Ulster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

awec

Bizarre, don't remember anything like that even being mentioned.

awec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwP7s3NfT2c

The tackle made on Diack at about 22:25 in that video is around the neck and very dodgy, no?

Ulster asked for that to be reviewed and the citing officer (of the SRU) refused according to UAFC.

George Hook

awec wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwP7s3NfT2c

The tackle made on Diack at about 22:25 in that video is around the neck and very dodgy, no?

Ulster asked for that to be reviewed and the citing officer (of the SRU) refused according to UAFC.

Nasty one that, he flicked his whole body round and forced him head first into the ground.

I don't think its a good idea that only one person has a say on if something is going to be cited surely there should be panels for this sort of thing.

blackdog1

phog wrote: »

Herring has been cited for stamping in the Glasgow game

The way they underuse herring does it make a difference?. He's a quality player who only get 10 mins a match

CIARAN_BOYLE

blackdog1 wrote: »

The way they underuse herring does it make a difference?. He's a quality player who only get 10 mins a match

Yes Best could get injured.

bilston

blackdog1 wrote: »

The way they underuse herring does it make a difference?. He's a quality player who only get 10 mins a match

Well it will make a difference if Best gets injured. Not sure who the next cab off the rank is. Possibly John Andrew who looked pretty decent coming off the bench a month or so ago.

Is Herring signed on for next season?

awec

Clancy ref and Lacey as assistant for this weekend :pac:

Odd that neither semi final has neutral refs.

awec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwP7s3NfT2c&feature=youtu.be&t=1h7m44s

1 h 7m 44s in, you can see what happens as the ruck breaks up. The exact same thing happens all the time, he is being held and tries to free himself.

If he gets banned for that then it'll be the most farcical of all the bans we've accumulated.

CatFromHue

His problem is that he's kicked out so close to the Glasgow's guy's head.

awec

Kicked out? Eh?

total former

awec wrote: »

Kicked out? Eh?

There's a little flick at the end but unless there's a more incriminating camera angle, seems a very harsh citing.

bilston

CatFromHue wrote: »

His problem is that he's kicked out so close to the Glasgow's guy's head.

Are you serious? His leg is being held by the guy on the ground and he is just trying to get his foot free! There might well have been someone's head close to where it happened but that doesn't mean he is trying to stamp him there.

I'm baffled by this and actually I'm minded to go with the view on uafc that the Scottish citing commissioner is playing silly buggers here. Russells "tackle" or whatever it was on Diack wasn't even looked at by the Scottish citing commissioner. Whether it was worthy of a ban or not I don't know but I do know Diack more or less ended up landing head first on the ground.

Edit - I hope we smash Glasgow on Friday night.

awec

I do think this is the worst citing of the lot.

thomond2006

So it appears Piutau will not be allowed play Super Rugby in 2016. Does this mean Ulster can pick him up earlier than initially expected?

Chief87

Anyone know what channel the Ulster Glasgow game is on this weekend?

total former

Chief87 wrote: »

Anyone know what channel the Ulster Glasgow game is on this weekend?

Take your pick from Sky Sports, Tg4, BBC NI and BBC Alba. Four different languages available.

Utah_Saint

thomond2006 wrote: »

So it appears Piutau will not be allowed play Super Rugby in 2016. Does this mean Ulster can pick him up earlier than initially expected?

Nope - we don't have enough NIQ spots available.

I think Williams should be dropped so we can bring him in...

.ak

He can go on loan to Leinster.

Utah_Saint

.ak wrote: »

He can go on loan to Leinster.

yeah if you give us Jordi in return...;)

Chief87

total former wrote: »

Take your pick from Sky Sports, Tg4, BBC NI and BBC Alba. Four different languages available.

I struggle with English at the best of times sure..cheers

CIARAN_BOYLE

Utah_Saint wrote: »

Nope - we don't have enough NIQ spots available.

I think Williams should be dropped so we can bring him in...

Your already pretty light in the backrow. I don't think you could go another man down.

By the way how is Taggart, saw he got an emerging Ireland place, ready to step to provincial duty?

thomond2006

.ak wrote: »

He can go on loan to Leinster.

Toulon need cover for Habana, Mitchell and Nalaga.

Utah_Saint

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Your already pretty light in the backrow. I don't think you could go another man down.

By the way how is Taggart, saw he got an emerging Ireland place, ready to step to provincial duty?

Yes, we are very light but most Ulster fans are pretty fed up with Williams and would like him to move on. I'd rather replace Williams with Read but if it means getting Charlie in early then I would take that.

