Ulster HEC Squad

Anybody any idea when it's announced? Interested to see if we could come up with a short-term replacement for Payne...

Don Alfonso wrote:Anybody any idea when it's announced? Interested to see if we could come up with a short-term replacement for Payne...

Hopefully Gaston or Gilroy will be given a chance there.

Danielli to 15 and Gilroy at 11 would do the job nicely.

Maybe if Corey Jane is still interested he could come and warm the bench.

Very disappointed to see that Bowe has been named in the O's squad.
Scuppers my rumor

Rava I believed in you man!

roddersm wrote:Rava I believed in you man!

I allowed myself to believe it myself Rodders. I'll never listen to the guy ever again

Crossed wires probably Rava, I'm sure there is a logical explanation. No need to panic yet.

Does that mean Bowe is cup tied now?

Anyone planning on heading to the Clermont game?


edit; I mean the away game.

When is it Val? Where do you fly from- to?

roddersm wrote:When is it Val? Where do you fly from- to?

Last match, so weekend of the 20/21/22, its a bit of a ball to get to as its in the centre of France, I live in France so not really sure about flights, I'll probably drive if I can get some of the lads here to go.

valjester wrote:

roddersm wrote:When is it Val? Where do you fly from- to?

Last match, so weekend of the 20/21/22, its a bit of a ball to get to as its in the centre of France, I live in France so not really sure about flights, I'll probably drive if I can get some of the lads here to go.

Oh wow Val that's very generous of you to offer us a place to stay. Shotgun a bed! Rodders can have the floor.

Very dissapointed in the lack of truth in the Bowe rumour Rava. From now on I'm only going to accept Ulster gossip from Geoff. Bowe did put a cryptic message on twitter though.

WillyGilly wrote:

valjester wrote:

roddersm wrote:When is it Val? Where do you fly from- to?

Last match, so weekend of the 20/21/22, its a bit of a ball to get to as its in the centre of France, I live in France so not really sure about flights, I'll probably drive if I can get some of the lads here to go.

Oh wow Val that's very generous of you to offer us a place to stay. Shotgun a bed! Rodders can have the floor.

Very dissapointed in the lack of truth in the Bowe rumour Rava. From now on I'm only going to accept Ulster gossip from Geoff. Bowe did put a cryptic message on twitter though.

I'm about 5 hours away from clermont but you're welcome to a bed here. I'll be in clermont for the weekend but I'll let them know you're coming.

WillyGilly wrote:
Oh wow Val that's very generous of you to offer us a place to stay. Shotgun a bed! Rodders can have the floor.

Very dissapointed in the lack of truth in the Bowe rumour Rava. From now on I'm only going to accept Ulster gossip from Geoff. Bowe did put a cryptic message on twitter though.

Ha ha feck off!

Nah don't think I'll make this one, will hopefully be up(down) at at Ravenhill though for the home tie.

Speaking of Geoff, where the flip did he go??

We need a campaign to bring Bowe home!

how about Denis Simplikevich as a cheap short term replacement for Payne,

Big strong, fast, playes Fullback/Wing,
He scored a try against Ireland and another against Australia in the pool games at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Would love Bowe to return, I recon I'll be this summer that he makes his return, if we can get the IRFU to offer him a central contract.

Who's he with now Kingshu?

When is our HEC squad announced? To be honest I'm happy with what we have, even if it leaves us a bit thinner on depth.

Gilroy, D'arcy and Danielli can all play 15 and with Gaston and Whitten there we have enough options on the wing. Spence or Cave may find themselves moving out wide to accommodate Wallace either.

Another injury or two and we might struggle though.

I don't know who he's with, my guess is VVA-Podmoskovye or Yenisey-STM, or Krasny Yar, which is why I guess he'd come at a low price. One year deal till Panye is back.

Personally I don't think we'll get anyone in, and if there are injuries ect, it'll prob be someone promoted from the AIB, to a bench spot.

We did fine with D'arcy last year and he's been given a chance now to push on and make the 15 shirt his own.

I rate D'arcy highly, and with another year of learning, passing and kicking better, I think Payne may have a hard job to become first choice 15 when he comes back.

