Back to Pro12 - Leinster v Ulster

[COYBIB]

This Luke McGrath passing thing is getting tedious. At very, very worst you could say he provided a perfectly adequate service for his half-backs in that game, but in reality he was good at keeping up the tempo, his passing % was high accuracy, he made good decisions and his box kicking has looked excellent for quite a while now.

"Someone on the internet said he can't pass in 2013, so that's my opinion for the rest of his career and any time he makes a poor pass I'll turn to my mate and say 'see, I told you so'".

Reddans distribution was absolutely dire, he made two complete balls of passes from consecutive rucks that had a net result of -20/-25 from their 22 back to our own 10 metre line. His performance against Wasps was the single worst performance I've seen from a Leinster scrum-half in god knows how long - he's not as bad as Boss, but that was worse than anything even Boss has produced. Reddan even got hauled off near the start of the second half - a lot earlier than usual for that replacement, and he wasn't injured. I mean if we're going to talk about bad passing - how Luke McGrath comes up in the conversation after two of Reddans recent performances and the last couple of years of Boss' career is beyond me.

And not only did his appearance make a substantial difference against Bath when he came on, immediately raising the tempo and urgency and generally making us look far more dangerous, not least the lovely line he took and opened the space for the onrushing VDF (who has been superb, but Luke McG can take a lot of credit for that score), but when he came off in this game, we went completely limp..I'm being serious when I say Reddan can not pass accurately over a distance of 5 yards anymore.

The final string to McGraths bow is he comes across as a great leader - always talking, communicating with backs and forwards alike, bosses the pack well, has pedigree as a leader and we really need as many leaders and personalities in our squad like that as we can get.

[simonokeeffe]

On merit from the last 3 games think its fair to say Luke McGrath has been our form scrumhalf, he even gave McCloskey a shove after the whistle at one point, got to love that level of spikiness in a young 9. Feel sorry for anyone (that size) who has Nick Williams fall on their leg
was interesting the way Ulster seemed to really target Te'o for a jackal (after a chop tackle everytime)
Cronin's tackling was poor again whereas Tracy was putting in highlights reel tackles

Starting to get a bit worried about our S & C/warmups with the amount of our subs getting injured right after they come on

Noel Reid was in A & E last night so thats not good

[Gearzbox2]

On merit from the last 3 games think its fair to say Luke McGrath has been our form scrumhalf, he even gave McCloskey a shove after the whistle at one point, got to love that level of spikiness in a young 9. Feel sorry for anyone (that size) who has Nick Williams fall on their leg
was interesting the way Ulster seemed to really target Te'o for a jackal (after a chop tackle everytime)
Cronin's tackling was poor again whereas Tracy was putting in highlights reel tackles

Starting to get a bit worried about our S & C/warmups with the amount of our subs getting injured right after they come on

Noel Reid was in A & E last night so thats not good

Granted McGrath has been form scrum half, controlled and aggressive, disappointing for him to be forced off so early
You seem to have a vendetta against cronin, thought his tackling and work at the breakdown especially in the first 40 was good...do agree that Treacy was very good when he came on but thought cronins work at scrum especially against Best( best scrummager in rugby supposedly) was a huge contributor to scrum performance...4 scrum penalties

[Logorrhea]

Reddan wasn't great when he came on but I'd hold off on announcing the end of his career. He's struggling for form a bit but that'll come.

[hugonaut]

I thought it was obvious that we were unsure of what to do at times but honestly feel that the more time goes on the better that will be and that there'll be a knock on effect with the handling. The handling needs to improve regardless but again I think it will. Because I know what the players are capable of, I'm strangely optimistic after what was a poor performance. I guess it's because we were poor in areas that I don't think we're poor as a squad, just poor right now.

I'm the same. Not the sharpest performance in attack, but I thought there were a lot of positives to take away from the game.

Really impressed with JVDF again, who would have been my man of the match. I also thought that James Tracy made a very positive impact when he came on, and his crunching tackle of Iain Henderson was a real highlight for me. The guys who have come through the academy in recent years – Marty Moore, JVDF, Leavy, Tracy, Ringrose, Luke McGrath – have obviously put massive effort into their tackling and all been taught well. They all drop their hips, hit low and keep their feet working through contact. The older guys [bar Heaslip, who is a super-solid and technical tackler] seem to have more ad hoc technique.

There's no getting away from it that we were blunt near their line, but in fairness to Ulster, they just kept on getting bodies in the way. I think we were held up over their line twice and we also had Te'o drop a certain try. I thought that we played the conditions well, because the second half Ulster really, really struggled to get out of their own half much. There was a big wind blowing down from Anglesea Road to Simmonscourt and we took advantage of it much better than they did.

