Welcome home, Hammy! Have you made you way down to :jbs: and introduced yourself yet? There's a good few Ulster supporters and of course many Force supporters down that way :cheers:
Hope to catch up with you sometime :thumbsup:
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Welcome home, Hammy! Have you made you way down to :jbs: and introduced yourself yet? There's a good few Ulster supporters and of course many Force supporters down that way :cheers:
Hope to catch up with you sometime :thumbsup:
As you said ozhammy, the boxing day result was nothing to write home about. Now that I am over my bout of depression, here's what happend:
Leinster 29 Ulster (a big feckin') NIL
However, after much speculation and conjecture, Ulster Rugby have finally announced that Matt Williams has signed a two and a half year contract as the new Ulster coach. He won't officially take over until February, after Ulster's next home game against Munster, and the 2 heiny Cup games against Bourgoin and Gloucester. He will be in ulster to talk to the players and watch the Munster game this week, but flies back to Oz to tie up his loose ends, before making his way back to take over.Quote:
Shambolic Ulster left to Rue St. Stephens stuffing.
Tries for Cain Healy and Jamie Heaslip coupled with a perfect return from the boot of Contipomi left Ulster fans to ask, not for the first time this season, what went wrong.
Leinster without stars Whitaker, O’Driscoll and Horgan started well, their pack putting Ulster under severe pressure. To Ulster’s credit they stood the test and despite some tough calls managed to only concede a penalty which Contepomi slotted with ease.
Ulster looked like they might catch a break when Le Roux went of injured and was replaced by Cain Healy. Any hopes of an easier run were to be dashed as the festively plump Justin Fitzpatrick looked like he could have followed Le Roux to the dugout.
A further two penalties gave Leinster a 9-0 lead. Ulster had every right to go into the break feeling proud of their efforts which had included being down to 14 men when Boss was sin-binned for cynically killing the ball.
The second half started with Wallace missing what should have been a bread and butter kick for a professional outhalf but his attempt fell short. Ulster were soon down to 14 men again when N.Best was sent to the bin for an apparent trip on the mercurial Sexton, who didn’t help with his unsportsmanlike behaviour after the incident. Contepomi duly converted to take the score to 12-0. Ulster were then dealt a hammer-blow to their chances when replacement prop Healy barged through two weak tackles, the conversion making it 19-0.
Humphreys was introduced shortly after though there was to be no repeat of his heroics of the home fixture as the pack were being given the run around. Captain Rory Best was stretchered of with a nasty looking injury after a collision with Contepomi, if it turns out to be serious it will be yet another woe for new coach Matt Williams to face after losing both Number Eights already.
Heaslip finished the rout finishing from the Ulster ’22 scoring under the posts. After this Ulster defended stoutly as Leinster chased the bonus point and were lucky on a couple of occasions to hold out; a Luke Fitzgerald break was halted by the excellent tracking back of Marshall who then turned the ball over for Danielli to make a 60metre sprint which could so easily have been a try were it not for the assured presence of Dempsey.
All in all the game would have made tough watching for any neutrals and made any Ulster fans despair. Next up we have Munster in the New Year which one can only hope will mark a new dawn for Ulster Rugby and it’s supporters who have endured a brutal past 12months.
As a fan, I am dubious as to how much difference he is gonna make, (Leinster fans love him, Scottish fans hate him) but then as we are at the bottom of the Magners League, the only way is up!!!!!
:clap: we won one!!!!!
The feel good factor returned to Ravenhill, as Ulster tried hard to lose to Bourgoin, but ultimately won the day due to French indiscipline, and a real desire to put their game back on the rails. MOTM went to Humpreys but young Marshall should have had it IMO. He played well, and although he made a few mistakes, with Humphreys' guidance and experience backing him up, he led and directed the play for most of the game.
As others have said, A wins a win, and will go a long way to psychologically sort Ulsters mind out, and maybe help them next week away to Gloucester in Kingsholm, after their defeat to Ospreys in Swansea.
More here Ulternative Alster Fan Club
and UAFC.co.uk View topic - Ulster v Bourgoin... live updates
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Congrats to the ulstermen, good to see a win on the board....Good luck next week...
Video Highlights courtesy of SKY Sports can be seen here
Ulternative Alster Fan Club
Good to see a win and a long overdue start for Marshall... Still a worry what will hapen when The Humph finally calls it a day!!! Seems to be little direction or ideas without him...Niall O'Connor is a great prospect though!!!
Stand up for the Ulstermen!!
Still not made Jb" yet coach but it is on the agenda in the near future
forgot to post this last week, as I was actually at the game, it being in my backwater... Of course it was a brilliant performance, by all concerned, not least because we put out a team that was basically our second string.
videos can be seen here:Quote:
Clinical Ulster push Gloucester close
Despite going down 29-21 Ulster have every right to be proud of a much imrpoved performance where they illustrated a clinical edge that has not been seen to date this season.
Things looked ominous early on when Tindall broke a weak challenge from Grant Webb to surge into the '22 and offloading to Quera who scored beside the posts. Not to be overawed by an inauspicious start Ulster roared back into action and a scything fringe break by the much improved Boss saw him dash through the midfield before throwing a delightful 15 metres pass to Bowe who didn't break stride and scored in the corner. Wallace converted in what would prove to be a rare highlight in a disappointing day with the boot for him.
Ulster continued to climb into a Gloucester team that were clearly rattled by the oppositions response, Rory Best niggled his opposite number and McCullough could end up being cited for a stray elbow into Bortolami Gloucester then captitalised on a patient build-up with Alaidair Strokosh lumbering through two poorattempted tackles to score underneath the posts.
