Ulster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread II

errlloyd

Apparently the Wasps chairman is Irish. I hadn't realised that. 1.5mn pounds for Beale is insanity

wp_rathead

That's over 2 Years though right?
So 750k per year
Still alot mind

Number 137

If Wasps are spending that sort of money on Beale, they may as well have re-signed Andy Goode. Though he may be worth more...

Zzippy

Number 137 wrote: »

If Wasps are spending that sort of money on Beale, they may as well have re-signed Andy Goode. Though he may be worth more...

Andy Goode has gotten more expensive as he has a pay-by-weight buyout clause in his contract...

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

iHumph is retiring? Has retired?

MJohnston

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

iHumph is retiring? Has retired?

I would say so:

https://twitter.com/iHumph/status/707199227554897920?lang=en

Edit: confirmed

https://twitter.com/UlsterRugby/status/707200012183343105

MJohnston

So...Olding to backup 10? Hows Jonny McPhillips looking?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Bit more on iHumph here... end of season he's calling it a day.

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/14692.php#.Vt7egZyLTIV

Buer

Peple can laugh at Andy Goode (me included) but he gets the job done. Came out of retirement looking like the 6th member of Status Quo and has been instrumental in their improvement.

Wouldn't have given them a sniff of beating Leicester and Northampton before he showed up and now they've pulled well clear of relegation.

He's the opposite of iHumph. He looks ugly, he plays ugly and he has a bag full of medals!

Sorry to see Humphreys go. His career always strikes me as somewhat unfulfilled given his level of talent.

Digifriendly

Buer wrote: »

Sorry to see Humphreys go. His career always strikes me as somewhat unfulfilled given his level of talent.

Totally agree. Was great in patches but lacked consistency of his elder brother.

Magico Gonzalez

We had some great moments courtesy of iHump. Bit too flakey to be a solid international but he was a great servant.

Good luck to him.

rsh118

Met him once in London and seemed an all round good sort. Hope he has a successful retirement, hopefully we'll see him on the couch next to fez soon.

postitnote

Yeah, good luck to iHumph for the future.

jacothelad

Buer wrote: »

Peple can laugh at Andy Goode (me included) but he gets the job done. Came out of retirement looking like the 6th member of Status Quo and has been instrumental in their improvement.

Wouldn't have given them a sniff of beating Leicester and Northampton before he showed up and now they've pulled well clear of relegation.

He's the opposite of iHumph. He looks ugly, he plays ugly and he has a bag full of medals!

Sorry to see Humphreys go. His career always strikes me as somewhat unfulfilled given his level of talent.

He was the best attacking 10 we had in Ireland and a reasonable kicker.

Digifriendly

iHumph's highlight has surely to be in the Leicester side who won at Thomond Park. IIRC it was the first time Munster had been beaten there in the HC.

Buer

Digifriendly wrote: »

iHumph's highlight has surely to be in the Leicester side who won at Thomond Park. IIRC it was the first time Munster had been beaten there in the HC.

And he was the man at outhalf the second time it happened too, I believe?

bilston

Buer wrote: »

And he was the man at outhalf the second time it happened too, I believe?

And then got dropped for the semi final!

jacothelad

bilston wrote: »

And then got dropped for the semi final!

Yes. Another of McLaughlin's dreadful selection issues. The guy was a fine coach but couldn't pick his nose - as was proven when he was coach at Malone. In the final, Jackson looked like a primary school kid......wildly out of his depth. Anyone could see that before the semi-final even.

phog

Digifriendly wrote: »

iHumph's highlight has surely to be in the Leicester side who won at Thomond Park. IIRC it was the first time Munster had been beaten there in the HC.

He was one of a few players that beat Munster twice in Thomond in European games but if that's his highlight them he's had a poor enough return from his rugby career.

irishbucsfan

The best story I heard about iHumph was that when Dan Tuohy met him he was growing his beard, and then when he shaved the beard off Tuohy thought he was a new player who had joined up for training.

