HEC: Ulster v Treviso. Sat 6pm

Seeing as everyone else has a match thread........

So for Ulster we should be hoping we can BP this team though any win will do. Paddy Wallace back in the mix though not likely to feature given our backs look ok. Bowe, Muller and Pienaar to return with Payne still a bloody doubt. 

Word on Uafc is Paddy Mac has done his hammy and will be gone for 4-6 weeks as well although he wasn't going to feature anyway


Treviso (I assume. Cant read Italian) 

I am going to be very positive and say we'll win, however a BP may be pushing it with the injuries we have. That said never say never.

Paddy Mac out again? Darn - I really think he is a great prospect, but needs to play some rugby! Hope he has a quick recovery.

Hopefully see;

1. Court
2. Herring
3. Afoa
4. Muller
5. Tuohy
6. Diack
7. McComish
8. Wilson
9. Pienaar
10. Jackson
11. Bowe
12. Marshall
13. Cave
14. Trimble
15. Gilroy

16. Annett 17. Black 18. Fitzpatrick 19. McComb 20. Doyle 21. Marshall 22. Wallace 23. Payne

Assuming Payne is passed fit- no sense in rushing him, give him 30 minutes this week with a view to starting him next week.

8Studs wrote:I am going to be very positive and say we'll win, however a BP may be pushing it with the injuries we have.  That said never say never.

How critical would a TBP to your prospects of a home QF?

If you take into account that Leicester should pick up 4 points a least we need to at least match them. Ideally pulling a point out on Leicester would be great.

Is Herring okay?

He went off last weekend didn't he?

You have got to be effin kidding me!!!!!!


Tommy Bowe out for 4-6 weeks

It's getting a bit ridiculous. Myself, Jen and Geoff were talking about the team for Leinster in a few weeks. I hereby call on every able bodied ulsterman to dust off his boots.

So as things stand

Best, paddy Mac, Stevenson, Henderson, Williams, ferris, Henry, Olding, Bowe, Payne (may be back) Have I missed anyone

It's the guys like Herring, Muller, and Payne concern me more. They may be involved because of the injured list, but whether they really should be is another matter.

Treviso will be really tough and have a pretty good record against Ulster, but should Ulster risk going for a 5 points at home with some players who aren't fully fit or get them right for the away game and try to secure two wins?

By all accounts it seems muller is good to go. Paynes injury seems to be irritatingly dragging out. Herring will still have to prove his fitness but Annett can do a job. Any significant injury to herring and we will have to look at a medical joker

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

8Studs wrote:I am going to be very positive and say we'll win, however a BP may be pushing it with the injuries we have.  That said never say never.

How critical would a TBP to your prospects of a home QF?

A home QF is achievable and a TBP would be a massive help, just hoping that we are able to do it. More importantly is the away games if we can get those away wins that will be a massive boost for the team, and their confidence. We have started to get little milestones each year i.e away wins on English and French soil, and we seem to be pushing the boundries each season.

Have to say I am really annoyed about Tommy Bowe - as I said at the time he was not fit to play against Australia or by extension NZ.

I would be almost certain that would have been against medical advise - we need to wise up and not rush players back. Poor show by the International set up.

Trouble is Ulster are no better - Gilroy was played against medical advise and sustained a further injury. Stupid.

Also I have to question McAllister and Henderson. McAllister was down to play in the Ravens game this week so why did he play a week earlier than planned.
Hendersons injury I know was different but players can often get a secondary injury because they are favouring a previous one - I suspect thaty was what happened here.

I know we have an injury crises but rushing players back is not the answer.

I will seriously hacked off if Payne is anywhere near the 23 this week.
Also playing Paddy Wallace would be completely unreasonable.
He should be with the Ravens in Ayr and nowhere near the 23.

Team:

Gilroy, Allen, Cave, Marshall, Trimble, Jackson, Pienaer
Court, Herring, Afoa, Muller, Tuohy, Diack, Wilson, McCormish

Bench: Black, Annett, Fitzpatrick, McComb, Doyle, Marshall, McKinney, Andrew

Any doubt about Herring - Annett in Murphy on the bench
Any doubt about McCormish - Doyle in Joyce on the bench

In better news Henry is close - bench next week maybe.

Losing him and Best at the breakdown is the biggest loss of the lot.

Bottom line is we need to manage the players carefully through the next three weeks.
The team is a decent enough this week and should have Payne, and hopefully Henry to be added next week.

We send a developemnt team to Leinster and the integrate  Henderson, Williams, Stevenson back in against Munster

Team for Leinster - Andrew, Allen, Farrell, Wallace, Nelson, McKinney, Marshall
                          Black, Annett, Fitzpatrick, O'Conner, McComb, McCormish, Joyce, Henry

Jesus is Payne that bad. In the release for the Edinburgh game we were told that he was being given an extra week but he is grand for Zebre. Now it's two weeks later and he still isn't right. 

If there is doubt over him then give him the time. A back three of Trimble, Gilroy and Allen can do the job but we would need him for the away leg. 

Good news on Henry at least

Payne to my mind has never fully got over his initial groin strain.

Play him away to Treviso and then rest him for the next 2 games so he is good to go at home to Munster

Even with these injuries (and it's a lot), you should still have too much for Treviso at home, particularly if Muller and Wallace are back as scheduled.

Completely agree about Bowe - there's no way he wasn't carrying an injury whilst with Ireland.

