Ulster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

bilston

.ak wrote: »

Can another one of the 1st XV starters not take the kicks? How is Payne/Marshall with the boot?

I've read plenty of match reports from the AIL where Marshall has kicked, Olding can kick as well. In fact one of the first things he did in an Ulster shirt was nonchantly knock over a conversion from an awkward enough angle at Thomond Park last January. As I said before one of those two will be playing outside of Jackson and in fact if it isn't one of those two then it will be Paddy Wallace, although he is probably as reliable as Jackson.

Not sure about Payne...but he can do everything else so why not!

BTW I wouldn't be surprised if the best goal kicker in the entire Ulster squad was Ian Porter.

jacothelad

Buer wrote: »

Depressingly similar to a post you made this time last year.

Yes, I always have a Highland holiday in September or October. I was in Glenelg last year on the weekend of the Spence tragedy. I'm not long back from a beautiful day out on the Isle of Skye. Only drawback was a hideous fish and chips from Hector's Bothy in the Kyle of Lochalsh. Getting ready for a solo acoustic guitar night later. Watching the Big Band Theory and hoping the fish doesn't make a return visit when it meets the Deuchars Pale Ale later.

bilston

According to someone on UAFC it looks like Afoa will be back this weekend and that Trimble is expected back sooner rather than later.

The best news though is that Hendo supposedly just suffered a stinger on Friday and should be ok for Ospreys and Payne is expected to be fit as well. That said if there are any doubts over the pair I would be all for resting them this week.

If confirmed all good news anyway!

damianmcr

Its from the Newsletter Bilston. Henderson, Payne, Gilroy all got knocks but should be fit. Afoa should also play a part. Trimble should play a part in the Tigers game.

the_doctor199

Good news on Olding. Sounds like Henderson could skip Friday to make sure he's ready for Leicester.

Ulster and Ireland centre Stuart Olding could make his first appearance of the Pro12 season in Friday's game against the Ospreys.
Olding has missed the opening four games of the Irish province's season because of a groin injury but is now back in contention for the squad.
Ulster coach Mark Anscombe has indicated that Iain Henderson is a doubt for Friday's encounter.
Jared Payne should be fit despite picking up a knock against Treviso.
"Jared will be all right. Iain Henderson, we are still looking after. It's a bit early to tell," said the Ulster coach.
"We've got to look after them (the players). It's a long season."

Link

bilston

the_doctor199 wrote: »

Good news on Olding. Sounds like Henderson could skip Friday to make sure he's ready for Leicester.



Link

Makes sense not to risk Henderson...although you could argue that resting players this weekend would just be making the argument for the PRL:)

the_doctor199

Super news this.

Ulster Rugby has been boosted by the news that Nick Williams has signed a new two-year contract extension, keeping him at Ravenhill until the summer of 2016.

Link

Buer

Good news indeed. Hopefully he can dominate like he did last year but I think the main obstacle will be the fit again Roger Wilson. It's a nice mix to have. Williams could be a superb impact sub for 30 minutes.

bilston

Happy with that news. When he signed last year there were a few groans but he has proved a lot of people wrong. He also looked the part again on Friday night after a sluggish start to the season.

Good news and hopefully more to folllow.

thomond2006

Any good young backrowers coming through at Ulster?

Buer

thomond2006 wrote: »

Any good young backrowers coming through at Ulster?

I'm open to correction but Ulster have been struggling to develop quality back row players for some time. Henderson is great but potentially will be a lock for the majority of his career. The current senior roster is Williams, Wilson, Henry, Diack, Doyle, Ferris, Henderson and McComish. Doyle is by far the youngest at 24 if we consider Henderson a lock.

Conor Joyce is the only out and out back row player in the academy. He was good in the U20 side. Played 6 or 8. He's a strong lump and a good carrier. Reminded me a little of Chris Henry in how he plays.

He seems to have a lot of potential and is rated. Started against Glasgow earlier this season. Hopefully he gets some more game time this season as back row is an area Ulster could really do with some spark in. They've good, solid options but nobody (aside from Ferris and Henderson) that you look at and think "He's clearly an international back row".

bilston

Buer wrote: »

I'm open to correction but Ulster have been struggling to develop quality back row players for some time. Henderson is great but potentially will be a lock for the majority of his career. The current senior roster is Williams, Wilson, Henry, Diack, Doyle, Ferris, Henderson and McComish. Doyle is by far the youngest at 24 if we consider Henderson a lock.

Conor Joyce is the only out and out back row player in the academy. He was good in the U20 side. Played 6 or 8. He's a strong lump and a good carrier. Reminded me a little of Chris Henry in how he plays.

He seems to have a lot of potential and is rated. Started against Glasgow earlier this season. Hopefully he gets some more game time this season as back row is an area Ulster could really do with some spark in. They've good, solid options but nobody (aside from Ferris and Henderson) that you look at and think "He's clearly an international back row".

I think we had a good No.8 playing for the U20s in the Inter Pros. Think his name is Lorcan Dow. Like Joyce I think he is actually an Exile. Joyce looks decent, I'm not sure he'll ever be an international, maybe he will, but he could certainly be a decent provincial player. We have struggled to produce back rowers for a while now. It's probably nearly 10 years now since Best, McMillan, Ferris and Wilson all came through in the space of a couple of years.

Paul Smeenus

David Pollock was a massive loss. So much potential.

The Lost Sheep

bilston wrote: »

I think we had a good No.8 playing for the U20s in the Inter Pros. Think his name is Lorcan Dow. Like Joyce I think he is actually an Exile. Joyce looks decent, I'm not sure he'll ever be an international, maybe he will, but he could certainly be a decent provincial player. We have struggled to produce back rowers for a while now. It's probably nearly 10 years now since Best, McMillan, Ferris and Wilson all came through in the space of a couple of years.

Dow is an exile. Underage for 20s again next season so early days yet. May play Irish 19s not 20s this season
Joyce is good good player and should make it to be a solid player at provincial level.

student1990

Frankie Taggart is a pretty good backrower aswell. u20 this year and exile too.

hype101

Stephen Leckey looked really promising whenever I saw him but slipped off the radar and is with some club side in Glasgow.. Don't quite know how that happened as he looked a great athlete.. Ran pretty much the length of the pitch in O2 challenge match a few years back.. Anyone know why he wasn't held onto by Ulster

bilston

hype101 wrote: »

Stephen Leckey looked really promising whenever I saw him but slipped off the radar and is with some club side in Glasgow.. Don't quite know how that happened as he looked a great athlete.. Ran pretty much the length of the pitch in O2 challenge match a few years back.. Anyone know why he wasn't held onto by Ulster

Not sure but I agree he looked a great prospect. I can only assume that he decided professional rugby wasn't for him which is why he went to University in Scotland.

There was an Ulster No.8 who played in that game as well who looked called McGuigan, he was highly rated but it looks like he has failed to make the step up.

the_doctor199

Payne starts at 13 and Gilroy at 15 again and Trimble is back.

(15-9): C Gilroy, A Trimble, J Payne, L Marshall, M Allen, P Jackson, P Marshall;
(1-8): T Court, R Best, D Fitzpatrick J Muller (Captain), D Tuohy, R Diack, C Henry, N Williams;
Replacements (16-23): R Herring, C Black, B Ross, I Henderson, R Wilson, M Heaney, S Olding, D Cave.

Ospreys team: Fussell, Hassler, Bishop, Beck, Walker, Biggar, Tebaldi, Bevington, Hibbard, Jones, AWJ, Evans, Ardron, Tipuric, Bearman

bilston

the_doctor199 wrote: »

Payne starts at 13 and Gilroy at 15 again and Trimble is back.

(15-9): C Gilroy, A Trimble, J Payne, L Marshall, M Allen, P Jackson, P Marshall;
(1-8): T Court, R Best, D Fitzpatrick J Muller (Captain), D Tuohy, R Diack, C Henry, N Williams;
Replacements (16-23): R Herring, C Black, B Ross, I Henderson, R Wilson, M Heaney, S Olding, D Cave.

Ospreys team: Fussell, Hassler, Bishop, Beck, Walker, Biggar, Tebaldi, Bevington, Hibbard, Jones, AWJ, Evans, Ardron, Tipuric, Bearman

Two strong sides. This could be a cracking match.

