HEC SF; Ulster v Edinburgh, Aviva Stadium; Saturday 28th April; K/o 17:45

justsomebloke

Going to this tomorrow as I can't get to France, really looking forward to it.

Although I'll be cheering for Ulster I'll be happy for who ever wins it in the end as getting to final will be a massive publicity boost to either team that will hopefully see a swell in ground support for next year which can only be good for the rabo 12(11)

irishbucsfan

Nah screw Edinburgh. I want leinster and Ulster to win to guarrantee Connacht Heineken cup rugby so they can get a head start on preparations!

shuffol

Irish Times now reporting that Jackson is expected to start at 10, that would be one ballsy decision by Mclaughlin.

ongarite

shuffol wrote: »

Irish Times now reporting that Jackson is expected to start at 10, that would be one ballsy decision by Mclaughlin.

Big call, he was decent against Leinster last week, maybe it was an try-out for the game this weekend.

I reckon this will be closer than many think. The ****ty weather & well wet pitch will make this a mess of a game.

Quint2010

shuffol wrote: »

Irish Times now reporting that Jackson is expected to start at 10, that would be one ballsy decision by Mclaughlin.

If he does it could well be McLaughlin's parting "two fingers" to the Humphries family...

Fishooks12

Quint2010 wrote: »

If he does it could well be McLaughlin's parting "two fingers" to the Humphries family...

I'd imagine old David would have had a say in it tbh

Can't say I would have done the same myself. iHumph was awful in the quarter but throwing Jackson his first HC start in a semi could go either way

Hopefully he'll relish it though

shuffol

If he does well and Ulster win then I imagine he'd keep his place for the final, thats the type of meteoric rise we're not used to seeing in this country, could make the Irish squad announcement for NZ very interesting.

irishbucsfan

Quint2010 wrote: »

shuffol wrote: »

Irish Times now reporting that Jackson is expected to start at 10, that would be one ballsy decision by Mclaughlin.

If he does it could well be McLaughlin's parting "two fingers" to the Humphries family...

McLaughlin gets on very well with Humphreys!

I wish this rubbish about the BMcL situation would just go away.

shuffol

It wouldnt exactly be a parting shot either, more of a relocating shot.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Its the type of move that in a normal situation if it worked great if it didn't he would be fired in the morning for stupidity.

GerM

Quint2010 wrote: »

If he does it could well be McLaughlin's parting "two fingers" to the Humphries family...

I would think that it was more than just McLaughlin that was involved in that call and it has the full backing of all.

GerM

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Its the type of move that in a normal situation if it worked great if it didn't he would be fired in the morning for stupidity.

In normal circumstances, I'd agree but this is Ian Humphreys. He's not a steady older hand to guide the side. If anything, putting Jackson in is the safer call. He won't be kicking at goal, just taking on the pivot role. He's a more rounded player than Humphreys already for me and is a better defender. Humphreys is certainly talented but possibly one of the last players I'd want to see in a big match. He was shocking in the quarter final, drop goal aside. Getting Jackson in the side for a run of games gives him a chance at being settled in the side by the time a potential HEC final comes around.

Quint2010

Jackson has a grand total of 52 minutes in the HC this year-47 of them against Aironi. All 3 appearances were off the bench. He has started 4 games in the Rabo with four other appearances off the bench for a total of 386 minutes. In the 4 games he has started in the Pro 12-Ulster have lost 3. Does Humphries really deserved to be dropped for Ulster's biggest game for 13 years and more importantly is Jackson ready?

I am pie

Humphries is a much better distributor, and he tries things with the ball in hand. Both of which have contributed to our high try scoring tally. That said his out of hand kicking has been a real liability. Perhaps the thinking is that we need to be much more accurate out of hand. No kicks on the full with lineouts in our territory. Possession from lineouts can turn into scrums after a go fwd ruck/maul. We don't need to be facing to many Embra attacking/Ulster defending scrum situations in and around our 22.

That said, i'd have started Humph, let him have the first half to get the back line moving and get some points on the board. Jackson to steady the ship if not working.

Any update on Henry ?

Heading to the sandymount hotel pre-game. Cannot wait. One sleep to go ! ...

