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Thread: Ulster updates

  1. #16
    Rookie fermain's Avatar
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    Ulster team for Bourgoin announced

    Acting Head Coach Steve Williams has named his team to take on Bourgoin at Stade Pierre Rajon on Friday.

    The side sees several changes from the team that lost to Gloucester last Friday night.

    Paul Steinmtez is named at inside centre, Simon Danielli replaces Mark McCrea on the left wing. Mark Bartholomeusz replaces Bryn Cunningham at full back, and Matt McCullough returns to partner former Bourgoin player Carlo Del Fava. Kieron Dawson also returns to the startling line up.

    Ulster: (15-9) M Bartholomeusz; T Bowe, A Trimble, P Steinmetz, S Danielli; P Wallace, I Boss; (1-8) J Fitzpatrick, R Best (Capt), B Young, M McCullough, C Del Fava, N Best, K Dawson, R Wilson

    Replacements: (16-22) N Brady, D Fitzpatrick, R Caldwell, D Pollock, K Campbell, N O’Connor, R Dewey

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  2. #17
    Veteran Contributor frontrow's Avatar
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    Good luck fellas, dig deep...

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    Proudly bought to you by a brewery somewhere....

  3. #18
    Rookie fermain's Avatar
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    Match updates....

    half time so far

    Bourgoin 9 Ulster 17

    http://www.uafc.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6591

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    Last edited by fermain; 17-11-07 at 04:51.

  4. #19
    Veteran Contributor frontrow's Avatar
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    How did it end??? Score update Fermain...

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    Proudly bought to you by a brewery somewhere....

  5. #20
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    I'm going to go for him being offline as a good thing Fontrow, he must be off to the local to celebrate haha!!!

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  6. #21
    Rookie fermain's Avatar
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    Grrrrrr, not so good lads... off to the local, wishful thinking;

    we ended up losing 24 points to 17.

    Much better from Ulster than last week, parts of the first half were as good as anything seen from Ulster since the Toulouse home game last season, but they just couldn't maintain it. A few issues need to be resolved around the contact area and the lineout still needs to be tidied up. The backs looked more inventive with Steinmetz, Danielli, Bowe, N.Best, Wilson and McCullough were all excellent tonight.

    Ulster tried, and played for the shirt, Bourgoin played the better 2nd half, and demolished Ulsters scrum, they ran the ball and attacked the line with pace. Their scores could have been stopped, but the Ulster lads tried and couldn't do it. A great effort, but ultimately they lost... Roll on 2008

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  7. #22
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    Man, you guys are having a rough trot!!!
    Any recruiting prospects fermain?

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  8. #23
    Rookie fermain's Avatar
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    well, currently we have 17, yes 17 players going out of contract at the end of the season... Neil Best (our best loved forward) is off to France, our current crop either need to be kept on or replacements found. We are desperate for a good front rower, .... anyone??????
    The IRFU's approach is that we can't have anymore than 4/5 foriegn players, and the current academy in Ulster isn't producing the quality needed. In saying that, we have had some good youngsters through, including Niall O Connor, Paul Marshall, Paul McKenzie, and David Pollock, all ones to watch out for. Unfortunately the likes of Marshall, although showing promise, is behind Issac Boss, and then Keiron Campbell for first team choice.
    We have wasted money on a few duffers over the years, but our current crop if they hung around have the potential to do extremely well, the coaching so far has really been the issue, the motivation of the guys questionable, but last night showed a steely backbone which could be a turnaround for the rest of the season.
    No more Heiny action for 2 weeks, but games against Connaught (away) and Edinburgh (home) should give us a chance to consolidate a couple of wins before the Ospreys in December at Swansea.

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  9. #24
    Rookie fermain's Avatar
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    We won a game
    and made it off the bottom of the table to the detriment to our irish cousins Connacht. A slow start for Ulster and the game looked like a typical performance for the two teams at the bottom of the table. however, after half-time, Ulster came out rejuvenated, and took the game all the way to galway. A final score of 13-30 looks better than it was, but the team can take heart, and it's as good a way as any to prove that they can indeed play the winning way.

    match report

    But that was a week ago, and then this weekend, we were all looking forward to a consolidating performance against edinburh, to show that we really are on the mend, and on our way back up the table....