It's an alright story. Not particularly great but it gets the job done in the absence of a better long term story.

ulster_Beef

So Charles P is with kiss today in Belfast. Maybe that'll put to bed rumours

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

ulster_Beef wrote: »

So Charles P is with kiss today in Belfast. Maybe that'll put to bed rumours

He's playing FB for Inst in the School's Cup Final.

bilston

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

He's playing FB for Inst in the School's Cup Final.

Talking of which Inst v Campbell today in the School's Cup Final. The weather here is glorious and I know both sides have some talented backs on show. Could be a good match.

For those unable to go but with a couple of hours to kill this afternoon could do worse than watch it. It's on BBC2 NI about 3pm after the GAA final.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I usually pick which team I want to win based on past students but nothing is jumping out at me from the Wikipedia pages.

Wonder who Jim Neely will be rooting for?

postitnote

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I usually pick which team I want to win based on past students but nothing is jumping out at me from the Wikipedia pages.

Wonder who Jim Neely will be rooting for?

Roger Wilson (RBAI) versus Mike McComish (CCB)

Take your pick.

bilston

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I usually pick which team I want to win based on past students but nothing is jumping out at me from the Wikipedia pages.

Wonder who Jim Neely will be rooting for?

Ahhh Jim Neilly will no doubt be as professional as ever but he is an Inst man!

Rugby wise for past students. Paddy Wallace and Rory Scholes are ex Campbell. Roger Wilson is ex Inst, Ryan Caldwell was also an Inst man.

Going further back in time Davy Irwin was Inst and I think the greatest of them all Mike Gibson was Campbell. Going way back there are a couple of former Lions captains who went to Inst but as much as it would hurt the Collegian that is Jaco, he can probably educate us better on that than me!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

CS Lewis and a couple if Snow Patrol went to Campbell. The Snow Patrol connection will probably swing you one way or the t'other depending on personal preferences.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Off topic but this School's GAA final is pretty one sided. "STOP! STOP! He's already dead!" springs to mind.

Number 137

RBAI seem to be pretty dominant in Ulster this year having already beaten Wallace HS in the medallion final.

Digifriendly

Campbell must wonder with all the territory/possession in the second half how they managed not to score. Inst defence was well organised but seeming absence of a regular goal kicker for Campbell cost them badly.

bilston

Inst deserved it for their defence alone. Quite a few of those boys will be back again next year and given Inst have won the last 3 Medallion Shields (JCT equivalent for those of you from the South) you'd think they will be hard to stop from making it 3 in a row in 2017.

Standard was ok, there were some mistakes, there seems to be a bit of a gap compared to what I saw of the Belvedere team, but one match is a small sample. Hume looks a decent prospect, he has another year to go at school as well and O'Toole is massive for a schoolboy but none of these guys are anywhere near the finished article at 16/17/18. It will be interesting to see how many go further in their rugby careers!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

O'Toole is only lower 6th too, is that what it's called? So what, he's about 17?

bilston

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

O'Toole is only lower 6th too, is that what it's called? So what, he's about 17?

Well it was Lower 6th in my day. Think it's Year 12 or something now.

But anyway yes he would be 16 or 17 depending on when his birthday is.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

bilston wrote: »

Well it was Lower 6th in my day. Think it's Year 12 or something now.

But anyway yes he would be 16 or 17 depending on when his birthday is.

Jim was calling it Lower 6th on the telly but his day is probably closer to your day

bilston

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Jim was calling it Lower 6th on the telly but his day is probably closer to your day

Ha...like hell it was...

bilston

It seems we may finally have a young forward coming through the ranks worth talking about in Adam McBurney. I've only seen one U20s match, last week, but he was good there and last night was man of the match in the win over Scotland. Assuming he is 19/20 he could be coming through at a handy time with Rory likely to have just two years left.

We aren't too bad off at hooker. Herring for me is a terrific player and Andrew and Murphy have both looked comfortable at Pro 12 level this season. It's great to see a bit of depth (or at least potential depth) in at least one position in the pack.

awec

bilston wrote: »

Well it was Lower 6th in my day. Think it's Year 12 or something now.

But anyway yes he would be 16 or 17 depending on when his birthday is.

It's still called lower 6th I think.

Number 137

Adam McBurney has to be a shoe in for an academy spot next season. I don't think Ulster currently have any hookers in the academy.

bilston

Number 137 wrote: »

Adam McBurney has to be a shoe in for an academy spot next season. I don't think Ulster currently have any hookers in the academy.

