Leinster v Ulster: HC Last 16; April 1st

[curates_egg]

Ulster aren't losing many players to the Ireland camp (Herring, Henderson, Stockdale, McCloskey, O'Toole).
They are losing Sutherland and, maybe, Cooney to Scotland camp.

I was originally thinking that having all this time to prepare for one game would work in their favour.
If things really have soured between the players and coach as much as some people are saying, I wonder if it could work against them though.
It could be like us with Kidney.

[LeinsterLeader]

Montpellier probably (they seldom travel well). At this moment in time both Munster and Ospreys are better teams then Ulster. That wasn't the case 6 weeks ago and it might not be the case 6 weeks from now but they are right now.

So my pref would have been MontP then Ulster then Munster then Ospreys

Ospreys are a better team than Ulster at the moment but I don't think Ospreys even at their best would beat us in Lansdowne while Ulster at their best would have a chance IMO.

The Irish lads all know each other, how we play, weaknesses and vulnerability and of course, you always want to beat your mates. However, if you get yourself in trouble against a team that won one and lost 4 in the pool stages you've no business having aspirations to win the tournament. Of course the team will be well prepared and won't take anything for granted and the reverse of what I said at the start of the post is also true. Any neutral commentator will say that we are clearly favourites.

That line sums it up for me to honest. It's a fine line between over confidence and just having faith in your team and if we can play close to our best at the Aviva we'll be hard to beat regardless of who we play.

[wixfjord]

This thread doesn't need to be taken off track mere pages after it has started with dragging up (incorrect) grudges from the past.

Totally agree on getting the thread back on track.
But I think we can let Dan Leavy (and his cool head, four years on) have the last word on the incident, given he finally addressed it, rather than you and your opinion of it:
https://www.therugbypod.com/podcast/epi ... -dan-leavy

Rugby player who unfortunately retired through injury annoyed at player who inadvertently caused the injury. Surprising stuff.

*** Edited by mod ***

[TMC]

Ospreys are a better team than Ulster at the moment but I don't think Ospreys even at their best would beat us in Lansdowne while Ulster at their best would have a chance IMO.

The Irish lads all know each other, how we play, weaknesses and vulnerability and of course, you always want to beat your mates. However, if you get yourself in trouble against a team that won one and lost 4 in the pool stages you've no business having aspirations to win the tournament. Of course the team will be well prepared and won't take anything for granted and the reverse of what I said at the start of the post is also true. Any neutral commentator will say that we are clearly favourites.

That line sums it up for me to honest. It's a fine line between over confidence and just having faith in your team and if we can play close to our best at the Aviva we'll be hard to beat regardless of who we play.

Would have been good if the Irish sides were kept apart even in the R16 phase. But if you're qualifying 4-0 you would expect to beat a team who has come through 1-3 handily enough.

McFarland has pointed the finger at multiple reasons for Ulsters underperformance over the past couple of months. They have been discommoded by travel & pitch issues but fact he has had to do that is instructive. The underlying issue is that their heads have not been in the right space. The real question is can Ulster sort their top three inches out over the 6 Nations. If they can they will give us a game, if they don't they'll be soundly beaten.

Will be interesting to see how they go at the weekend against the Stormers, will the guys who have missed out for Ireland like Timoney, Treadwell, Hume and Lowry step up in a game with less at stake.

[Flash Gordon]

Ospreys are a better team than Ulster at the moment but I don't think Ospreys even at their best would beat us in Lansdowne while Ulster at their best would have a chance IMO.

The Irish lads all know each other, how we play, weaknesses and vulnerability and of course, you always want to beat your mates. However, if you get yourself in trouble against a team that won one and lost 4 in the pool stages you've no business having aspirations to win the tournament. Of course the team will be well prepared and won't take anything for granted and the reverse of what I said at the start of the post is also true. Any neutral commentator will say that we are clearly favourites.

That line sums it up for me to honest. It's a fine line between over confidence and just having faith in your team and if we can play close to our best at the Aviva we'll be hard to beat regardless of who we play.

Typo on the 4 which should be 3 of course but point still stands!

[Ruckedtobits]

Having re-watched scrums & line-out mauls from our Pool games, I am certainly of the view that it is highly unlikely we'll add the fifth star without a Furlong / Jenkins combination on the right side of our scrum. Furthermore, they'll need to be as effective as Ryan / Klein were against Toulouse for 55 minutes.

Otherwise, I believe that every other area in the team has sufficient depth or variation to take on anybody in the competition all the way through.

[desperado]

Venue confirmed as Lansdowne Road, Saturday 01 April 1730hrs.

Sent from my SM-G990B using Tapatalk

[blockhead]

Venue confirmed as Lansdowne Road, Saturday 01 April 1730hrs.

Sent from my SM-G990B using Tapatalk

More than 66,000 tickets have already been sold for the Dublin finals weekend!
Can't be many left so.

[cormac]

Venue confirmed as Lansdowne Road, Saturday 01 April 1730hrs.

Sent from my SM-G990B using Tapatalk

Perfect.

[Keith]

Any word when tickets will be released?

[desperado]

extract from email to season ticket holders just now:

Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16
Leinster V Ulster
Aviva Stadium, Saturday 1 April @ 5.30pm

Tickets for knock-out games are not included as part of your Season Ticket, however, we are pleased to offer all our Season Ticket Holders first option to purchase tickets for this fixture at a discount.

2-6 Feb Opportunity to purchase back same tickets allocated to you for Racing 92 with 10% discount.
7 Feb Pre-sale - 10% discount exclusive to Season Ticket Holders.
9 Feb Public sale

[SoupyNorman]

So the Munster game will be 11.30 Irish time?

Edit: Ah right - seen their clocks won't move forward with ours so 12.30pm.

[Keith]

Looks like Ulster are back, they've been really good so far against the Stormers.

[yellabelly1961]

Looks like Ulster are back, they've been really good so far against the Stormers.

2nd string Stormers team

[Long Shanks]

€37.95 for the same seat as my season ticket in the Aviva is a bit steep for a last 16 game!

[mildlyinterested]

€37.95 for the same seat as my season ticket in the Aviva is a bit steep for a last 16 game!

epcr set prices afaik

[D4surfer]

€37.95 for the same seat as my season ticket in the Aviva is a bit steep for a last 16 game!

epcr set prices afaik

You could be right but I'm not sure that they do. I think that's only for the semifinals and final. My tickets are €83.10 each with a 10% discount and including charges.

[cormac]

€37.95 for the same seat as my season ticket in the Aviva is a bit steep for a last 16 game!

epcr set prices afaik

Only for semi final and final

[Schumi]

€37.95 for the same seat as my season ticket in the Aviva is a bit steep for a last 16 game!

That was the price for the two ends for the Gloucester and Connacht games in the RDS anyway (plus Ticketmaster charges). I think it's the usual price, steep as it is.

[johng]

60 bucks each for us. The 10% discount covers the Ticketba$tard fees.