rooster wrote:ceemec wrote:We controlled the ruck area fairly well in Clermont and last weekend in Belfast. The backs got plenty of clean ball. Brendan Macken made more yards than anyone on the field for example and our centres got their hands on the ball more often than Ulster's and in good attacking positions too. We were let down by sloppy errors though such as Macken running into Darce or when he knocked on after taking crash ball at Nick Williams and Afoa or the horrible intercept.
Ulster have played sides like that all season, not really competing at rucks away from the line, hitting players hard with the object of dislodging the ball then the vultures come in to grab it, as for the intercept Trimble is becoming a specialist in those with at least 1 a match, Pienaar goes for the chargedowns and gets a couple as well. Tackle stats for Ulster this year are crazy and we just then capitalise on other teams small errors most of which are brought on by pressure, Leinster have worked that game for a few years now and other sides such as Clermont and Ulster are catching up so I don't really think you can call your errors sloppy, they are more forced.
I think you're certainly right to an extent. There's definitely a pattern at work in relation to Trimble's intercepts, Pienaar's chargedowns and the incredible work rate in defence (Chris Henry in particular is off the scale). There were some errors though I'd still categorise as being sloppy and poor attacking play. Macken running directly into D'Arcy and then deciding to take crash ball into the two biggest players on the field were naive and cost us badly twice. Boss not hearing the referee calling him to use the ball at the base of the ruck in his own 22. Reid dropping the ball with nobody near him. All incidents that led to scrums which is the last thing we wanted and all of them pretty much unforced.
Credit to Ulster though. They took their opportunities with precision and had really done their homework at the scrum. I couldn't get over the power of the engage from them. The hit was so cohesive and precise. Watching the scrums again you can see Healy going backwards on impact every time. Just looking at their pack and there is some unreal power and bulk there. Afoa, Court, Best, Henderson, Williams, Diack, McComb, Muller, Stevenson.....the lightest of them is 110kg and most are significantly more. At Leinster, Heaslip, SOB, Cronin, Strauss, Jennings and McLaughlin are all under 110kg which amounts to a good chunk of the pack (Cronin and Strauss are only slightly over 100kg and Jennings not much more). The props like Healy and VDM comparatively light also at 112kg and 113kg respectively. It all adds up when the hit is so accurate.
