Glasgow Warriors v Ulster, Scotstoun, Friday 22 February 2013, 1935 hrs

First topic message reminder :

Huge game for The Warriors and a real test for the so called 'dirt trackers' against the top of the table. Who starts at FH with Wee Dunky presumably back with Scotland for the Sunday 6Ns? Does The Messiah start or Peter Horne (if available)? Who goes at hooker with Pat MacA back with Scotland and Dougie Hall and Fin Gillies injured ? Where do we play Mata - SH please Toonster ? The previous games this season at Ravenhill and Scotstoun have been too easy for Ulster so we need to big up, front up and play the game we are capable of starting with the forward battle.

Looks like it will be a sell out boys and girls so get your tickets soon. My one and two teams in the Rabo going head to head at two and one in the league - cannot wait to see who will be !

Dot - I wouldn't have thought so unless there are particular injury concerns.

Agree with that side GC, although perhaps Paris may start ahead of Lamont based on last weeks performance against the Dragons, with Lamont on the bench.

That pack ought to do the business against Ulster you'd think. Scott Wight will be key. I had almost hoped Heathcote would be on the bench for Scotland to allow Weir to play for Glasgow.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Dot - I wouldn't have thought so unless there are particular injury concerns.

Agree with that side GC, although perhaps Paris may start ahead of Lamont based on last weeks performance against the Dragons, with Lamont on the bench.

That pack ought to do the business against Ulster you'd think. Scott Wight will be key. I had almost hoped Heathcote would be on the bench for Scotland to allow Weir to play for Glasgow.

I hope you are right, team looks much stronger with them. If they are available and assuming we don't have any of the injured players back, I'd go.

Reid
McArthur
Kalman
Ryder
Swinson
Strauss
Barclay
Wilson

Niko
Horne

DTH
Dunbar
Bennett
Lamont
Murchie

Price
Ofa
?
Campbell
Eddie
Kennedy
Wight
McGuigan

Horne at 10 ahead of Scott Wight? Why?

Has Horne played at 10 this season?

I really like Matawalu. He's just one of these guys who is electric to watch.

What's wrong with Tommy Seymour? He was listed as ill when the team for Zebre was announced but no mention in the unavailable players list last week.

Pat_Mustard wrote:What's wrong with Tommy Seymour? He was listed as ill when the team for Zebre was announced but no mention in the unavailable players list last week.

Injured now I understand.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Horne at 10 ahead of Scott Wight? Why?

Has Horne played at 10 this season?

I just don't rate Wight.

Horne has only played 20 minutes or so at Ten this season and it was at the end of the Saints game when Wight got subbed after coming on as a sub.

Perhaps we could lend you Piers Francis if that helps.....

I think Wight is ok. I've never been wowed by him but until recently I had thought that his performances this season hadn't been too bad. I certainly haven't seen as much of Glasgow as you have though.

My concern would be that with Matawalu and Wight in tandem there isn't a huge amount of game management going on, as opposed to off the cuff play, and Dunbar at 12 won't help you there either. Pienaar on the other hand is a superb controller of play.

I still think Glasgow should and will win.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Perhaps we could lend you Piers Francis if that helps.....

I think Wight is ok. I've never been wowed by him but until recently I had thought that his performances this season hadn't been too bad. I certainly haven't seen as much of Glasgow as you have though.

My concern would be that with Matawalu and Wight in tandem there isn't a huge amount of game management going on, as opposed to off the cuff play, and Dunbar at 12 won't help you there either. Pienaar on the other hand is a superb controller of play.

I still think Glasgow should and will win.

If Wight starts (and I expect he will) then it wont be the end of the world, far from it. I just think the Horne has the core skills to be a good 10 (certainly one that can provide decent cover), although maybe a top of the league game is not the place to throw him in.

I have not seen much of Edinburgh but from what little I have seen, you can keep Piers Francis, he looks every bit an Edinburgh player.

His style of play does very much coincide with our performances this season: crud.

