Ulster 2018-2019
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
Signing of Henry Speight confirmed. Deal until 31st December.
Re: Ulster 2018-2019
Henry Speight is a super player, but there are two big problems with this type of signing.neill_m wrote:Signing of Henry Speight confirmed. Deal until 31st December.
You can't win anything in the first half of the year, or even qualify for any knockouts in that period. Nobody goes into the last two group stages of the Heineken Cup having qualified for the knockouts. We won every match we played in the tournament last year and we weren't in that situation.
It's not like there's an early season competition that ends before Christmas that allows you to get some silverware on board and get a big confidence boost. Speight will be there for the wrong end of the season.
If you end badly, very few people remember how well things started. Our 2016-17 season was flat-out magnificent until March. We have rarely [if ever] played better rugby than we did, and we certainly never scored as many tries. But it ended with two bad losses – against Clermont and the Scarlets – and most people forgot how good we had been, and saw the season as a failure to one degree or another.
Secondly, because he's only there for 16 games, Ulster will probably want to play him in loads of games. So you build a backline that is used to having Henry Speight on the wing for half the season, and then you take him out of the equation when you get to the business end of the season, and you have Rob Lyttle or somebody come in and try and replace him having played very little rugby.
He's an exciting player and will likely ensure that some wavering punters come back to Ravenhill. Also, with the retirements of both Tommy Bowe and Andrew Trimble, Ulster obviously have a legitimate need for a winger. But I think a first half of the season deal is a particularly iffy idea.
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
+1 to all of that.hugonaut wrote:Henry Speight is a super player, but there are two big problems with this type of signing.neill_m wrote:Signing of Henry Speight confirmed. Deal until 31st December.
You can't win anything in the first half of the year, or even qualify for any knockouts in that period. Nobody goes into the last two group stages of the Heineken Cup having qualified for the knockouts. We won every match we played in the tournament last year and we weren't in that situation.
It's not like there's an early season competition that ends before Christmas that allows you to get some silverware on board and get a big confidence boost. Speight will be there for the wrong end of the season.
If you end badly, very few people remember how well things started. Our 2016-17 season was flat-out magnificent until March. We have rarely [if ever] played better rugby than we did, and we certainly never scored as many tries. But it ended with two bad losses – against Clermont and the Scarlets – and most people forgot how good we had been, and saw the season as a failure to one degree or another.
Secondly, because he's only there for 16 games, Ulster will probably want to play him in loads of games. So you build a backline that is used to having Henry Speight on the wing for half the season, and then you take him out of the equation when you get to the business end of the season, and you have Rob Lyttle or somebody come in and try and replace him having played very little rugby.
He's an exciting player and will likely ensure that some wavering punters come back to Ravenhill. Also, with the retirements of both Tommy Bowe and Andrew Trimble, Ulster obviously have a legitimate need for a winger. But I think a first half of the season deal is a particularly iffy idea.
And he'll be gone before the new head coach arrives
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
God bless the FIRFU, I suppose we should be grateful for any scraps they throw us.
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
Start producing a few Ireland players and maybe they'll be nicer
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
You mean like McCloskey, Marshall, Olding, Jackson, Spence, Gilroy, Farrell, Arnold, Henry, Henderson and Stockdale? Or older guys like Best, Cave, Bowe, Ferris or Trimble? Or exiles like Herring, Treadwell, Tuohy, Payne, Diack or Reidy? Or under 20s like McPhillips, Lowry, Curtis, O'Toole, Stewart?johng wrote:Start producing a few Ireland players and maybe they'll be nicer
When does the niceness start?
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
Double post
Last edited by johng on August 6th, 2018, 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Ulster 2018-2019
How many of those are in Ireland's AI squad would you guess?
Henderson and Stockdale are the only ones that have come through in the last 10 years.
They were well represented at u20 level this year so maybe things are changing. Hope so.
The niceness started when they had afoa Pienaar Muller etc.
Henderson and Stockdale are the only ones that have come through in the last 10 years.
They were well represented at u20 level this year so maybe things are changing. Hope so.
The niceness started when they had afoa Pienaar Muller etc.
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
Thats a selection matter, not a production one. They are producing players.johng wrote:How many of those are in Ireland's AI squad would you guess?
Henderson and Stockdale are the only ones that have come through in the last 10 years.
They were well represented at u20 level this year so maybe things are changing. Hope so.
The niceness started when they had afoa Pienaar Muller etc.
They had Afoa, Pienaar, Muller et al for the same reason as we had Nacewa, vd Linde, Elsom et al. Revenue protection due to the Unions historical mismanagment of its capital programme.
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
I know we have advantages of population etc. But we did actually produce for Leinster and Ireland after we had those players.
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
And so did Ulster - more Ulster than Leinster players started the first test in South Africa in our first ever away victory over them, for example.johng wrote:I know we have advantages of population etc. But we did actually produce for Leinster and Ireland after we had those players.
But again, thats just selection - though you can't select players that aren't there.
Despite the (for whatever reason) omnishambles that has engulfed Ulster in the last 6 or 7 years, producing players isn't one of those problems.
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
Great article from Sean Farrell. Campbell made a big difference to the performance of the Ulster Ravens. My recollection is that they made it to the B&I knock-outs in two of his three seasons in charge, after a long period of being knocked out in the group stages. Willie Anderson is a legend of the game in Ireland - few people have contributed more and at so many levels. He's always involved with teams, whether it's at under the radar schools rugby, a club side or a professional outfit.Jackie Brown wrote:http://www.the42.ie/ulster-rugby-academ ... 2-Aug2018/
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I think it's good practice to try and balance a big personality with a more analytical approach, so it seems like a set-up that can work.
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
Anybody know whether Ulster considered signing Jack O'Connell from Bristol, before he went to Ealing in May?
Re: Ulster 2018-2019
I would be inclined to agree, however this is a defensive move to shore the squad up, given our current injury profile. We have gone from a position of being heavily stocked in outside backs to being pretty threadbare - with Marshall, Stockdale and Ludik (and Busby) out for the next few months, we're down to McCloskey & Cave in the centre, Gilroy, Lyttle & Addison back three, and then you're into Nelson, Owens and the academy for cover. As short-term cover goes, he'll do...Dave Cahill wrote:+1 to all of that.
And he'll be gone before the new head coach arrives
(word is McFarland will be in soon enough, so will have plenty of time to get to know Henry..)
Re: Ulster 2018-2019
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Re: Ulster 2018-2019
Happened a couple of weeks ago and with IRFU rest he wouldn't be starting much sooner anyway
Re: Ulster 2018-2019
By all accounts it is working pretty well, Anderson has instilled a great team ethic in the squadhugonaut wrote:Great article from Sean Farrell. Campbell made a big difference to the performance of the Ulster Ravens. My recollection is that they made it to the B&I knock-outs in two of his three seasons in charge, after a long period of being knocked out in the group stages. Willie Anderson is a legend of the game in Ireland - few people have contributed more and at so many levels. He's always involved with teams, whether it's at under the radar schools rugby, a club side or a professional outfit.Jackie Brown wrote:http://www.the42.ie/ulster-rugby-academ ... 2-Aug2018/
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I think it's good practice to try and balance a big personality with a more analytical approach, so it seems like a set-up that can work.
Re: Ulster 2018-2019
That list is pretty sad reading really.Dave Cahill wrote:You mean like McCloskey, Marshall, Olding, Jackson, Spence, Gilroy, Farrell, Arnold, Henry, Henderson and Stockdale? Or older guys like Best, Cave, Bowe, Ferris or Trimble? Or exiles like Herring, Treadwell, Tuohy, Payne, Diack or Reidy? Or under 20s like McPhillips, Lowry, Curtis, O'Toole, Stewart?johng wrote:Start producing a few Ireland players and maybe they'll be nicer
When does the niceness start?