Up and down performance from Mads at No12. Really positive in how he stood up defensively to Stuart McCluskey [who is f*cking enormous in the flesh] – ESPN has him with 12 tackles made/0 missed. That's a big step up from how either of our other inside centres in recent matches have done. Luke Fitz went a horrific 7 made/6 missed against Bath and Reid was 2 made/2 missed against Wasps. He had some lovely touches, but didn't assert himself on the game in the way that you would hope when we had the ball. He had a couple of classic Madigan kicks [average height, average length, straight down the throat of their fullback] and a real dither late in the game when he was in at outhalf.

Aside from that, bringing in two nippers into the tight five at the end of the game [Molony and Dooley, both 21] and not losing too much in the scrum was good to see. Would definitely have liked to see more of Garry Ringrose though. I thought that Leo put a good team out there, and while I would like to see a couple of youngsters given more exposure on the wing [Adam Byrne and Cian Kelliher], that will hopefully come sooner rather than later. Byrne's involvement with the Sevens team [they have a tournament in Dubai at the weekend] may take him out of contention a little bit, but from his showing in the 'A' game against Moseley, it seems to be bringing on his confidence and his form, so there are positives to it.

[johng]

Reddan wasn't great when he came on but I'd hold off on announcing the end of his career. He's struggling for form a bit but that'll come.

No way. If a player has 2 bad games in a row and is over 30 their career is over. Did no one fill you in on that rule?

He needs a slap though. The "flapping arms and looking at the ref" is not a good look. Especially when "looking at the ball and fuking playing it" is an option.

He hasn't forgotten how to pass though. That will come back.

McGrath should definitely be first choice though.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

It's hardly a blip with Reddan, he's had more bad games than good ones ever since Joe left.

[rooster]

For anyone mad enough to want to watch again
Full match video

[tate]

once was enough thanks rooster

[Bogger]

firstly it was freezing there last night and the game didnt give us alot to shout about, but hard to play in those conditions. Poor enough crowd hope thats down to weather. We are not confident at moment but I was really impressed by urgency and ISA, McGrath(s), Luke Fitz, Teo,Sexton, Ruddock, VdF(a star in making), Toner, MacCarthy, Furlong,Cronnin (mostly one bad throw at crucial time), and replacements Moore, Tracey and Moloney - pass mark for Heaslip tried hard enough but manged to stay focused for most of game, Mads just alright, Kirchner and Redden - not at the races. tactics just OK at least we had sexton running the show

Ps Ulster have a fine centre in Mccloskey future for Ireland I think and Best is fantastic but they have real issues in Pack

[rooster]

once was enough thanks rooster

Same here, I didn't even check that video encoded properly!

[paddyor]

This Luke McGrath passing thing is getting tedious. At very, very worst you could say he provided a perfectly adequate service for his half-backs in that game, but in reality he was good at keeping up the tempo, his passing % was high accuracy, he made good decisions and his box kicking has looked excellent for quite a while now.

"Someone on the internet said he can't pass in 2013, so that's my opinion for the rest of his career and any time he makes a poor pass I'll turn to my mate and say 'see, I told you so'".

Reddans distribution was absolutely dire, he made two complete balls of passes from consecutive rucks that had a net result of -20/-25 from their 22 back to our own 10 metre line. His performance against Wasps was the single worst performance I've seen from a Leinster scrum-half in god knows how long - he's not as bad as Boss, but that was worse than anything even Boss has produced. Reddan even got hauled off near the start of the second half - a lot earlier than usual for that replacement, and he wasn't injured. I mean if we're going to talk about bad passing - how Luke McGrath comes up in the conversation after two of Reddans recent performances and the last couple of years of Boss' career is beyond me.

And not only did his appearance make a substantial difference against Bath when he came on, immediately raising the tempo and urgency and generally making us look far more dangerous, not least the lovely line he took and opened the space for the onrushing VDF (who has been superb, but Luke McG can take a lot of credit for that score), but when he came off in this game, we went completely limp..I'm being serious when I say Reddan can not pass accurately over a distance of 5 yards anymore.

The final string to McGraths bow is he comes across as a great leader - always talking, communicating with backs and forwards alike, bosses the pack well, has pedigree as a leader and we really need as many leaders and personalities in our squad like that as we can get.

Yeah, People keep bringing it up because it once or twice back in 2013!

[neiliog93]

For anyone mad enough to want to watch again
Full match video

I really appreciate these kind of uploads. I'll be uploading a few notable moments to my Youtube channel in the next few days including Nick Williams' hand-off (what a beast, pawing off 111kg of Ruddock twice in a row as if he were a small child!).

Reddan hasn't played consistently well in over a year and is now 35. Most players cease to be able to play to a level good enough to justify being a top level professional at around the age of 35 (maybe a bit later for the tight five and a bit earlier for back three). Reddan's career probably is over, as is Boss' (who hasn't played well for 2 years and is nearly 36).

[Oldschoolsocks]

What's your YouTube channel Neilog? Maybe put it in you signature??