With a name like "Piers Francis", surely he is more at home sipping Pimms in the Old Town with Binkie in any event?

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

Pat_Mustard wrote:What's wrong with Tommy Seymour? He was listed as ill when the team for Zebre was announced but no mention in the unavailable players list last week.

Injured now I understand.

Thats a shame. I've always liked Tommy. I've always liked watching him play- he's got a nice balance to his game. I wish we could have kept him in Ulster but can't blame him for leaving when you see Tommy Bowe, Andy Trimble, Craig Gilroy... and thats just the wingers in Ulster who are ahead of him in the pecking order! For the national side it's an even bigger queue. Ironically he would definitely be playing for Ulster this week if he was available!

George Carlin wrote:With a name like "Piers Francis", surely he is more at home sipping Pimms in the Old Town with Binkie in any event?

Is Binkie your nickname for ASBO??

Only at weekends

Anyhew, never been to Old Town in my puff, and coming from a resident of Stockbridge...!

Lets hope DTH buoyed by a new contract (quite a few bawbees apparently) will cut loose after scoring none from eight last week.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Anyhew, never been to Old Town in my puff, and coming from a resident of Stockbridge...!

It's the reference to Pimms that bothered me most. In Stockbridge it's Bolly or nothing, even Moet is just for spraying.....

I would really hope we could get after you in the scrum. Cusack is out i believe and that means Glasgow are without their first choice front row and their backups if i understand right (happy to be corrected).

You backrow looks orders of magnitude better than ours will though.

Noticed in some photos that Diack was training with Ireland too so theres our lineout caller who wont have been training fully with Ulster this week

You're correct as regards the props - 1st and 2nd choice props out.

In my view MacArthur is Glasgow's best hooker though, and Gordon Reid has been playing well lately. He's a big lad Reid.

Kalman isn't great, but dare I mention it, he has two Scotland caps....

Gordy is full of potential, big unit and got a bit of gas on him for a fat lad (as a member of the FRU, I'm allowed to say that!) He's only in his first real pro season and has performed admirably!

Kalman is probably the worst of all the THs at Glasgow, although dare I say probably still better than Geoff Cross...

Standulstermen wrote:I would really hope we could get after you in the scrum. Cusack is out i believe and that means Glasgow are without their first choice front row and their backups if i understand right (happy to be corrected).

You backrow looks orders of magnitude better than ours will though.

Noticed in some photos that Diack was training with Ireland too so theres our lineout caller who wont have been training fully with Ulster this week

It really is a bit of a mess during the Six Nations. Waaaay too much Pro12 rugby played at the same time. Way too much.

Notch wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:I would really hope we could get after you in the scrum. Cusack is out i believe and that means Glasgow are without their first choice front row and their backups if i understand right (happy to be corrected).

You backrow looks orders of magnitude better than ours will though.

Noticed in some photos that Diack was training with Ireland too so theres our lineout caller who wont have been training fully with Ulster this week

It really is a bit of a mess during the Six Nations. Waaaay too much Pro12 rugby played at the same time. Way too much.

I blame the Italians.

I'll be in Edinburgh on Friday night & quite keen to see the game, any ideas of pubs that would show it?

GLove39 wrote:I'll be in Edinburgh on Friday night & quite keen to see the game, any ideas of pubs that would show it?

Malones or dropkick murphy's is usually a decent bet.

Good news- Darren Cave is going to be involved with Ulster on Friday, according to twitter.

That's good news Notch, we were very short on backs there, so Cave to start then and Allen to wing Cochraine to the bench? I don't think we will get Lewis back though so our Locks will have to make it work

Notch wrote:Good news- Darren Cave is going to be involved with Ulster on Friday, according to twitter.

Toldyah. I don't see why you won't get Stevenson either.

Don't think he'll be released until the very last minute as Ryan is still struggling with the back spasms, as is Dan Tuohy by all accounts... So I don't expect either of them to feature for Ulster this weekend!

So what do Ulster folk expect your XXIII to look like now with Irish involvement and injury cover?

