Thingimubob
First XV
On a positive notice, impressed with the guy who came on for Jonathan Edwards, not sure of his name. Turned the ball over quite a few times, carried well and made a great break and pass to set up Scott Williams.
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RaboDirect Pro12: Round 13
- Thread starter Draggs
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Except for Mark Jones, right 
****, he is the attack coach in Japan...
Their pack is **** and they have nothing to fix it. Their backs are over hyped and under performing. I recall SF saying how they have the best centre depth in Europe. North is the epitome of one-trick pony now, and team have figured out how to shut him down. A big man running quickly isn't as dangerous as it was in 1995.
Ospreys scrape a win (16-15) over Zebre, but they are [temporarily/] in the top 4.
****, he is the attack coach in Japan...
Their pack is **** and they have nothing to fix it. Their backs are over hyped and under performing. I recall SF saying how they have the best centre depth in Europe. North is the epitome of one-trick pony now, and team have figured out how to shut him down. A big man running quickly isn't as dangerous as it was in 1995.
Ospreys scrape a win (16-15) over Zebre, but they are [temporarily/] in the top 4.
You're not entitled to try and get back onside if it interferes with play. Dems the rules. He was well offside from that breakdown and was behind Jackson when he passed it. Fairly definitively offside. He caught the ball, so that's very definitely a penalty. Yellow card? Well, he's not trying to not interfere with play in a try scoring position, fairly consistent to see a deliberate penalty offence in a try scoring position given as a yellow card, so I can't see any complaints there. And, I reckon, if he hadn't been there, that ball would have gone close enough to Stevenson who was about two yards to the right and two yards back, well positioned to run onto it - although I'd like to see it again before I nailed my pants to the mast. If I'm right, then that's definitely a penalty try.
In short, definitely a penalty and yellow card, would have to watch again for the penalty try but saw nothing wrong with at the time.
Most backs look over hyped and under performing behind a **** pack - if you don't want North, I'd gladly take him.
In short, definitely a penalty and yellow card, would have to watch again for the penalty try but saw nothing wrong with at the time.
Except for Mark Jones, right
****, he is the attack coach in Japan...
Their pack is **** and they have nothing to fix it. Their backs are over hyped and under performing. I recall SF saying how they have the best centre depth in Europe. North is the epitome of one-trick pony now, and team have figured out how to shut him down. A big man running quickly isn't as dangerous as it was in 1995.
Ospreys scrape a win (16-15) over Zebre, but they are [temporarily/] in the top 4.
Most backs look over hyped and under performing behind a **** pack - if you don't want North, I'd gladly take him.
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Bonus point win for Leinster. Good stuff, considering that we had a few guys back and have a couple of big weeks coming up. Slowly getting back eh?
Tribesmen-ce-123
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Thats was a really good try by Nell to be fair to the fat man, nice little dummy pass and run to set himself up.
That is the team that were 2nd in the league before tonight... :huh:
Considering they were missing 12 players also ...
Peat. I'm not so sure. There were no ulster players outside Aled Thomas, so he wasn't blocking anyone. He's allowed to get back into position as long as it isn't interfering with Ulster. The Ulster player simply passed it to him, incorrectly. The only thing Thomas did wrong was catch the ball, if he'd allowed the ball to sail past into touch, it would have been fine. Ultimately, I'm not sure what the decision should have been. Hit and miss whether it was a penalty as he didn't stop an Ulster player from catching the ball. Yellow card was harsh. Penalty try, no way. Stevenson was inside Thomas and two yards back and the ball passed him by. Anyway, it doesn't really matter.
Including Mark Jones. No experience at all, should be developing as a coach with Llanelli in the Prem! Get rid of the lot of them, all these inexperienced coaches are a big reason why the regions are not good enough. The O's have luckily stumbled across Tandy who appears to be a decent coach. Even then, I'm not sure he's head coach material just yet, and he was thrust into the Ospreys role much to early.
The Scarlets have big problems in the pack, but not so bad that they should be getting hammered by 40 points. Their defensive system is broken, and nothing get's done to fix it. Two quick passes, and every team can get on the outside of the on-rushing centres. It's a completely hit and miss defensive pattern, which offers zero backup if a tackle is missed or the ball gets outside the rush player. It's rugby suicide, and it's costing them every game.
I've said it a few times before and I'll say it again, it is unfair to blame the likes of North too much when they are getting barely any ball. North did well today with the little ball he saw. Unfortunately the ball he's given is simply shipped out to him behind the gainline, and he's got to somehow create something out of nothing. The same can be said for Jon Davies, who admittedly did more with his opportunities today. It's not good enough though, because the hard work is not being done by the forwards. Even when it is, Ald Thomas decided that that is the time to kick. Some were half decent, but was still kicking away quality ball.
It was the same story for Wales in the Autumn.
****, he is the attack coach in Japan...
Their pack is **** and they have nothing to fix it. Their backs are over hyped and under performing. I recall SF saying how they have the best centre depth in Europe. North is the epitome of one-trick pony now, and team have figured out how to shut him down. A big man running quickly isn't as dangerous as it was in 1995.
Including Mark Jones. No experience at all, should be developing as a coach with Llanelli in the Prem! Get rid of the lot of them, all these inexperienced coaches are a big reason why the regions are not good enough. The O's have luckily stumbled across Tandy who appears to be a decent coach. Even then, I'm not sure he's head coach material just yet, and he was thrust into the Ospreys role much to early.
The Scarlets have big problems in the pack, but not so bad that they should be getting hammered by 40 points. Their defensive system is broken, and nothing get's done to fix it. Two quick passes, and every team can get on the outside of the on-rushing centres. It's a completely hit and miss defensive pattern, which offers zero backup if a tackle is missed or the ball gets outside the rush player. It's rugby suicide, and it's costing them every game.
I've said it a few times before and I'll say it again, it is unfair to blame the likes of North too much when they are getting barely any ball. North did well today with the little ball he saw. Unfortunately the ball he's given is simply shipped out to him behind the gainline, and he's got to somehow create something out of nothing. The same can be said for Jon Davies, who admittedly did more with his opportunities today. It's not good enough though, because the hard work is not being done by the forwards. Even when it is, Ald Thomas decided that that is the time to kick. Some were half decent, but was still kicking away quality ball.
It was the same story for Wales in the Autumn.
psychic duck
International
What have Ulster done to that unfit overweight Nick Williams who wasn't at all great for Munster, and turned him into one of the top 8's in the league?
He may be acceptable as a second choice fly half for a low table side, or first choice for a Championship second division side. But not good enough for first choice. Still he has actually been better than Priestland has this season, which says a lot about Priestland's form.
How much experience do Easterby and Jones have combined? Some of the regions coaches are perhaps rushed too soon into big posts.
To be fair, considering the difference in quality of the two lineups and the dismal form of Edinburgh (they were utterly outplayed twice by Glasgow the scorelines not reflecting the dominance of Glasgow), that result was very much expected from the European champions. Should get another similar win against the Scarlets next week as well.
He may be acceptable as a second choice fly half for a low table side, or first choice for a Championship second division side. But not good enough for first choice. Still he has actually been better than Priestland has this season, which says a lot about Priestland's form.
How much experience do Easterby and Jones have combined? Some of the regions coaches are perhaps rushed too soon into big posts.
To be fair, considering the difference in quality of the two lineups and the dismal form of Edinburgh (they were utterly outplayed twice by Glasgow the scorelines not reflecting the dominance of Glasgow), that result was very much expected from the European champions. Should get another similar win against the Scarlets next week as well.
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Lewis Robling and Aled Thomas... Welsh outside half factory had some defective parts.
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Nick Williams always got criticised because he's not exactly got an athletic build. DTo be fair to him, in the 3 seasons before he signed for Ulster, he scored 14 tries in 36 starts and 6 sub appearances in the league. He's always known where the try line is. Now that he's got his work rate up, he's becoming a hell of a player. A superb signing for Ulster.
psychic duck
International
Anybody know who Richard Smith is? Can't see him named in the Blues squad on their website, and I don't recall hearing his name before. Why is he being selected at centre ahead of Cory Allen or even Owen Williams, who's naturally a centre, not a winger? Still without ever seeing him play before I'm sure he's still better than Gavin Evans
Best known for this ...
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vvznojXzX2c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
Actually best known for being decent sevens player for Wales ...
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SEVENS WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!
That's all, thanks...
That's all, thanks...
I don't really remember the try I only caught a bit of it, but Jim Neilly said he came from an Off-Side position.
20 stone of sheer epic ness. I really don't remember him for Munster, didn't he get three tries on his debut?
irelandfan123
Bench Player
I still hate Nick Williams, every good thing he does he makes seven mistakes..the man frustrates me, he also must frustrate coaches clearly talented but more than useless in the rucks and has a habit of throwing the ball to the floor or to the other team because he carries the ball in one hand. I believe the solution is to put him at in-centre XD
If you play the ball while offside you are interfering with play. There is no question of intent, no matter for interpretation, its black and white in the rules. 11.1 B - "A player who is offside must not take part in the game. This means the player must not play the ball or obstruct an opponent." Completely ironclad penalty. If he hadn't caught the ball? Probably fine. But he did.
