Ulster team v Edinburgh named

Ulster Match Day Squad to face Edinburgh, Friday 6th January 2012, Murrayfield (kick-off 7.30pm)
(15-9): S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, I Whitten, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar;
(1-8): T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg;
Replacements (16-23): A Kyriacou, C Black, A Macklin, L Stevenson, W Faloon, P Marshall, P Wallace, A D'Arcy

With the exception of 12 that is the team likely to play against Leicester.

very tough on D'Arcy

I like the look of that team Geoff.

D'arcy is unlucky and has been playing very well but I have been very impressed with Terblanche so far.

Do you think that will be the team for the Tigers as well?

Very harsh on D'Arcy, but glad our bench is beginning to look like it has impact players everywhere but tighthead.

I think they will try and get Wallace fit for the tigers game and that will be the one change.

I would add that if I were picking the team I'd be tempted to go for Faloon at 7 and Henry at 8 but I can see the rational for picking Wannenburg.

Thats a very strong looking side.

Yep as I said Wallace for Whitten will be the only change I reckon

Same thoughts as everyone else - tough on D'Arcy, glad to see Whitten at 12 and not some weird permutation of players out of position.

Bit redundant to say it now but feel massively sorry for D'arcy. Glad to see the first team out. We badly need an away win.

geoff998rugby wrote:Yep as I said Wallace for Whitten will be the only change I reckon

If Whitten plays the way he did against Munster then he deserves to start against the Tigers imo. Unfortunately Wallace will likely be jettisoned in if he is anyway fit.

Whitten is massively underrated and to be honest I forgot how good he was until his recent appearances.

Strong team but will be a tough match espicially with someone like Visser around always looks dangerous

On a side note will Terblanche leave when his contracts up?
Hes looked good for 36 and is versatile so could come in handy as an impact player and cover next season maybe taken a bit of pressure off the young guys coming through and be a good example too

Edinburgh (15-9): Chris Paterson, Tom Brown, Nick De Luca, James King, Tim Visser, Phil Godman, Greig Laidlaw. (1-8): Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Sean Cox, Esteban Lozada, Stuart McInally, Roddy Grant, Netani Talei.

(16-23): Alun Walker, Kyle Traynor, Jack Gilding, Grant Gilchrist, Alan MacDonald, Chris Leck, Matt Scott, Jim Thompson

We're over our NIQ quota Marty so he has to go, which is a pity because I think hes had a big impact on the field, more so than Payne actually in the couple of games he featured in.

Marty,

If he stayed which NIQ player would you lose?

Is Diack not still a NIQ until the end of the season?

roddersm wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:Yep as I said Wallace for Whitten will be the only change I reckon

If Whitten plays the way he did against Munster then he deserves to start against the Tigers imo. Unfortunately Wallace will likely be jettisoned in if he is anyway fit.

Whitten is massively underrated and to be honest I forgot how good he was until his recent appearances.

no different to the terblanche/D'arcy scenario except D'arcy has been playing well for longer than whitten

Decent Edinburgh team apart from good(Godman) who hopefully will not be kicking with Laidlaw back!

Would have liked to have seen Denton Vs Ferris but will be a good test for Mcinally to show how he gets on against such brute force!

No, I think Diack has done his 3 years residency and is now a fully fledged Irishman. Otherwise we couldn't have had Payne as our Project.

marty2086 wrote:Is Diack not still a NIQ until the end of the season?

Terblanche is an injury replacement for Payne, who is a project. Once Payne returns another NIQ would have to leave to keep Terblanche.

Stand it's a bit different because Terblanche has put in two impressive performances, with a try and an assist in his last two games. I do think it is harsh on D'arcy who has also looked good recently.

Unless Wallace has a stormer and Whitten struggles against Glasgow then I don't see why Wallace should get the nod.

I think it was September he qualified but did he not have to go through some kind of official process first?

His recent one appearance, yes.

I agree it would be harsh yes, but Wallace is one of our better players. We'd want to get them all on the field.

Diack is IQ so he's irrelevent. It is interesting though that when he was a Saffer he was a cracking player and now that he's Irish he's useless. The same seems to be happening with Strauss down at Leinster...

Two Notch, he had an assist for Gilroys try against Aironi.

Looks like Edinburgh are resting a fair few players for the Heino (Denton, Gilchrist, Rennie, Blair, Jones) - hope that's the right decision? Looks to me like they could be putting all their hopes in the one basket for this season?

Didn't he come off the bench for that though? I'm pretty sure the last game he started was against Treviso.

Anyway, it's not really relevant. Wallace was playing very well before the injury and had a great game against Clermont. If he's rusty then Whitten would be a good shout. But if he's capable of playing that well again he probably has to start.

I think Whitten has played well though, and I'm happier for him to play 12 than Spence. I like him a lot.

Yes he was a sub against Aironi but he still looked good.

I think Whitten was far better against Munster than Wallace was against Clermont. I actually thought Wallace was poor against Clermont (partially down to Humphreys) but I doubt I'll get a concensus on that here....

Anyways its not a big deal either way and its great we have options and competition in a lot of positions now. Two seasons ago there would have been very little to debate.

I think Darcy will get game time and It'll be judged over the two recent games who gets the FB slot, it's Terblanches turn to start FB, but Darcy still has a chance of starting Tigers game.

I'd say they'll see if Wallace is rusty by giving him game time here, but if Whitten has a stormer and Wallace is rusty, Whitten could start H-cup, otherwise Wallace will, about a half each I recon.