[Xanthippe]

I'll be uploading a few notable moments to my Youtube channel in the next few days including Nick Williams' hand-off (what a beast, pawing off 111kg of Ruddock twice in a row as if he were a small child

I'm looking forward to seeing this again. I thought at the time that Rhys may have been 'unbalanced' for the knock down because he seemed to stagger after the first contact - it looked initially like he may have tackled badly and had knocked himself a little bit senseless. The replay on the big screen also made it look like the hand off was directly into the throat which must have been extremely painful and quite possibly more than a little dangerous.

[fourthirtythree]

Yeah his centre of gravity was behind his feet relative to Williams so while it looked great the second hand off wasn't necessarily that powerful.

There were quite a few nice ones out there on Friday though.

[neiliog93]

I'll try to get some of the hits uploaded today and will link them in here. Whatever you say about Nick Williams, he's almost uniquely powerful in short bursts, and that's a big thing to say in the world of rugby.

[UlsterMan]

Good evening friends, just wanted to pop on and say congrats on the win on Friday night. Beyond that I'll say nathin' cos the rest of the game was cr@p

Great to meet a few of you guys in the OLSC Bar after the game (didn't get any names sadly, but I'm sure I talked to a few!) and really look forward to welcoming you to Ravenhill later this season

[molloyjh]

The big thing I took away from that was that our handling was shocking. We were far more direct than the last couple of weeks which was great, and we had far more invention which was also great, but our hands let us down time and time again. I feel like we're missing one or two players in top form just to knit everything together but we're close. I'm very much reminded of 07-08 when we were just missing one or two elements before clicking. Imagine if Te'o had held on to Sexton's pass, I think we'd be infinitely more positive about things.

Thought Moore was great when he came on, I'd be starting him from now on. Tracy was great on the loose again but think there was another lineout that ended up going to nobody. Thought Luke McGrath was brilliant. Things fell down a bit outside him but thought he was really good and hope the injury isn't as bad as it looked. It would be a massive blow for all concerned if he's out for a while, just awful timing. Ruddock and VDF were outstanding, they were the two huge positives from tonight IMO. Heaslip much better as well, possibly because of how well balanced the back row was.

Don't agree about Luke Fitz having a great game. Poor under the high ball, kicked possession away, and had one horror pass to nobody. There were good points alright and he was lively and worked hard, but overall he wasn't great. Isa looked injured to me, maybe there's some confirmation bias there but that's how I saw it. He had some good moments but the pass to the deck was awful and there were other dodgy moments. Madigan's skip passes and rushed drop goal attempts gave me heart palpitations, thank god we kept things tight for the majority of the last few mins. Ringrose was excellent when he came on. Involved in everything and had some clear outs that put our tight five to shame. I feel like we need more firepower out wide and amn't sure if we have the personnel for it or not, but he will certainly help things as the season goes on.

Ulster offered very little. I said after the games last week that I'd be worried about Ulster because they tried really hard and couldn't get anywhere, and I'd be even more worried about them now. I feel like we just need a bit more clarity in our game plan, confidence, and maybe one or two form/ball players out wide and we'll improve hugely, but Ulster really lack oomph up front. Henderson and Williams offered it at times but it was nowhere near enough and it's not like there are injured players to come back. McCloskey was a big plus though, thought he was superb and it confirms to me that he should be at 12 for Ireland if Payne is injured. Trimble looked much sharper too which is great.

I thought it was obvious that we were unsure of what to do at times but honestly feel that the more time goes on the better that will be and that there'll be a knock on effect with the handling. The handling needs to improve regardless but again I think it will. Because I know what the players are capable of, I'm strangely optimistic after what was a poor performance. I guess it's because we were poor in areas that I don't think we're poor as a squad, just poor right now.

Agree with almost all of this. I've been saying for a while that I think we needed to (and need to) replace Richie Murphy. Get someone in to focus solely on skills and kicking. I actually think that might make a bit of a difference in the areas we need to see it.

We definitely did a lot more right than wrong and we just need to start finishing those opportunities we're creating. Either that or be ruthless in terms of coming away with points with every visit to the opposition 22, be that penalties or drop goals if required. We've dominated our last 2 home games in pretty much every respect except the scoreboard, and if we can get that ticking over more we'll be in a good place I think.

I will say that I am worried about Reddans form. He started well enough when he came on despite losing the ball in contact a few times. But he totally imploded around the 50th minute and we lost all momentum off the back of that. The dropped ball off the back of that attacking scrum killed what should have been a scoring position. But then he followed that up with some poor passing, including that one off the line-out that went forward and got turned over, which ultimately led to Ulsters only try scoring opportunity all game. McGraths injury is a real blow from that perspective.

[jezzer]

LeRoux and Hugo hav said everything I would have wanted to say on the players, except for one comment.

Van Der Flier's performance was the best I've ever seen from an academy graduate senior player that I can remember and one of the best I've seen overall in the RDS. He was outstanding. In the review session, I hope there's a prize for spotting a single error the kid made. VDF was like a fecking Greek warrior at Thermopylae, leaving Persian bodies littered all over the gaff.