Leinster V Ulster; Rabo Semi final build up thread

Podge_irl

I thought he was excellent in what was a difficult game to ref.

Sinbad_NI

Tickets bought...C'mon Ulster.

Larbre34

Looks like the Premiership got the good refs for the weekend.

Hodges is woegeous. If it gets out of hand, he'll be a disaster. Red cards for Ulster all over the place! Oh wait.....

Tox56

bilston wrote: »

I'd have preferred Pearce again to be honest. Yes I was annoyed with some of his decisions at the game the other week but watching them back he got them spot on apart from binning Ruddock instead of Kirchner. I guess having an English ref wouldn't look so good on the Celtic referees.

Yeah I thought he was great, promising young ref

shuffol

Hodges and Phillips are probably the 2 worst refs in the league IMO, cant believe he's getting such a high profile game.

sydthebeat

what i do not like about him is that 50/50 decision always seem to go in the favour of the loosing team... he seems hell bent on keeping the game tight from what i see about him.

awec

shuffol wrote: »

Hodges and Phillips are probably the 2 worst refs in the league IMO, cant believe he's getting such a high profile game.

Both are better than Lacey.

shuffol

Anybody remember which Welsh side Leinster were playing early on in the season where he was woeful, it was the same weekend he posted the tweet congratulating all the welsh regions for winning their matches, provoked a reaction at the time as the consensus was he shafted Leinster.

Buer

awec wrote: »

Both are better than Lacey.

I know you're being facetious but....they're not. Not now. Not ever.

:mad:

vienne86

shuffol wrote: »

Anybody remember which Welsh side Leinster were playing early on in the season where he was woeful, it was the same weekend he posted the tweet congratulating all the welsh regions for winning their matches, provoked a reaction at the time as the consensus was he shafted Leinster.

Oh I remember that! I think he reffed our match v Ospreys in the RDS, but wasn't that a draw?

awec

Buer wrote: »

I know you're being facetious but....they're not. Not now. Not ever.

:mad:

I'm not!

I really do not rate Lacey at all. I would be delighted if he never referee'd an Ulster game again.

Grimebox

5 pages... all about the ref... zzzz...

CatFromHue

I've no problem with Lacey.

ssaye2

http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/news/15052.php#.U3JQZXZZhfI

CatFromHue

They've stopped giving reasons why Luke Fitz is missing games now.

.ak

That's because they can't write "He's still stuck in that bacta tank."

former legend

CatFromHue wrote: »

They've stopped giving reasons why Luke Fitz is missing games now.

Presume it's the abdomen still.

Even if he somehow regained fitness he'd never be match ready so it's irrelevant really. With McFadden back and if Kirchner is fit then it's an area in which we have plenty of options.

Doesn't sound good for Reddan which is far more worrying.

And poor auld Strauss. Jesus what a season.

vienne86

former legend wrote: »

Presume it's the abdomen still.

Even if he somehow regained fitness he'd never be match ready so it's irrelevant really. With McFadden back and if Kirchner is fit then it's an area in which we have plenty of options.

Doesn't sound good for Reddan which is far more worrying.

And poor auld Strauss. Jesus what a season.

Good to hear Mike McCarthy doesn't seem too bad, though he will be badly missed on Saturday.

bilston

.ak wrote: »

That's because they can't write "He's still stuck in that bacta tank."

Here now the Bacta tank worked fine on the other Luke. Perhaps Fitz is having to share his with Fez, not even Jedi healing powers would fix those two it seems...:(

Bridge93

Are Leinster missing nearly as nany as Ulster now through injury?
Leinster: Strauss, McCarthy, Reddan, Fitz maybe Kirchner
Ulster: Afoa, Best, Ferris, Williams, Pienaar (more?/any not injured?)

Obviously the Leinster depth is on another level which could make the difference.

Paul Smeenus

Bridge93 wrote: »

Are Leinster missing nearly as nany as Ulster now through injury?
Leinster: Strauss, McCarthy, Reddan, Fitz maybe Kirchner
Ulster: Afoa, Best, Ferris, Williams, Pienaar (more?/any not injured?)