Wallace will not play this week for the first XV and no way he should

At most a bench player away to Treviso, more likely some game time at home to Zebre

Should be given the Leinster game as well given he will need the gametime. Possible captain for that team all being well. If Payne needs managed he needs managed. I don't know what state his groin is in but if they are confident then bench him and use him only is necessary

Treviso has been a shadow of themselves this season, massive drop, Franco Smith announcing he would leave just before the season started had a negative effect on the players it would seem. Their recruitment has been nonexistent which isn't exactly a statement of intent.

Agree Treviso have gone backwards this year.

From what I have seen I would not be shocked if Zebre end the season above them.

On a prediction thread a couple of rounds into the season I said I though Zebre would finish above Treviso.  Its still far from certain but Zebre look hungry and Treviso almost apathetic.

6 points to be made up. The derbies will tell a lot. If Treviso win both then there is no chance zebre will catch them. Given Ulster have played both though I think the zebra (to quote Jim) look more polished

Well i knew something was wrong with Treviso, double header against Ulster will be Franco Smith's last two games.
A bit of a shame it ends like that as except for this season, nobody expected Treviso to be that good under him.

Ulster has to be carefull as this means extra motivation for Treviso's players...

COME ON ULSTER!!!!!!!!!!

Lot of pressure today. A win isn't enough, a win and a good performance isn't enough- only a win, four tries and a good performance is enough.

I've no doubt we'll win this, just a matter of whether or not we'll get 4 trys.

We are looking very slick with the offloads and attacking nous in the backline early on.

Disappointing not get the TBP at the end, not sure how Treviso didn't get a man binned either.  But 40 minutes to score a try....looking good.

Great result and some great rugby out there.  We looked very sharp at times.

lovely jubbly

Darren ceratinly went out there to back up his interview during the week!

Rob Herring man of the match, he had a blinder.

Also - Northampton 7 - 40 Leinster - I'm so glad we can remove these joke fixtures from the competition next year. Basically a training game for the rest of us when we play the english.

How did Treviso play? Couldnt imagine them losing by 48 points last season. They seem to be in free fall at the moment.

Was flicking back and forth on the red button and will have to rewatch but that's a great result and some nice tries in there. Cave is great form.

rodders wrote:Was flicking back and forth on the red button and will have to rewatch but that's a great result and some nice tries in there. Cave is great form.

I would hope so!

Golden wrote:How did Treviso play?  Couldnt imagine them losing by 48 points last season. They seem to be in free fall at the moment.

Something funny going on at Treviso.  Their inspirational coach Franco Smith who made them such a success last season has his final game as Head Coach against Ulster next weekend.  Undoubtedly whatever is going on there is having a huge impact on the pitch.

Notch wrote:Lot of pressure today. A win isn't enough, a win and a good performance isn't enough- only a win, four tries and a good performance is enough.

Will Notch be completely happy with that????

Was the performance up to his high standards?

It was alright MrsP!  

Something is rotten at the heart of Treviso rugby right now though. Of course, we just punished them mercilessly for the mistakes they made and played some beautiful attacking rugby.

I think Darren Cave showed how ridiculous his continuing exclusion is. Pretty happy. Very happy.

I think BOD showed how not ridiculous it is  

Golden wrote:I think BOD showed how not ridiculous it is  

If you can say that Henshaw put in that quality of performance at the end of the weekend, fair enough.

Well Cave only covers one position so either he starts or he doesnt make the squad. I didnt think Henshaw was playing well enough to get into the squad myself but he does cover full back. If it wasnt him it would have been someone else that can cover multiple positions.

Yet he's playing out of his skin. Hence his comments that his face doesn't fit.

He was never saying there's a "bias" against him- just that however well he plays, he isn't making extended squads. We need him up to speed if BOD gets injured though.

If henshaw plays that well then we have the discussion...

Does BOD start the two big game and get some gametime against the 'minnow' so to speak
Or
Does BOD start all three games with a young guy getting 10 mins to influence all three games.

Cave was simply superb. Roundly criticised for speaking out I wounded how many column inches his performance will get.....sad really

Notch wrote:It was alright MrsP!  

Something is rotten at the heart of Treviso rugby right now though. Of course, we just punished them mercilessly for the mistakes they made and played some beautiful attacking rugby.

I think Darren Cave showed how ridiculous his continuing exclusion is. Pretty happy. Very happy.

Seven tries to none, nilling the opposition.  
 
Notch - how many times on average do you ask the barman to re-pour your Guinness?

Hahaha- I used to be a barman, so if I were to drink Guinness I would have the conflict between wanting to see it poured right and knowing that customers like that are the ultimate pain in the posterior!

I'm obviously very happy about last night. Next week is going to be a different game, a harder game, but it's made me hopeful we can go over there and score four tries. Treviso just look... there's something not right there. They should be much better than they were/are with the players they have. The coach has brought forward his departure to after next weeks game. Behind the scenes trouble?

I can't remember the last time we had a result like this in a competitive game. It's pretty extraordinary. I was particularly impressed with how we turned the ball over so often, especially without Best and Henry who are the main breakdown operators in the team.

Incidentally, what news of Stephen Ferris?

George Carlin wrote:Incidentally, what news of Stephen Ferris?

I think he's a month or two away from making his comeback. We'll all be holding our breath whenever he takes contact again.

Ferris - February

Treviso were absolutely abysmal

They did not have a clue how to read Cave, Payne or Marshall
MOTM between Cave and Herring
Doyle put in a very good shift - having been critical I have to say very well done.  
That will give min huge confidence. Big bonus we can give Henry a few more weeks rest - Doyle will be fine in the next two games

Payne is, as I suspected, still not fully fit.
If he plays next week as soon as the win is secure get him off and he should miss 2/3 games after that

Some of us will be holding our breath whenever he runs in gravity again!!!