Ulster Rugby 2017-18

First topic message reminder :

Director of Rugby Les Kiss  
Head Coach Jono Gibbes  
Assistant Coach Dwayne Peel
Scrum Coach Aaron Dundon  
Skills Coach Niall Malone


Players In
John Cooney from Connacht
Schalk van der Merwe from Southern Kings
Jean Deysel from Sharks
David Busby promoted from Academy
Aaron Cairns promoted from Academy
Ross Kane promoted from Academy
Rob Lyttle promoted from Academy
Tommy O'Hagan promoted from Academy
Jack Owens promoted from Academy

Players Out
Franco van der Merwe to Cardiff Blues
Roger Wilson retired
Conor Joyce to Jersey Reds
Mark Best to Jersey Reds
Jonny Murphy to Rotherham Titans
Ruan Pienaar to Montpellier
John Donnan released
Lorcan Dow released
Ricky Lutton released
Stephen Mulholland released

Ulster Rugby 2017/18 Senior Playing Squad

Rodney Ah You (18 ULS, 3 IRE)
John Andrew (27 ULS)
Rory Best (198 ULS, 104 IRE)
Callum Black (128 ULS)
Tommy Bowe (150 ULS, 69 IRE)
Peter Browne (31 ULS)
David Busby (2 ULS)
Aaron Cairns (1 ULS)
Darren Cave (193 ULS, 11 IRE)
Marcell Coetzee (4 ULS, 28 SA)
John Cooney (0 ULS, 1 IRE)
Jean Deysel (0 ULS, 4 SA)
Robbie Diack (193 ULS, 2 IRE)
Craig Gilroy (149 ULS, 10 IRE)
Iain Henderson (74 ULS, 32 IRE)
Chris Henry (165 ULS, 24 IRE)
Wiehahn Herbst (54 ULS)
Rob Herring (120 ULS, 1 IRE)
Brett Herron (7 ULS)
Paddy Jackson (123 ULS, 25 IRE)
Ross Kane (11 ULS)
Louis Ludik (54 ULS)
Robert Lyttle (8 ULS)
Luke Marshall (104 ULS, 11 IRE)
Paul Marshall (195 ULS, 3 IRE)
Kyle McCall (36 ULS)
Stuart McCloskey (58 ULS, 1 IRE)
Johnny McPhillips
Peter Nelson (37 ULS)
Alan O'Connor (39 ULS)
Tommy O'Hagan
Stuart Olding (62 ULS, 4 IRE)
Jack Owens (1 ULS)
Callum Patterson
Jared Payne (78 ULS, 20 IRE)
Charles Piutau (23 ULS, 16 NZ)
Matthew Rea
Sean Reidy (58 ULS, 2 IRE)
Clive Ross (52 ULS)
David Shanahan (13 ULS)
Jonny Simpson (4 ULS)
Jacob Stockdale (24 ULS, 2 IRE)
Kieran Treadwell (21 ULS, 2 IRE)
Andrew Trimble (217 ULS, 70 IRE)
Schalk van der Merwe
Andrew Warwick (74 ULS)

Been away a while - few snippets.

I can believe the Donald story and someone will be announced very soon
Logans claim to be searching for a year should be taken with a big piece of salt.
Vague enquires sure but only got his arse into gear when the case was announced.

As to alternatives McPhillips is way short of the mark - more belief in Lowry and Curtis
The backups will be Nelson and Cooney

As to the case - the Ulster position is simple.
Guilty - you leave, innocent you stay - no if buts or maybes
As to personality I am afraid that we have a few self important dicks in the squad - Jackson and Olding fit that.
Gilroy needs to wise up and work harder
On a positive note they are a minority. L Marshall for example is a absolute top bloke

Henderson has come back from the Lions a change man I think he now realises what he can achieve in the game.
High hopes of him this year and our pack generally.
Coetzee and Deysel will give us real power alongside Hendo.
Deysel is one mean son of a bitch - few Yellows but probably what we need.

