Ravens bonus point win...What's the chances?

[The Ulsterian]

LondonWelsh failed to get bonus point on Sat so IF Ravens get bonus point against Aberavon
they will go through.

London Welsh 20 - 10 Llanelli
(15 - 10)

1 London Welsh 5 4 0 1 137 _78 ..20
2 Ulster .........4 3 1 0 103 _62 ..16
3 Bedford .......5 3 0 2 _92 _94 ..13
4 Aberavon .....4 2 0 2 _51 _69 ...9
5 Llanelli ........5 1 1 3 106 117 ...8
6 Moseley .......5 0 0 5 _69 138 ...1


What' s the chances??

[Ardglass2]

Depends what the rules are - elsewhere I have read because we won the head to head we only have to win to go through

[Rooster]

If we don't get a bonus point win we don't deserve to go through.

[cables]

Aberavon deserve to be treated with respect. They have only leaked 9 tries in the 4 matches played to date. 5 of those 9 were in their game v London Welsh which was a little strange as they were at Home - an Aber(avon)ration perhaps. They are also, by far, the lowest try scoring team in the Pool BTW.

Only 4 penalties have been scored against them in 4 games.

An Ulster win will perhaps have to be based on tries rather than points from the boot as the opportunities for penalties may not arise.

Provided UR have got it correct regarding the head to head criteria in the event of a tie, - any win will do.

[ColinM]

Maybe our first team lads will come along and watch Aberavon display how not to give away penalties

[ulsterrugby4life]

Maybe our first team lads will come along and watch Aberavon display how not to give away penalties

maybe just send caldwell and give him a test at the end?!?!

[Freddie Benson]

comment on 'Rugby Club' that ravens are in the box seat based on the head to head would suggest, as cables has here, that a win would be enough

[Neill_M]

Nicked from munsterfans:

munsterrugby.ie

8 March 2010, 11:03 am
By Chris Byrne

Following Bristol's 21-16 victory over Nottingham yesterday, Munster require just one point from next Friday's Musgrave Park clash with Heriots to advance to the semi-final of the British & Irish Cup.
That win leaves Bristol top of the table, one point ahead of Munster. In the event that both sides end up with the same points 18, Munster will advance to the semi-final by virtue of their win over Bristol when the sides met in Nenagh RFC.
Already through to the semi-finals are Doncaster Knights and Cornish Pirates who ended Leinster's hopes when they defeated Newport 26-20 in Camborne yesterday.

The final place in the semis will go to either London Welsh or Ulster Ravens. Welsh have completed their programme and are on 20 points, four ahead of Ulster. The Ravens are home to Aberavon in their final game where a win will see them go through.

The British & Irish Cup semi final draw will be made on Wednesday, March 24th. The 1st and 3rd teams drawn will receive home advantage in the semi finals that will be played on the weekend of April 24th.

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

played on the weekend of April 24th.

ie same weekend ulster are away to edinburgh...
which means if ravens do get to semis it will really be an A team - proper test of squad strength in depth...

[Neill_M]

can't make the magners play-offs, only playing for pride. What's to stop Ulster sending an inexperienced team to Edinburgh and make the B&I SF the priority? A trophy is a trophy.

[Ithryn]

We can still make the play offs, we are 8 points behind 4th spot. More than capable of making that up with the home matches that we have left, and at least 1 win away.

The other clubs will continue to take points off each other, and there has been no teams pulling away.

Three home wins would be a good start.

And on the issue of the edinburgh away match we need to learn to get wins in places like edinburgh, the loss in the heinkein should be motivation enough.

[Neill_M]

I admire your optimism re the playoffs. 8 points is a lot given the number of games left. Ulster's points difference is inferior to the teams above them, which is important given that is the second deciding measure if teams are tied on points (the first being number of games won). Need to be 6 from 6 in the rest of the season I reckon to even have a chance and can't see it with trips to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Cardiff. It has taken 48 and 52 points respectively in the last 2 seasons to make 4th in the league and we currently have 25.

[Ithryn]

Cardiff are in a mess this season. The scotland games will be hard but at the rate they are losing internations to injuries who knows.

No point being negative in my opinion with a third of the season still to go.

[cables]

The Ravens Know The Score
8 March 2010, 9:09 pm
By John Dickson

Ravens coach Neil Doak knows what his side has to do on Friday

The Ulster Ravens know exactly what they have to do on Friday night to qualify for the British and Irish Cup semi-finals, they just need to win, they don't need a bonus point.
http://www.ulsterrugby.com/11521.php

[scrum5]

The Ulster Ravens know exactly what they have to do on Friday night to qualify for the British and Irish Cup semi-finals, they just need to win, they don't need a bonus point.

Does anyone else find this opening sentence worrying, it comes across as we only need to win, no need to try for a bonus point as long as we beat them it doesn't matter, this attitude is becoming more prevalent with Ulster Rugby and we have already learnt to our cost this season about taking it easy or resting on our laurels by missing out on the Amlin Cup by wrongly assuming that the job was done by beating Bath without the bonus point. We should be sending out a clear signal to the other teams in the competition that we intend to rack up as many points as we can and not stop playing after 40 minutes or 50 minutes when the job is supposedly done as we have done throughout the B&I Cup, or only do enough to insure the win as this article implies. Ulster need to approach this game and every game with a positive attitude and that means a win with a bonus point if possible. UR seem to set their sights on mediocracy, achieve it and then pat themselves on the back and say well done.... This in my opinion is not good enough.....We have fielded very strong teams in this competition unlike the other ML sides and really with no disrespect to the opposition we should have qualified long ago but the truth is we were a tad fortunate to beat London Welsh, it simply isn't good enough...... RANT OVER.... anyway I will be cheering the Ravens on on Friday night and unlike UR I will be hoping for a bonus point win.....