Ulster Pre-Season

First topic message reminder :

Because we need a new thread to succeed the Ulster Signings one.

There was more encouragement for Ulster last weekend as they held a near full-strength Leicester Tigers to a draw in a sun-drenched Ravenhill. The team was considerably more callow than their opponents but they acquited themselves admirably; with the majority of Ulsters Irish internationals not expected to be involved until the third round of the Pro12, Mark Anscombe is happy to give the same group of players a run again in the final pre-season game against Newcastle. The only changes to the team that started against Leicester are the additions of Mike McComish at openside, Craig Gilroy on the wing, Paddy Jackson at outhalf and Rob Herring at hooker.

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/10710.php

Ulster (15-9):J Payne, M Allen, C Farrell, L Marshall, C Gilroy, P Jackson, M Heaney (1-8): C Black, R Herring, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (c), L Stevenson, R Diack, M McComish, N Williams;
Replacements: N Annett, N Brady, R Lutton, J Afoa, A Macklin, N McComb, A Birch, S Doyle, B McIlroy, N O’Connor, P Nelson, C Cochrane

Match report from Bayonne;

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/rugby/10692.php

Match report from Leicester;

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/rugby/10701.php

clivemcl wrote:Notch, who is yer man?? Did Geoff go over to the dark side you think???

No.

Notch, update the OP with the team info for tomorrow

Thanks

Done.

Looking ahead to next week, Newcastle Falcons got a good win over Edinburgh;

http://www.edinburghrugby.org/news/edinburgh-news/4353-newcastle-21-3-edinburgh

They should be a good test for us.

Chatted with GeordieFalcon last night and he was saying they are looking good. It will be good to see them next week.
Looking forward to later.

They still have a number of good players in there. They'll be nobodies fools.

Anyone prepared to do updates? Will be in work.

<sigh>

Keep an eye on Ulsters twitter account Don. I don't have one of these new-fangled smartphone devices so I am of no use to you!

I would Don but my phone decided long ago that it gets no reception or internet connection at Ravenhill sorry mate

Well, we acquitted ourselves very well against a more or less full-strength Tigers team.

Stand-outs for me; Nick Williams, Luke Marshall (boh replaced at half-time), Michael Heaney (could take P. Marshalls spot) and Jared Payne.

Think the team for Glasgow is starting to take shape. Sean Doyle looks better than Ali Birch, Paddy Jackson better than Niall O'Connor and Cochranes finishing ability puts him in pole position to take that wing spot ahead of Mike Allen.

Agree with Notch, that was good experience for the lads and some guys took their chance.

Notch, agree on Cochrane, but Nelson came on to the wing initially before Payne went off, might that be something worth looking at? Though Nelson looked dangerous. Almost away at the end.

I think he struggled to know how to involve himself from the wing. The game totally passed him by until the last 10 minutes- he looked tentative. Of course we were defending for long periods of time, and the whole team was struggling for cohesion. Once Payne came off he moved to fullback and started running some brilliant lines.

I think he should see some good gametime from 15 this year.

Next week I would like to see;

1. Black
2. Brady
3. Afoa
4. Muller (c)
5. Stevenson
6. Diack
7. Doyle
8. Williams

9. Heaney
10. Jackson
11. Gilroy
12. Marshall
13. Payne
14. Cochrane
15. Nelson

Just feel having Payne involved more in the centres will help an inexperienced backline and Nelson is good enough to get a start. Farrell did well, but Payne will bring considerably more nous to that position. That would be what I'd like to see against Glasgow as things stand.

Does anyone know why Gilroy was pulled out of the team for today?

http://thescore.thejournal.ie/stephen-ferris-bloody-good-ulster-need-to-play-with-a-bit-more-swagger-558085-Aug2012/?utm_source=shortlink

Yea Notch, I was also mighty impressed with Heaney. Was he found after Porter decided to leave, or was he scouted previously and thought to be better than porter?

I'd agree with that team v Newcastle. I didnt have a match programme today and so couldnt actually tell who was who.

The whole game, I couldnt figure out who the other winger was. Was allen the one in the scrum cap or not?

I think payne in centre might give a bit more cohesion with the youngsters around him. Might be good for Luke Marshall too.

Must admit, after subs came on i struggled to follow who was who. Who was the hooker who came on? Herring?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/19308408?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

He was signed on a short term deal after Marshall got injured. Was initially let go! He should be kept on.

How on earth did we let Heaney and Porter go? McIlroy hasn't got the passing ability of either.

