simonokeeffe wrote:neiliog93 wrote:He's been terrible. Didn't bother tracking back for Munster's first try.
I dont say this often but he shouldve been subbed in the first half to set an example
A really half-assed performance from him, borderline unprofessional. He can legitimately crib about not getting enough front foot ball, but when you put in a slack performance like that you undermine your own credibility.
Stockdale had a shocker, as did Olding. Luke Marshall played extremely well – as did McCloskey when he came on – and I thought that Trimble and Pienaar did well. Jackson was up and down, but definitely more good than bad.
Their pack needs a huge turnover – obviously Coetzee and Arno Botha are coming in, and there are rumours that Sean Dougal is coming in from Pau, all of which are much needed positives. Two of them are NIE and there are a lot of people ahead of Dougal in the queue for the Irish openside jersey, so that [in theory] gives the province a whole new backrow for the season in one swoop. They need to make an investment in gametime in Lorcan Dow and Nick Timoney, both of whom were good Irish U20 backrows. Reidy is a good player and can be a really useful No7, but he's not in his best position at No8.
If Leinster don't pick Gavin Thornbury up, Ulster could do a hell of a lot worse than bringing him in; I think that he has the size, athleticism and potential to play pro rugby. Schalk van der Merwe is coming in from the Kings as a loosehead, but they need to really push Ross Kane's development over the safe[ish] but limited options of Warwick and Black. Ideally they could bring Niall Annett back; Worcester are f*cking dire, Rory Best misses loads of the season with Ireland and can't go on forever and Herring needs pressure put on his place.
EDIT: They would also do well to alter their strange line on Dominic Ryan! Maybe Jonno Gibbes will have some input there, if there's any joined up thinking. Dippy will be out of contract at the end of season but only 27 years old – a capped international with 112 Leinster appearances, 17 tries and a good few hard-earned medals to his name ... five years younger than Diack and six years younger than Chris Henry.