Leinster v. Ulster, Rainbow Cup, Fri 14 May, 20.15hrs

[Atlas]

The scrum seemed to be under a lot of pressure which was a surprise given our front row.

I wonder if the issue was the engine room where Carter and Henderson were just generating a lot more power than our much lighter lads could match?

[wixfjord]

Ryan, Baird and Cronin in a front five doesn't strike me with huge confidence from a scrummaging POV personally.

[Dave Cahill]

The scrum seemed to be under a lot of pressure which was a surprise given our front row.

I wonder if the issue was the engine room where Carter and Henderson were just generating a lot more power than our much lighter lads could match?

The issue was that Marty Moore took Cian Healy lower than Barry White's voice and owned his arm so completely Cian is waking up with the names of Marty's kids* tattooed on it.









*I have no idea if Marty has kids or not, its a metaphor

[carlow man]

Was it him just shouting whoooo everytime anyone made a tackle? Bit annoying.

Yep think so. Very annoying.

I loved it!


Unrelated - James Ryan is credited with 31 tackles last night

Some work from JR. He got better ad the match went on. Same for Baird. The shouting from Lowe was over the top, imo. We weren't playing in the champions cup final. It was a non event v an Ulster team who were playing for pride. He sounded like one of the sarries lads. Not needed me thinks. Trying to generate some atmos but that was over the top at times last night.

[carlow man]

The scrum seemed to be under a lot of pressure which was a surprise given our front row.

I wonder if the issue was the engine room where Carter and Henderson were just generating a lot more power than our much lighter lads could match?

The issue was that Marty Moore took Cian Healy lower than Barry White's voice and owned his arm so completely Cian is waking up with the names of Marty's kids* tattooed on it.









*I have no idea if Marty has kids or not, its a metaphor

I think Healy and furlong had a hard time dealing with o'toole and Moore. They seemed to have their number in every scrum.

[alanair]

Larmour needs some time off...

Are we going to forget how well he played against Exeter then? The Larmour criticism on here is baffling to me.

No , we’re not , but one good game followed by 3 poor games, is a bad return

[riocard911]

Was it him just shouting whoooo everytime anyone made a tackle? Bit annoying.

Yep think so. Very annoying.

I loved it!


Unrelated - James Ryan is credited with 31 tackles last night

I loved it too! Agree with the backchat; needs to stamped on by the refs. Ulster were penalised for it yesterday in the second half, I was delighted to see. Also agree the "Captain's Challenge" is cr@p and unnecessary. Both captain's should be able to question ref decisions whenever they feel like - as they have done up until now, with the best example for me being J10's demand that the Willie le Roux grounding for Wasps vs ourselves in Lansdowne in the Heino 2018.

[heno]

Especially considering the end last night where the ref didn't want to hear a captain's challenge because it came from the side line. I think it should be a coaches challenge like the nfl.
I had assumed they were all from the side line anyway via the water bottle carriers, to winger, to captain etc. If it has to be so obvious that it is something the on field players have seen then you would think the tmo would be all over it. I think it should be coach to 4th official. Leave the players worry about their main job.

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[Blue not red blood]

Would we have had a fit 10 next week if we got to Heineken final !!!!
Fair play to Ross for staying on. Poor guy could hardly walk

[Fan with smartphone]

Especially considering the end last night where the ref didn't want to hear a captain's challenge because it came from the side line. I think it should be a coaches challenge like the nfl.
I had assumed they were all from the side line anyway via the water bottle carriers, to winger, to captain etc. If it has to be so obvious that it is something the on field players have seen then you would think the tmo would be all over it. I think it should be coach to 4th official. Leave the players worry about their main job.

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The funniest thing was when Henderson asking could he challenge it then after McGrath got a stern no from Adamson.

Henderson was in the mood to challenge everything but I have to say I did agree that the Henshaw tackle had to be something. The other backchat was penalisable, but I could understand that one.

[the spoofer]

Especially considering the end last night where the ref didn't want to hear a captain's challenge because it came from the side line. I think it should be a coaches challenge like the nfl.
I had assumed they were all from the side line anyway via the water bottle carriers, to winger, to captain etc. If it has to be so obvious that it is something the on field players have seen then you would think the tmo would be all over it. I think it should be coach to 4th official. Leave the players worry about their main job.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

The funniest thing was when Henderson asking could he challenge it then after McGrath got a stern no from Adamson.

Henderson was in the mood to challenge everything but I have to say I did agree that the Henshaw tackle had to be something. The other backchat was penalisable, but I could understand that one.

Henshaws tackle was something, class.

[Serb]

Yeah, Henshaw’s tackle was on the edge as D’arcy described it at half time, but I thought it didn’t cross any lines for me, so penalty only was the right call. Poor body position but did more damage to himself than to Balacoune.

[Dexter]

Yeah, Henshaw’s tackle was on the edge as D’arcy described it at half time, but I thought it didn’t cross any lines for me, so penalty only was the right call. Poor body position but did more damage to himself than to Balacoune.

I don't think the penalty was for the tackle, but for a different, real, offense.
Why would it be, the tackle wasn't illegal. It was marginal and could have gotten him in trouble if he was even a tiny bit higher.

[Serb]

I think it was a high tackle, Henshaw’s arms end up around Balacoune’s neck, if he had managed to avoid any contact with the head/neck area, it would have been a great tackle.

[Fan with smartphone]

I think it was a high tackle, Henshaw’s arms end up around Balacoune’s neck, if he had managed to avoid any contact with the head/neck area, it would have been a great tackle.

That’s where I sit on it too.

[cormac]

At worst it was a penalty as his arm slides up at the end into the neck of Balacoune. To be honest I'd have preferred to see him try and bend his back a bit before making the tackle. Much safer for him and Balacoune.

[Dexter]

I think it was a high tackle, Henshaw’s arms end up around Balacoune’s neck, if he had managed to avoid any contact with the head/neck area, it would have been a great tackle.

That’s where I sit on it too.

We'll have to agree to disagree then, I didn't see anything that was technically illegal.
Saying that, I hope that's the last time he tries one of those! It wouldn't take much for it to go pear shaped.

[Serb]

For sure, literally an inch higher and that’s a red card.

[ronk]

I'd say a penalty gets called, at least, if it's a TMO referral. As a captain's referral there needs to be clear evidence and awarding a penalty lets them off the hook for losing their challenge

[Blue Man]

It’s difficult to achieve and sort of consistency when you make ten changes but I thought this was a poor performance. There was some good aggression and line speed in defense but overall I thought we played well below what we’re capable of. There was a complete lack of shape or width in attack; with ball in hand it was all a bit blunt, regression to one out runners. Half back was a big problem, Luke was slow and Byrne too deep and slow (in fairness, I think Ross was playing on one leg. I am concerned about the fluidity of our attack and ability to generate width. A few weeks to work on it with a full squad so hopefully things will improve. Also, with three tries on the board and 18 minutes to play, it was disappointing not pushing on to get the BP - Turnips got 10 points from the Interpros but we only got 9. Whatever about this year’s Rainbow Cup format, I would love to see us play the Bulls / Stormers.