Ulster Rugby - 2020-21 Season

[MylesNaGapoleen]

hard to see anyone else other than dupont getting european player of the year award this season.

feel for ulster.missing some key players.....gave it a good shot but toulouse are cruising.

of the semi finals I have seen...I think only racing and clermont have the nous to beat saracens. exeter play later today. As good as they are, I cannot see them making the final.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Aaron Sexton playing for Ulster A. Not that he’s anywhere near the Ireland reckoning but I did think of him when I was talking about the Ireland back three in the 8 Nations thread, we could really do with the boost of an exciting back three player running getting bums off couches.

[Aird]

Sexton has undoubted pace but the two young players in Ulster backline with potential are Stewart Moore and Robert Balacoune who unfortunately picked up a bad injury in pre season and will probably be out for months.
When Arron was playing Mini rugby at Bangor the watch word was give it to Arron as even then he had outstanding pace and could out run the opposition.
At schools rugby some coaches seemed to be hypnotised by his pace . I would put Balacoune ahead of him at the moment but it will depend on his recovery from his current injury it seems serious enough to have a potential after effect.

[neiliog93]

I'd bring Aaron Sexton, Baloucoune and maybe even James Hume to the Pacific Islands in June/July 2021 if the summer tours go ahead. Some excellent potential there.

[Dave Cahill]

Ulster have been docked a point and given a £10000 fine (suspended) for fielding an inelligible player against Connacht and Leinster in the Pro14. The player? Ian Madigan!

[ronk]

Red card for Henderson.

[cormac]

Red card for Henderson.

One of the daftest red cards you'll ever see.

[IanD]

Cardiff v Ulster in Rodney Parade.

It reminds of old FA Cup Semi Finals in neutral grounds.

[Ruckedtobits]

Cardiff v Ulster in Rodney Parade.

It reminds of old FA Cup Semi Finals in neutral grounds.

.......But far more boring. That series of attacking scrums from 30.18 until the 40th minute within 5-7 mtrs from Cardiff line in the first half was an indictment of the Ulster attack. The Cardiff SH was able to tackle Timoney from behind on three occasions when he picked. Neither Cooney nor Burns attempted to use the backs to break the impasse, eveb when Cardiff went down to 14. Surely, Cooney, Burns & McCloskey have enough experience and confidence in their fellow backs to exploit such opportunities.

Very disappointed with the display in those vital minutes

[Dave Cahill]

Ulster have given Edinburgh a shellacking - or they have sort of. Ulster were out of the blocks, looking for the bonus point, but a 20 minute burst from Edinburgh either side of half time saw them bring it back to 19-14. Then an Edinburgh penalty came back off the post, the edinburgh chaser claimed it to score the equalising try only for it to be disallowed as he was ahead of the kicker. Ulster pushed on then with a further unanswered 24 points. 7 tries and some really good performances away from home. Cooney got two tries, Sam Carter was excellent (won MOTM) and Lowry looks to be pretty secure for a small guy but the two standouts were John Andrew with a hat trick and Marcel Coetzee who was an absolute beast. John Andew can't be far off an international call surely

[Ruckedtobits]

Once again the stand out feature of this Ulster display was the set-piece execution by their forwards. Even the inclusion of reserve hooker from Rainey OB, Bradley Roberts, didn't diminish their scrum prowess and on his introduction Ulster drove the Edinburgh pack 7m beyond the put-in. Despite huge assistance Ulster couldn't engineer a try for Roberts - he had three successive attempts foiled within one metre of the try-line - but John Andrew eventually collected a 3rd try for himself to complete an impressive night's work

More significant aspect of this Ulster display? It has to be a combination of their maul technique and the effectiveness of their scrum.

Ring, ring, Ring,ring,
Hi Dan, it's Faz, didn't you used to do a bit with the Scots? I'm wondering have you anything on tomorrow & wednesday, or could you give us a hand for a couple of sessions in Abbotstown?

[sunshiner1]

How is Milasinovich playing? He looks a big unit. Is he international quality or a squad player?

[Dave Cahill]

Dwayne Peel will return to Wales at the end of the season to take up a coaching role with Cardiff Blues

[Ruckedtobits]

The folks of the SUFTUM brigade will now be shouting at Nucifora not to land them with Catt as he attempts to offload one of his mistakes and put him (slightly) out of sight.

They shouldn't worry too much. McFarland has sufficient credit in the bank with Ulster rugby and the IRFU to prevent Peel's replacement being anything other that his own choice and it will be a first rate appointment.

No idea at the moment who he has in mind but he's a studious thinker and, no doubt, he has had a short list tucked away for just this eventuality. Furthermore, we probable won't hear anything more on this topic until he judges that such an announcement will not derail his team's current momentum. All things being equal, an announcement when Ulster has ensured a European Q/F in the Heineken Cup, or in the final week of the 6Ns, will be the sort of timescale that Dan will have planned to reveal his new man.

BTW, a good move for Peel who has contributed very well up north, not least to John Cooney. He will also have learned a lot working with McFarland and Payne and will take a lot of IP about Irish rugby into the Welsh environment. Two-way traffic in that regard with Robyn McBride's arrival in Leinster.

[Dave Cahill]

Ulster team to play Toulouse, Heineken Champions Cup Round 1, Friday 11 December 2020 at Kingspan Stadium, kick-off 8pm, live on BT Sport / beIN Sport:

(15-9) Michael Lowry, Matt Faddes, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Ian Madigan, John Cooney;

(1-8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor, Sam Carter (Capt.), Sean Reidy, Jordi Murphy, Marcell Coetzee.

Replacements: John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Tom O’Toole, David O’Connor, Matty Rea, Alby Mathewson, Stewart Moore, Craig Gilroy.

[IanD]

Emile Ntamack is very lucky. Three a punch in the big scuffle that was not spotted.

[Ruckedtobits]

Ulster missing Hendo in scrum & line-out. Marty M having a real tough night with the weight coming through Cyril Baille.

Cracking game 12-14 at half time for visitors.

[SaS]

Stockdale managing to turn the game around on his own, unfortunately it's for Toulouse...

[Dave Cahill]

Stockdale managing to turn the game around on his own, unfortunately it's for Toulouse...

Yeah, coz Cheslin Kolbe has never ever beaten a player on the outside except for every player he's ever played against.

[SaS]

Stockdale managing to turn the game around on his own, unfortunately it's for Toulouse...

Yeah, coz Cheslin Kolbe has never ever beaten a player on the outside except for every player he's ever played against.

Preceeded by the stupid forearm to the head when Ulster were in a really good position...