From the resutling kick-off the impressive McCrea was harshly binned for "tackling in the air". Undeterred by their disadvantage Ulster marched back up the field and won a penalty only for Wallace to miss from an easy angle.
At half time the score was 14-7 to Gloucester.
Ulster kicked off the second half, chasing well to put Gloucester on the back foot. Gloucester were becoming increasingly uneasy as Ulster hassled and harried them at every turn, especially putting Azam's lineout under severe pressure. Bowe retrieves a deep kick and puts a chip in behind the defence which he collects feeding to N.Best who offloaded neatly to Wallace who in turn had the ever present Trimble on hand to score underneath the posts.
Gloucester turn to the bench putting on Ryan Lamb for Chris Patterson who has had a disappointing
afternoon. Realising they need to up the tempo Azam taps a penalty and charges forwards. Quick
recycling saw the ball spread quickly across the backline only for Bowe to heroically cut "Volcano"
down early. With the pressure still firmly on Ulster the defence crubmles as Quera crosses for his
second try of the afternoon. Balshaw crossed shortly after to give an uneasy sense of forboding for
Ulster fans after what was a tremendously bright start on a rather bleak season.
Wheras this would have been a death knell at previous points in the season it only seemed to harden
Ulsters resolve. The introduction O'Connor and McMillan kept up the impetus with one of O'Connor's first
acts to put in as deft crossfield ball collected by McCrea who sucked in the defence before putting Bowe
away for a well deserved second which O'Connor converted.
The backrow of McCullough, McMillan and Best were to the fore with Best surging into the midfield, McMillan was on hand to charge on through another tackle and keep pressure on Gloucester. Gloucester show their class to make their way up the pitch with replacement Narraway taking the score, Lamb misses a sitter and Ulster are still in with a chance.
A sustained period of pressure in the gloucester '22 at the end results in nothing as Caldwell drops the ball
as he's over the line.
All in all hard to call it disappointing considering the performances witnessed this season but yet again one leaves with the sense of what might have been. Gloucester to be fair were good for their win but Ulster showed mettle.
The defensive system looked much improved although one on one tackles ultimately cost them dear.
In attack the stupid handling errors were eradicated which allowed attacking moves to flow and the team to build up sustained phases of attack.
Next up we have the Dragons at home in Matt Williams first match in charge and hopefully the recent improvement will continue and the boys can install a bit of pride back into Ulster Rugby.
Ulternative Alster Fan Club
2nd bottom verses 2nd top tonight, as Ulster took on the Scarlets. On a wet and very windy night, Ulster took the game to llanelli, and dominated throughout, eventually turning their overall possession into points handing out a 20 - 8 beating. Ulster were magnificent, and played for the climate. Against the wind in the 1st half, they led 5 - 3 at half time, before the Scarlets came back with a fine try. Issac boss scored Ulsters only try in the first, while MOTM Matt McCullough and Neil Best scored two more in the 2nd to put the score beyond the Scarlets.
vids and more later.
when what a few weeks we've had!!
After an unexpected win against the Scarlets, helping the fans to begin their build-up of faith again, Ulster went down to both Munster and Ospreys away. The away factor made a big difference, as well as the fact the Matt Williams continues to blood new(ish) players and play those who are staying next season..
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Munster too strong for Ulster
Ulster looked like a team ready to take Munster on in the first half. Despite going in at half-time 2 tries down, the Ulstermen deserved better. However in the 2nd it was all one-way traffic, and Munster's class shone through. Ulster gave easy scores away, and Munster ran through the wide gaps in the defense. It was not all bad news though as Niall O'Conor, Paul Marshall and David pollock made their mark. Ryan Caldwell, and particularly Rory Best tackled hard throughout, also carrying the ball forward despite hard tackling from Munster.
Ulster's lineouts and set-pieces let them down and were directly the cause for a couple of Munster tries. Some poor indiscipline by Tom Court (who had played well until then) meant that he had to spend 10 minutes in the sinbin.
In the centre Paddy Wallace and Andrew Trimble combined to look dangerous, and a possible partnership here may flouish with more time together. Tommy Bowe, Mark McCrea, and Bryn Cunningham also had reasonable games, so all is not lost. Substitute Dewey made a great hit on Howlett towards the end and looks hungry, with only Neil Best and perhaps Justin Harrison needing to do some work to keep their place in the starting lineup for the visit to The Ospreys next week, although Harrison was a last-minute replacement.
Following this, Ulster took on fellow-bottom table team Connacht:Quote:
Ulster defeated 32 - 7 at the Liberty Stadium...
Niall O’Connor missed an early attempt at goal from just inside the Ospreys half in the opening few minutes of this game at the Liberty Stadium, but Ulster started strongly, and enjoyed all the pressure in the opening minutes of the game. Matt Williams’ side will have been disappointed not to have made their dominence in the early stages count after an assault on the Ospreys line, and instead, again the run of play it was the Welsh region that stated the scoreboard ticking over after 13 minutes when James Hook kicked three penalty points. Ospreys 3 – 0 Ulster
Vids hereQuote:
Ulster slog out a win
A poor game by both sides, beginning in appalling conditions. Connacht dominated in the 1st half, although their dismal penalty kicks helped keep Ulster in the game. 2 yellow cards in the 1st half, Ferris for us and Morris for Connacht, made no difference, but the boot of Niall O'Connor helped Ulster stay in touch at half-time 3 - 3.
2 trys by Ulster in the 2nd half put the game safe, and Ulster moved 8 points ahead in the table. The game was by no means a classic, but a win's a win.
Tomorrow we travel to Cardiff to play the Blues. A hard game, and once again Matt Williams continues to try new players in different positions. Lets hope the Ulstermen stand up and play for the Red Hand.:icon_hand::icon_hand::icon_hand::icon_hand: