When I saw the team list my first thought was that has to be the biggest back row ever seen in an Ulster shirt. I am typing this a few hours before the match begins and have mixed feelings about it.
The focus is on the back row because of its size, but more important in my limited book of rugby knowledge is the back row balance. On the other hand one can see the point of this selection which is to face down the physicality of Biarritz.
I am hopeful that as a tactic, it will work though its hard to see the selection of mini humph in the same physicality stakes. Perhaps the physical pack is a red herring to the Biarritzians and Ulster intend to move the ball about at pace.
This might even suit our highly physical but also mobile pack. It’s all getting a tad too tactical and complicated for my simple rugby brain. To hell with the analytical rugby voodoo, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the ride baby.
I hope Ulster can make a statement of European rugby intent by beating Biarritz in their own backyard. A job harder to do than simply saying it, given B.O’s record there of just two European defeats in I don’t know how many years.
By The Time I Type Again
By the time I type again the match will be over and we will know the truth of Ulster’s ambitions or lack of them depending how this game goes.
In between time there was some good rugby fayre on view for the connoisseur of the oval ball game. Not the least Leinster’s downing of the hyped up Saracens, who despite their South African input failed to do much more than zip back and forth and forth and back across Wembley stadium without ever troubling the scoreboard especially in the last 5 minutes.
This led Stephen Jones of the Sunday Times, whom I noted last week as having lost the rugby plot, to this week declare Leinster as not remotely looking like tournament title contenders. That obliquely sums up Saracens chances then.
Munster meanwhile set about Toulon in Munsterish fashion and duly run up a cricket score. If that sounds a little casual in summing up Munster’s game, it is not meant to be. It’s simply that Munster make these kind of games look like a relatively simple exercise in forward control.
The Ospreys on Friday night unpicked London Irish with James Hook the stand out performer for me. I don’t like LI’s attitude and demeanour and I was pleased to see them bite the dust.
Bath won at Aironi but failed to secure a BP which is a good result from Ulster’s perspective. All it needs is for us to carry out our part of the plan for European domination at 3pm today in Biarritz.
[Edit: Just to make it clear. Bath did in fact pick up a Bonus Point against Aironi. Thanks to RugbyGareth]
Pantomine Villains and Dames of the Weekend
Last week I commented on Rob Kearney’s bolshy attitude on the pitch, which prompted a lookalike to respond on the messageboard along the lines don’t criticise someone you don’t know. Well Mr. Kearney was the epitome of model behaviour yesterday and had a good game to boot, so well done that man.
He was replaced in the bad books by Brendan Venter whose outburst’s when things aren’t going his team’s way are starting to look rather piquish. Brendan is threatening to make his team kick the ball when playing in Europe as a means of bypassing the breakdown.
This rather novel tactic is a result of Leinster giving away 7 penalties in the 2nd half and only being awarded ONE yellow card for their efforts. In Brendan’s humble and unbiased view it should have been 3 yellow cards, (approximately one yellow every 2.35 penalties) and a zillion penalties against them.
Paradoxically Saracens went through 28 phases at the end of the match whilst advancing approximately 10 metres and not gaining a single penalty out of the defending team which when you look at it knocks Venter’s arguments for a billion.
Either that or the referee failed to spot any transgressions by Leinster. Venter of course, spent a bit of last season exploding at GP referees before the lawmakers kindly obliged and allowed his team to stop hoofing the ball, in an echo of his current threat.
Frankly if every team coach lambasted the laws of the game, threatened to play on one leg or wanted the laws remodelled to suit whatever tactic they preferred to play, the post match interviews would turn into one unmitigated gurn, as it did yesterday when Venter vented his spleen.
I Will Survive!
I’ve jumped off the Queen’s bridge 3 times, topped myself twice and kicked the cat into the next door field. I still can’t get all of the misery right.
Ulster lost to Biarritz in a rather cack handed fashion from their point of view and to read the UAFC messageboard it’s the end of this world, the next one and the one after that.
I watched the game in the Pavillion and with Nigel Brady standing next to me, I remarked after 20 minutes, that we needed to turn pressure into points if we were to win this game. Brady agreed before departing for pastures new.
To date we have got away with leaving points on the pitch, whether through poor place kicking or lack of precision in our finishing. Against Biarritz we chose to go for the jugular and failed to land the killer punch in the first half.
Suitably encouraged Biarritz set about Ulster in the 2nd half as though they were exacting revenge for having got out of jail, which in fact they had. We really were handed a lesson in how to finish and whilst disappointed we got nothing from it, I think the following.
Our South African players clearly had great expectations of playing in the Heineken, especially in this glamour fixture. Those expectations, hopes and dreams of glory received a rather rude awakening which will focus minds when they play against Bath in December.
It’s a kick up the backside for the team, some of whom began to believe this unbeaten in Europe bit as being valuable currency. Welcome to the real world fellas and hopefully the feet stay on the ground when they have to.
Where we are going to get the killer instinct from I do not know. Quite simply if we are playing rugby by numbers as the backs seem to be doing then opportunities will continue to go astray as they have been.
We face some tough games over the next few weeks and could end up pointless if we are not careful. Remember this time last year we topped the Magners only to finish way down.
I’d rather see a balanced back row than one which signifies reputation and little else in the way of rugby tactic. We need to come out firing on all cylinders next Friday. Edinburgh aren’t as bad a team as recent narrow defeats suggest.
A statement of bold intent is required this Friday.