GerM

Quint2010 wrote: »

Jackson has a grand total of 52 minutes in the HC this year-47 of them against Aironi. All 3 appearances were off the bench. He has started 4 games in the Rabo with four other appearances off the bench for a total of 386 minutes. In the 4 games he has started in the Pro 12-Ulster have lost 3. Does Humphries really deserved to be dropped for Ulster's biggest game for 13 years and more importantly is Jackson ready?

The question is, has Humph done anything recently to suggest he should be in the team for this game? I don't think so. He put his side under serious pressure on a couple of occasions against Munster. It's a massive vote of confidence for Jackson. If he's selected, I do think that they've decided he's the man they want for the final and are giving him as much game time as possible ahead of it. Wouldn't be surprised if he got 30 or 40 minutes against Munster too. The lack of game time for him is far from ideal but all the game time in the world hasn't made Humphreys a more composed player. Should have taken the plunge before now but better late than never. I don't think there's much to suggest that Humphreys is currently more likely to perform better than Jackson this weekend.

Gracelessly Tom

Going to go against the grain and go for an upset to try and bag the prize!

Ulster 17 - Edinburgh 19

Ulster to take an early lead (17-6) and a 60 odd minute try to get edinburgh back in the game at 17-13, with two late penalties snatching victory for Embra.:cool:

.ak

GerM wrote: »

The question is, has Humph done anything recently to suggest he should be in the team for this game? I don't think so. He put his side under serious pressure on a couple of occasions against Munster. It's a massive vote of confidence for Jackson. If he's selected, I do think that they've decided he's the man they want for the final and are giving him as much game time as possible ahead of it. Wouldn't be surprised if he got 30 or 40 minutes against Munster too. The lack of game time for him is far from ideal but all the game time in the world hasn't made Humphreys a more composed player. Should have taken the plunge before now but better late than never. I don't think there's much to suggest that Humphreys is currently more likely to perform better than Jackson this weekend.

I agree with everything here, but I just had a mental flash of Jackson vs James/Sexton in Twickers and it looked wrong. But yeah, the sooner he cuts his teeth on a big game the better imo... The fly-halves of Ireland's future will be Sexton, Madigan and Jackson, so all the best to Jackson.

Quint2010

GerM wrote: »

The question is, has Humph done anything recently to suggest he should be in the team for this game? I don't think so. He put his side under serious pressure on a couple of occasions against Munster. It's a massive vote of confidence for Jackson. If he's selected, I do think that they've decided he's the man they want for the final and are giving him as much game time as possible ahead of it. Wouldn't be surprised if he got 30 or 40 minutes against Munster too. The lack of game time for him is far from ideal but all the game time in the world hasn't made Humphreys a more composed player. Should have taken the plunge before now but better late than never. I don't think there's much to suggest that Humphreys is currently more likely to perform better than Jackson this weekend.

It's a brave call by McLaughlin. If Ulster are pinning their hopes on an untried 20 year old, in the most important position on the pitch in front of 45000 fans in the semi of the biggest club competition in the world, I think they could be in trouble.

awec

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17860804

Cpt_Blackbeard

awec wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17860804

Not surprised at all by that. Their support for the Munster quarter was the best away support I've seen in Thomond Park. I've been at pretty much every match there since the redevelopment.

ray jay

Edinburgh are fielding the same team as they did against Toulouse:

15 Tom Brown
14 Lee Jones
13 Nick De Luca
12 Matt Scott
11 Tim Visser
10 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN
9 Mike Blair

1 Allan Jacobsen
2 Ross Ford
3 Geoff Cross
4 Sean Cox
5 Grant Gilchrist
6 David Denton
7 Ross Rennie
8 Netani Talei


16 Andrew Kelly
17 Kyle Traynor
18 Jack Gilding
19 Steven Turnbull
20 Roddy Grant
21 Chris Leck
22 Phil Godman
23 Jim Thompson

http://www.edinburghrugby.org/news/edinburgh-news

the_doctor199

Ulster Match Day Squad to face Edinburgh, Saturday 28th April 2012, Aviva Stadium, Dublin (kick-off 5.45pm)

(15-9): S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar;
(1-8): T Court, R Best, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, S Ferris, W Faloon, P Wannenburg;
Replacements (16-23): N Brady, P McAllister, A Macklin, L Stevenson, R Diack, P Marshall, I Humphreys, A D'Arcy

Unavailable due to injury:J Payne (achilles), S Danielli (hamstring), Tim Barker (back), Chris Henry (ankle)

.ak

As expected. I know Edi will wear their underdog tags with price and come out fists flying, but I can't see that Ulster team doing anything other then demolishing them...