Sinbad_NI

Great to see Olding back in the 23.

Buer

Aside from Bowe, is this the first choice back line ahead of next week? Payne being played at 13 again, Gilroy fullback again. Surely they wouldn't go into the HEC without playing these guys in their probable positions in 3 weeks?

Tox56

Buer wrote: »

Aside from Bowe, is this the first choice back line ahead of next week? Payne being played at 13 again, Gilroy fullback again. Surely they wouldn't go into the HEC without playing these guys in their probable positions in 3 weeks?

And so the Payne at 13 journey begins. Wonder how much input if any Schmidt had on this, Payne is still a long way away from qualifying for Ireland but that's definitely where the national team will need him, much more so than at 15

awec

Great news to see the incredible hulk sign a new contract.

thomond2006

Pienaar to Toulon might be off as l'equipe are reporting that Rory Kockott has signed a deal with them.

bilston

thomond2006 wrote: »

Pienaar to Toulon might be off as l'equipe are reporting that Rory Kockott has signed a deal with them.

Chat elsewhere is that the IRFU have agreed to offer Pienaar a new contract and now it's up to Ruan to sign. Would be massive if true and he signs, hopefully find out this week.

awec

bilston wrote: »

Chat elsewhere is that the IRFU have agreed to offer Pienaar a new contract and now it's up to Ruan to sign. Would be massive if true and he signs, hopefully find out this week.

news like that would make my week.

can the irfu do things like give him a contract but stipulate that Jackson must take the kicks?

former legend

Midi Olympique also reporting that Toulon will be signing Kockott. Doesn't necessarily mean Pienaar will stay at Ulster of course.

bilston

former legend wrote: »

Midi Olympique also reporting that Toulon will be signing Kockott. Doesn't necessarily mean Pienaar will stay at Ulster of course.

Yeah true, but at least it looks like the IRFU are happy for him to stay which wasn't certain before, now it looks like it is up to Ruan. Obviously Racing could yet come in with a big offer or he may decide to go back to SA.

Imagine Pienaar and Sexton as a half back pairing at Top 14 and HEC (or whatever it will be) level.

bilston

Question for fans of the other provinces and Leinster fans in particular.

How would you feel if Pienaar does stay (and it's still a big if) and presumably gets a very significant sized contract? I think I'm right in saying that the provinces pay a chunk of the NIQ wages so maybe it isn't a fair comparison but the reason I ask is because I wonder how much of the money that MAY be spent on Pienaar could have been spent on Sexton.

Obviously as an Ulster fan I really hope Pienaar stays and as I stated before his presence at Ulster can only be a good thing for the likes of Jackson, Marshall, Olding and Gilroy. However I could understand the argument that the IRFU should be moving Heaven and Earth to keep the likes of Sexton, O'Brien and Heaslip in Ireland, and we as Ulster fans need to realise that in all likelihood in the next two years our young cubs, in particular Iain Henderson will probably become a target for the Top 14 as well.

I suppose the example I would use would be to imagine if Leinster had signed Ezbeneth (never likely to happen as I'm sure he is destined for Toulon at some stage!) and the IRFU were able to keep him in Ireland but not Henderson I imagine Ulster fans would be pretty annoyed.

Again I think the provinces pay a fair chunk of the salaries but maybe it's an interesting point of debate?

Although maybe it's better to have it after Ruan has signed on the dotted line:D;)

Would see an investment in a Pienaar contract as an investment in Jackson, Marshall and Olding.

Probably an investment worth making realistically.

the_doctor199

Ulster Rugby is delighted to announce that Ruan Pienaar has signed a three-year contract extension with the Province that will keep him at Ravenhill until at least the summer of 2017.

Incredible news.

.ak

the_doctor199 wrote: »

Incredible news.

Woah. 2017? That's massive.

bilston

the_doctor199 wrote: »

Incredible news.

3 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Buer

Fock me. That's huge news. I think we can completely forget about the player guidelines at this stage.

awec

YESSS!!

I just made a mess in my pants. :cool:

Mahatma Geansai

Massive news. This won't be Ulster's make or break season so.

It does look like the IRFU will continue to offer Ulster extra assistance until they achieve some sort of success though. If he continues to be Ulster's goal kicker, Jackson can rule out being an international until 2017.

bilston

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

Massive news. This won't be Ulster's make or break season so.

It does look like the IRFU will continue to offer Ulster extra assistance until they achieve some sort of success though. If he continues to be Ulster's goal kicker, Jackson can rule out being an international until 2017.

Well we'll see, if Jackson keeps kicking like he did against the Ospreys then who is to say he won't become Ulster's first choice kicker. He's just inconsistant at the moment like most 21 year olds.

awec

Jackson will become a much better player if he is playing with the likes of Pienaar rather than without.

Putting that sort of quality alongside him can only be a good thing.

Fireball07

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

Massive news. This won't be Ulster's make or break season so.

It does look like the IRFU will continue to offer Ulster extra assistance until they achieve some sort of success though. If he continues to be Ulster's goal kicker, Jackson can rule out being an international until 2017.

Wouldn't agree with that...he got into the international team in the first place because he was playing alongside Pienaar. Obviously it's going to be tougher now that Madigan and Keatley are both regularly starting for their particular provinces.

thomond2006

Wow. That's phenomenal.

bilston

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

Massive news. This won't be Ulster's make or break season so.

It does look like the IRFU will continue to offer Ulster extra assistance until they achieve some sort of success though. If he continues to be Ulster's goal kicker, Jackson can rule out being an international until 2017.

Also your little remark about the extra assistance for Ulster needs to be addressed. Ulster are almost certainly losing Muller and Afoa at the end of the season. Henderson will probably replace Muller and will be on a central contract sooner rather than later and while I'm not saying Afoa won't be replaced it's unlikely he will be replaced with a player of similar quality so I would imagine there is a bit more money floating about for Pienaar.

awec

SuperCet wrote: »

I wonder if that will hamper the development of Marshall and Jackson...

Could be good for Mads, Cooney and McGrath in the longrun?

The total opposite, more likely.

Deano7788

SuperCet wrote: »

I wonder if that will hamper the development of Marshall and Jackson...

Could be good for Mads, Cooney and McGrath in the longrun?

Surely it would benefit Jackson having Pienaar inside of him. And Marshall is 28, I'm not sure how much more he'll develop.

dregin

awec wrote: »

The total opposite, more likely.

How? He's forcing Marshall out of the team completely and taking the kicking duties away from PJ. They're cutting their nose off to spite their face by holding on to him, imo.

SuperCet

awec wrote: »

The total opposite, more likely.

They will obviously learn a huge amount from him but surely having a player of his standard as a 9 or 10 limit game time for them in the big games?

SuperCet

dregin wrote: »

How? He's forcing Marshall out of the team completely and taking the kicking duties away from PJ. They're cutting their nose off to spite their face by holding on to him, imo.

Would be more inclined to agree with this - they could always send Marshall down to us!

Mahatma Geansai

He makes Ulster stronger, but weakens Ireland imo.

awec

dregin wrote: »

How? He's forcing Marshall out of the team completely and taking the kicking duties away from PJ. They're cutting their nose off to spite their face by holding on to him, imo.

I meant PJ.

Marshall is 28, and IMO is only going to be playing for Ireland when there are injuries.

It remains to be seen if PJ keeps the kicking duties, but playing alongside someone as good as Pienaar can only help a player.

SuperCet wrote: »

They will obviously learn a huge amount from him but surely having a player of his standard as a 9 or 10 limit game time for them in the big games?

Ulster's first choice 9 and 10 is Pienaar and Jackson.

Pienaar certainly won't be limiting Jackson's game time. Marshall's yes.

SuperCet

Bad news for Ireland at scrum half though - Boss and Reddan for now but then who as a reliable backup for Murray?

Mahatma Geansai

SuperCet wrote: »

Bad news for Ireland at scrum half though - Boss and Reddan for now but then who as a reliable backup for Murray?

Not great for Leinster either. Either Cooney or McGrath has to make the step up, or you lot will be in a spot of bother with Pienaar hogging the 9 jersey between the provinces.