On Terblanche's contract, I believe it was 3 months, that will end, at end of March, can it be extended to end of season, as Payne will still be out?

Tickets arrived yesterday for Tigers game, getting excited.

I am guessing the 3 months contract was issued as that is the minimum requirement to register a player for HEC.

His continuing might depend on what we still have to play for in the remainder of the season, no?

I see there's a rumour on UAFC that Pedrie has signed for a Parisian club.

Don Alfonso wrote:I see there's a rumour on UAFC that Pedrie has signed for a Parisian club.

Noooooooooo!!!!!!!

Geoff?

To be expected really. As popular as he is we are lookin at a higher calibre of player. He has been a very good and honest pro for us though.

If it is true, then I absolutely wish him all the best. Came over in place of Rush (and has out-performed him), worked hard and gave his all.

Don Alfonso wrote:If it is true, then I absolutely wish him all the best. Came over in place of Rush (and has out-performed him), worked hard and gave his all.

Well said

I didn't think Ulster were going to offer him a new contract, so thats great news for him and I hope he does very well.

Yeah good luck to Pedre, if he is going, he worked hard and really contributed on the field for us especially last season. He hasn't hit the same heights this year but never stopped trying for us and he has a fantastic work rate.

If I had to lose one of our NIQ's, after Danielli, then it would be Pedre as the other 3 are just so important for us.

Does this mean you know who is on his way?? Might Terblanche get an extension if Danielli goes?

We won't need any outside backs rodders. In dream world our NIQs would

Afoa
Muller
Pienaar
Kaino
Payne.

Obviously in more realistic terms replace Kaino with another backrow but that's the way it will be.

Standulstermen wrote:We won't need any outside backs rodders. In dream world our NIQs would

Afoa
Muller
Pienaar
Kaino
Payne.

I have to say stand I like the look of that!

Just reading online that apparently Toby flood is now an injury doubt for the game in a weeks time.

Yeah both Flood and Tuilagi are out I think.

Thats Flood, Tuilagi and Deacon all out for Ravenhill next week

So its 12trees or Staunton at 10 ....................

Sorry meant to attach this link

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/story-14344437-detail/story.html

Standulstermen wrote:

Afoa
Muller
Pienaar
Kaino
Payne

Hearing that the managment do want Pienaer to re sign. Seems to me the new rules are the reason for the delay.
How long can we re sign him for and where do we stand if we want him to play at 10 ?

The list above is the the wish list of the management as well.

Heard rumour of Wannenberg possibly going elsewhere - didn't know it was Paris though.
I might find out more this afternoon

Should we make a move for Staunton or Steenson in the summer, as it's clear that we need more at 10, Humph's form can be hot or cold, and Jackson is still a bit young to be getting the 10 spot regularly, management don't really want to be starting Pienaar at 10 as he agreed to come over as a 9, and I don't see Wallace at 10 again, think it was only because the IRFU requested it we have seen him there in last few years.

Someone for a season or two that can challenge Humph, while Jackson learns his trade would be of benefit.

I wouldn't bother - neither are that good.

We need to develop McKinney and Jackson.
If Pienaer re signs he is our 10 cover for the HC matches and then play the 2 kids in the Pro12 games. We have Wallace as well.

To get mediocre players like that in and reduce the game time of 2 highly promising youngsters would be a retrograde step imv

Kingshu wrote:Should we make a move for Staunton or Steenson in the summer

What the flip would we want them for?! Those guys aren't fit to lace IHumphs boots. I'd rather have Niall O'Connor back.

Was it McKinney who played against Leinster? If so he seriously looks the part.

Not sure that Jackson looks like a genuine fly half from what I've seen, he looks more of a 15 or 12 with that pace and eye for a gap and doesn't seem to have the control to play 10. Maybe I'm wrong on that though.

I was quite impressed with McKinney against Leinster.

When he played for the U20s, he seemed a bit shackled by a conservative gameplan - I remember against Argentina, they opend up and played a loose game and he was great. Then they were obviously told at half-time to play a more structured game and Argentina came back.

Nice to see Faloon gets the bench spot this week after his performance last week. Hope he comes on with plenty of time to make an impact. I can see the dilema that the management have in re-signiging Pienaar, as stated he came to play 9 and 10 if an emergency came up. Looks like Humph snr will be on the look out for a 10 sorry an IQ 10 that will be able to keep performing week in week out. Don't get me wrong Humph jnr is great when on form and has a v good turn of pace for a 10, but when he is off you might as well have May McFettridge playing 10. I agree with rodders Jackson has got good pace and always looks for the gaps, therefore might a move to 15 be better suited for him.

I wonder what about Godman's performance Bradley liked so much in the Glasgow match?

At least with Paterson and Laidlaw starting he won't be allowed anywhere near the kicking tee.

Ulster should win this at a canter. Bradley seems to be solely focused on the HC.

fES, oddly I read somewhere else yesterday, I think maybe in the Herald, that goodG had put in a "great performance" against Glasgow in the second leg of teh 1872 match - my conclusion is that there was a second match played between U12 teams from the two cities, each allowed to field one pro - it is the only rational explanation. In the senior game, he was simply gash.

Ulster might even end up in TBP territory against this lot

What ever happen to the IQ New Zealand guy who playes for Ballynahinch? Ryan Bambry.
He was talked about as maybe stepping up a level, has he dropped of the radar now! or getting Ravens time?