Quint2010

.ak wrote: »

As expected. I know Edi will wear their underdog tags with price and come out fists flying, but I can't see that Ulster team doing anything other then demolishing them...

Really?..

.ak

Really. I think Edinburgh will fight well for the first 50 or 60, it might be tight, but Ulster's superior physicality will shine through in the last stages and they'll rack up some serious points. I'd hazard a guess at a 14+ point lead atleast.

Quint2010

.ak wrote: »

Really. I think Edinburgh will fight well for the first 50 or 60, it might be tight, but Ulster's superior physicality will shine through in the last stages and they'll rack up some serious points. I'd hazard a guess at a 14+ point lead atleast.

Think you are seriously underestimating Edinburgh. Or maybe over estimating Ulster. Think Ulster will win-but by one score. We'll see

I am pie

Henry confirmed out, Afoa out, i think some of that physicality is missing now.

We'll ge beaten up in the scrum i fear. My hope is we can do enough to win our own ball, if we can that we should be ok.

Visser is clearly a threat, and their back row is not slack either. I don't rate either centre or 9 and 10 particularly. Hopefully we can make ground in the middle of the park.

.ak

Quint2010 wrote: »

Think you are seriously underestimating Edinburgh. Or maybe over estimating Ulster. Think Ulster will win-but by one score. We'll see

I watched a second string team put the same team to the sword not too long ago in the RDS. Whilst they have no interest in the league and this stage, I just can't see them replicating their form in Murrayfield in the Aviva... Sorry if I'm sounding harsh on them, but if it's really tight toward the end then I'd be worried for Ulster in the final.

bilston

I am pie wrote: »

Henry confirmed out, Afoa out, i think some of that physicality is missing now.

We'll ge beaten up in the scrum i fear. My hope is we can do enough to win our own ball, if we can that we should be ok.

Visser is clearly a threat, and their back row is not slack either. I don't rate either centre or 9 and 10 particularly. Hopefully we can make ground in the middle of the park.

Deccie Fitz mightn't be the most dynamic prop in the world but he is a decent scrummager at TH, if we were playing Clermont or Leinster I'd more worried but while Edinburgh have a decent front row we shouldn't fear them.

Henry is a big loss, Faloon just hasn't performed for a while now, he's up against Rennie who IMO is a very underrated player.

Jackson at 10 is a brave call but I think it's the right one. With some front foot ball he'll ask questions of the Edinburgh defence. If he defends and kicks from hand like he did on Friday night he'll be grand. I honestly believe Jackson is made for big game rugby and he'll have a lot of big days in white and green over the next 10-15 years if he stays fit and continues to develop at the rate he is. This is just the first.

Edinburgh have a decent front row, a young talented second row pairing, an excellent back row, decent half backs, an alright midfield and in the Flying Dutchman they have the most lethal finisher in European winger plus two good young'uns in Jones and Brown.

We won't demolish them but I think we'll win by 7-10 points. Still in saying that I'm nervous about it now!

bamboozle

bilston wrote: »

Deccie Fitz mightn't be the most dynamic prop in the world but he is a decent scrummager at TH, if we were playing Clermont or Leinster I'd more worried but while Edinburgh have a decent front row we shouldn't fear them.

Henry is a big loss, Faloon just hasn't performed for a while now, he's up against Rennie who IMO is a very underrated player.

Jackson at 10 is a brave call but I think it's the right one. With some front foot ball he'll ask questions of the Edinburgh defence. If he defends and kicks from hand like he did on Friday night he'll be grand. I honestly believe Jackson is made for big game rugby and he'll have a lot of big days in white and green over the 10-15 years. This is just the first.

Edinburgh have a decent front row, a young talented second row pairing, an excellent back row, decent half backs, an alright midfield and in the Flying Dutchman they have the most lethal finisher in European winger plus two good young'uns in Jones and Brown.

We won't demolish them but I think we'll win by 7-10 points. Still in saying that I'm nervous about it now!

Sexton announced himself on the big stage at this level 3 years ago, hope for the same from Jackson.