Yeah I really rate D'arcy too. He's very classy on the ball and has the potential to be a top class full back IMO. Hopefully he'll get a wolfhounds cap at least this season.

The stupid fecker did cost us a place in the HEC SF last year though by knocking on ....

Kingshu wrote:how about Denis Simplikevich as a cheap short term replacement for Payne,

Big strong, fast, playes Fullback/Wing,
He scored a try against Ireland and another against Australia in the pool games at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Would love Bowe to return, I recon I'll be this summer that he makes his return, if we can get the IRFU to offer him a central contract.

Agree about Bowe.

Don't see any need to bring in someone like Simplikevich - there is no guarantee he would be any better than IQ players like D'Arcy or Gaston. He had a good RWC but then so did Paul Emerick (who made Stuart Barnes' team of the tournament), and I'd be in no rush to re-sign him either.

Surely we need to sign someone IQ anyway?

Maybe Leinster could lend us Rob Kearney if they are keeping Nacewa at 15?

I think with the NIQ player injuried, your allowed to sign a NIQ player as shot term cover, that said think we'll just promote from within. However if D'arcy gets injuried I'd be worried, as while Gilroy, and Danielli can play 15, they arn't 15's and in bigger games it could prove a weakness.

Would you take Smith back?

Payne is a project though?

With due respect to Smith I don't think things are that bleak on the fullback front yet....I'd be happy for Gilroy or Danielli to play there. I've been impressed with Whitten on the wing this year too so I think we are ok.

I see Luke Marshall is out with a broken jaw.

thats bad news about Luke Mardhall but this will happen over a season, and lucky we have plenty of quality centres

I know Payne is a project, but I still think we could sign a NIQ cover for him.

He's still getting Irish qualifed in the treatment room, and with another NIQ signing we'd still only have 6NIQ in the Squad. Go on IRFU please let us!

When Wallace returns, Spence/Cave will be fighting for 13 or else one of them should move to the back three. I think Spence was originally a winger, so if we plays there we could be moving Gilroy to 15. What about trying Cave at 15? Would be good if he ended up excelling there and we could have both Cave and Spence and Wallace/Marshall in the same team

Rory_Gallagher wrote:When Wallace returns, Spence/Cave will be fighting for 13 or else one of them should move to the back three. I think Spence was originally a winger, so if we plays there we could be moving Gilroy to 15. What about trying Cave at 15? Would be good if he ended up excelling there and we could have both Cave and Spence and Wallace/Marshall in the same team

Spence will go to the wing, cave is a 13 and has to be left there, defensively there are few better than him in the league.
Gaston is a winger/fullback and I'd like to see him trusted as backup at least, don't trust darcy at all, he makes way too many mistakes.

valjester wrote:Spence will go to the wing

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.......................

roddersm wrote:Surely we need to sign someone IQ anyway?

Maybe Leinster could lend us Rob Kearney if they are keeping Nacewa at 15?

Sod off! Maybe you can try Gavin Duffy again?

roddersm wrote:

valjester wrote:Spence will go to the wing

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.......................

Cave is a better 13 than him and wallace is a better 12 than him, it makes perfect sense. Payne breaking is unfortunate and we could probably get a short term NIQ but I think we have enough young players who should be trusted.

valjester wrote:
Cave is a better 13 than him and wallace is a better 12 than him

Thats poppycock. Thon two boys aren't fit tae lace his boots in either position. IMO of course.

roddersm wrote:

valjester wrote:
Cave is a better 13 than him and wallace is a better 12 than him

Thats poppycock. Thon two boys aren't fit tae lace his boots in either position. IMO of course.

Spence has been fairly ineffective so far this season and I'd be shocked if wallace cave isn't the centre pairing for the hec.

That depends what you class as effective Val. For me Spence has been Ulsters best back again this season by a distance.

He always makes yards in attack and draws defenders and his defensive positioning is the best I've seen since O'Driscoll.

Cave and Wallace are quality players but Spence is on a different level IMO.