Gibbes and Dundon will make our pack unrecognisable from last year

At last Geoff

I'm glad to hear the Donald story might hold true. I just read a little reminder of the connections. Who was team captain in Donalds very first year at Chiefs? Yep, our Jonno. A wee phone call from an old pal may have indeed gotten talks underway.

Great to hear there's hope for our pack. There's a lot of stepping up to do but each and every player has the ability to do just that.

Is he related to McDonald Trump?

St John The Enforcer wrote:Is he related to McDonald Trump?

?

Posted elsewhere

'Hurricanes centre Pita Ahki is joining Waikato but Stephen Donald hasn't re-signed yet.

Donald was expected to sign a one-year deal ahead of this season's Mitre 10 Cup and join Waikato's squad that will be officially announced on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.'

geoff999rugby wrote:Logans claim to be searching for a year should be taken with a big piece of salt.
Vague enquires sure but only got his arse into gear when the case was announced.

It seemed to be the plan was to keep it out of the papers and keep going as if nothing was happening, then the BBC reported on it and things got trickier, then the hope was it won't go to court, then the charges came and everyone realised they were f*#ked and to keep playing them would create a PR problem especially if they are found guilty

geoff999rugby wrote:Gibbes and Dundon will make our pack unrecognisable from last year

From set pieces the pack wasn't as bad as some make out, it was nowhere near where it should have been but any improvement will be welcome and should see us being dominant rather than competitive. If we can get a back row that understands what it is meant to do at the breakdown then that would be a welcome change

"If we can get a back row that understands what it is meant to do at the breakdown then that would be a welcome change"

Doesn't Gibbs specialize in the breakdown area? Maybe I'm wrong but I'm sure I read that somewhere. If so, happy days.

Dundon is coming in specialising in the scrum and breakdown, Gibbes being a former backrow Im sure will have plenty to contribute there too

marty2086 wrote:
From set pieces the pack wasn't as bad as some make out,

At the lineout our stats were ok but in practise execution was poor.
At one match Bararak pointed out we were getting scrappy ball from the lineout putting Ruan under a lot of pressure and unable to do anything effective.
Clarke replied we had won 8 out of 9 lineouts in the match and that was all that mattered.
Bararak put his head in his hands at that time.
Sometimes stats do lie - Clarke couldn't grasp that

As for scrums Herbst, Warwick, Black, Herring have gone backwards, Ah You has been underwhelming and McCall hasn't improved - that's what happens when you don't have a specialised front rower coaching

geoff999rugby wrote:Been away a while - few snippets.

I can believe the McDonald story and someone will be announced very soon
Logans claim to be searching for a year should be taken with a big piece of salt.
Vague enquires sure but only got his arse into gear when the case was announced.

As to alternatives McPhillips is way short of the mark - more belief in Lowry and Curtis
The backups will be Nelson and Cooney

As to the case - the Ulster position is simple.
Guilty - you leave, innocent you stay - no if buts or maybes
As to personality I am afraid that we have a few self important dicks in the squad - Jackson and Olding fit that.
Gilroy needs to wise up and work harder
On a positive note they are a minority. L Marshall for example is a absolute top bloke

Henderson has come back from the Lions a change man I think he now realises what he can achieve in the game.
High hopes of him this year and our pack generally.
Coetzee and Deysel will give us real power alongside Hendo.
Deysel is one mean son of a bitch - few Yellows but probably what we need.

Gibbes and Dundon will make our pack unrecognisable from last year

Ferris alluded to that pre tour, that it could be the making of Henderson. Think it was the BaaBaas game he said it.

I did wonder if Henderson's massive improvement over the course of the tour (remember he was mince in the first game) was down to an improved lifestyle over the 8 weeks in camp. I had also heard, and I could be wrong, that used to live with Jackson. He's since moved out and got married recently.

Also I totally approve of renaming him Stephen McDonald if he does sign for us.

I assume though that's additional spending Ulster have to take on as our player insurance policy only covers injuries and not wholly preventable court cases.

Basically Henderson has grown up - Jackson hasn't

Redman wrote:Also I totally approve of renaming him Stephen McDonald if he does sign for us.  

