The UAFC

Thought Leaf was a bit emotional at the end.

At a time when we have a rain cloud hanging over the "questionable" behaviour of some so called stars.... Isnt it refreshing to be able to celebrate a genuinely decent guy at 10?

Great performance full of heart. Whether we can play with that intensity every week is questionable but it should be the target for the whole set up. Can't believe the likes of Edinburgh, Cardiff etc would have won that today , hence our frustrations at languishing with them in the league positions.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Liz Fraser wrote:Baggy called the side a beefed up A team which sums it up perfectly.
Can't add much more to this other than to say I just can't see personnel wise how we can win this other than La Rochelle being hit with a flu epidemic.

Sadly it was me hit by the epidemic, I have often felt better. They won the game by virtue of dodgy yellow card decision which they took advantage of and a couple of gift tries no matter how smartly taken.

That said fair play for the amount of fight shown and surviving a series of scrums on their own line, I didn't see them getting out of there. Our young props looked way out of their depth, manful but losing effort by Black and Rodders.

Rory magnificent, harder than Paddy Murphy's nails.

In my book it was a technical yellow but a yellow nonetheless. The La Rochelle player was stupid enough to give the referee a decision to make and with the help of the crowd Barnes duly obliged.

How we got away without a prop in the bin for a team penalty I'll never know. There were certainly enough scrum penalties conceded and dominance evident by La Rochelle to merit it.

I just wonder does the lack of a lump in the second row contribute to our scrum wows. Having said that I watched thon tighthead Antonio and for all the destruction he may have caused at scrum time he offered absolutely nothing away from set piece. He mostly stood in the same spot and only moved for a scrum or lineout. A contributing factor to a La Rochelles loss perhaps within the bigger picture. We were most certainly the busier side, difficult to play against with only 14 men contributing at all times.

Did anyone hear Fez's reference to Logan's statement 8 years ago to make Ulster the number one team in Ireland. It was at the very end of the Sky coverage. It was a bit of a broadcast 'bomb'. He made it in response to the comment LK made to be patient in the building of our team and comment that the LR coach took seven years to get his team this far. Fez implied Logan has had eight years and look where Ulster still are. You could almost see in Fez's face as he said it he knew he shouldn't be saying it, but it was absolutely priceless. Go search if you have the game recorded!

Cornerfleg wrote:Cooney is fantastic... Not just his skillz hes a wee annoying in yer face spide.... Love it. Glad he's ours. Exactly what you want from a 9.

Ruan was a Rolls Royce. Cooney is a pimped up Zonda.

From an IRFU perspective does that mean they made the right decision giving ruan the heave go ? Super result. Can't wait to watch it..

UlsterNo9 wrote:In my book it was a technical yellow but a yellow nonetheless. The La Rochelle player was stupid enough to give the referee a decision to make and with the help of the crowd Barnes duly obliged.

How we got away without a prop in the bin for a team penalty I'll never know. There were certainly enough scrum penalties conceded and dominance evident by La Rochelle to merit it.

I just wonder does the lack of a lump in the second row contribute to our scrum wows. Having said that I watched thon tighthead Antonio and for all the destruction he may have caused at scrum time he offered absolutely nothing away from set piece. He mostly stood in the same spot and only moved for a scrum or lineout. A contributing factor to a La Rochelles loss perhaps within the bigger picture. We were most certainly the busier side, difficult to play against with only 14 men contributing at all times.

9 I literally couldn't disagree with you more, and of course, Ron'n who still clings to the belief that Girrid was unlucky rather than absolutely stupid on that day of infamy, 5/4/2014.

The Stade Rochelais winger did absolutely nothing wrong, effectively he made no attempt to contact Chuck but the angle of Chuck's defensive jump took him into the player's path. He did nothing whatsoever, as harsh a yellow card as you will ever see - mind you I was grateful for it, it opened the door into a game in which we weren't firing a shot.

On the other hand, Cave's neat footwork with the loose ball to put Timoney in when the game threatened to get away again was deft and had Zebo done it, there would have been loud cheers and tobacco spits from the populace.

Watching from my deathbed, it strikes me the clarity you get when watching on the bax. Tommy frae Comber must be a feckin' expert.

againstthehead wrote:

Cornerfleg wrote:Cooney is fantastic... Not just his skillz hes a wee annoying in yer face spide.... Love it. Glad he's ours. Exactly what you want from a 9.

Ruan was a Rolls Royce. Cooney is a pimped up Zonda.

From an IRFU perspective does that mean they made the right decision giving ruan the heave go ? Super result. Can't wait to watch it..

No because the IRFU knew we were up shits creek with regards to an outhalf.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

rugoval wrote:Did anyone hear Fez's reference to Logan's statement 8 years ago to make Ulster the number one team in Ireland. It was at the very end of the Sky coverage. It was a bit of a broadcast 'bomb'. He made it in response to the comment LK made to be patient in the building of our team and comment that the LR coach took seven years to get his team this far. Fez implied Logan has had eight years and look where Ulster still are. You could almost see in Fez's face as he said it he knew he shouldn't be saying it, but it was absolutely priceless. Go search if you have the game recorded!

Have to say I smirked when Ferris dropped the L-bomb.

Another highlight of the game for me was the return to form of The Gulderer, I heard that plaintive cry 3 times on commentary. Well done Sir.

againstthehead wrote:

Cornerfleg wrote:Cooney is fantastic... Not just his skillz hes a wee annoying in yer face spide.... Love it. Glad he's ours. Exactly what you want from a 9.

Ruan was a Rolls Royce. Cooney is a pimped up Zonda.

From an IRFU perspective does that mean they made the right decision giving ruan the heave go ? Super result. Can't wait to watch it..

I still think the decision was wrong regarding Ruan and also given what he has contributed. Even before the PJ thing i would have been fine if they had said we had to limit his gametime at 9 and then we could have used him as 10cover also, as we had no real cover for PJ anyway. With lele and more than likely Donald even the irfu have recognised our lack of cover for pj at 9.

Having said that, i think we all expected to be bemoaning the loss of Ruan far more this season than we have done, which is huge credit to Cooney. No, he is not Ruan, but he done far better than i’d imagne any of us expected.

againstthehead wrote:

Cornerfleg wrote:Cooney is fantastic... Not just his skillz hes a wee annoying in yer face spide.... Love it. Glad he's ours. Exactly what you want from a 9.

Ruan was a Rolls Royce. Cooney is a pimped up Zonda.

From an IRFU perspective does that mean they made the right decision giving ruan the heave go ? Super result. Can't wait to watch it..

Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me, I tire of clowns now posing the "right decision" question, it's as dumb as it's old. It was not only a cold vile decision on a personal level, it was also grossly unfair when considered alongside Visa Novisa's new contract, it was bad for Ulster to lose that influence, it may well affect the decisions of players such as Sopoaga when considering Ulster and indeed Ireland as a place to build their career.

Capiche?

100% Bart.

Just because Cooney happens to be a good player, it doesn't make the decision to dump Ruan any better.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Cave was only on the pitch when Rory flew over from the back of that maul. The guy just influences all the good things we do.

Seriously though, I thought we looked a much better team after he came on. Thought we might have moved Louis to 15 and Charlie to wing. Piutau's clearance kicking was off (again) and lead to a try but otherwise he got stuck in. Ludik man-crush continues but he's not a bleedin' 13. They actually looked narrower than us most of the time which helped too.

Rory and Hendo turned up today and I had Rory as my MOTM. Possibly best game I've seen from AOC too. The 2 youngsters did well. Biggest downside was scrum but their props are just beasts. Just about did enough when it really mattered. Rodders made a few hits stick today too.

Loved Lilly's reception coming off. McPhillips got a whole 10 mins which surprised me a bit but didn't look out of place.

Nice to leave Ravenhill hoarse. Always good atmosphere with French fans.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Another highlight of the game for me was the return to form of The Gulderer, I heard that plaintive cry 3 times on commentary. Well done Sir.

I aim to please!

A special mention to Callum Black, he was immense out there.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk