Ulster v. Leinster Sat 30th 3pm

[wixfjord]

Big old two week lead in to this. Should be a cracking atmosphere in the Kingspan.

Presumably we'll be going full bore selection wise.

My choice would be
McGrath, Strauss, Ross, Toner, Kearney, Ruddock, VDF, Heaslip, Reddan, Sexton, Isa, Fitz, Te'o, DK, RK
Healy, Cronin, Furlong, Molony, Murphy, McGrath, Madigan, Ringrose

Personally, I think Te'o is far more effective at 13, and I'd like to see Fitz back in the 12 jersey, given his performance in traffic the other night.
Wouldn't be opposed to Te'o/Ringrose, but getting Fitz, Te'o and Isa into that backline should help a lot.

I'd be pretty confident that team is good enough to win up norf.

Just looking at our pack at the moment, it's very beefy. MK is a big addition there.

[riocard911]

Big old two week lead in to this. Should be a cracking atmosphere in the Kingspan.

Presumably we'll be going full bore selection wise.

My choice would be
McGrath, Strauss, Ross, Toner, Kearney, Ruddock, VDF, Heaslip, Reddan, Sexton, Isa, Fitz, Te'o, DK, RK
Healy, Cronin, Furlong, Molony, Murphy, McGrath, Madigan, Ringrose

Personally, I think Te'o is far more effective at 13, and I'd like to see Fitz back in the 12 jersey, given his performance in traffic the other night.
Wouldn't be opposed to Te'o/Ringrose, but getting Fitz, Te'o and Isa into that backline should help a lot.

I'd be pretty confident that team is good enough to win up norf.

Just looking at our pack at the moment, it's very beefy. MK is a big addition there.

Good selection. I too am of the opinion, that Luke Fitz is our best option at 12 at the moment. Also reckon our pack can do a job on their Nordie opposite numbers. Our D should be capable of preventing the likes of Olding and Pienaar doing too much trouble. With J10 pulling the strings I think we should be looking to win and not just secure a LBP. I reckon it's doable. My hope is that this year's visit to Ravers would be as seminal match of the season in positive terms as last year's dreadful, deflating performance was from a negative point of view.

[COYBIB]

Team I'd go with:

1. McGrath 2. Strauss 3. Ross 4. M.Kearney 5. Toner 6. Ruddock 7. Van Der Flier 8. Heslip
9. L.McGrath 10. Sexton 11. Fitzgerald 12. Te'o 13. Ringrose 14. Nacewa 15. R.Kearney
16. Cronin 17. Healy 18. Furlong 19. Moloney 20. Murphy 21. Reddan 22. Madigan 23. D.Kearney

Losing bonus is a good result here, a win and we could rest players in our final home game if we wanted (although I don't think we need it, and would prefer we focus on continuity).

Expect a fired up Ulster, it's their final home game of the season, with their last game away to Ospreys, they're fighting for a play-off spot, but with two losable games are in danger of being drawn down into the European survival spots with a loss, and seeding to fight for too. There's so much importance on this game for them, they will be aiming for their performance of the season here.

[cormac]

SOB and Marty Moore could well be in contention for this one.

[curates_egg]

SOB and Marty Moore could well be in contention for this one.

With SOB, if he's fit, it's worth seeing what kind of shape he's in. Our first choice 6-8 have all been playing very well, so if SOB is back flying, whichever of Rhys or VDF he would replace would be very unlucky.
With Moore, why bother? Are we not better going for as consistent a front five as possible from now on in?

[goreyguy]

SOB on the bench for me.

[johng]

Good plan. Seanie and Ciano to trot on at 60 and knock a few heads together.

[wixfjord]

I'd have Moore as an I.C.E. option for the rest of the season, only to be used if Furlong or Ross get injured.

SOB though would be a nice option from the bench. Can't see Rhys being dropped so it's possible he'll come back in at 7 against Treviso.

[molloyjh]

Our first string team have a lot of work to do to step up from where they were against Munster if they hope to beat Ulster in Kingspan. Especially as Ulster will be playing their last home game and will be desperate for the win. They've a seriously talented back line that could cause us some trouble.

I know people want to see Luke at 12 but I wonder if having him on the wing gives him a bit more license to roam and hit the line where he can as opposed to being second receiver. If Te'o is at 13 then Luke needs to stay in the midfield given Te'os distribution issues. It ties Luke down more when we might be best served giving him some more freedom. Would slotting Madigan into 12 be a better options I wonder? I know his form is really poor at the moment but he has the ability to deliver what Reid does going forward while not having the same weaknesses defensively. Taking the burden of playing 10 off him might help his game these last few weeks too. It won't happen of course...

[Flash Gordon]

Our first string team have a lot of work to do to step up from where they were against Munster if they hope to beat Ulster in Kingspan. Especially as Ulster will be playing their last home game and will be desperate for the win. They've a seriously talented back line that could cause us some trouble.

I know people want to see Luke at 12 but I wonder if having him on the wing gives him a bit more license to roam and hit the line where he can as opposed to being second receiver. If Te'o is at 13 then Luke needs to stay in the midfield given Te'os distribution issues. It ties Luke down more when we might be best served giving him some more freedom. Would slotting Madigan into 12 be a better options I wonder? I know his form is really poor at the moment but he has the ability to deliver what Reid does going forward while not having the same weaknesses defensively. Taking the burden of playing 10 off him might help his game these last few weeks too. It won't happen of course...

Teo's distribution issues are stiffling a lot of our attacking play. Personally I'd play Luke at 12 and Ringrose at 13. Honestly, it doesn't really matter who plays where if Teo is at 12 and 13, lads aren't going to be getting the ball anyway!

[goreyguy]

Our first string team have a lot of work to do to step up from where they were against Munster if they hope to beat Ulster in Kingspan. Especially as Ulster will be playing their last home game and will be desperate for the win. They've a seriously talented back line that could cause us some trouble.

I know people want to see Luke at 12 but I wonder if having him on the wing gives him a bit more license to roam and hit the line where he can as opposed to being second receiver. If Te'o is at 13 then Luke needs to stay in the midfield given Te'os distribution issues. It ties Luke down more when we might be best served giving him some more freedom. Would slotting Madigan into 12 be a better options I wonder? I know his form is really poor at the moment but he has the ability to deliver what Reid does going forward while not having the same weaknesses defensively. Taking the burden of playing 10 off him might help his game these last few weeks too. It won't happen of course...

Teo's distribution issues are stiffling a lot of our attacking play. Personally I'd play Luke at 12 and Ringrose at 13. Honestly, it doesn't really matter who plays where if Teo is at 12 and 13, lads aren't going to be getting the ball anyway!

[cormac]

Fairly unconvinced that Fitzgerald's distribution skills are any better than Teo's, to be honest. It's always been the weakest part of his game. If you want a decent distributor at 12 you play Reid but then you compromise on defensive capabilities. We simply don't have a good all-round 12 at the moment.

[Dave Cahill]

Teo doesn't have any distribution issues, its simply not part of the game plan. We're talking about one of the best offloaders in the Pro12 and we don't even use a trailing runner on him. Ben is there to hit it up hard, suck in defenders and make space for the next phase.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Fairly unconvinced that Fitzgerald's distribution skills are any better than Teo's, to be honest. It's always been the weakest part of his game. If you want a decent distributor at 12 you play Reid but then you compromise on defensive capabilities. We simply don't have a good all-round 12 at the moment.

We would if Leo listened to me about Crosbie.

[Flash Gordon]

Teo doesn't have any distribution issues, its simply not part of the game plan. We're talking about one of the best offloaders in the Pro12 and we don't even use a trailing runner on him. Ben is there to hit it up hard, suck in defenders and make space for the next phase.

It's hard to believe that somebody is instructing Teo to run into contact and simultaneously not getting a runner to move in for the offload to be honest. From a defensive point of view you just double team tackle, don't commit anyone else to the ruck and 13 defenders line up waiting for the next phase. I take Cormac's point on Fitzgerald's fairly average distribution but he does run lines and run round defenders which actually does create space.

[OTT]

Fairly unconvinced that Fitzgerald's distribution skills are any better than Teo's, to be honest. It's always been the weakest part of his game. If you want a decent distributor at 12 you play Reid but then you compromise on defensive capabilities. We simply don't have a good all-round 12 at the moment.

I do not disagree with that but if Friday night told us anything it is that we need Luke on the ball as much as possible. As pathetic as it is at this level our backs are dependent on individuals doing something themselves and Luke's performance showed us what we have missed him a lot over the last few depressing months. If he is not gonna be in the centre then we need him coming in more from the wing.

[Dave Cahill]

Teo doesn't have any distribution issues, its simply not part of the game plan. We're talking about one of the best offloaders in the Pro12 and we don't even use a trailing runner on him. Ben is there to hit it up hard, suck in defenders and make space for the next phase.

It's hard to believe that somebody is instructing Teo to run into contact and simultaneously not getting a runner to move in for the offload to be honest.

They why isn't it happening? Even if he doesn't offload the runner would be there if the offload were on the menu, but it isn't.

Its actually pretty easy to believe - first year coach uses crashball 101. Next season - rangys for beginners

[curates_egg]

TWe're talking about one of the best offloaders in the Pro12.

Is he though? He did a lot more offloading early on and a lot of it was really poor. I can remember plenty possession turned over from his offloads. Maybe that was down to him and maybe it wasn't, but surely that is part of the reason he is not mandated to try it often now?
That said, he and Reid did look like they had developed a very good working relationship at the start of this season, with Reid running lines off him to good effect at times.

For the run in, our first 1-10 and 16-22 pretty much picks itself. It is kind of crazy that we still aren't sure for the outside backs.
In terms of impact/form, I'd have Isa, Te'o, Fitzgerald and Ringrose involved. If Rob is fit, I'd also have him involved. That essentially means a backline of Fitz-Te'o-Ringrose-Isa-Rob (not perfect but very good). If Ferg hadn't become such a liability and/or his season wasn't over, I think he's shown he is a great option at 23...but I think we need to plan without him. That means 23 is between Dave and Kirchner I guess: both have had major highs and lows this season, so a bit of a toss-up.

[cormac]

Fairly unconvinced that Fitzgerald's distribution skills are any better than Teo's, to be honest. It's always been the weakest part of his game. If you want a decent distributor at 12 you play Reid but then you compromise on defensive capabilities. We simply don't have a good all-round 12 at the moment.

I do not disagree with that but if Friday night told us anything it is that we need Luke on the ball as much as possible. As pathetic as it is at this level our backs are dependent on individuals doing something themselves and Luke's performance showed us what we have missed him a lot over the last few depressing months. If he is not gonna be in the centre then we need him coming in more from the wing.

I definitely want Luke in the starting XV but simply think his best position is still on the wing. At this stage of the season I think I'd go with just getting our best backs on the pitch and hope they can conjure up something between them. To me that's Reddan/McGrath, Sexton, Fitzgerald, Te'o, Ringrose, Nacewa and Rob Kearney (bench of Reddan/McGrath, Madigan, Dave Kearney).

My Leinster pack to start against Ulster would be McGrath, Strauss, Ross, Toner, Kearney, Ruddock, vd Flier, Heaslip with Cronin, Healy, Furlong, Molony, O'Brien (if fit - plus start him against Treviso) on the bench.

[ChrisUppy]

Fairly unconvinced that Fitzgerald's distribution skills are any better than Teo's, to be honest. It's always been the weakest part of his game. If you want a decent distributor at 12 you play Reid but then you compromise on defensive capabilities. We simply don't have a good all-round 12 at the moment.

Are you for real? The pass Fitz gave for McFaddens first on the weekend blows your theory out of the water (see below). The speed at which he got such a long pass away was excellent, and Ferg didn't have to break stride. Some time ago I would have agreed with you but Fitz has been an excellent distributor for a while now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz7qM0Znhak#t=1m50s

Would still rather him on the wing though btw.