I assume though that's additional spending Ulster have to take on as our player insurance policy only covers injuries and not wholly preventable court cases.  

Quite happy to see him dressed as clown as long as he does the business on the pitch

He's a World Cup winner. I'm going to show my ignorance here. How many previous World Cup winners have we had? Muller and Pienaar? Anyone else? Both made the South African bench, did either of them see game time in the final?

Redman wrote:He's a World Cup winner.  I'm going to show my ignorance here.  How many previous World Cup winners have we had? Muller and Pienaar?  Anyone else?  Both made the South African bench, did either of them see game time in the final?

BJ Botha as part of the same SA squad, I think. Did John Afoa play in the 2011 World Cup for NZ?

Both Botha and Afoa were in World Cup squads

Surely if he's coming to Ireland it'll be Stephen O'Donald?

I realized my little McError and fixed it although McDonald has an altogether better ring to it.

If remember thinking there was no way we were going to sign Ruan right up until the moment we did. This is that same feeling all over again. He'd be some player to have by way of consolation for Dublin forcing Ruan out.
Fingers will be firmly crossed until tomorrow which is when the guy who's usually accurate on t'other forum says it's being announced (I'd give him perhaps 48 hours extra).

Any word on the captaincy for the season?

Scary thought

If Bowe, Payne, Cave and Trimble all retire in the next 18 months - perfectly possible
New 10 and Piatau away and a certain court case delivers a certain result.

Then 10 to 15 we have - Nelson, McCloskey, Marshall, Gilroy, Stockdale, Ludik, Lyttle and then virtually nothing
No back three players in the academy and the backs in the full squad do not give me the convince they have what it takes
(Owens, Busby, Patterson - Herron I cannot even take seriously)

Ludik is only 6 months younger than Cave, not far fetched to think he won't be far behind too

Does Butler not cover 15?

Different is Ludik seems in good shape - Darren has one too many  headaches for my liking.
To be honest I am stretching a point with Darren but past 30 and a few injury issues it could be true
The other 3 I actually expect none of them to go beyond the WC season and I don't think Tommy will make that

Butler may well cover 15 but he is only seriously being viewed as a centre

You have to wonder how long we have been thinking we might need to sign an NIQ 10 and if that had any impact on our ability to argue for keeping our NIQ 9...
Or at the very least we realised we might need to stop fighting the IRFU on Ruan, and start sucking up to them out of fear for our 10 situation.

I think the expectation is Tommys done after this season

With call ups, injuries and suspensions we could be left pretty bare this season

Given his new found availability, surely Bryn has to be contemplating offering his a short term deal on the cheap to add

clivemcl wrote:You have to wonder how long we have been thinking we might need to sign an NIQ 10 and if that had any impact on our ability to argue for keeping our NIQ 9...
Or at the very least we realised we might need to stop fighting the IRFU on Ruan, and start sucking up to them out of fear for our 10 situation.

The 10 situation had zero impact on the Pienaer situation
IRFU were determined Ruan had to go regardless

geoff999rugby wrote:Scary thought

If Bowe, Payne, Cave and Trimble all retire in the next 18 months - perfectly possible
New 10 and Piatau away and a certain court case delivers a certain result.

Then 10 to 15 we have - Nelson, McCloskey, Marshall, Gilroy, Stockdale, Ludik, Lyttle and then virtually nothing
No back three players in the academy and the backs in the full squad do not give me the convince they have what it takes
(Owens, Busby, Patterson - Herron I cannot even take seriously)

Imagine Mark Keane will be given an Academy place after playing against the Baa Baas.

And I'm surprised there hasn't been any talk of Rory Scholes coming back after his release from Edinburgh

"And I'm surprised there hasn't been any talk of Rory Scholes coming back after his release from Edinburgh"

He'd be a decent backup so surely it's being considered.

