Ulster v Ospreys 4th September 2015 19:35 Kingspan Stadium

First topic message reminder :

Ulster's three most recent encounters in the Guinness PRO12 ended in a draw with Munster and a pair of defeats to Glasgow, in Round 22 and in the Play-Offs.
Read more at http://www.pro12rugby.com/matchcentre/17690.php#wOAHSXtGFMh8P1Ph.99


The Ulstermen have not been defeated at Kingspan Stadium in the Guinness PRO12 since Leinster were the visitors in May 2014.

Ospreys have go off to a winning start in the Guinness PRO12 in five of the last seven seasons and finished off their regular season campaign in 2014/15 with six straight wins before going down to Munster in the Play-Offs. Ospreys are the only Welsh side to have triumphed in Belfast since April 2010, having done so on two occasions, in April 2010 and again in February 2013.

Ospreys only win in their last four encounters with Ulster was 31-20 at Liberty Stadium on 20th December 2014.



Ulster

15 Louis Ludik
14 Andrew Trimble
13 Luke Marshall
12 Stuart McCloskey
11 Craig Gilroy
10 Peter Nelson
9 Paul Marshall

1 Andy Warwick
2 Rob Herring (Captain)
3 Wiehahn Herbst
4 Dan Tuohy
5 Franco Van der Merwe
6 Roger Wilson
7 Willie Faloon
8 Nick Williams

16 John Andrew, 17 Ricky Lutton 18 Bronson Ross 19 Peter Browne 20 Clive Ross 21 Sean Reidy 22 David Shanahan 23 Sam Arnold.

Ospreys

15 Dan Evans
14 Kristian Phillips
13 Jonathan Spratt
12 Ben John
11 Tom Grabham
10 Sam Davies
9 Tom Habberfield

1 Marc Thomas
2 Sam Parry
3 Dmitri Arhip
4 Lloyd Ashley (Capt)
5 De Kock Steenkamp
6 Joe Bearman
7 Lloyd Evans
8 Gareth Delve

16 Scott Otten 17 Nicky Smith 18 Cai Griffiths 19 Rory Thornton 20 Dan Baker 21 Sam Underhill 22 Brendon Leonard 23 Ashley Beck

At Kingspan Stadium, 7:35pm.
Referee: Ian Davies (WRU, 32nd competition game)
Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher, Brian MacNeice (both IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Eugene Ryan (IRFU)
TMO: Kevin Beggs (IRFU)

Live on BBC NI and BBC Wales
Read more at http://www.pro12rugby.com/matchcentre/17690.php#wOAHSXtGFMh8P1Ph.99

I know Steve Tandy is very frustrated and angry with that Ospreys performance, but I think it's clear to see they're not far away from being a contender for the title. Last night they were outmuscled by Ulster which is extremely pleasing for us- they spent more time on the ball than us but made zero inroads against our aggressive defence. However, their lineout was excellent, their scrum was... very cute in the way they played the ref, they contested the breakdown fairly well. Give them the quality of Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar coming back, the leadership of Wyn Jones, the flair of Tipuric and a 10% increase in physicality across the board and suddenly you are talking about a team that can win trophies.

Munchkin wrote:

Notch wrote:Considering our two first choice centres from last season are with Ireland the depth we have there is just ridiculous.

The competition we have at centre is crazy at the moment. It's great! It's impossible to say who our best pairing will be. Once Olding returns we will have Olding, Payne, Cave, McCloskey and Marshall fighting it out for the two positions. There's always a chance that one of them will be asked to move to one of the other Provinces. Hard to argue against, and with a bit of luck we could get a good exchange.

Ulster need more 10 cover with Humphreys at the end of his career. Both Marshall and Olding were decent outhalves.

Nelson did well last night. More of a solid player than Humphs, or probably more correct to say that he is a solid player, unlike Humphs.  His kicking from hand was very good as well. I take your point on Olding and Marshall though. Olding could be an outstanding 10, but would he want it?

