Ulster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

awec

Kiss is a defence coach, not attack. I think that was pretty evident from when he was involved with Ireland under Kidney.

Defence is actually one area of our game that's not terrible right now too.

Doak is horrendously out of his depth but as mfceiling says we have problems with playing staff as well. This problem stems from the crazy management structure we have, right from Logan at the very top to the bottom. A jobs for the boys atmosphere. And as the thread on UAFC says, the legacy of David Humphries is a failure in recruitment and succession planning.

There absolutely needs to be a clear out. Doak has to go, but so do many of those in suits above him. We need to offload a serious amount of dead wood in the squad. Kiss may improve things slightly but he's not going to completely reverse our fortunes. Troubling times at Ulster.

postitnote

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/sport/rugby/iain-henderson-poised-for-ulster-return-1-6530722

"One man will not change Ulster’s fortunes, but the expected return of Irish international, Iain Henderson, for this weekend’s European Champions Cup game against Leicester Tigers at the Kingspan Stadium will come as a huge boost to everyone involved."

Fantastic news, hope he's fully recovered and ready to go!!

George Hook

mfceiling wrote: »

fat nick was an unknown hulk who ran over people for fun.

The problem is it's been observed that merely warping your arms around an ankle gets him to just stop moving - he never pumps his legs and never makes it difficult to grab his ankles.

CatFromHue

Paddy Jackson

Paddy Jackson suffered a dislocated elbow in Saturday’s defeat to Toulon at Stade Mayol. A scan yesterday revealed that he has an unstable joint and that he will require surgery. He is expected to be out of rugby for between ten and twelve weeks.

Stuart Olding

Stuart Olding also sustained an elbow injury against Toulon. A scan has confirmed that he has significant ligament damage that will require surgery to repair. He is also expected to be out for between ten and twelve weeks.

Louis Ludik

Louis Ludik suffered a fractured rib against Toulon. He is expected to be back playing before the end of February.

Olding and Jackson out of the 6N anyway and nearly the season too

George Hook

CatFromHue wrote: »

Olding and Jackson out of the 6N anyway and nearly the season too

jesus those sound bad.

thomond2006

What kind of backline will Ulster be able to put out, our of who is registered?

awec

This is ridiculous now.

Pienaar should 100% not be involved this weekend now.

irishbucsfan

Where's NOC these days?

awec

Tigers by 20+.

Not even sure we have 23 fit players.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Fit backs can just make up the back slots in the 23. A 6-2 split on the bench may make more sense though.

9 Piernaar
10 Humphries
11 Gilroy
12 Allen
13 Cave
14 Bowe
15 Payne

21 Marshall 22 Heaney 23 Shanahan

awec

Three scrumhalves on the bench. Excellent.

irishbucsfan

Is Allen fit? Why did they select so many scrumhalves last weekend if Allen was available?

bilston

awec wrote: »

Three scrumhalves on the bench. Excellent.

I'm at the stage I actually think it's funny. There is nothing else to do but laugh.

Also if Hendo is back this weekend he shouldn't play (is he even registered?). The only reason for him to play is if Joe seems him as a realistic option for the 6Ns, but that is a stretch, certainly for the first two rounds. He is critical to us now.

I'm reeling about Olding's injury. Jackson I was expecting but I never thought Olding would be out that long. It will be a big effort for him to get into WC contention now.

All these injuries is really taking a lot of the enjoyment out of rugby for me now.

bilston

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Is Allen fit? Why did they select so many scrumhalves last weekend if Allen was available?

Allen started last week. It was Gilroy and Bowe who didn't play. But I've been wondering the same myself. Resting Bowe I get, but Gilroy didn't need rested.

awec

We should run a competition.

The first 10 fans through the turnstiles at the weekend will win a pair of boots, a full Ulster kit and the chance to get very up close and personal with the Leicester team.

CatFromHue

George Hook wrote: »

jesus those sound bad.

Yeah they do, quite alot of detail on the injuries too.

12 weeks bring them to where there's only 3 regular season games left, all big ones too (Leinster, Munster, and Glasgow). So will they be phased into the team for such big games?

bilston

CatFromHue wrote: »

Yeah they do, quite alot of detail on the injuries too.

12 weeks bring them to where there's only 3 regular season games left, all big ones too (Leinster, Munster, and Glasgow). So will they be phased into the team for such big games?

Chances are the games won't be that big by then the ways things are going for us!

awec

Season has just gone from hoping for a top 4 to hoping we qualify for Europe next year.

Henderson has given up rugby and is set to pursue a career in acting. His first role is set to be a repeat of Tom Hanks' Castaway performance.

irishbucsfan

I really hope the beard is some sort of bet, like iHumph's was

CatFromHue

It's a sad indictment of the state of Ulster rugby where they now send injured players out begging on the streets each day.

awec

It's a mighty beard to be fair.

bilston

awec wrote: »

It's a mighty beard to be fair.

When you take age into account Hendy's beard is better than D'Arcys.

awec

bilston wrote: »

When you take age into account Hendy's beard is better than D'Arcys.

Definitely a lot more impressive, can you just imagine what sort of beard he'll be able to grow when he gets to D'Arcy's age? :eek:

Neil3030

He needed something to rough his appearance up a bit. He looked like Poppin' Fresh.

mfceiling

Neil3030 wrote: »

He needed something to rough his appearance up a bit. He looked like Poppin' Fresh.