Keane needs to learn how to defend otherwise he is going nowhere.
Currently in the sub academy.
Not holding my breath

Scholes burnt his bridges insisting he wanted to be only considered as a 15.
If he came back now and spun a different story it would look like desperation and we would be rightly sceptical
Don't think we will be interested

But who is more desperate - Scholes or us?

Scholes - at least for next season - which is what we are talking about.

Ludik, Payne, Gilroy, Stockdale, Lyttle - we don't need him as a 15 which is where he wants to play

Surely after his stint at Edinburgh he's learnt he's not a 15

I still think he'd be an asset and an inexpensive one at that if he's desperate.

I only just read the article about Franco VDM being released by Cardiff so they can focus on homegrown talent (or are tightening their belts). Not the classiest move by the Blues and I hope Franco gets compensated along with a nice fat contract elsewhere. London Irish seem interested it seems.

He could be of interest to one of the SA sides too

You would expect Cheetahs and Kings would be keen to sign. But maybe can't compete on money yet?

The home grown talent are cheaper, it's the same thing Ospreys did after their Galaticos approach. The added upside is now that any Welsh players that come good, they can get the WRU to take on the bulk of their wages too with the NDCs

So much for private ownership being the more sustainable model though

Or the fact his form fell off a cliff, during the second half of last season, means they are not interested.

He wouldn't be that expensive.
Also I suspect he has failed to impress at Cardiff in pre season hence his release

Trouble with rumours is they get hardened into facts

I said 'I can believe the Donald story and someone will be announced very soon'

No one has, at least in my presence, said a name and that includes Donald.
There definitely someone coming and an announcement will be very soon (this week I am certain)
I have been told I will be pleased with the name - hence my comment.

That could be someone, on the other site, putting 2+2 and getting 5.
Then again they could be spot on

It does add up. If you are told you will be pleased.... There's not many free agents looking for a club that would leave your pleased currently I imagine!
I'm getting my hopes up I have to say...

Realistically who is out there at the moment?

Theres a lot more movement these days of players who are under contract, Glaws and Leicester had their swap deal yesterday and today Quins released Ruiardh Jackson to go back to Glasgow so could be someone under contract

Can forget Scoles he's just signed for Connacht.

Good to see him coming back to Irelabd though.

I'm happy for Scholes, glad he's got a contract.
In other news...
T'other forum has awoken again.
One guy has heard a name, super Rugby player with International Caps who won't be available until mid-october.

Everyones now Googling every fly half in Super Rugby

marty2086 wrote:Everyones now Googling every fly half in Super Rugby

You were too Marty admit it
That does still fit The Beaver.

Was tempted to but hoped to put the idea out there so someone would save me the effort and just put up a list of the options

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2017/08/cult-hero-stephen-donald-left-out-of-waikato-squad-for-mitre-10-cup.html

Promising stuff here with a wee mention of Ulster

Think Logans search may not have found anyone

https://twitter.com/UlsterRugby/status/894997391836950528/photo/1

They should add CEO to that list

"Rugby World Cup winner Stephen Donald has admitted he's currently unemployed. But it doesn't seem like it will last for long.
The 2011 Rugby World Cup hero has told Martin Devlin on Radio Sport's Devlin Radio Show that he's got a few offers to consider following his final game for the Chiefs last month.
"The body's in great nick. I want to carry on playing. I'm loving my rugby more than ever. I can honestly sit here and say that I'm unemployed right now. I haven't signed anything, I'm trying to sort something out in the next few days," Donald told Devlin.
"I've got offers. Some are overseas, some are local. It's just a matter of weighing it up over the next few days."
Donald famously was a late injury call-up to the All Blacks' squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup following injuries to first five-eighths Dan Carter and Colin Slade.
When Aaron Cruden suffered a knee injury in the final against France, Donald replaced him and kicked a penalty which eventually was the winning points of the final.
Donald released a biography today titled Beaver."

So nothing signed just yet although we could now use a book signing to entrap him.

Hope I wrong but this smells of complete and utter cowpat coming from Logan.

The story we have signed a good 10 comes, second hand, directly from him.
If has jumped the gun and it proves to be false he will have lost what little respect he has left.