Uh, dunno.

Black Brady (c) Afoa
McComb Stevenson/Tuohy
McComish Diack Birch
Pienaar Olding
Wallace Cave
Trimble Andrew Allen

Thats just a guess. I don't know the details of how Donnacha Ryans back is! I'm guessing Lewis Stevenson being available will depend on that.

GLove39 wrote:I'll be in Edinburgh on Friday night & quite keen to see the game, any ideas of pubs that would show it?

Will they show The Warriors in a pub in Edinburgh ? Glove best get yer erse through to the West

BelfastDickVet wrote:

GLove39 wrote:I'll be in Edinburgh on Friday night & quite keen to see the game, any ideas of pubs that would show it?

Malones or dropkick murphy's is usually a decent bet.

Cheers for that, had a look at Malones website, they claim to be showing Connacht V Ulster tomorrow at half 7, so they must have just gotten them mixed up with Glasgow. Probably head there then

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:

GLove39 wrote:I'll be in Edinburgh on Friday night & quite keen to see the game, any ideas of pubs that would show it?

Will they show The Warriors in a pub in Edinburgh ? Glove best get yer erse through to the West

Was sorely tempted, but by the time my train pulls it at Edinburgh I'll have just missed the last train that'd get me across to Scotstoun in time. Still fingers crossed I find a pub bold enough to show it.

Apparently a slightly different Ulster team than expected to be named.

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/sport/paddy-wallace-in-outhalf-role-for-ulster-1-4810591

Wallace at 10 and Olding at 12. Trimble to move inside to 13. Cave on the bench. Last weeks debutant Neil Walsh to start in a back three with Andrew and Allen.

I'm a fan of this. Olding was very classy last week at 12. Pienaar will run things from 9 and Wallace will link play and take it to the gainline. Trimble will do his thing and hard in the midfield.

Yep the rumour is that Ulster will make some surprising team selections

Conor Joyce may well play as well and one of O'Connor or Simpson may start with the other on the bench

So Cochrane and Cave on the bench at the expense of NOC? And no Stevenson?

Think they'll keep Stevenson with Ireland if there's any doubt at all over Ryan.

Olding was very good at 12, so no worries there. I just wonder why he and Wallace have effectively swapped positions. Maybe Anscombe wants Wallace's experience at ten, especially if Joyce and one of the young locks is to start. But Paddy was rusty enough when he last started at IC, never mind FH.

Is Anscombe wary of starting a player (Cave) who has been away training with Ireland all week?

I think someone will have to put in a really special performance to give us any chance at all against Glasgow. At least one of our backrow will have to have a stormer.

Notch wrote:Think they'll keep Stevenson with Ireland if there's any doubt at all over Ryan.

Probably right. I just thought that with 2 2nd rows already on the bench that they would bring O'Donnell in if Ryan had issues.

As of last night Stevenson had not been given the nod to return to Belfast - Cave had.

It really would not suprise me if Ireland are sweating on Ryan making it

15 Peter Murchie
14 Tommy Seymour
13 Mark Bennett
12 Alex Dunbar
11 DTH van der Merwe
10 Peter Horne
9 Niko Matawalu

1 Ofa Fainga’anuku
2 Pat MacArthur
3 Ed Kalman
4 Tim Swinson
5 Tom Ryder
6 Josh Strauss
7 John Barclay
8 Ryan Wilson (Captain)

16 Fraser Brown
17 Luke Pettie
18 Garry Mountford
19 Nick Campbell
20 James Eddie
21 Sean Kennedy
22 Scott Wight
23 Graeme Morrison

Not available for selection through injury.

Mike Cusack (shoulder) Gordon Reid (head) Finlay Gillies (neck) Chris Fusaro (leg) Chris Cusiter (shoulder) James Johnstone (head) Rory Lamont (ankle) George Hunter EDP (foot) Fergus Scott EDP (neck)

Got the Horne selection right!

3 Front Row replacements are called up from the club game. Worried about the front row in general for this game to be honest.

