First time we've ever done the double over Ulster. A nice one to have laid to rest.

Obviously though this was an Ulster side missing a few key players and really they don't have the depth to deal with that. Ulster by the end had 2 scrum halfs on the pitch and Peter Nelson at 10 so to not get the bonus is disappointing.

This season has seen huge progress but I can't help but feel we have left a lot of points behind us. We genuinely should be top of our conference. We need another win next Saturday if we are genuine about making the play offs and tonights performance wont do.

Couple of issues we need to deal with, our maul defence is bordering on embarrassing at this stage. Munster will just target that area all night long next Saturday. Kelleher made a bags of the cross field kick for the first try but there was likely a yellow and/or a penalty try coming off that attack. 2nd try we were minus Dillane but the try was inevitable, luckily it was in the corner which made the conversion more difficult.

Anyway we move on to next Saturday which could be season defining for us.

Disappointing not get a bonus point there. Mitrea bizzarely didn't penalise Ulster for taking the lifter twice in a row on their own 5m line after binning Dillane for it a couple of minutes beforehand. Also didn't think there was any hint of a release on their turnover at the base of their posts but I'd have to watch it again to be sure. Small gripes anyway to be honest as overall the reffing was quite good.

Aki has been insanely good the last two weeks.

Anyway 6/10 points from those two matches is a really good return, think we can beat Munster too.

Ya one of the games at the start of this season I had a mate that just had the ticket on his phone and it sufficed

I see the tickets now have QR codes on them - does this mean I can just get the phone scanned and don't need to print it?

They are so screwed if they have an injury in the back 5 of the pack, especially second row.

Cooney looked very disappointed with last years result in the Sportsground so will be keen to win. Playing behind a pack going backwards though and it would be difficult to exert much influence. Hope our pack really impose themselves on this game. That will make Addison a bit part in the tie as well.
Tough challenge but I think that they can do it.

I can't see Connacht winning this by more than 3 and I'd be fairly delighted with that anyways. That would mean at minimum 6 points taking from the 2 Christmas interpros so far.
Think a lot are prematurely writing off Ulster here even though Cooney and Addison could be deciding factors alone in the match.

Don't get me wrong. + 5 was about the score, not the points.
I'd take the 4 without hesitation.
Still slight favorite without Stock, Hendo, Best, McCloskley and Burns

A fantastic weekend for us would be 4/5 points with Munster picking up 0, and that Scarlets and Dragons (less likely) could do us some favours. Looking at the 80th minutes of all the games almost everything that could have gone wrong did, other than the Glasgow and Zebre games, Munster got the LBP last kick, Cardiff won with the last kick from a draw, Scarlets had the chance to draw but blew it v Ospreys, and obviously then our own result which cost us 3 points. When you consider Munster in particular and the amount of games they've either won or got LBP/TBP from in the last 5 mins compared to how we've done in that same part of the game it's really annoying.

I completely agree. Ulster are coming for points. They are a much better outfit this season and have some quality players. My heart says 5 points in the bag with the hurt from last week but my head says 4 and that could be a struggle too.

Expect it to be much closer than +5 to Connacht. That's a very strong Ulster team by their modern standards.

Spread was 5 points before the teams came out. Many bookies at 6 or 7 now and I'd expect it to go nearer 10 by kickoff.

With Ulster resting/without Burns, McCloskey, and Stockdale their backline is only at half strength. They needed a homer ref and Best playing brilliantly to beat a halfassed Munster team, they have no bench, and they're completely outmatched in the second row. We need to get 5 match points.

connachta wrote: Buckley Moore 50/50
Delahunt Herring 45/55
Carey EOS 45/55
Roux Nagle 60/40
Thornbury Treadwell 50/50
SOB Timoney 55/45
Fainga'a Murphy 45/55
Butler Coetzee 50/50
Blade Cooney 45/55 (because of kicking)
Carty McPhillips 60/40 (no Burns)
Aki Cave 70/30 (no McCloskey)
Farrell Addison 45/55
Kelleher Speight 50/50
Godwin Kernohan 70/30
Leader Ludik 45/55
Yeah I think some "head-to-head" are tighter than some expect : Treadwell, Timoney, Moore, on one side, Fainga'a, Farrell, Kelleher on the other may hold the comparison with their counterparts

Bench : No Bealham and Healy, those n°18 and 23 go Ulster's way, otherwise Connacht bench seems slightly stronger

Home advantage into account : Connacht + 5 would be my prediction

You've definitely overrated the Ulster front five as I would feel we have more game time together than Ulster.
Agree that our bench is lighter than theirs but I think we can manage without Bealham for this one.

Hope that it stays dry and that we can continue to play the way we did last week. Not losing any line outs and stealing 3? was a huge progression for us so I hope that this can put Ulster under real pressure tomorrow.

Obviously they have a similar plan so should be a good game.

Cant wait.

Buckley Moore 50/50
Delahunt Herring 45/55
Carey EOS 45/55
Roux Nagle 60/40
Thornbury Treadwell 50/50
SOB Timoney 55/45
Fainga'a Murphy 45/55
Butler Coetzee 50/50
Blade Cooney 45/55 (because of kicking)
Carty McPhillips 60/40 (no Burns)
Aki Cave 70/30 (no McCloskey)
Farrell Addison 45/55
Kelleher Speight 50/50
Godwin Kernohan 70/30
Leader Ludik 45/55
Yeah I think some "head-to-head" are tighter than some expect : Treadwell, Timoney, Moore, on one side, Fainga'a, Farrell, Kelleher on the other may hold the comparison with their counterparts

Bench : No Bealham and Healy, those n°18 and 23 go Ulster's way, otherwise Connacht bench seems slightly stronger

Home advantage into account : Connacht + 5 would be my prediction

Ulster lineup is strong. I'd take the 4 points
1st cap already for Fitzgerald n°2
Buckey and SOB are fit, that is massive good news

(Backs) Darragh Leader, Cian Kelleher, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Kyle Godwin, Jack Carty, Caolin Blade,
(Forwards) Denis Buckley, Shane Delahunt, Conor Carey, Gavin Thornbury, Quinn Roux, Sean O’Brien, Colby Fainga’a, Jarrad Butler (C).

(Subs): Dave Heffernan, Peter McCabe, Dominic Robertson McCoy, Ultan Dillane, Paul Boyle, James Mitchell, David Horwitz, Stephen Fitzgerald.

(Backs): L Ludik; H Speight, W Addison, D Cave, A Kernohan; J McPhillips, J Cooney;
(Forwards): E O’Sullivan, R Herring (c), M Moore, I Nagle, K Treadwell, N Timoney, J Murphy, M Coetzee;

(Subs): A McBurney, T O’Hagan, R Kane, C Ross, G Jones, D Shanahan, P Nelson, S McCloskey.