Yeah I totally disagree about Spence Val.. I agree that Wallace is a better 12. Disagree about everything else. I think he is a fantastic prospect who will feature in Ireland fairly soon. Also what you said about Cave being one of the best defensive 13s.. have you seen Spence's tackling?

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Yeah I totally disagree about Spence Val.. I agree that Wallace is a better 12. Disagree about everything else. I think he is a fantastic prospect who will feature in Ireland fairly soon. Also what you said about Cave being one of the best defensive 13s.. have you seen Spence's tackling?

There is a lot more to defence than tackling, caves positioning is superb, he is never in the wrong place. I have dissed him as a player just cause I'm not saying he is the best player of all time doesn't mean I don't rate him. He still has a lot to work on, his passing and decision making need to improve but he is young and I'm sure he will get there.

Rodders; people have had this debate with you before so I don't really want to go over old ground. Spence has a lot more potential than cave but he still has a lot to learn. Ulster's backplay has been poor this year and spence has struggled to make yards and looks lost when he doesn't play with wallace or cave. They are still a better partnership than throwing him into one of the positions. He will be on the wing in the hec unless injuries force him inside.

If anyone hasnt got a ticket (or knows someone who hasnt) for the Clermont game yet then tell them to ring the Taphouse for the bus trip.

£25 for 2 btls of Heineken, terrace ticket, bus to and from Ravers and food afterwards. There are still spaces available.

Cheers lads

Of course but once again, Spence is a rock for Ulster and nobody gets through him. I didn't say you don't rate him.. I said I disagree with what you said. He won't be picked on the wing, Gilroy and Trimble will. Spence will either be starting 13 or on the bench, and I hope he starts over Cave (I think he might).

Last season Spence was on form. Cave had got complacent over the 13 jersey and didn't realise he'd have to fight for it if another player came through the ranks. The injury was a blessing in disguise. The competition with Nevin has made him improve. He's come back a far more savvy player and for me he has the 13 jersey at the moment. Nevin tries to force the game too much at times and sometimes finds himself without support as a result.

Rodders I really don't see how you can say he's been our best back this season. He played a big part in us losing the Dragons match when he got binned even though our pack was abysmal.

Nevin has the potential to be Ireland's next 13. To be honest he probably has more than Cave. But at the minute his performances aren't reflecting that. It could well have something to do with Brian forcing the 12 shirt over his shoulders. I don't think that's done him any favours.

Have to say as well very disappointed Marshall didn't see more gametime during the WC.

Stand thats a great idea. I would have been up for it if I didn't already have tickets. Are you showing the other HEC games? If so will try and call in for a few pints after the game. Is it easy to get to from Ravenhill?

Rory, Val and Willy...everytime I speak to any rugby mates in England or Wales they only ask about one Irish player: Nevin Spence. If anyone thinks hes not playing well then I would suggest they rewatch all Ulster games again this season, he's been a shining light along with Chris Henry.

Willy thats a fair point about Cave. However I would suggest that a further reason for Cave's form is that Spence is creating more space than he ever had before. Spence is able to take out 2 or 3 defenders and Cave is revelling in tha space he's getting.

If Spence is getting isolated it's because the backrow play and workrate from a lot of other players hasn't been good enough this year, bar Henry.

roddersm wrote:Stand thats a great idea. I would have been up for it if I didn't already have tickets. Are you showing the other HEC games? If so will try and call in for a few pints after the game. Is it easy to get to from Ravenhill?

Rory, Val and Willy...everytime I speak to any rugby mates in England or Wales they only ask about one Irish player: Nevin Spence. If anyone thinks hes not playing well then I would suggest they rewatch all Ulster games again this season, he's been a shining light along with Chris Henry.

Rodders we will show all the games that weekend. Do call in if you are in belfast. It is a 5 minute taxi from ravenhill and you just need to ask for the Taphouse on lower crescent.

we are also running the same deal for the aironi and leicester heineken cup games and the Munster and leinster matches. It is pretty good value considering it is only £5 dearer than a ticket itself.

Yes it is a good deal stand. If I can make the tigers game then I'll look into it for sure.