I haven't seen a great deal of Taggart to make judgement but he appears to be going well. Would like to see Him and Dow making a few starts in the early games of next year. We give backs an early start so would like to see the same for some back row's

CIARAN_BOYLE

Utah_Saint wrote: »

Yes, we are very light but most Ulster fans are pretty fed up with Williams and would like him to move on. I'd rather replace Williams with Read but if it means getting Charlie in early then I would take that.

I haven't seen a great deal of Taggart to make judgement but he appears to be going well. Would like to see Him and Dow making a few starts in the early games of next year. We give backs an early start so would like to see the same for some back row's

He is one of the selections in the emerging squad that I wonder if he is there to get some experience prior to breaking into his provinces senior team.

bilston

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

He is one of the selections in the emerging squad that I wonder if he is there to get some experience prior to breaking into his provinces senior team.

It's a bit strange that Taggart hasn't got a look in at Ulster this season given we've been playing Clive Ross a lot. Same goes for Lorcan Dow, albeit he is a year younger than Taggart. A few of the selections up front haven't made a lot of sense. Like where has Ricky Lutton been all season?

CatFromHue

thomond2006 wrote: »

So it appears Piutau will not be allowed play Super Rugby in 2016. Does this mean Ulster can pick him up earlier than initially expected?

This was always on the cards with a July starting date.

total former

Utah_Saint wrote: »

Nope - we don't have enough NIQ spots available.

I think Williams should be dropped so we can bring him in...

OR... (stay with me here)

You loan Pienaar to Leinster, freeing up an NIQ spot at Ulster thereby allowing Piutau to come early.

Like, we don't really need a scrum-half of that quality but we'd give yiz a dig-out just to be neighbourly.

CatFromHue

Fair play on the Kiwi's for standing firm on their rules.

awec

Herring cleared.

"The Disciplinary Committee concluded that the player had been held in a ruck by two opponents after the ball had left the ruck, that his actions were the result of him trying to release himself from their grip and that he had not committed an act of foul play."

What a total waste of time. It was clear as day there was no issue, now Rob Herring has presumably missed training having to go attend this stupid hearing.

bilston

awec wrote: »

Herring cleared.

"The Disciplinary Committee concluded that the player had been held in a ruck by two opponents after the ball had left the ruck, that his actions were the result of him trying to release himself from their grip and that he had not committed an act of foul play."

What a total waste of time. It was clear as day there was no issue, now Rob Herring has presumably missed training having to go attend this stupid hearing.

It's an absolute farce.

Stan27

What's the story with luke Marshall these days. Ban must be over by now.
What it the chances of him going to the wc.
Personally I would hVe him at 12 and henshaw at 13

CIARAN_BOYLE

Stan27 wrote: »

What's the story with luke Marshall these days. Ban must be over by now.
What it the chances of him going to the wc.
Personally I would hVe him at 12 and henshaw at 13

Ulsters 3rd choice 12, first choice for Ireland, never happen.

awec

Stan27 wrote: »

What it the chances of him going to the wc.

Nil.

bilston

Stan27 wrote: »

What's the story with luke Marshall these days. Ban must be over by now.
What it the chances of him going to the wc.
Personally I would hVe him at 12 and henshaw at 13

Not sure where he is to be honest. I saw on Bakebook that he was at a Ballymena Academy reunion a few days ago with the likes of Bryan Young and Matt McCullough and coincidentally the guest speaker was Joe Schmidt.

Maybe he is injured?

He has zero chance of making the WC squad. I fear his Ulster days are done. Hope I'm wrong because I've always been a fan but I feel he has never been played to his strengths.

Utah_Saint

bilston wrote: »

Not sure where he is to be honest. I saw on Bakebook that he was at a Ballymena Academy reunion a few days ago with the likes of Bryan Young and Matt McCullough and coincidentally the guest speaker was Joe Schmidt.

Maybe he is injured?

He has zero chance of making the WC squad. I fear his Ulster days are done. Hope I'm wrong because I've always been a fan but I feel he has never been played to his strengths.

Marshall would be a great signing for any of the other provinces. With a bit of form he would be a starter. Irfu should encourage moves like this instead of losing players to other leagues

Swiwi.

CatFromHue wrote: »

Fair play on the Kiwi's for standing firm on their rules.

It's NZ's version of the gay marriage referendum: country split firmly into yes & no camps. I agree with the decision - imagine if Chris Henry signed for Toulon, but wanted to play the first few games of the next Pro 12 season to fill in time before heading away mid-season to France.

Piutau will be grand, he's a good player, and I doubt he has any trouble finding a little filler contract before he arrives in Bulfast.

CatFromHue

If he goes to the RWC I'd say he might have some trouble unless a medical joker spot opens up somewhere in France. The earliest he'll be available will be late October but more than likely November which'll be a problem for him in France.

All Blacks don't come cheap either which is going to be a problem in the Pro12.

I don't know about Japan.

So that really only leaves another Super club or England.

Swiwi.

CatFromHue wrote: »

If he goes to the RWC I'd say he might have some trouble unless a medical joker spot opens up somewhere in France. The earliest he'll be available will be late October but more than likely November which'll be a problem for him in France.

All Blacks don't come cheap either which is going to be a problem in the Pro12.

I don't know about Japan.

So that really only leaves another Super club or England.

I think he'll make the initial 41 AB squad but miss the final cut. Id say he'd just be keen to play and won't worry too much about the pay. A few IOUs on his Ulster wage.

stl.ire

Swiwi. wrote: »

I think he'll make the initial 41 AB squad but miss the final cut. Id say he'd just be keen to play and won't worry too much about the pay. A few IOUs on his Ulster wage.

Let's also not forget that he's down with another ligament injury. He was already a longer shot to make the final AB WC team when that happened. Now with the NZ union effectively banishing him I wouldn't be surprised to see him miss the wider initial team. It's disappointing as he's a classy player and the kind you want at a WC but Steve Hansen has other options that are good (or just inexperienced) and is not a coach who has time for media headaches (which will be huge as selecting him would be akin to selecting an overseas player - during the WC he will no longer a contract in NZ).

He's too good to not find a short contract quickly and if he does miss the initial squad he will be available for substantial period. Japan is an option but their league is pretty short I think (it ends soon after super rugby's season starts) so he'd still have a long break. Of course, next season Japan will have their own super rugby team! Could Puitau go all in on his villain status? There would be some fun newspaper articles for sure!

CIARAN_BOYLE

stl.ire wrote: »

Let's also not forget that he's down with another ligament injury. He was already a longer shot to make the final AB WC team when that happened. Now with the NZ union effectively banishing him I wouldn't be surprised to see him miss the wider initial team. It's disappointing as he's a classy player and the kind you want at a WC but Steve Hansen has other options that are good (or just inexperienced) and is not a coach who has time for media headaches (which will be huge as selecting him would be akin to selecting an overseas player - during the WC he will no longer a contract in NZ).

He's too good to not find a short contract quickly and if he does miss the initial squad he will be available for substantial period. Japan is an option but their league is pretty short I think (it ends soon after super rugby's season starts) so he'd still have a long break. Of course, next season Japan will have their own super rugby team! Could Puitau go all in on his villain status? There would be some fun newspaper articles for sure!

his current contract runs till december.

stl.ire

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

his current contract runs till december.

I thought it ended in September. I just checked and you're right. It doesn't change any of my broader points though.

jacothelad

Ulster team & replacements to play Glasgow Warriors, Guinness PRO12 Play Off, Scotstoun, Friday 22nd May (19:45 kick off): (15-9): L Ludik; T Bowe, J Payne, D Cave, C Gilroy, P Jackson, R Pienaar; (1-8): C Black, R Best (C), R Lutton, L Stevenson, D Tuohy, I Henderson, C Henry, R Wilson; Replacements (16-23): R Herring, A Warwick, B Ross, R Diack, S Reidy, P Marshall, S McCloskey, M Allen.

ssaye2

.ak

This is gonna be a cracker.

awec

I like our team, especially Hendo at 6 instead of 4.

ssaye2

Glasgow 8/13
Ulster 11/8

from Paddypower

Good luck lads

bilston

The tight 5 is the problem. I'd take Best obviously but it would be tight between Tuohy and Gray/Kellock, other than that Glasgow have an edge here. However with the exception of Hogg there isn't a single other Glasgow player that I'd take over his Ulster counterpart. Not that that means a lot.

Utah_Saint

Back line is better than Glasgow.

Just hope the pack can give us a platform. I see ross has dropped out of the squad. Reidy has been ok when playing....better than ross

Need a good performance from Stevenson

total former

bilston wrote: »

The tight 5 is the problem. I'd take Best obviously but it would be tight between Tuohy and Gray/Kellock, other than that Glasgow have an edge here. However with the exception of Hogg there isn't a single other Glasgow player that I'd take over his Ulster counterpart. Not that that means a lot.

TBH it's the props are the problem, especially TH. Is Calum Black better than Warwick? Lutton looked half-decent a couple of seasons ago but this could be a bridge too far, has he started a single game this year?

blackdog1

Utah_Saint wrote: »

Back line is better than Glasgow.

Just hope the pack can give us a platform. I see ross has dropped out of the squad. Reidy has been ok when playing....better than ross

Need a good performance from Stevenson

Stevenson in the row and diack on the bench is a weird one. Ross deserved to be dropped he missed too many tackles but Reidy is to light in the contact area too it's McComish I feel sorry for. He was playing very well until he got dropped.