Pretty nice to have 15 players who can tackle on the pitch last night.

Stone Motif wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:

wales606 wrote:Refereeing has been pretty awful in this game

A Welsh team loses because of awful refereeing - what were the odds of that?

In this league, it's known as O'fficiating

No just in your adolescent mind

Those Irish Welsh refs screwing the ermmm.... Welsh?

Notch wrote:I know Steve Tandy is very frustrated and angry with that Ospreys performance, but I think it's clear to see they're not far away from being a contender for the title. Last night they were outmuscled by Ulster which is extremely pleasing for us- they spent more time on the ball than us but made zero inroads against our aggressive defence. However, their lineout was excellent, their scrum was... very cute in the way they played the ref, they contested the breakdown fairly well. Give them the quality of Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar coming back, the leadership of Wyn Jones, the flair of Tipuric and a 10% increase in physicality across the board and suddenly you are talking about a team that can win trophies.

Agree. They are not far off from being a silverware winning side. Last night could point to a lack of strength in depth but, as stone pointed out, Tandy probably didn't put out as strong a team as he could have. I don't know enough about their other players to make a judgement, but I have read comments from other sites saying the same. We will see how they respond over the next few weeks. The main thing for me is that we got 5 points against a team that we might be fighting against for top spot.

Munchkin wrote:

Notch wrote:I know Steve Tandy is very frustrated and angry with that Ospreys performance, but I think it's clear to see they're not far away from being a contender for the title. Last night they were outmuscled by Ulster which is extremely pleasing for us- they spent more time on the ball than us but made zero inroads against our aggressive defence. However, their lineout was excellent, their scrum was... very cute in the way they played the ref, they contested the breakdown fairly well. Give them the quality of Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar coming back, the leadership of Wyn Jones, the flair of Tipuric and a 10% increase in physicality across the board and suddenly you are talking about a team that can win trophies.

Agree. They are not far off from being a silverware winning side. Last night could point to a lack of strength in depth but, as stone pointed out, Tandy probably didn't put out as strong a team as he could have. I don't know enough about their other players to make a judgement, but I have read comments from other sites saying the same. We will see how they respond over the next few weeks. The main thing for me is that we got 5 points against a team that we might be fighting against for top spot.

Good points boys, yes we were seriously out muscled last night, why we have re-signed Phillips is a mystery, his defence before he left us was terrible and it has not improved, Spratt for an experienced player was also awful, why was Dirksen not used, much more combative than either of those 2, why when Trimble comes back from TI he is selected, Eli Walker doesn't even come back into the squad until next week, both Delve and Steenkamp have to radically improve as there is a lot of money invested there. Thornton did very well when he came on, considering he went through the training camp with TW he should be in peak physical condition and should start next week, the same should apply to Baker, real pity about Beck, I don't know whether you Irish boys heard what was broadcast on the BBC Wales broadcast, when TW played us in a warm up game last week, the reporter said that Beck was absolutely outstanding in that game, I know it didn't affect anything but the binning of Bearman IMO was ridiculous, a penalty possibly but no more. Jonathon Davies (Jiffy) made a good point he said these referees who have never played the game have no real affinity for the game, he thought the Yellow was wrong, Yes he lifted him but he placed him down on his back, not going to get into an argument about this, but there was a good inclination that your boy was offside and coming in from the side.

Not going to disagree with you there. If you look at some of the cards Ulster have been given in the last year or so some of them are ridiculously harsh. It's become about covering the referees arse if there's anything even remotely similar to a dangerous tackle and not coming to a decision which is fair on the player and best for the game.

Notch wrote:Not going to disagree with you there. If you look at some of the cards Ulster have been given in the last year or so some of them are ridiculously harsh. It's become about covering the referees arse if there's anything even remotely similar to a dangerous tackle and not coming to a decision which is fair on the player and best for the game.

Yes agree Notch, I'm not and never have been in the Irish referees are rubbish room, there are some very poor Refs from all over, did Davies determine the result last night NO, he got things wrong and also didn't influence the result in any way.