    Unfortunately Edinburgh had other ideas and didn't lay down and die like we wanted them to...

    match report

    So once again, we're at the bottom of the table, where we deserve to be following that performance.

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  10. #25
    Rookie fermain's Avatar
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    Ulster rugby is crumbling before our very eyes....

    Despite a very vocal and fervent, great unwashed traveling support, Ulster lost their latest Heineken Cup game to Ospreys, going down SEVEN tries to two. A very poor performance, considering only 14 months ago, it was us handing out the thumping and topping the Magners league table; we are now languishing at the bottom!!!

    Match Report

    so, next match is the return fixture at Ravenhill. It was once seen as the ost feared cauldron for away teams, with Ulster having never lost over 40 European games... nowadays, away teams are almost assured of a victory. The fall is long and hard.

    Others may disagree, but I'll still be watching. Ulster til-I-die!

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  11. #26
    Champion Contributor jazza93's Avatar
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    great updates thanks again.

    what do you think is wrong? are they just going through a bad time?

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  12. #27
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    Ouch

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  13. #28
    Rookie fermain's Avatar
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    yes a very bad time. Their players - while individually very skilled, and recognised as excellent in their own right... well some of them anyway, are not playing well as a team. Their leadership is missing. Humphries, a world class captain and reader of the game is playing very little these days. His replacement Paddy Wallace is just not up to the mark. His running with the ball in hand is excellent, but he kicks possession away too much, he misses touch, and he tackles like a new schoolboy player. The basics are letting the side down. Tackling by most if the team is awry. The best two players we have are currently Tommy Bowe on the wing, and Ireland prodigy Andrew Trimble, but neither have the support they need to gain inroads. The forwards are getting pasted, Harrison just makes up the numbers, and all too often mouths off, is caught offside, and pinged around the rucks. Our need for a real top-quality coach is paramount, and the longer we take to get one, the worse it will be, let alone the time needed for whoever to take the reins.

    To be the 4th province in Ireland is humiliating, and killing the supporters who turn out week in week out to shout. We need more from the team, and it's just not happening.

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  14. #29
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    The Rematch

    This week in the return leg, round 4 of the Heniken Cup, Ulster played their hearts out, but were beaten by one man... the bloody ref. Despite a huge performance from the guys ( 5 changes overall from last weeks defeat) Ulster had 2 men sin-binned in the 2nd half, and played 20 mins with 14 men.

    The Ospreys knew what to expect and played to their strengths, but Ulster had a new grit and determination about them. Both Neil Best, and Captain Rory Best (no relation had this to say before the game,

    Rory best:
    "As Ulster Rugby Captain I would like to thank each and every one of you for all your support so far this season and over the last number of years. The crowds coming to watch us prove our supporters are amongst the best in Europe.

    The support the Ulster fans give to the team means a lot to us and we draw strength from it, it spurs us on and encourages us to remember what we are playing for when times are tough on the pitch.

    In the last week I committed the next two years of my life to Ulster Rugby and I sincerely want those two years to be successful for all the players and supporters.

    We know it hasn't been the best few months and things are not going the way we had planned or wanted but as a squad of players we firmly believe we have the talent and dedication to turn this season around, we hope that you the true fans of Ulster will stick by us and support us over the Christmas period and months ahead."
    seen as a bit of spin produced by the club to appease the fans, his colleague Neil was more to the point:

    "I think our defence has been so poor and we've got to get that right. A couple of years ago our defence was the best in the league but now it seems to have dropped away and it's disappointing.

    "We need to be physical with these guys."

    "We need to stop them getting good quick ball which limits their options for attack and if you stop the first one, the next one is slower and maybe you can win the ball back," stated Best.

    With only two wins from 11 games, bottom of the Magners League and out of Europe, it's not surprising morale is low in the Ulster camp and they are desperate for a victory to lift the mood before derbies with Leinster and Munster over the festive period.

    "If I was to say it's not having an effect on me I'd be lying as it clearly is, I don't like it when the team does badly," added Best.

    "I'm a professional and everybody here is a professional, rugby is a massive part of your life and when it starts going badly your life breaks down around it and it's disappointing because we are in control of that and need to sort of ourselves out.

    "It's not as if we haven't been working as hard or trying as hard. Things are just aren't going well in defence where we're missing tackles and falling off people which is giving them front foot ball. It's things like that we need to get right.

