Page 1 of 38

Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 6:32 pm
by Columbo
Any AIL watchers on here? I have got into the habit of heading out on a Sat afternoon, mostly to Malone or Hinch, with an occasional trip to Ballymena, Quins or Queen's, depending on the fixture. I'd be interested in finding out how the Ulster sides are getting on, in particular the fringe/academy players, if anyone fancies posting updates?

Today I watched Hinch beat Lansdowne, rode their luck a bit, Deasy missed a few straightforward pens, but eventually won 14-10 with 2 smashing converted tries. From an Ulster POV, Simspon played 80 mins, as did McCall at 1 and Murphy at 2 - were all ok, although the scrum was under some pressure. Butterworth came on in the second half - tbh the most eye-catching back row once again was former academy player Paul Pritchard at 7. Sam Arnold started at 12, looked very powerful, but picked up an injury and came off early.

All told, good game, and good result.

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 6:51 pm
by Deraless
Made it to Hinch too. They played into a stiff wind first half. Could've been 15-20 points down as was one way traffic. Then in second half the wind died down!
2 well taken tries though. Plus a pen which looked good but not given and a pen in front of posts on the whistle which went to touch. Started falling off tackles a bit in second half though.

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 5:30 pm
by Columbo
Deraless wrote:Then in second half the wind died down!
yes that was funny, they spent the entire first 40 looking forward to playing with the wind in the second, only for the wind not to play ball!

I saw Sam Arnold tweeted about how his season is over - so the injury must have been worse than it seemed.. We have had horrendous luck with season-ending injuries for young players recently, it's a shame for him because he was looking like a very interesting prospect..

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 6:16 pm
by BaggyTrousers
Columbo wrote:
Deraless wrote:Then in second half the wind died down!
yes that was funny, they spent the entire first 40 looking forward to playing with the wind in the second, only for the wind not to play ball!

I saw Sam Arnold tweeted about how his season is over - so the injury must have been worse than it seemed.. We have had horrendous luck with season-ending injuries for young players recently, it's a shame for him because he was looking like a very interesting prospect..
Shame, saw him for the U20s and he looked promising.

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 2:34 pm
by Columbo
Actually it seems like Sam was too quick off the draw - teenage angst for you! He just tweeted that his surgery was successful and he could be back in 6 weeks!

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:32 pm
by dublane
could do worse than watch queen's. When released, we have stockdale owens o hagan thompson atkinson and dow from the academy and i think 11 or 12 from the recent Ulster u20 side

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:37 pm
by Kofi Annan
dublane wrote:could do worse than watch queen's. When released, we have stockdale owens o hagan thompson atkinson and dow from the academy and i think 11 or 12 from the recent Ulster u20 side
Jeezus wept, how many bursaries handed out this year :roll:

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:43 pm
by dublane
owens and dow on elite athlete bursaries, that's it at mo. In fairness, its a strong squad when all are available, but between Ravens and irish 19s/20s there will be a lot of weeks we don't see those guys.

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 10:42 pm
by Dan Dare
Columbo wrote:
Deraless wrote:Then in second half the wind died down!
yes that was funny, they spent the entire first 40 looking forward to playing with the wind in the second, only for the wind not to play ball!

I saw Sam Arnold tweeted about how his season is over - so the injury must have been worse than it seemed.. We have had horrendous luck with season-ending injuries for young players recently, it's a shame for him because he was looking like a very interesting prospect..
I think that Sam Arnold broke his jaw and he would not play again this year (2014), out for about 12 weeks or so but back early in the new year.

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 12:53 pm
by ColinM
Should clubs not fielding teams in the USL or Cup be made to step down from the UBL?

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 1:22 pm
by mcoty
Bit of a joke,players only want to play ail games it seems.Very unfair on players down the club as we'll,as they won't get points if they win....

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 2:31 pm
by Columbo
Dan Dare wrote:Arnold broke his jaw and he would not play again this year (2014), out for about 12 weeks or so but back early in the new year.
Fair enough, that would make sense all right - he mentioned the 12 weeks in his second tweet, but said he was hoping for 6 weeks, maybe more in hope than expectation

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 2:32 pm
by Columbo
dublane wrote:could do worse than watch queen's. When released, we have stockdale owens o hagan thompson atkinson and dow from the academy and i think 11 or 12 from the recent Ulster u20 side
I intend to, I'm aiming to get the Seapoint game on 15 Nov..

In the meanwhile keep us posted on this thread!

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 3:17 pm
by ColinM
mcoty wrote:Bit of a joke,players only want to play ail games it seems.Very unfair on players down the club as we'll,as they won't get points if they win....
Its more of a p!$$ take considering the 2nds have no fixture. Am guessing there'll be four teams out on McCambley cup days though.

Re: Ulster sides in UBL

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:36 pm
by Tighty
ColinM wrote:
mcoty wrote:Bit of a joke,players only want to play ail games it seems.Very unfair on players down the club as we'll,as they won't get points if they win....
Its more of a p!$$ take considering the 2nds have no fixture. Am guessing there'll be four teams out on McCambley cup days though.

Please enlighten the 'un-initiated' as to which club/ fixture you are referring.

... And In the 2 Hinch games I have seen this year Pritchard has been the outstanding backrow player on the pitch . An ‘out and out’ 7, who, on his day, is as good as anyone. Could do with being a few inches taller tho'.