Obviously the Leinster depth is on another level which could make the difference.

Ulster also missing Fitzpatrick, Lutton, Diack, Olding, Wallace, possibly Wilson and Touhy and Court through suspension. All of whom would be in the 23 if fit.

Morf

ssaye2 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCBd6yPDDmE

Great seeing Noel Reid employing the Samoan side-step there.

Larbre34

Bridge93 wrote: »

Are Leinster missing nearly as nany as Ulster now through injury?
Leinster: Strauss, McCarthy, Reddan, Fitz maybe Kirchner
Ulster: Afoa, Best, Ferris, Williams, Pienaar (more?/any not injured?)

Obviously the Leinster depth is on another level which could make the difference.

Not quite. We have reasonable depth in some positions but there are issues that were magnified against Edinburgh. Second row, scrum half and centre are light and only an injury or two away from a big problem.

Luke McGrath is a great young talent but I wouldnt fancy his game management in a winner take all against Pienaar, especially with neither of our outhalfs performing at the level required.

Cronin needs a few novenas too, he needs to be 100% healthy for the playoffs.

Podge_irl

McGrath is a perfectly fine third scrumhalf and I'd rank Cooney as an excellent 4th choice. Scrum half isn't the issue - MOC keeping a horrifically underperforming Boss on the pitch for 80 mins constantly is the issue there.

ssaye2

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/ruan-pienaar-and-rory-best-back-for-ulster-rugbys-dublin-crunch-30271472.html


But Ricky Lutton is in a race against time, while John Afoa and Nick Williams are out having failed to recover from their injuries.

ssaye2

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/ulster-rugby/dday-for-ulster-rugby-mark-anscombe-spells-out-what-he-expects-from-his-men-in-dublin-30271232.html

Calls for discipline and wants to close down and force errors time and time again.

Hodges known for giving many cards in general?

phog

ssaye2 wrote: »

.

Hodges known for giving many cards in general?

He's reffed Munster 9 times.

Issued Munster with 5 YCs, four in the same game (away to Treviso) I think the AR might have suggested tow of those 4.
Issued our opponents 3 YCs.

blackdog1

So looks like mccarthy is out, strauss is out, moore will probably start which im not worried about ( ross has only played 70 mins this month due to injury). Sob will probably be on the bench even though hes not fit enough yet. This is gonna be close depending on who ulster have back

Paul Smeenus

Apparently Best, Touhy, Wilson and Diack are definitely back, Pienaar probably but confirmation will only come on Friday.

So our only minor weak spot is having an academy LH playing TH against Cian Healy. Huzzah!

jacothelad

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

Apparently Best, Touhy, Wilson and Diack are definitely back, Pienaar probably but confirmation will only come on Friday.

So our only minor weak spot is having an academy LH playing TH against Cian Healy. Huzzah!

bilston

jacothelad wrote: »

So will we be s****** bricks in a good way or a bad way.

I have literally no idea what to expect having read some of the posts from what I would call knowledgable posters.

awec

There were hints on UAFC earlier of Payne at 13 :mad:

If Darren Cave is fit, and is named anywhere other than 13 awec will be most unhappy.

bilston

awec wrote: »

There were hints on UAFC earlier of Payne at 13 :mad:

Yeah, but with Cave at 12.

Still one infamous poster there seems happy with it and he isn't a fan of Payne at 13 it's fair to say so that's why it could be literally anything.

UlsterRMan

No Luke Marshall?

Best young proven 12 in Ireland, any of the other provinces would die to have him.

awec

bilston wrote: »

Yeah, but with Cave at 12.

Balls to that as well.

Marshall at 12. Cave at 13. Payne at 15.

Why are we trying all these new combinations at this stage of the season?

former legend

Marshall isn't in great form but Cave at 12? That would be an odd one.

bilston

UlsterRMan wrote: »

No Luke Marshall?

Best young proven 12 in Ireland, any of the other provinces would die to have him.

