Rabo Pro 12 (Round 6) - Ulster vs Connacht: 19:05 Fri, 5th October @ Ravenhill

First topic message reminder :

So - the two powerhouse provinces go to war. I expect a niggly, ferocious scrap before Saturday’s somewhat less exciting digestif, when Munster and Leinster will determine who’s the third best province in Ireland.

Really looking forward to it, although Dan Park rising from the Western mist has caused a bit of consternation. Connacht looked quite a different unit last weekend.

Assuming an ongoing injury list of Birch, Diack, Fitzpatrick, Wilson, Allen (and obviously McAllister and Farrell), and with the HEC on the horizon, I’d go for:

1) Court
2) Brady
3) Afoa
4) Muller
5) Tuohy
6) Ferris
7) Henry
8) Williams
9) Marshall
10) Jackson
11) Trimble
12) Wallace
13) Cave
14) Bowe
15) Payne

And a bench of:

16) Black
17) Best
18) Macklin
19) Stevenson
20) McComish
21) Heaney
22) Marshall
23) Gilroy

Harsh on McComb and Henderson, given their performances, but there’s only 23 spaces.

McComish’s knowledge and experience of the Connacht players pushes him onto the bench ahead of Henderson. On the other hand, if 1F is still out, I’d actually start Henderson, I think.

At the start of this season I was frustrated we’d lost Barker and kept McComb – completely wrong on that one. He’s shown dog, good defensive skills and some great passing and off-loading. I’d be happy to see him play – but Stevenson has been seriously impressive so far, and Tuohy came right back with a massive bang last week (I especially enjoyed Ryan Constable referring to him “emptying” people).

Best to come off the bench and get at least half an hour. Not 100% sure which of Gilroy or Trimble would start – I do think Trimble’s defence is better, and Connacht have some impressive young backs. Gilroy dancing past tired defenders was a highlight last week – can we just replicate that?

Anscombe will probably start some weird team that still works well, however.

They set down again. It collapses. Reset. Jeez this is messy.

Ulster need to come away with something here. They put the shove on. And Clancy runs to the middle of the posts. Penalty try.

10-0 as Jackson converts it. 35 minutes gone. Connacht need to make it to the dressing room without incurring any more to get their 15th man back.

God, talk about a stupid penalty to concede.

Connacht win a penalty 40 yards out. Parks is going to have a go.

And he misses. Sloppy and rushed.

Payne and Bowe not clicking either as Bowe overruns a Payne attacking pass.


Ulster attack again. Williams playing a stormer. This looks ominous for Connacht. Best surges forward. Tackled and ref blows up. Touchie calling for something.

Green 4 caught using his knee without connecting. Clancy calls him over. Warns him and awards a penalty. Shouts of Off from the crowd. Lovely.

I would be awfully pis**d off about that if I was a Connacht fan, really need to see what happened again, but I think that is very harsh. And there were definitely a few things in the phases leading up to that try that went in our favour, another ref might have penalised us.

Ulster attack again through the forwards. Ball comes to Bowe but he can't make it. Another breakdown. Nick Williams takes and backed by Muller gets over the line. Good score. If inevitable.

Jackson lines the kick up and it's over.

17-0. Not looking good for Connacht at halftime whistle.

George Hook spouting off as usual,listening to the man is a chore.

asoreleftshoulder wrote:George Hook spouting off as usual,listening to the man is a chore.

I've said it before, but that man is a stain on the human race. Any replay shown of the last penalty against Swift, what happened exactly?

Ulster and Scarlets keeping up their winning ways.

Ospreys climbing back up with a solid away win over Zebre. The new Italian are looking like a sure fire 10 pointer in the Heineken Cup.

McVisser gets one in for Edinburgh after losing a man to go 10-7in front of Treviso.

And we're back on in Ravenhill.

Ulster backline are hesitant. Their forwards keep making the hard yards.

Williams is a monster with ball in hand.

Jackson goes to dink a ball for his backline to follow and promptly puts it out for a 22.

