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

Both teams should be pretty concerned after that, of course especially Ulster. Absolutely no intensity, lack of precision and too many errors.
I guess Leinster will be happy to let Ulster leave with nothing, but really that scoreline should have been 35+, they really had so many opportunities and it took a moment of brilliance from Fitzgerald to score a try.

 

[Peat]

I can pretend to be not too worried based on the return of Best, Henry and Muller, the hardcore of the team in terms of leadership and the breakdown... but Muller won't be here much longer, where are the guys standing up? Our resources in the pack are insufficient, or at least they are with this many injuries.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

I honestly thought our second string front row was a lot stronger than that, Stevenson is actually decent but then again he is 29. It really is starting to look like we need Henderson in the second row in the coming seasons, even though he is much better at 6. Doyle can be decent but he needs to start giving away a lot less penalties, the same with Diack.

My dads mate was round today, and he works with Stephen Ferris's dad. We were talking when the match was on and apparently it's really not looking good for him, he isn't recovering as they expected - another recent setback he says means it's most likely he won't recover which is really disappointing. (nothing official of course)

 

[lynam1104]

My dads mate was round today, and he works with Stephen Ferris's dad. We were talking when the match was on and apparently it's really not looking good for him, he isn't recovering as they expected - another recent setback he says means it's most likely he won't recover which is really disappointing. (nothing official of course)

Your dads mate that works with Ferris dada sounds a bit like I know a guy who knows a guy, so I'm hopping its just rumors. praying even.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

Well more simply it's a guy who works with Ferris's dad who says it's a very touchy subject right now

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

It was a bit of a mixed bag from Leinster. I thought they were clearly the better team but an inability to convert their chances is concerning. The best performers were Jordi Murphy and Luke Fitzgerald. Rhys Ruddock also put in a good shift. Most encouraging were the performances of Martin Moore and Jack O'Connell. The scrum noticeably dis-improved when Mike Ross and Jack McGrath took the field.

 

[Amiga500]

it took a moment of brilliance from Fitzgerald to score a try.

It did? :huh:

Is that what a shocking attempt at a tackle from Paul Marshall is called these days? You'd thought it was SOB with a 10 yard charge to build up a head of steam the way he was brushed off.

 

[Amiga500]

where are the guys standing up? Our resources in the pack are insufficient, or at least they are with this many injuries.

They aren't coming through.

We'll be in poor enough shape in 5 years unless there is a sudden reversal in the talent coming through...

Too much weights and looking at whiteboards, not enough playing and using your brain.

 

[Peat]

They aren't coming through.

We'll be in poor enough shape in 5 years unless there is a sudden reversal in the talent coming through...

Too much weights and looking at whiteboards, not enough playing and using your brain.

Dunno, we seem to do ok producing talent from 10-15, its only 1-9 that's an issue... I know a few guys who've had access to a bit of what McLaughlin has been doing with the schools, they've been super impressed by what we're doing and are convinced we're moving in the right direction. I hope they're right and that the recent Ireland U-19 squad was a taste of things to come because you're not wrong that we've got about five years to sort it out at the very most - really you'd want more early 20s guys snapping at the heels of the squad already. We've got Henderson and a fair front row when people can stay fit. Maybe Doyle and Joyce. I see a lot more NIQs, projects and IQ players sourced from outside the province in Ulster's future.

I am even more worried about Ulster's seeming inability to breed leaders on a rugby field than I am the seeming inability to breed forwards though.

 

[lynam1104]

Ulster look like their producing the next generation of Irish backs, but the lack of any real leader to step up in that spot that Muller and eventually Best will leave is a little worrying.

 

[Amiga500]

I am even more worried about Ulster's seeming inability to breed leaders on a rugby field than I am the seeming inability to breed forwards though.

If every player that took to the field had the game intelligence to know what to do they wouldn't need a "leader" to tell them what to do.

The academies are all well and good - but there is no substitute for actually playing against bigger, better, dirtier men and learning from it... rather than wrap them up in proverbial cotton wool.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

The academies are all well and good - but there is no substitute for actually playing against bigger, better, dirtier men and learning from it... rather than wrap them up in proverbial cotton wool.

That's where, I think, we're on the right track with the new national team management. Seemingly Joe Schmidt wants to get the best four players playing for each of the provinces. That is to say, for example, that Leinster won't be able to hoard loosehead props and backrows, Munster can't hoard second rows and hookers and Ulster can no longer hoard centres.