C’mon Ulsterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
That Has to be The Biggest Back Row Ever
When I saw the team list my first thought was that has to be the biggest back row ever seen in an Ulster shirt. I am typing this a few hours before the match begins and have mixed feelings about it.
The focus is on the back row because of its size, but more important in my limited book of rugby knowledge is the back row balance. On the other hand one can see the point of this selection which is to face down the physicality of Biarritz.
I am hopeful that as a tactic, it will work though its hard to see the selection of mini humph in the same physicality stakes. Perhaps the physical pack is a red herring to the Biarritzians and Ulster intend to move the ball about at pace.
This might even suit our highly physical but also mobile pack. It’s all getting a tad too tactical and complicated for my simple rugby brain. To hell with the analytical rugby voodoo, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the ride baby.
I hope Ulster can make a statement of European rugby intent by beating Biarritz in their own backyard. A job harder to do than simply saying it, given B.O’s record there of just two European defeats in I don’t know how many years.
By The Time I Type Again
By the time I type again the match will be over and we will know the truth of Ulster’s ambitions or lack of them depending how this game goes.
In between time there was some good rugby fayre on view for the connoisseur of the oval ball game. Not the least Leinster’s downing of the hyped up Saracens, who depsite their South African input failed to do much more than zip back and forth and forth and back across Wembley stadium without ever troubling the scoreboard especially in the last 5 minutes.
This led Stephen Jones of the Sunday Times, whom I noted last week as having lost the rugby plot, to this week declare Leinster as not remotely looking like tournament title contenders. That obliquely sums up Saracens chances then.
Munster meanwhile set about Toulon in Munsterish fashion and duly run up a cricket score. If that sounds a little casual in summing up Munster’s game, it is not meant to be. It’s simply that Munster make these kind of games look like a relatively simple exercise in forward control.
The Ospreys on Friday night unpicked London Irish with James Hook the stand out performer for me. I don’t like LI’s attitude and demeanour and I was pleased to see them bite the dust.
Bath won at Aironi but failed to secure a BP which is a good result from Ulster’s perspective. All it needs is for us to carry out our part of the plan for European domination at 3pm today in Biarritz.
Pantomine Villains and Dames of the Weekend
Last week I commented on Rob Kearney’s bolshy attitude on the pitch, which prompted a lookalike to respond on the messageboard along the lines don’t criticise someone you don’t know. Well Mr. Kearney was the epitome of model behaviour yesterday and had a good game to boot, so well done that man.
He was replaced in the bad books by Brendan Venter whose outburst’s when things aren’t going his team’s way are starting to look rather piquish. Brendan is threatening to make his team kick the ball when playing in Europe as a means of bypassing the breakdown.
This rather novel tactic is a result of Leinster giving away 7 penalties in the 2nd half and only being awarded ONE yellow card for their efforts. In Brendan’s humble and unbiased view it should have been 3 yellow cards, (approximately one yellow every 2.35 penalties) and a zillion penalties against them.
Paradoxically Saracens went through 28 phases at the end of the match whilst advancing approximately 10 metres and not gaining a single penalty out of the defending team which when you look at it knocks Venter’s arguments for a billion.
Either that or the referee failed to spot any transgressions by Leinster. Venter of course, spent a bit of last season exploding at GP referees before the lawmakers kindly obliged and allowed his team to stop hoofing the ball, in an echo of his current threat.
Frankly if every team coach lambasted the laws of the game, threatened to play on one leg or wanted the laws remodelled to suit whatever tactic they preferred to play, the post match interviews would turn into one unmitigated gurn, as it did yesterday when Venter vented his spleen.
I Will Survive!
I’ve jumped off the Queen’s bridge 3 times, topped myself twice and kicked the cat into the next door field. I still can’t get all of the misery right.
Ulster lost to Biarritz in a rather cack handed fashion from their point of view and to read the UAFC messageboard it’s the end of this world, the next one and the one after that.
I watched the game in the Pavillion and with Nigel Brady standing next to me, I remarked after 20 minutes, that we needed to turn pressure into points if we were to win this game. Brady agreed before departing for pastures new.
To date we have got away with leaving points on the pitch, whether through poor place kicking or lack of precision in our finishing. Against Biarritz we chose to go for the jugular and failed to land the killer punch in the first half.
Suitably encouraged Biarritz set about Ulster in the 2nd half as though they were exacting revenge for having got out of jail, which in fact they had. We really were handed a lesson in how to finish and whilst disappointed we got nothing from it, I think the following.
Our South African players clearly had great expectations of playing in the Heineken, especially in this glamour fixture. Those expectations, hopes and dreams of glory received a rather rude awakening which will focus minds when they play against Bath in December.
It’s a kick up the backside for the team, some of whom began to believe this unbeaten in Europe bit as being valuable currency. Welcome to the real world fellas and hopefully the feet stay on the ground when they have to.
Where we are going to get the killer instinct from I do not know. Quite simply if we are playing rugby by numbers as the backs seem to be doing then opportunities will continue to go astray as they have been.
We face some tough games over the next few weeks and could end up pointless if we are not careful. Remember this time last year we topped the Magners only to finish way down.
I’d rather see a balanced back row than one which signifies reputation and little else in the way of rugby tactic. We need to come out firing on all cylinders next Friday. Edinburgh aren’t as bad a team as recent narrow defeats suggest.
A statement of bold intent is required this Friday.
C’mon Ulsterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Corrections, comments or questions?