The thing about refereeing is that it can be equally argued as being right as being wrong. It's the referee's job to make a judgement call. The Yellow card was unnecessary but the referee has been given a directive and applied it accordingly. All that the fans can ask is that the referee applies the Laws consistently to both sides.

Anyone know if there are any injuries coming out of the match? Seen a couple of guys go off with what seemed like knocks

Stone Motif wrote:Yep, stick to yer smilies, that way you don't get caught contradicting yourself

It's fairly evident from my posting history what a low opinion of the Ospreys I have.

...and I thought you were blyths and Cuddys best mate stone
As for the game. Pretty much standard away performance with the starters missing nowadays. Lots of ball but zero guile or penetration. Ulster defence was solid enough not to ALLOW us any inroads tho. Wayne knows my stance on Dirksen, why he's left out is a mystery...

Highlights here;

wayne wrote:why we have re-signed Phillips is a mystery, his defence before he left us was terrible and it has not improved

That is a bit harsh. To be fair non of the Ospreys showered themselves in glory defensively. And Kris has improved hugely defensively, he actually attempts to tackle now. Granted when McCloskey scored his try Kris should have tried to wrap himself around the ball so it couldn't be grounded, but he was trying to rip the ball. And in attack he seemed to be the only player (especially in the backs pre subs) who was capable of doing anything. Give him another couple of games and I think you'll see him as a useful squad member, especially during the international windows.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

wayne wrote:why we have re-signed Phillips is a mystery, his defence before he left us was terrible and it has not improved

That is a bit harsh.  To be fair non of the Ospreys showered themselves in glory defensively.  And Kris has improved hugely defensively, he actually attempts to tackle now.  Granted when McCloskey scored his try Kris should have tried to wrap himself around the ball so it couldn't be grounded, but he was trying to rip the ball.  And in attack he seemed to be the only player (especially in the backs pre subs) who was capable of doing anything.  Give him another couple of games and I think you'll see him as a useful squad member, especially during the international windows.

SS, he was not the only one, as I pointed out in the article, but you decided to omit that point, in an earlier post I had already said that our tackling was terrible, he had a terrible reputation before he left us, there was one match against the Dragons when he nearly s.at himself when Aled Brew put up a ball and was about to hit him as he received it, he dropped it, personally I would have Dirksen or Howells (U20s) before him, as for the try you quoted any one of the three should have been around his legs not up on the torso.

wayne wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

wayne wrote:why we have re-signed Phillips is a mystery, his defence before he left us was terrible and it has not improved

That is a bit harsh.  To be fair non of the Ospreys showered themselves in glory defensively.  And Kris has improved hugely defensively, he actually attempts to tackle now.  Granted when McCloskey scored his try Kris should have tried to wrap himself around the ball so it couldn't be grounded, but he was trying to rip the ball.  And in attack he seemed to be the only player (especially in the backs pre subs) who was capable of doing anything.  Give him another couple of games and I think you'll see him as a useful squad member, especially during the international windows.

SS, he was not the only one, as I pointed out in the article, but you decided to omit that point, in an earlier post I had already said that our tackling was terrible, he had a terrible reputation before he left us, there was one match against the Dragons when he nearly s.at himself when Aled Brew put up a ball and was about to hit him as he received it, he dropped it, personally I would have Dirksen or Howells (U20s) before him, as for the try you quoted any one of the three should have been around his legs not up on the torso.  

I did see you mentioned other players, I only trimmed the post down to get to the relevant player. I remember that match, it was in the LV= (or EDF as it was then I believe) and it was at the time Brew had been left out of Wales selection yet the two Ospreys kids Prydie and Phillips had been called into the Welsh squad (and IMO Kris would have been capped, instead of Prydie, if he didn't have a death in the family). But his attitude and guts have definitely improved since then, as if they hadn't he would not have even attempted to tackle McCloskey.