And, frankly, why was he playing the ball? The most obvious answer is he did not wish to risk any Ulster player getting hands on the ball so he caught it. You may argue that there were none in position, I need to rewatch to see, but I bet he didn't know that himself. The only other logical answer is he did so instinctively, I personally consider that likely. A deliberate penalty offence in that situation is a yellow card. Harsh? A little maybe, as you can't be absolutely sure of intent, but to me given the balance of probability I don't see how he can have any complaints.
And while it doesn't really matter as the game's dusted, some people sound like they could use the lesson in the offside law, particularly Thingimubob. If you start offside from a ruck situation, you remain offside until a) you reach the back foot of that ruck b) they've ran more than 5 yards c) they've kicked it and you absolutely cannot play the ball. I know I never knew b until I looked it up!
That and I like arguing on the internet.
More stuff about the other 79 minutes tomorrow!
psychic duck
International
Surprising the Ospreys struggled so much to get past Zebre at home with Adam Jones and Biggar playing.
I didn't see the game, but apparently Webb was again awful, JT was also awful, Spratt was again very average, and the Matthew Morgan at 15 experiment didn't come off.
I feel for Zebre, reports suggest they deserved to win the game. They have come close to winning a few times of late against the Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, Ulster, Scarlets and Glasgow. That's their 6th bonus point now. Surely a win will come eventually for them as they have come close a few times. I wonder who will be first to fall to them?
I didn't see the game, but apparently Webb was again awful, JT was also awful, Spratt was again very average, and the Matthew Morgan at 15 experiment didn't come off.
I feel for Zebre, reports suggest they deserved to win the game. They have come close to winning a few times of late against the Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, Ulster, Scarlets and Glasgow. That's their 6th bonus point now. Surely a win will come eventually for them as they have come close a few times. I wonder who will be first to fall to them?
Sometimes a good team heads up against a superior beast with all guns blazing and walks away shell-shocked with 40 points scratched up on its hide. This **** happens. Bewailing a team's defensive system when it's only shipped two hammerings, both to the form teams in Europe at their homes, isn't exactly proportionate imo. Its clearly not amazing, or they'd have better than the 7th equal best defensive record in the league, but broken? It's not like Ulster actually scored any tries by getting on the outside. I mean, sure, they made some ground - but three tries from close range, two tries from line-breaks made fairly close to the break-down/set-piece. Personally I thought their rush defence was causing Ulster problems, even if we got the ball outside there were too many scrappy passes that checked momentum.
I'd have said the Scarlets main defensive problem was an inability to complete up front in the second half, both at the breakdown and in terms of using their own ball well, which simply gave Ulster too much good possession.
Fairly little to be honest - this is mainly, as I understand it, Nick Williams focusing fully on playing the best rugby he can, which wasn't really seen at Munster due to a lax lifestyle. I'm guessing having Anscombe here helps, but its mainly Nick and all credit to him. Not sure how happy I'd be with him playing a really big game, he's got a bit of the flat-track bully around him, but what a bully he is.
Obviously very pleased with that. Most pleased with the way the youngsters who came on handled themselves. Heaney looked sharp, passed well, and I loved the way he simply shouldered his prop out the way to get the ball out quickly for the penalty try. Simple assertive scrum-half play. Annett, fears of him being underpowered for this level at least are fading fast, throwing has been nigh-flawless so far and he's got a really good pair of hands on him. First time too I've seen why Ricky Andrew is rated, some poor decisions on when to take it himself at times but he's got talent.
Other nice things are obviously Fat Nick, Stevenson now being the form lock in Ireland not called Mick McCarthy and Trimble continuing to be on really top form.
Only real downers are having three members of your HEC match day squad walk off before half-time, fingers very much crossed they pull through ok in the week.
edit: Just to reinforce my earlier point, and as a point of celebration for Ulster fans - that's the 5th score we've put down this season north of 40 points.
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I still maintain that the Scarlets defensive system is not up to scratch. When it comes off, it does work with the likes of Jon Davies making spot tackles in midfield. But as soon as the ball get's past that on-rushing player there is so much space out wide with the Scarlets wingers often facing two or more opposition players. Even if this doesn't always directly result in a try, it is simply handing all the momentum to the opposition which in turn does result in try's, even if they are late on after the Scarlets have tired from being on the back-foot constantly. There is little the Scarlets can do about having sub-par players in their forward pack other than recruit well when they can, but getting a defensive system in place that works consistently is simply a coaching thing and something which can be improved all the time. The top defensive teams don't use this spot blitz defence, so why do the Scarlets?
The Scarlets have received more than two hammerings this season, even if it hasn't been on the scoreboard. The Ospreys v Scarlets game on boxing day was completely one sided, whilst the Scarlets barely got going in Europe. Their pack is a big problem, but there are coaching problems there as well. They have struggled with a weak pack for a number of years now, but in previous seasons they have always managed to get their backs into the game, at the moment their touted backline is getting no ball and no space.