Rory Lamont injured again

That's maybe an even better XV than the one I predicted.

Couple of things.

1. As per FES' comments, obviously Wight is not to be trusted. Looking forward to seeing Horne at 10.
2. Noticed that Niko has now won three consecutive man-of-the-match awards in his last three games. He'd better be all over Pienaar and hassle the sh!t out of him.
3. Credit to Rory Lamont. He lasted one full game before getting injured again.
4. I don't recognise at least 2 of the bench.

Basically pray Ofa, Pat and Ed last the game...

Wight is flakey with the boot, good in attack but worse than Radge in defence...

I reckon Ramont will have to retire at the end of this season, it's the same ankle giving him problems and with the severity of that injury he's lucky to have made it back this far.

Mark Anscombe has made 11 personnel changes to the Ulster team for this weekend's RaboDirect PRO12 encounter with Glasgow at Scotstoun (kick off 7.35pm).
Neil Walsh and Conor Joyce will start in an Ulster shirt for the first time after being named on the left wing and back row respectively. Walsh made his debut as a late replacement in last week’s win over Zebre, while Joyce’s previous appearance was in the 2011 Boxing Day defeat to Leinster.

The side will be captained by tighthead prop John Afoa, who is joined in an all new front row by Nigel Brady and Callum Black. Dan Tuohy and Neil McComb come in to the second row in place of regular skipper Johann Muller and Lewis Stevenson. Robbie Diack, the only forward retained from the Zebre fixture, will again start at number 8 and will combine in the back row with Joyce and Ali Birch.

With Paddy Jackson starting for Ireland this weekend, Anscombe has called upon Paddy Wallace to direct affairs from outhalf. The backline reshuffle also results in Andrew Trimble moving to outside centre where he is partnered in midfield by Stuart Olding, who produced an impressive performance off the bench last weekend. Michael Allen will line up on the right wing for his 12th cap, with Walsh on the opposite flank. Ruan Pienaar (scrumhalf) and Ricky Andrew (fullback) complete the backline.

Andrew Warwick again has an opportunity to earn his first cap after being named among the replacements for the second time this season. Rob Herring, Ricky Lutton, Alan O’Connor and Mike McComish are the other forwards named on the bench. Paul Marshall, Darren Cave and Chris Cochrane are the backline options and should provide some spark if called upon.

Ulster remain at the top of the RaboDirect PRO12 table despite having a won two, lost two record from their last four contests. Ulster have lost only one away gamethis season: 10-24 at Munster in the PRO12 inDecember, whilst they have won their last seven games against Scottish opponents in all tournaments.

They face a stern test against a Glasgow Warriorsside whohave won their last five RaboDirect PRO12 encounters since their 3-31 defeat inMunster inDecember. Glasgow have won just one of their last seven fixtures with Irish provinces: 27-17 at home to Connacht in September.

Game televised on BBC2 NI from 7.30pm.

Ulster XV & replacements to face Glasgow, RaboDirect PRO12, Scotstoun Stadium, Friday 22ndFebruary 2013 (kick off 7.35pm):
(15-9): R Andrew, M Allen, A Trimble, S Olding, N Walsh, P Wallace, R Pienaar;
(1-8): C Black, N Brady, J Afoa (Capt.), N McComb, D Tuohy, C Joyce, A Birch, R Diack;
Replacements (16-23): R Herring, R Lutton, A Warwick, A O’Connor, M McComish, P Marshall, D Cave, C Cochrane.

I think that team could be good enough to win out there, really do.

Is that another Ulster debut? Well done Conor Joyce.

Very high hopes for Joyce.

Tuohy is a big boost.

If the backrow can compete we have every chance

Looks like Ryan is touch and go for Ireand as I suspected

What do Ulster fans make of the team?
Huge that Tuohy and Diack made it.

Trimble at 13, haven't seen that in a while. Who is Walsh? Another debut as well as Joyce?

Interesting that we have Olding at 12 and Wallace at 10, would have thought it would be the other way round.