Back the ball comes from Connacht and the ulster backs attack again. Breakdown penalty and Marshall taps and goes. Passes to Best. Out it comes and Wilpliams gets it and storms forward. Nearly on the line. Williams has another go.

Marshall fires it out the backline, and Connacht repel Muller on the line. Held up. Scrum. Oh dear.

And the inevitable happens.

It's a reset. Ball comes out steady for Marshall. But Clancy blows for a penalty to Connacht.

Parks kicks clear.

Does hensaw realise where he is! He looks a cracking player!

I tell you what Connacht have some real prospects in the outside backs,in a few years Ireland could be fielding a full strength team with players from all 4 provinces.

Connacht back to 15 as Gannon comes back on.

Throw in and Connacht pull a sneaky to the front of the lineout. Ulster caught napping as ball goes out backline and they attack. Henshaw makes a great break, but tackle comes in on the pass and it goes forward.

Ulster win scrum easily and Wallace booms the ball downfield with a lovely spiral kick near the 22.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Does hensaw realise where he is! He looks a cracking player!

Still only 19, would be great if he could move to 12, a partnership with Griffin would be great for Connacht, and Ireland.
Marshall got away with pulling the jersey there.

Ulster on the attack but their backline passing lets them down again - passes thrown behind the player and a knock on. Scrum to Connacht on their 22.

Connacht win the scrum!

Connacht on the attack but are tackled. Marshall breaks but his pass causes a knock on. 52 minutes gone.

You have to feel sorry for Connacht, they get absolutely nothing from the refs, and with their lack of quality, they really need anything they can get. Instead they tend to get screwed over more often than not.

I'll be raging if we don't get the 5 points.

Barbieri goes over in Murrayfield to put Treviso ahead 17-10 at half time after getting an earlier penalty. Treviso getting better this season - especially away from home.

Buckley is a fantastic prospect.

Best skews a throw in on an attacking lineout and Connacht get a scrum. It's a wonder they didn't take the lineout option.

Pot Hale wrote:Barbieri goes over in Murrayfield to put Treviso ahead 17-10 at half time after getting an earlier penalty. Treviso getting better this season - especially away from home.

Treviso have been quite good for the last few seasons. They were always going to improve much quicker than Aironi/Zebre, as they were an established club, so it was much easier to get their act together once they got into the Rabo.

And Connacht survive and win another penalty to clear their lines.

FFS, we have them under pressure and then give them a f**king lifeline.

Connacht's 4th choice scrumhalf on, tells you all you need to know about their injuries.

valjester wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Does hensaw realise where he is! He looks a cracking player!

Still only 19, would be great if he could move to 12, a partnership with Griffin would be great for Connacht, and Ireland.
Marshall got away with pulling the jersey there.

Why would you want to drop mcsharry? He is also a great prospect. He is having a good game here and played great last week.

Williams makes yet another burst through and gains yards. Candidate for man of the match with his try and general play?

Rory Best heads off field.

And Bowe botches another backline move. Passes going anywhere but into players hands.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

valjester wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Does hensaw realise where he is! He looks a cracking player!

Still only 19, would be great if he could move to 12, a partnership with Griffin would be great for Connacht, and Ireland.
Marshall got away with pulling the jersey there.

Why would you want to drop mcsharry? He is also a great prospect. He is having a good game here and played great last week.

Because he's not actually that good, especially compared to Griffin and Henshaw who are at another level. Connacht will hopefully be able to put out a combination of Layden, TOH, Griffin, Henshaw, AN Other, as the outside backs which would be great for them, to have 4 out of the 5 being homegrown.

Penalty to Ulster in front of the posts. Should be meat and drink for Jackson. And it is.

20-0 to Ulster. 61 minutes.

Connacht backs look sharper on the eye than their northern counterparts.

Henson is a lovely runner.

Pot Hale wrote:Connacht backs look sharper on the eye than their northern counterparts.

Henson is a lovely runner.

Henshaw. He is not related to that mess.

Di Bernardo put another kick over to make it 20-10 to Treviso in Edinburgh with half an hour to go.

valjester wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

valjester wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Does hensaw realise where he is! He looks a cracking player!

Still only 19, would be great if he could move to 12, a partnership with Griffin would be great for Connacht, and Ireland.
Marshall got away with pulling the jersey there.

Why would you want to drop mcsharry? He is also a great prospect. He is having a good game here and played great last week.

Because he's not actually that good, especially compared to Griffin and Henshaw who are at another level. Connacht will hopefully be able to put out a combination of Layden, TOH, Griffin, Henshaw, AN Other, as the outside backs which would be great for them, to have 4 out of the 5 being homegrown.

I disagree, he looks a great prospect imo. What is the deal with layden, is he still injured?

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

valjester wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

valjester wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Does hensaw realise where he is! He looks a cracking player!

Still only 19, would be great if he could move to 12, a partnership with Griffin would be great for Connacht, and Ireland.
Marshall got away with pulling the jersey there.

Why would you want to drop mcsharry? He is also a great prospect. He is having a good game here and played great last week.

Because he's not actually that good, especially compared to Griffin and Henshaw who are at another level. Connacht will hopefully be able to put out a combination of Layden, TOH, Griffin, Henshaw, AN Other, as the outside backs which would be great for them, to have 4 out of the 5 being homegrown.

I disagree, he looks a great prospect imo. What is the deal with layden, is he still injured?

Great is overdoing it, he is a decent prospect but Connacht actually have some decent talent coming through, and I think he will be overtaken soon. Layden broke his hand, which is a pity as he would be starting instead of Henshaw, but good for Henshaw. Layden needs to stop being injury prone because he is a fantastic runner.


The BBC scrum downplaying how well the Connacht scrum has been in this half, they will be grand against most teams if they can put out Buckley and White.

Dragons claw it back to 13 points against Scarlets 16 in a scrap at Scarlets Park.

But Scarlets get another penalty to make it 19-13 with ten minutes to go as Dragons lose a man to the bin.

With the amount of possession we have had, we really should have had a BP. Connacht have been excellent defensively though.

Connacht win a penalty and kick for touch. Wil they get a score and break their duck?

Val, ive been reading the connacht boards on boards.ie and they are all saying how good buckley is. They rate him VERY high. Its exciting times for connacht, all they need is a couple of seasons for these youngsters to develop .

No they don't. Lots of attacking but Ulster repel them all. Williams down injured.

Connacht replacement scrumhalf is shockingly bad. Connacht in big trouble in that position, well if Marmion is injured, he's actually been quite impressive.

And a try to Scarlets to make it a relatively safe 24-13 with ten minutes to go.

And Treviso add another try through Barbieri and Edinburgh respond through Lee Jones going over. 27-10 to Treviso on the hour mark. Good match.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Val, ive been reading the connacht boards on boards.ie and they are all saying how good buckley is. They rate him VERY high. Its exciting times for connacht, all they need is a couple of seasons for these youngsters to develop .

I find that the home of the braindead, but they are right about Buckley, and Connacht in general do have a lot of fantastic prospects, the appointment of Elwood's successor is going to be crucial for the provinces development.

Ulster finally fluke a try through the backs. Crossfield kick by Wallace to Bowe who is tackled and passes to Marshall and he goes over.

25-0 to Ulster. What a setback for Connacht after last week. Ulster march on.

red_stag wrote:I suspect Ulster will win VERY comfortably.

I think that away in Ravenhill, trying to put in back to back performances, Ulster coasting along with a near full strenght team.

30 point margin.

End of match. Williams named MOTM.

Underwhelming by Ulster. They won't have it as easy next week.

red_stag wrote:

red_stag wrote:I suspect Ulster will win VERY comfortably.

I think that away in Ravenhill, trying to put in back to back performances, Ulster coasting along with a near full strenght team.

30 point margin.

Since when has 25=30?


Seriously, that was a poor performance from us, and we really should have had a bonus point.

red_stag wrote:

red_stag wrote:I suspect Ulster will win VERY comfortably.

I think that away in Ravenhill, trying to put in back to back performances, Ulster coasting along with a near full strenght team.

30 point margin.

It was a 25 point margin.