Well we will see. It just doesn't make sense as it isn't utilising our resources properly. Look I think Ricky Andrew has improved quite a bit and I don't see him as a liability but I don't see him as a game breaker. The best use of our backs is clearly Marshall and Cave in the midfield with Payne at 15. I've said before I'm not as opposed as some to Payne at 13 but it only works if we have a top class FB. Andrew is fine and getting better but he isn't top class.

bilston

former legend wrote: »

Marshall isn't in great form but Cave at 12? That would be an odd one.

Anscombe was supposedly very impressed by his cameo against you guys at Ravenhill two weeks ago. He made one excellent break and contributed well.

Marshall has been a bit off the boil so I suppose if you add those two facts together then you can see it happening. Still it's a gamble to take for a season defining fixture. It might work, but again it means throwing in an alright full back instead of one of these best full backs in Europe in Payne, who in turn replaces the man who many see as the next best OC in Ireland after BOD who in turn replaces the man tipped to replace D'Arcy in the Ireland team.

gosullivan89

Think Leinster will take this one, though hoping for Ulster to win...... would be easier for Munster in the final if they beat Glasgow

If leinster win this i think they'll take the title again...

C'Mon Munster!!!!

cloneslad

gosullivan89 wrote: »

Think Leinster will take this one, though hoping for Ulster to win...... would be easier for Munster in the final if they beat Glasgow

If leinster win this i think they'll take the title again...

C'Mon Munster!!!!

Are you hoping Munster get a second crack at the Ulster under 12 team?

bilston

gosullivan89 wrote: »

Think Leinster will take this one, though hoping for Ulster to win...... would be easier for Munster in the final if they beat Glasgow

If leinster win this i think they'll take the title again...

C'Mon Munster!!!!

Well in a Munster Ulster final you may just hope we don't field our thirds...

gosullivan89

I'm not saying we'll beat ulster in the final, but we'd have a better chance than playing leinster in the RDS, leinster win finals.... they're used to it.

Ulster could very well win in thomond again

George Hook

Bowe at 13 anyone?

Riskymove

gosullivan89 wrote: »

, leinster win finals.... they're used to it.

they have a fairly dodgy track record in the Rabo finals

also, only once has the team who finished first won the playoffs

.ak

Riskymove wrote: »

they have a fairly dodgy track record in the Rabo finals

also, only once has the team who finished first won the playoffs

TBH, that stat is quite misleading, especially if you look at each individual final and it's merits, which is reasonable considering how few of them there has been.

For example, the best chance Leinster had to do the double was snookered by the fact the team was physically spent from the HEC victory the week before hand.

Another example would be that Ulster probable would've won the final last year if it was in Ravenhill. They had done the double on us in the regular season but having the game in the RDS for Joe/Johnny/Isa's farewell made a massive difference to bolstering form.

CatFromHue

16500 tickets have been sold so far and the remainder are on Ticketmaster.

Riskymove

.ak wrote: »

TBH, that stat is quite misleading,

it isn't misleading at all....it's a fact not a statistic

are there reasons for this being a fact?...of course
can we raise "what if" issues about the results?....of course

Does it mean anything when it comes to furture finals?....no


but it's still a fact.

.ak

Riskymove wrote: »

it isn't misleading at all....it's a fact not a statistic

are there reasons for this being a fact?...of course
can we raise "what if" issues about the results?....of course

Does it mean anything when it comes to furture finals?....no


but it's still a fact.

Well, that's a bit pedantic isn't it? I mean, I could say it's fact that Joe Smith has made 100% of his kicks in a difficult game.

But he actually made one kick, that was a conversion for a penalty try, on the 79th minute.

Stats can be facts, indeed, but those facts/stats all have to be put into context.

The point I'm making here is it's not likely you'll lose the final just because you came first in the league. Coming first doesn't really have any bearing on winning or losing.

Riskymove

.ak wrote: »

The point I'm making here is it's not likely you'll lose the final just because you came first in the league. Coming first doesn't really have any bearing on winning or losing.

But I agree and said exactly this

.ak

Riskymove wrote: »

But I agree and said exactly this

Oh, sorry, maybe our wires are getting crossed because I thought when you said "also, only once has the team who finished first won the playoffs" you were suggesting that teams who finish first are unlikely to win the playoffs.