Ulster vs Connacht Ravenhill Fri 06/10/2017 7.35 BBC2 NI

Diabhal Beag

Save us Supermacs Rodney, you're our only hope.

Zzippy

Ulster's line speed is great this half, great defence

vienne86

Ulster showing a bit of intensity in defence at last.

Hastentoadd

there is hope yet. Rodney is on

vienne86

I thought Bundee was offside there......oh well, something else for the BBC to go on about.

vienne86

Monster tackles by Ulster - they have this in the bag IMO

vienne86

Treadwell has done some great carrying.

ionadnapokot

vienne86 wrote: »

Treadwell has done some great carrying.

Aye. Best I've seen of him.

vienne86

This is Connacht's last chance surely

Losty Dublin

If Rodney was joining those rucks from the side any more than he currently is, he'd be bumping into the touch judge.

vienne86

Wow.....card! Come on Connacht......Jazuz - some defence by Ulster.

thomond2006

Very dumb by Connacht. Set up a DG and ensure the BP. Instead they run down the clock and now look like they'll leave with nothing.

jam83

Ffs

The Rape of Lucretia

There is call it as you see it commentary for you : "knocked backward waves the referee, the crowd needless to say, disagree".
So fair play there. He is acknowledging the biased Ravenhill crowd, and by extension we presume, the biased audience he is paid to commentate to.

Diabhal Beag

The most Connacht performance I have ever seen. They've the same toothless attacking in the 22 they had last year.

vienne86

Well defended by Ulster, but gutted Connacht got nothing.

thomond2006

The Connacht leaders have to communicate: TAKE THE ****ING BONUS POINT LADS!!!!

Infuriating to watch. No clock management.

The Rape of Lucretia

vienne86 wrote: »

Treadwell has done some great carrying.

This boy has a serious future I'm thinking.
Himself and Ryan for Ireland. Mmmmmm.....

vienne86

Well Connacht have only themselves to blame for getting nothing from that match - the LBP was there for the taking.

jacothelad

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

There is call it as you see it commentary for you : "knocked backward waves the referee, the crowd needless to say, disagree".
So fair play there. He is acknowledging the biased Ravenhill crowd, and by extension we presume, the biased audience he is paid to commentate to.

Shyte like this really adds to the enjoyment of the game. You need to take your head out of the hole it's in. You didn't bother to finish the quote which was "the crowd needless to say, disagree but they were wrong".

ScrubsfanChris

thomond2006 wrote: »

The Connacht leaders have to communicate: TAKE THE ****ING BONUS POINT LADS!!!!

Infuriating to watch. No clock management.

Exactly, one kickable penalty turned down to go for a try, didn't make it, the next penalty has to go for the posts. Poor captaincy.

wp_rathead

Why didn't we just set up for the drop kick FFS

Buer

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

The most Connacht performance I have ever seen. They've the same toothless attacking in the 22 they had last year.

Same thing as last year. Teams realised if they have a quick line in defence, Connacht struggle to move the ball and will make errors. It hasn't changed. Farrell is a strike runner but not someone in midfield that is:

a) A powerhouse who can take a hit and continue forward momentum
b) Nimble enough to slip by an onrushing defender
c) Silky enough with ball in hand to take the pass and move it.

Ronaldson needs to come back into that midfield and fast.

Hastentoadd

Hastentoadd wrote: »

Teams
Ulster: Ulster Rugby team to play Connacht (Friday 6th October, Kingspan Stadium, 7.35pm):
(1-8): K McCall, R Herring, W Herbst, A O'Connor, K Treadwell, I Henderson, C Henry (captain), J Deysel;
(9-15): J Cooney, C Lealiifano, J Stockdale, S McCloskey, L Marshall, T Bowe, C Piutau;
Replacements (16-23): J Andrew, A Warwick, R Ah You, R Diack, S Reidy, P Marshall, P Nelson, L Ludik.

Connacht: (15-9) Tiernan O’Halloran, Cian Kelleher, Bundee Aki, Tom Farell, Matt Healy, Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion, (1-8) Denis Buckley, Tom McCartney, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, Quinn Roux, Eoin McKeon, Jarrad Butler, John Muldoon (Capt)
Replacements (16-23): Dave Heffernan, Denis Coulson, Conor Carey, James Cannon, Eoghan Masterson, Caolin Blade, Steve Crosbie, Eoin Griffin.

There are so many unknowns here. Will Connacht go back to being dreadful, or has there been a progression since KK joined the ranks? Will Ulster bring their Scarlets form or their Zebre form? There are just so many unknowns to this game. One thing is certain, one team is going to come out scarred from this game from a supporters belief point of view. So how do you think this game is going to pan out? I honestly can say I have no idea.