The greatest laugh I ever had on boards was when jackass described Henderson something along the lines of having a lesbian's head on him!!

bilston

Apparently Herbst will be playing on Saturday. With Henderson back too we may actually have a decent pack on show.

awec

Ulster team & replacements to play Leicester Tigers, European Rugby Champions Cup, Kingspan Stadium, Saturday 24th January (17:30 kick off): (15-9): J Payne; T Bowe, D Cave, L Marshall, C Gilroy, I Humphreys, R Pienaar; (1-8): C Black, R Best (Captain), W Herbst, A O’Connor, F Van der Merwe, I Henderson, M McComish, R Wilson; Replacements (16-23): R Herring, A Warwick, B Ross, L Stevenson, C Ross, N McComb, P Marshall, M Allen.


Henderson STARTS at SIX!!!

Buer

I'll be very disappointed if Ulster can't prevent Leicester from getting 5 points here with that side!

I'd go so far as to say I'll be disappointed if Ulster don't give it a lash and end up winning with room to spare. That's a good side.

PS, keep developing AOC. We'll be looking for him back in about 2-3 seasons.

McCormish hat trick en route

jacothelad

I'd start Herring or Diack at 7 instead of MehComish.

CatFromHue

An Ulster win would help out Glasgow a good bit.

awec

Henderson at 6 and Payne at 15.

I guess someone must have had a word in Doak's ear.

Or maybe this Payne at 13 nonsense has finally been put to bed.

RobbieRuns

iHumph better not get injured. Who covers the fly half spot?

total former

awec wrote: »

Henderson at 6 and Payne at 15.

I guess someone must have had a word in Doak's ear.

Or maybe this Payne at 13 nonsense has finally been put to bed.

What's the alternative though? Do Ulster have anyone else (registered) who can play 15?

RobbieRuns

total former wrote: »

What's the alternative though? Do Ulster have anyone else (registered) who can play 15?

Mikey Allen?

CIARAN_BOYLE

RobbieRuns wrote: »

iHumph better not get injured. Who covers the fly half spot?

Pienaar

total former wrote: »

What's the alternative though? Do Ulster have anyone else (registered) who can play 15?

Gilroy or Bowe with Allen at wing

bilston

That's a pretty good XV. Last week notwithstanding you'd worry about McComish obviously so lets hope he backs last week up.

We have nothing to play for but suddenly I'm looking forward to this now.

mfceiling

RobbieRuns wrote: »

iHumph better not get injured. Who covers the fly half spot?

With the way he's tearing it up at the minute I'd have to go with McComish.

Any word on Peter Nelson?

bilston

mfceiling wrote: »

With the way he's tearing it up at the minute I'd have to go with McComish.

Any word on Peter Nelson?

Not registered so never in contention

madlad88

Buer wrote: »

I'll be very disappointed if Ulster can't prevent Leicester from getting 5 points here with that side!

I'd go so far as to say I'll be disappointed if Ulster don't give it a lash and end up winning with room to spare. That's a good side.

PS, keep developing AOC. We'll be looking for him back in about 2-3 seasons.

Yeah, should make for an interesting and physical battle now.

AOC is progressing along nicely,

Good aul fashioned 2nd row with a phenomenal work rate around the breakdown. Fingers crossed he keeps injury free because he has a bright future in the Ulster set-up

Scythica

Can't post links yet but..

Ulster Rugby has signed former Highlanders openside flanker, Tim Boys, on a short-term contract. With 46 Super Rugby appearances to his name, he will provide experienced cover in the back-row until the end of the season.

Back row signing?! A decent team selection?! We are one game plan away from actually looking like Doakie knows what he's doing now..!!

On the flip side, I guess this means Henry won't be back for a while?

awec

http://ulsterrugby.com/News/LatestNews/TabId/149/ArtMID/793/ArticleID/3215/Ulster-Rugby-sign-Tim-Boys-on-a-short-term-contract-.aspx

Who?

S12b

Scythica wrote: »

Can't post links yet but..

Ulster Rugby has signed former Highlanders openside flanker, Tim Boys, on a short-term contract. With 46 Super Rugby appearances to his name, he will provide experienced cover in the back-row until the end of the season.

Back row signing?! A decent team selection?! We are one game plan away from actually looking like Doakie knows what he's doing now..!!

On the flip side, I guess this means Henry won't be back for a while?

......until he gets injured of course!!

Scythica

S12b wrote: »

......until he gets injured of course!!

Twist his ankle getting off the plane or something probably

George Hook

awec wrote: »

http://ulsterrugby.com/News/LatestNews/TabId/149/ArtMID/793/ArticleID/3215/Ulster-Rugby-sign-Tim-Boys-on-a-short-term-contract-.aspx

Who?

Seems like he wasn't good enough to make the highlanders squad last year.

total former

awec wrote: »

http://ulsterrugby.com/News/LatestNews/TabId/149/ArtMID/793/ArticleID/3215/Ulster-Rugby-sign-Tim-Boys-on-a-short-term-contract-.aspx

Who?

Just more evidence of the jobs for the Boys culture at Ulster.

Hagz

Can't wait to see this majestic beast in action

awec

Hagz wrote: »

Can't wait to see this majestic beast in action

Sebast-Iain Henderson.

(stolen from facebook).

In all seriousness it's a magnificent beard.

bilston

Great to have him back but maybe we should reign in our expectations for tomorrow. A good 50 mins tomorrow, maybe 80 mins the week after and then maybe, just maybe he will be in contention for a bench spot against Italy but I'd still be surprised.