sea_point wrote:

Borders no.2 wrote: Ulster played quite well but Scarlets were dire. For a top 4 team Scarlets never really impress me. They have some good individual players and have some good signings lined up for next season but they are so weak up front and it looks to be individuals doing their own thing most of the time . They were there to be taken asunder this evening if Ulster had wanted to be a bit more ruthless. Simon Easterby has a lot to do to move them forward another level.

For a team that had the bones of fifty point put on them at home to Treviso only a week back, they got waaaay to close to Ulster in the end. Ulster had by far the stronger first 40-50 mins but after the third try and the two injury breaks they lost concentration and then the replacements did for any remaining continuity. Play like that against Leinster or Glasgow and they'll be done, simple as....

For the life of me, I could not see how the TMO could award Court's try. the Scarlet's players were clear it was not, even Court seemed to know. he was either short or lost control and probably both.

Borders no.2 wrote: Ulster played quite well but Scarlets were dire. For a top 4 team Scarlets never really impress me. They have some good individual players and have some good signings lined up for next season but they are so weak up front and it looks to be individuals doing their own thing most of the time . They were there to be taken asunder this evening if Ulster had wanted to be a bit more ruthless. Simon Easterby has a lot to do to move them forward another level.

For a team that had the bones of fifty point put on them at home to Treviso only a week back, they got waaaay to close to Ulster in the end. Ulster had by far the stronger first 40-50 mins but after the third try and the two injury breaks they lost concentration and then the replacements did for any remaining continuity. Play like that against Leinster or Glasgow and they'll be done, simple as....

Ulster played quite well but Scarlets were dire. For a top 4 team Scarlets never really impress me. They have some good individual players and have some good signings lined up for next season but they are so weak up front and it looks to be individuals doing their own thing most of the time . They were there to be taken asunder this evening if Ulster had wanted to be a bit more ruthless. Simon Easterby has a lot to do to move them forward another level.

They were good alright but helped by some of the poorest reffing seen in a long time by rolland annnd his assistants.

Yes, he had a hip/groin operation a couple weeks ago and the comeback period was 4 to 6 months.
Stuart Olding will probably be the big beneficiary of Marshall and McSharry's bad luck.

isnt mcsharry lucky if he'll be fit for start of the season?

salmson wrote:

swift4prez wrote: if ulster reach the pro12 final and are top seed they will play in the RDS. so leinster have a very good chance of playing in the RDS but ulster will get 50% of the tickets

Maybe I'm missing something but why wouldn't an all Irish Rabo final be held in Lansdowne Road instead of the RDS? There's nothing there that w/e afaik and there'll be 2 weeks notice....

Depends if is available firstly, and I'm sure that if it was the case that it turned into an Interpro final that if LR was available then they would move the game there if interest proved strong enough, being only ten minutes further away it's not like it creates a major problem for supporters...

swift4prez wrote: if ulster reach the pro12 final and are top seed they will play in the RDS. so leinster have a very good chance of playing in the RDS but ulster will get 50% of the tickets

Maybe I'm missing something but why wouldn't an all Irish Rabo final be held in Lansdowne Road instead of the RDS? There's nothing there that w/e afaik and there'll be 2 weeks notice....

if ulster reach the pro12 final and are top seed they will play in the RDS. so leinster have a very good chance of playing in the RDS but ulster will get 50% of the tickets

bonus point try to ulster vs dragons only 46 mins gone, score 31-0.

glasgow losing 26-6 away to scarlets. ulster going top of the table

Was at the game, Ulster just never got out of first gear and were a country mile from their performance at the RDS. They never committed enough numbers to the breakdown in attack and ended up with rubbish ball that Jackson & Pienaar were too eager to kick away and Trimble and Gilroy had no chance of contesting. Tactically they just weren't at the races, and they lost the contest from no's 4-8...

They're a better side than that, but letting Afoa (one of your most experienced and expensive players) jet off to NZ for the birth of his third child the week of your biggest game of the season is amateur hour, especially as he is also looking to cut his contract short by a season to head home and qualify for AB's side for RWC15.....

Fair enough but for me they just have too many average players in the squad if they hope to challenge for the Heineken. Ulster might as well plan without Ferris and if he ever manages to come back fully fit its a major bonus. Wilson is a good player but no world beater. IMO Wannenburg was a huge loss for them. Henderson is a positive for them.

9 and 10 aren't convincing. Pienaar hasn't really been anywhere near up to his very high standards this season and Jackson imo isn't yet ready to be the key man for a HC contender. McKinney is a good player but he's coming from division 1 rugby so it'll take time for him.

Bowe was a loss without doubt but again the squad just doesn't look to have the depth at the moment, maybe that will develop given time but not at moment.

Marshall has the talent but its a steep learning curve and he is being targeted for heavy punishment.

The home q/f would have benefitted them but they got a kind draw last season which they'll struggle to get again.

I expect them to contend for HC quarter final places in the coming seasons but David Humphreys will have to recruit very wisely over the next couple of seasons to keep them as a contender.

Ulster have gone off the boil, they did well to grind out a result at the RDS last weekend but they haven't been going well. Their Heineken Cup campaign was fatally damaged by a careless loss at home to an average Northampton side where they blew chance after chance. Can they go again next season I don't know. They have yet to prove themselves capable of getting a big result against any of the big hitters outside Ravenhill when it really counts.

swift4prez wrote: 1- ball needs to be grounded to score a try.
2- ref needs to see it to give a try.
3- if the ref cant see the ball grounded he cant give it.
4- if he checks with with his TMO if its a grounded, shouldnt the question be ''try or no try?''
rather why ask ''any reason not to award the try?''.
5- shouldnt common sense come in and point out ''if you didnt see it grounded, you cant give it!''.

sarries scored a try, ref and TMO couldnt see the ball grounded but it was given due to the question poite asked the TMO.
every time this happens it gets on my nerves. sort it out erc.

sarries 16 ulster 6

The player in possession was over the line with no one holding him up, so in that case the benefit of the doubt is given, hence unless the TMO can give the ref a good reason why he shouldn't award the try then he's going to give it.

In short he's not checking grounding, he's sure there was, instead he's just checking if there was something else he missed

Bad news for Connacht. Ulster out of HC means they will have 1st string team out against us in the sportsground and a our HC return not rests with Leinster and Munster (not hopefull about Munster doing much against Quins)

Ulster are being absolutely dominated in the collisions and at the breakdown. They don't even seem to be able to clear Fraser or Brown out of their rucks. Very disappointing performance 27-9 70 mins