Ulster Team Talk Thread IV... Go On My Henderson...

Just seemed to give up and let Connaught come at them. Doak and Byrne made no difference.

That's a horrific collapse. Definitely positives to take away from the first half but when things get tough we've showed time and time again that we wet ourselves and gift the other team pointless penalties. Set pieces are a problem - Vermuelen was the one stealing lineouts for us last year and now we're not up half as quick so the opposition gets 100% of their own ball and probably 50% of ours. We knew the scrums would be bad given our bargain hunting for props over the summer in the AIL, English 2nd Division and Australian semi-pro league.

I don't want to be harsh but I'm not so sure Moxham or Sexton are at the required level, at least not yet. Carson is young so won't be too down on him but there is a stark contrast between him and Postlethwaite who's the same age. He didn't really do too much wrong but it was tough losing Hume. I would've hoped that bringing on our starting 9 and 10 would've settled things a little but in hindsight that was too ambitious of me, I should've known better.

Positives - McCann having an excellent start to the season, looks quicker and stronger. Hume seems to be gaining form, hopefully not even being in contention for the WC gave him a kick up the arse - he joins Stockdale and Baloucoune who have started well this season after watching the ghost of Limerick being given a retirement party in Paris ahead of them. Sheridan going strongly, I would have him firmly ahead of O'Connor now if the coaches are happy with his set pieces. Actually, are set pieces are awful even with O'Connor anyway so I'm not sure that matters. McCann and Sheridan - two decent Ulster born forwards. I could shed a tear.

Hard to argue with him.

On the plus side, they were in the position to fall apart. I didn't have them anywhere near it before the game

Is it? He's in his mid twenties and hasn't been picked up by anyone. Player of the year in the AIL Division 2A isn't necessarily going to guarantee involvement in the professional environment.

For him to call out the selection of Crothers specifically seems a fairly sh*tty thing to do to be honest.

Academy players are an investment, the idea is that they will be ahead of these guys when they are the same age as them. Nobody is expecting them to be world beaters straight out of school.

There was a lad from Terenure who called out academy and pro players in the AIL after winning it last year. Struck me as sour grapes given he failed to make it at Connacht, who’ve had great success brining in players from the AIL and plays in Leinster who have recently taken Dan Sheehan and Rob Russell straight in on development deals. Even we’ve been looking at the AIL (to less success), so accusing provinces of not giving them chances doesn’t sit well with me. I realise it’s not always straightforward but if they are as good as they think, there are other professional leagues out there. If not, then a little self reflection might go a long way.

Isn’t this the first year of Ulster’s academy partnership with Queens? Horrible timing…

He doesn't play for Queens anymore. As said above he was on a Stag at the weekend, so seems unlikely he himself typed the message. He's probably too old to ever be considered by Ulster now. Very good player though at the level he plays at.

Certainly Bradley Roberts owes a great deal to the link between AIL and Ulster. Did Moxham come from club rugby? Was he ever in the Academy?

And in fairness, Reffell came from Saracens as their Young Player of the Year. We've no idea how good he actually is given he's been injured and has played a grand title of three times for us.

Injury Update:

Will Addison sustained a hamstring strain in the warm-up for Saturday's BKT URC game against Connacht. He will have an MRI scan to further assess this injury.

During the same game, Reuben Crothers, James Hume and James French all suffered concussive injuries. They will now follow the World Rugby Graduated Return to Play protocols.

Following recent injuries, the following players have all now re-integrated into squad training and their availability for selection will be monitored through this week:

Robert Baloucoune, John Cooney, Angus Curtis, David Ewers, Cormac Izuchukwu, Luke Marshall, Jude Postlethwaite, Jacob Stockdale and Kieran Treadwell.

Iain Henderson, Rob Herring and Stuart McCloskey have today re-joined the squad from recent Rugby World Cup duty and are available for selection.

Much fuller deck to pick from against Munster.

Indeed, Tighhead is a concern though! thought French went well last week

Dan Sheehan and Rob Russell were both in the academy, and did not go straight onto Development Contracts. Moxham was also in the academy.

I stand corrected. Both spent time in the AIL beforehand though, not going into the academy at the same time as their peers.

Rowntree is under the impression that we rested a load of players last week because we're targeting this Munster game.

Sure thing, Gaz.

think he lost a bet but forget the bit about Crothers that his mate stuck in.

top player. never given a sniff by ulster.

ask any AIL coach.