Both of them brought their worst was the answer

Diabhal Beag

Connacht should've won this, nevermind the bonus point. You could have had Ulster lads in hammocks defending those mauls and they would've kept us out.

Zzippy

Kiss Keane out

Utopia Parkway

Connacht a bit unlucky that it was McKeon that the last pass fell to early in the 2nd half. Any of the backs and that would have been a try.

Have to try and take a LBP out of that though in the end.

Hastentoadd

Nobody can take any joy out of that win or loss. It was dreadful stuff. Kellleher was brutal, Matt was brutal. Connacht were brutal, Ulster were brutal. You are left pondering how ****e your team is

vienne86

Hastentoadd wrote: »

Nobody can take any joy out of that win or loss. It was dreadful stuff. Kellleher was brutal, Matt was brutal. Connacht were brutal, Ulster were brutal. You are left pondering how ****e your team is

Some decent stuff from some of the Ulster players though. Henderson was good in the second half - some crucial tackles. Treadwell carried like a train. I thought Luke Marshall made some great tackles and had a decent game. Cooney continued his great form. And then there was Stockdale - man to watch.

And I thught Crosbie went well for Connacht when he came on.

CatFromHue

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

The most Connacht performance I have ever seen. They've the same toothless attacking in the 22 they had last year.

Who's 22?

They still seem to force it in their own and it ends up costing them.

Bazzo

CatFromHue wrote: »

Who's 22?

They still seem to force it in their own and it ends up costing them.

They didn't concede any tries from forcing it in their own 22. In fact I think they only conceded 3 or at most 6 points from giving away penalties in their 22.

Hastentoadd

Bazzo wrote: »

They didn't concede any tries from forcing it in their own 22. In fact I think they only conceded 3 or at most 6 points from giving away penalties in their 22.

Catfromhue has a fair point. It may not cost Connacht scores but it certainly costs them energy

connachta

Crosbie, Farrell, McCartney, McKeon, and Dillane better than he's been this season so far, too
Roux, Kell disappointing
Others mixed good and bad. Happy 2 basics (scrum and lineout) was partly sorted out by Keane. Need to win contact areas now...

Hastentoadd

Totally untrue connachta. our team was brutal and ulster were shocking. there was nothing to be taken out of this game other than how really average these teams are

Paul Smeenus

Do Connacht understand that you get a league point if you lose but finish within seven of the other team?

Even if they'd scored a try and converted it in that last minute or two, they still wouldn't have won.

"What's the hardest, least likely way to earn a LBP? Grand so, that's the option for us".

CatFromHue

Bazzo wrote: »

They didn't concede any tries from forcing it in their own 22. In fact I think they only conceded 3 or at most 6 points from giving away penalties in their 22.

I thought they eventually gave up a penalty in the mins after Healy threw a pass into touch trying to run back the awfully sliced penalty kick for the corner by Ulster.

connachta

Last season barely 80% tackling rate, this season 85% +. Huge improvement

damianmcr

Feck I love booing

mfceiling

Just watched it there.

Same old stuff.

Missed tackles - check.
Handling errors - check.
Fùcked up line outs - check.
Unforced errors - check.

Big question after Stockdale's performance tonight, namely who's the 2nd fastest winger in Ireland?

Hastentoadd

mfceiling wrote: »

Just watched it there.

Same old stuff.

Missed tackles - check.
Handling errors - check.
Fùcked up line outs - check.
Unforced errors - check.

Big question after Stockdale's performance tonight, namely who's the 2nd fastest winger in Ireland?

Stockdale is simply a seriously good player. But joe will probably pick trimble over him. The frustration of joe schmidt, he drives me nuts

pickarooney

mfceiling wrote: »

Just watched it there.

Same old stuff.

Missed tackles - check.
Handling errors - check.
Fùcked up line outs - check.
Unforced errors - check.

Big question after Stockdale's performance tonight, namely who's the 2nd fastest winger in Ireland?

Barry Daly

connachta

pickarooney wrote: »

mfceiling wrote: »

Just watched it there.

Same old stuff.

Missed tackles - check.
Handling errors - check.
Fùcked up line outs - check.
Unforced errors - check.

Big question after Stockdale's performance tonight, namely who's the 2nd fastest winger in Ireland?

Barry Daly

Niyi Adeolokun

jam83

Hastentoadd wrote: »

Stockdale is simply a seriously good player. But joe will probably pick trimble over him. The frustration of joe schmidt, he drives me nuts

You need to relax your obsession with joe Schmidt and wait and see what team he picks for the November games.

Digifriendly

I was at this game and while first half was poor enough fare from both sides second 40 was much better. Both defences were IMHO top quality with a piece of individual brillance the deciding factor. Very poor decision from Connacht not to kick penalty and ensure a losing BP.