    "There are times after the game and during the week when I find it difficult to sleep thinking about what's gone wrong with the team and how we can get ourselves out of it. Everybody feels like that.

    People really don't appreciate how hard it hits us and think we don't care, I feel bad for Rory as captain he bares a lot of the responsibility and he have got to just play for each other and try to win this game," continued the Irish flanker.

    Ulster have lost their last two home games again Gloucester and Edinburgh, the fans have been quite vocal in their criticism of the team and Best can fully understand the frustration and wants to put on a show for the Ravenhill faithful against the Ospreys.

    "The competition is over for us but that's not saying this game isn't important, we need to get a win and then get a win against Leinster to start building some momentum especially as we have been performing badly at home.

    It's sickening to let ourselves and the fans down. We've got good supporters and I don't like looking over and seeing them leave with 10 to 15 minutes to go. We don't want that to happen."

    "We'll be judged by our actions tomorrow night and I just hope the fans get behind us," continued Best.
    The Ulster fans turned out again to show their support, but the atmosphere was a little subdued; the crowd were waiting to see what kind of show they were going to get on this cold evening. A valient effort showed an Ulster side determined to make amends for their poor spell...

    Ulster played like they were supposed to. They took the game to the Ospreys, and showed what it means to play for the shirt. Ulster pressurised until the end, and if it wasn't for some indiscipline, they could have made the killer blow and beaten the Ospreys shoring up the ramparts of fortress Ravenhill.

    The crowd played their part, turning out in numbers (Att: 12,000) and cheering the team on. They could be heard all round the park.

    Ulster captain Rory Best led by example and won the Man of the Match award from an idolising Tyrone Howe. Best getting MOTM was an accolade to be shared by all the forwards who really got stuck in this evening and certainly came off better against a relatively star-studded Ospreys pack. D.Fitz had a tremendous game and Young looked a lot more comfortable at LHP. Harrison played his best game for Ulster in about a season and a half, carried effectively and was aggressive in the tackle; he is very adept at wrapping up attackers close in which allows a support tackler to really drive into them.

    Unfortunately the forwards let Marshall through with a well-rehearsed try at the lineout, as he darted through the gap left when the forwards slpit down the middle to challenge for the ball.

    As for the backs, Keiran Campbell was poor. Daisy-cutters and overhead passes aplenty which no doubt effected Niall O'Conner's distribution thereafter to the outside backs. Individually, the backline played pretty well but as a cohesive unit they were terrible and ultimately lost the game. Danielli, when he gets the ball, is a seriously elusive player who is a joy to watch running at the opposition. Bowe played well apart from his decision to cut inside Marshall iirc with the line at his mercy. Cunningham had another impressive game at the back working hard to illustrate his attacking credentials. Dewey looked good this evening, his carrying always made yards and sucked in a couple of players, if he can get his arms out of the tackle more often it will cause the opposition damage, also impressed with his defensive work (apart from a terrible missed tackle of Walker) think he made 2/3 turnovers.

    The game definitely showed an Ulster side on the mend, and they looked determined to make up for last weeks defeat. Ryan Caldwell got sinbinned for lying over the ball, not rolling away, and Carlo Del Fava for blatantly pulling the hair of Duncan Jones... Matt McCullogh and Justin Harrison also got involved in handbags during the confrontation in the lineouts.

    The Del Fava sin binning was a terrible call and the touch judge made an error influenced largely because Carlo had Jones by the hair. He either didn't see what Jones was doing on Boss or plain ignored it. Caldwell's discipline yet again problematic.

    The final result Ulster 8 Ospreys 16

    At the end Rory Best expressed his feelings about the game;

    "We knew we had to play with more heart and I think in many ways we managed that," said Best.

    "There are a lot of disappointed boys in that dressing room but you cannot fault the effort. We were just missing a bit of precision at times.

    "It has not been a great season for us but we are trying our best."

    I'll post match report details later. Videos as always will appear here

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    Last edited by fermain; 16-12-07 at 00:28.

  15. #30
    Rookie ozhammy's Avatar
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    Hi all,

    Finally made it to Perth from sunny Ulster...I have been ever present at the once fortress Ravenhill for many years...Can't remember a worse start to a season!! Keep up the match reports Fermain lets hope there is a change of fortune ...Although the boxingday result does not bode well!!! Hope to catch the rest of you at the Force games..


    Stand up or the Ulstermen!!

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