You'd think so. Although Johnny Murphy may be in the Academy?

bilston

What sort of roll call can we expect this weekend?

Any chance that Bowe, Ludik, Herbst or Henderson could be back?

What about Best, Payne and Trimble? I can understand giving Rory a week off but for me Payne and Trimble should be straight back in the side.

Something like this...

15 Payne
14 Gilroy
13 Marshall
12 McCloskey
11 Trimble
10 Jackson
9 Pienaar
1 McCall
2 Herring
3 Lutton
4 Van Der Merwe
5 O'Connor
6 Diack
7 Henry
8 Williams

I said it last week and it won't be popular but the way our defence has degenerated into absolute shyteness I wouldn't be opposed to having Payne at 13 for a game.

I know...I need burnt for that!!!

The Elk

bilston wrote: »

What sort of roll call can we expect this weekend?

Any chance that Bowe, Ludik, Herbst or Henderson could be back?

What about Best, Payne and Trimble? I can understand giving Rory a week off but for me Payne and Trimble should be straight back in the side.

Something like this...

15 Payne
14 Gilroy
13 Marshall
12 McCloskey
11 Trimble
10 Jackson
9 Pienaar
1 McCall
2 Herring
3 Lutton
4 Van Der Merwe
5 O'Connor
6 Diack
7 Henry
8 Williams

I said it last week and it won't be popular but the way our defence has degenerated into absolute shyteness I wouldn't be opposed to having Payne at 13 for a game.

I know...I need burnt for that!!!

Refresh my memory - what had happened Herbst? Was it a hamstring?

I'd say Best for sure will get a rest - he always seems to. The other guys who played will probably get a rest but might have a slight chance to feature. (depends how banged up they are).

Hendo and Bowe are near coming back, what was the last word on them?

jacothelad

The Elk wrote: »

Refresh my memory - what had happened Herbst? Was it a hamstring?

I'd say Best for sure will get a rest - he always seems to. The other guys who played will probably get a rest but might have a slight chance to feature. (depends how banged up they are).

Hendo and Bowe are near coming back, what was the last word on them?

I think Herbst is out for the season. (Toe Injury).
Tuohy has had more surgery on his ankle so out for the season.
So long as Herring is fit we're golden at hooker.
Henderson and Bowe must be near to fitness.
It's very frustrating that at the business end of the season for a vital game we are once again without many of our best players. Best, Bowe, Trimble, Herbst, Tuohy, Nelson. Payne, Henderson and Ludik are all starters. Then we have Pienaar and Henry playing like drains. That's most of our team. Most of the replacements are either callow youths or players who do not measure up yet or never or who are simply way below the standard of professional level.

postitnote

Surely that team needs more Olding?

Number 137

bilston wrote: »

You'd think so. Although Johnny Murphy may be in the Academy?

I think Murphy signed a senior contract at the end of last season. He's not listed in the academy on the Ulster website anyway.

rsh118

Any more word on which Leinster flanker will be stopping off in Newry for groceries on his way to Belfast?

neelia11

RTE reporting Henderson could play this friday

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2016/0322/776793-henderson-may-make-ulster-comeback/

bilston

Reading the injury thread on uafc it looks like the following...

Ludik and Henderson back this week. (Hendy presumably benching)
Herbst back for Zebre
Bowe back for Leinster
Tuohy gone for the season.

awec

Bowe back to terrorise the mexicans? Happy days!

Hagz

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/article.aspx?Id=3454224

The Cell C Sharks’ star player of 2016 says he hopes to be back in Durban after he has completed his three year contract with Ulster that starts at the end of this season, but there is an outside chance that Marcell Coetzee might be seen wearing the colours of his franchise and province before that.

After Coetzee won the man of the match award against the DHL Stormers in Cape Town recently, mention was made by members of the Sharks management that Coetzee may have an out clause in his contract covering the possibility that the next Springbok coach might show more interest in offering him a national contract that he’d be satisfied with than the previous one did.

Scythica

Hagz wrote: »

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/article.aspx?Id=3454224

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO