Toulon v Ulster, Saturday 17th May

[bazzaj]

Disagree with that Rooster.
Aside from the Cave/Payne debate which is ongoing and possibly was out of MAs hands, his selections were usually spot on.
Don`t forget we had a lot of injury problems under MA as well as Afoas going awol.
Tactically everyone knew what they were doing and at least bought into gameplans which was all important.
Even if it wasn`t to somes taste, more often than not it produced results, though he did come up short on the big occasion.
His man management left a lot to be desired which I think cost him in the end.

MA wasn`t perfect by any means but Doak makes him look like Joe Schmidt.
Now we just seemed to be winging it tactically and selection wise with seeming no real thought or foresight going into either process.
There is no consistency which there was with MA and McGlocks beforehand.
Utter shambles.

[Gary]

MA lost what little credibility he had left when he lost the Pro12 semi down in Dublin by the strangest substitutions I have seen in any team sport.

Perhaps his motivation for those decisions is open to discussion. I know what I think.

[Wee Woman]

I don't believe Afoa or Mullers leaving has effected us that much and have not much to do with our current situation.
Muller was well past his best and Afoa didn't play whilst Herbst and VDM have proved their worth.
Get rid of and not properly replacing a coach or addressing obvious back row issues are significantly more symptomatic to our problems.
For the record ath, I don't recall too many people posting that we would be in for a good season.

Muller was done even last season but for his leadership alone, he was worth it.

We really miss someone who can rally the lads and deal with referees, it's something that Rory sadly lacks. I struggle to think of anyone who could even fill half that void - Roger Wilson certainly isn't that person either.

[BuckRogers]

I don't believe Afoa or Mullers leaving has effected us that much and have not much to do with our current situation.
Muller was well past his best and Afoa didn't play whilst Herbst and VDM have proved their worth.
Get rid of and not properly replacing a coach or addressing obvious back row issues are significantly more symptomatic to our problems.
For the record ath, I don't recall too many people posting that we would be in for a good season.

Baz I think that's a nonsense. VDM is a poor mans muller. Last season the great man barely trained but he left nothing on the pitch. He wasn't much of a carrier but his hits around the fringes and set piece work were invaluable to us.

Afoa was also, despite received wisdom, a world class scrummaging TH. He regularly destroyed his opposite number and was hugely influential in the dominance of our pack last season up to the Sarries game.

To say we don't miss those two players in particular is balderdash, Herbst is a decent player but he hasn't destroyed an opponent the way Afoa used to. VDM with all respect is a poor mans Muller and that is part of the reason we are where we are. I had high hopes for him on the basis Johann's physical attributes were diminishing but clearly those were only part of what he brought to the party.

[Cockatrice]

With the team being given carte blanche to attack Toulon from the offset we should have them on the back foot from the start..... Suspect we will be keeping the kick and don't chase tactic for the second half to hold our lead.

[rorybestsbigbaldnoggin]

I remember when we lost Afoa, Court, Doyle and Muller at the end last season. General consensus was that we wouldn't be much worse off.... Fans are a fickle bunch. And as for the slating of Anscombe....

Ballix.

The consensus was

Afoa - a great player when bothered; by the time he left, wasn't bothered. Ergo no loss.
Court - a magnificent servant, but getting shoved around in the scrum a little. London Irish about his level now, and good luck to him.
Muller - A leader amongst mere mortals. Physically, finished. Major loss of leadership. Major loss.
Doyle - One of the quieter and more important withdrawals of the close-season, but I distinctly remember several saying that without a back-up 7, we were toast.


Anscombe was a ballix. Doak is not a ballix (or at least, considerably less of one), but unfortunately appears to be incompetent/crippled with injuries/victim of sub-par one-foot-in-Kingsholm recruitment by DHumph (take your pick).

The real worry is all of this internal strife and (poor) re-structuring is coming at a time when the French and English clubs are threatening to leave the Celtic regions completely behind.

[BaggyTrousers]

Ulster should today adopt the mindset of the great John Smeaton QGM. No ?????? Forgotten John already?

The legendary baggage handler John Smeaton QGM is the man who when confronted by a burning Indian engineer turned terrorist, head butted & sunk the boot into the fiery engineer. Later when interviewed and asked bout the potential to further outrages in Glasgie, what would his message be to the terrorists be, John uttered the immortal words, "Glasgow doesn't accept this. This is Glasgow; we'll set aboot ye."

I'd like Ulster to adopt the Smeaton mentality today, we're not going to win, we can "show some fu@kin' pride" to quote a great rugby leader.

I wish it to be known that I regard anyone avoiding their screens today as Facebook Fans aka pussies.

G'wan Ulster, set aboot them.

[solidarity]

Absolutely agree with Baggy. To do anything else would be utterly shameful.

Where can we see this on tv?

Funny old world, though. I'd be content with a glorious defeat... so long as Munster, Leinster, Glasgow and Ospreys win! Keep their minds on other things at the sharp end of the Pro 12 season

[ravinghill]

What's with all the doom and gloom ???

5 points today and next week and a draw between Scarlets and Toulon next week and we top the group !!!!

Believe !!!

[scrum5]

I remember when we lost Afoa, Court, Doyle and Muller at the end last season. General consensus was that we wouldn't be much worse off.... Fans are a fickle bunch. And as for the slating of Anscombe.....

IN reality, it's incredibly hard to judge where we are. Crippled with injury and in the toughest european group for years. Hopefully get through these next couple of games with no more knocks and take it from there. Top 4 finish would be an excellent return at this stage of the season IMHO.

Against you fail to mention why we are in the toughest European group, it's because we finished in a lucky fourth in the league last season, and an abysmal performance in the RDS in the play offs when we witnessed our head coach make some of the most ludicrous substitutions in the history of the game to allow Madigan to waltz through for the only try of the game, anyone who takes of Cave and Chris Henry in such a tight game to replace them with Payne and Doyle deserved to be sacked there and than......

[Gary]

Ok Baggy, I've screwed the satellite dish back in place, grabbed a few tins of something a wee bit stronger than lemonade and explained to the dog why he's not getting his walk. As soon as I stop the bleeding from my ankle and replace my badly torn trousers, I will settle down in front of the tv and await the match...not without some anxiety of course.

I am not a pussy!! However I may well burst into uncontrollable floods of tears when Toulon hit the 50 point mark.

On the other hand, this could be one of those ridiculous games when the gods of sport have a bit of a laugh.

Levez-vous pour les hommes d'Ulster

[Russ]

UR official have posted fan pics.
UR official are embarrassing

[ruckover]

MA was not, is not, and will not or ever be the answer. Getting rid of him was the best thing that Ulster could do.

[bazzaj]

I don't believe Afoa or Mullers leaving has effected us that much and have not much to do with our current situation.
Muller was well past his best and Afoa didn't play whilst Herbst and VDM have proved their worth.
Get rid of and not properly replacing a coach or addressing obvious back row issues are significantly more symptomatic to our problems.
For the record ath, I don't recall too many people posting that we would be in for a good season.

Baz I think that's a nonsense. VDM is a poor mans muller. Last season the great man barely trained but he left nothing on the pitch. He wasn't much of a carrier but his hits around the fringes and set piece work were invaluable to us.

Afoa was also, despite received wisdom, a world class scrummaging TH. He regularly destroyed his opposite number and was hugely influential in the dominance of our pack last season up to the Sarries game.

To say we don't miss those two players in particular is balderdash, Herbst is a decent player but he hasn't destroyed an opponent the way Afoa used to. VDM with all respect is a poor mans Muller and that is part of the reason we are where we are. I had high hopes for him on the basis Johann's physical attributes were diminishing but clearly those were only part of what he brought to the party.

I appreciate what you are saying Buck but I was speaking in comparative terms.
I agree we miss them to an extent but we wouldn`t be much better off had they stayed as we would still have crap coaches with a crap back row.

[BuckRogers]

I don't believe Afoa or Mullers leaving has effected us that much and have not much to do with our current situation.
Muller was well past his best and Afoa didn't play whilst Herbst and VDM have proved their worth.
Get rid of and not properly replacing a coach or addressing obvious back row issues are significantly more symptomatic to our problems.
For the record ath, I don't recall too many people posting that we would be in for a good season.

Baz I think that's a nonsense. VDM is a poor mans muller. Last season the great man barely trained but he left nothing on the pitch. He wasn't much of a carrier but his hits around the fringes and set piece work were invaluable to us.

Afoa was also, despite received wisdom, a world class scrummaging TH. He regularly destroyed his opposite number and was hugely influential in the dominance of our pack last season up to the Sarries game.

To say we don't miss those two players in particular is balderdash, Herbst is a decent player but he hasn't destroyed an opponent the way Afoa used to. VDM with all respect is a poor mans Muller and that is part of the reason we are where we are. I had high hopes for him on the basis Johann's physical attributes were diminishing but clearly those were only part of what he brought to the party.

I appreciate what you are saying Buck but I was speaking in comparative terms.
I agree we miss them to an extent but we wouldn`t be much better off had they stayed as we would still have crap coaches with a crap back row.

I think we would be better off. Muller would still be coaching our forwards instead of Lord Farquart and Afoa is still a better player than Herbst. Though I forgot Afoa had that serious back injury that meant he probably wouldn't be able to play so maybe you are right.