I thought Heaney was our best player. His passing was excellent. 1st half Allen looked dangerous and I would like to see more of him. Doyle was very aggressive and looks a find. Again I will look forward to seeing more of him. Farrell showed some good moments but was also responsible for some very basic errors. Our scrum was so dominant though and I can see us winning a lot of games on the back of it this season. Front row dominance against one of the toughest in the AP. Calum Black is a more than capable deputy for Court and Nigel Brady gets better with age. With Afoa and Fitzpatrick as our tight heads we will be the envy of most Rabo teams this season.

The praise surrounding Heaney is promising. I have never really heard of him, is he a potential replacement for Pienaar in the future? What age is he?

So long as Black doesn't get injured, then we would lack depth.

Before McAllister got injured we had great depth at loosehead- now we don't. But Black I thought last season was too good to be third choice and never got a fair crack. He's a good scrummager but without regular gametime he stagnated.

Fair to say that Ulster has best scrum in Europe?

Certainly up there, would wait until Rabo/HC to shout it from the rooftops but I think they have the potential at least to be that good.

red_stag wrote:Fair to say that Ulster has best scrum in Europe?

Yep, Ospreys and Clermont probably the closest contenders. I've been saying this for ages.

red_stag wrote:Fair to say that Ulster has best scrum in Europe?

Hmmm, not yet! Last competitive hit-out we got bested in that area by Leinster. Now they just specifically got it right on the day and we scrummaged a lot worse than we had done in previous matches but still...

Muller has been good for us in the engine room and now it seems Diack has pulled his finger out and Nick Williams is here to lend his considerable weight to things we have a lot of guys who can add the power in the back five, our front row is well supported. I'm pretty confident that when we have a matchday 23 with Court, Black, Best, Brady, Afoa and Fitzpatrick we can stand up to pretty much anyone, we can be right up there with the best but we still have a few points to prove.

Artful_Dodger wrote:Yep, Ospreys and Clermont probably the closest contenders. I've been saying this for ages.

Ospreys are going to desperately miss Paul James in the scrum. Top quality prop.

More noises in the press from Lewis Stevenson and Chris Farrell talking about how it is a "clean slate" this season at Ulster. Noises are just noises, but these seem to be the right ones to me.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/chris-farrell-seizes-big-chance-to-impress-16200578.html

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/sport/rugby/stevenson-pleased-with-ulster-progress-1-4186400

Yep, Ospreys and Clermont probably the closest contenders. I've been saying this for ages.

I'd say Ulster were better than both personally. Tigers shoved the Clermont all over France in the away leg, how Clermont kept all their props on the field I don't know and they were decidely on top at WR. The Ospreys scrum failed magnificently against Sarries who have a pretty dodgey scrum at the best of times in the HEC.

Don Alfonso wrote:More noises in the press from Lewis Stevenson and Chris Farrell talking about how it is a "clean slate" this season at Ulster. Noises are just noises, but these seem to be the right ones to me.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/chris-farrell-seizes-big-chance-to-impress-16200578.html

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/sport/rugby/stevenson-pleased-with-ulster-progress-1-4186400

It's very encouraging and I think that Anscombe will allow form to dictate his selections to a much greater extent. But now everyone is buzzing and believes they have every chance of starting but inevitably some players will go on to not get as much gametime as they want. Thats inevitable. And it's whether we can keep this momentum and attitude throughout the squad going when that happens is the question.

Anscombe certainly comes across as a very confident and assured guy. His priorities are in the right place.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/rabodirect-pro12/rabodirect-pro12-it-begins-again-16201082.html

We should get some idea of Friday nights team later today. I'm sure we will see one or two more senior players in action this week, injuries permitting.

It's the same group of players as last week, just more rotation. McComish in at 7, Jackson at 10, Gilroy back after he missed out on last week. Herring in for Brady. Beginning to get a sense of what the team for Glasgow and Ospreys will look like. Paul Marshall was hoping to be fit enough to feature on the bench in pre-season but he hasn't.

Ulster (15-9):J Payne, M Allen, C Farrell, L Marshall, C Gilroy, P Jackson, M Heaney (1-8): C Black, R Herring, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (c), L Stevenson, R Diack, M McComish, N Williams;

Replacements: N Annett, N Brady, R Lutton, J Afoa, A Macklin, N McComb, A Birch, S Doyle, B McIlroy, N O’Connor, P Nelson, C Cochrane

I think Anscombe is starting to like this centre partnership of Marshall and Farrell. Nevin Spence really couldn't be injured at a worse time for him personally, it would have been a big chance to stake his claim with Wallace and Cave missing.

That would suggest that the team for the opener against Glasgow will come from that group of players.

Do we have any update on the injured (non-International) players?

I liked what I saw of the Marshall Farrell partnership and I am glad he is giving them another go. I don't think drafting Payne into the 13 jersey is the way to go. (Someone mentioned that after last weekend) I would have liked to have seen Doyle starting at 7. Of Doyle, McComish and Birch I would have McComish third.

Yeah, me too. Maybe McComish will surprise us. I expect he will get 40 minutes anyway.

Not really. I assume they are either still injured or Anscombe wants them to earn their jersey back the hard way. After all, this group of players has done fairly well.

Paul Marshall, Nevin Spence, Adam D'Arcy, Roger Wilson and Paddy Wallace are the guys who are injured right now, as far as I know. And McAllister, of course, but he won't be back for a relatively long time.

Notch, I don't like to look too far ahead, but if these guys do get a good start in the first two games then it will be interesting to see the team against Munster if the injured are fit.

Indeed!

I like how Anscombe has the established guys sweating bullets right now. Can only be good for us. Last season it was very much the case that we needed the cavalry to come save our second string. Now we seem to have a different mindset.

It's still way too early to be too happy, it's just an encouraging start. A bad start to the competitive games would turn it on its head.

Robbie Diack played very well last weekend, looks to have refound his mojo big time.

Payne was pretty poor though and on a number of occaisions failed to release Nelson on the overlap, instead drifting towards the touchline before forcing silly offloads. He looks to have lost a bit of pace too unfortunately. He needs gametime and hopefully the sharpness will return because he looked nothing like the player we signed last year.

I really would love to see that Marshall-Farrell partnership, there is a nice balance about it. Maybe lacking raw pace though. As Notch said, Spence could not be injured at a worse time. This would have been his chance to claim the shirt. Any idea how long he is out?

I am really optimistic about this season honestly.

Yeah me too Rory.

Wouldn't worry about Spence though. Injuries happen and he will get his chance at some stage, he just has to take it when he does. You need a big squad to compete for trophies these days.

I thought Anscombe's comments in the linked article were significant, warning again against complacency. Not as a team, but as players scrapping for jerseys.

For those interested in a bit of extrapolation about who the runners and riders are, the teams have been:


Vs. Bayonne
(15-9): P Nelson; C Gilroy, J Payne, C Farrell, C Cochrane; P Jackson, B McIlroy;
(1-8): C Black, N Annett, A Macklin, J Muller (c), N McComb, M McComish, S Doyle, R Diack;

Replacements: R Herring, R Lutton, J Afoa, L Stevenson, A Birch, M Heaney, N O’Connor, L Marshall, M Allen, R Andrew


Vs. Leicester
Ulster (15-9): J Payne; C Gilroy, C Farrell, L Marshall; M Allen, N O'Connor, M Heaney (1-8): C Black, N Brady, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (c), L Stevenson, R Diack, A Birch, N Williams;

Replacements: R Lutton, R Herring, N Annett, J Afoa, A Macklin, N McComb, M McComish, S Doyle, B McIlroy, P Jackson, C Cochrane, S Olding, R Andrews, P Nelson


Vs. Glasgow
Ulster (15-9):J Payne, M Allen, C Farrell, L Marshall, C Gilroy, P Jackson, M Heaney (1-8): C Black, R Herring, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (c), L Stevenson, R Diack, M McComish, N Williams;

Replacements: N Annett, N Brady, R Lutton, J Afoa, A Macklin, N McComb, A Birch, S Doyle, B McIlroy, N O’Connor, P Nelson, C Cochrane.


Everyone really has gotten a fair shake of the stick.

Each of our hookers has gotten a start. Macklin and Fitzpatrick have gotten starts (I assume Afoa is a known quantity for Anscombe). Payne and Nelson have both started. Stevenson and McComb. Diack has started at blindside and number eight – McComish openside and blindside. Farrell at inside and outside centre.

So Farrell has started every game. Anscombe must be impressed.

is it not Newcastle this weekend?

Yep, Newcastle. They got a good win against Edinburgh last week and will be no soft touches.

I think more players will play longer this week. Hopefully a good game and an Ulster win

Yeah heard they did well last week, you headed to the game Notch? did you hear Thin Lizzy were at the game last week lol

Anyone make to down to that sports shop opposite City Hall yesterday (Moores)? Afoa, Bowe and Ferris where supposed to be there.

rodders wrote:Anyone make to down to that sports shop opposite City Hall yesterday (Moores)? Afoa, Bowe and Ferris where supposed to be there.

I think that is today Rodders. Might nip round. I'm only two minutes away.

Ah ok, thought it was yesterday...was round there yesterday too but was earlier in the day.

Sorry lads, it was yesterday.

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/10703.php

Ah right Notch. That's sorted then.

Thought so Notch, was going to hang around for it but met Tommy at the weekend so didn't want to seem like a stalker....