I'm joining Legs in liking that 9. Let's be very clear, we all thought this was going to be a very tricky season and it has got off to a much better start than expected, had things have gone just a little differently we could be on 6/7 points rather than 15.LegsLikeSausages wrote:Agree with this. We have 8 more league points than I expected at this stage and importantly we denied Edinburgh 3. This is a transition season and the only expectation should be getting into the 19-20 Heineken Cup. Some clever recruitment for next season is also required to plug the gaps which don’t get filled by Academy players stepping up.UlsterNo9 wrote:I'd agree with that Snipe, at 24 he would appear to have certain qualities can the kicking game be coached?Snipe Watson wrote:Yes, Billy's kicking from hand is not good enough and his dropouts are particularly dirt.Tender wrote:Ok so he had the stones to slot that final one over, but FFS aimlessly kicking away possession to a team who thrive on returning such arsefoonery....
That final kick was one he should have slotted if he aspires to be an international flyhalf.
I like his attacking attitude and for the most part, he makes his tackles. 6.5 out of 10
Not related to you Snipe but the level of expectation is already beginning to become a little heightened amongst some.I had us winning one of our first five before the season kicked off, that was a victory against the Kings.
We went to SA without Best, Moore, Henderson, Murphy, Stockdale, L Marshall, Ludik..... Addison (didn't play) whilst new on the Ulster scene has been around the block. That's a hell of a lot of experience.
We are definately punchin at the moment as the man says. I feel we're heading in the right direction but the standard required is not going to come to fruition as quickly as the building expectation.
Top six finish is still the objective or 14 league wins. Europe.... enjoy the beer and the away weekends.
We have not been brill except in one very important department: moxy. This young team with a few ould growlers has shown a superfluity of MOXY, will to win, never say die, whatever label you want to hang on it.
First game out and we were beaten and possibly badly had Timoney not made a fabulous try-saving tackle when for all money it looked like Scarlets were scoring just after halftime, many players would have given it up, Timoney made the once in twenty desperate tackles and jarred the ball loose. That was as crucial a moment as you could imagine and since then, the team has never looked like giving up.
Seventeen points adrift of Embra, they came back from the dead, took the lead, lost it, and with another key moment, O'Connor made our first win of a kickoff in a long long time and we sneaked the win. Last night we were adrift at 29-20 with all factors against, short turnaround & altitude, came back to lead, lost the lead again and snatched the draw in the red zone.
MOXY, it's a crucial component for any team, I haven't seen it too much in evidence in recent seasons, the thought that you aren't beaten until the final whistle. Sure there is plenty wrong, a very porous defence more reminiscent of the FOLK reign of terror and Payne will doubtless be mortifuckingfied to concede 5 tries, but having fight in a team can cover a multitude of problems.
Gives a fighting chance of getting the minimum requirements out of the season and again, all done when losing two important players before KO & two more not long into the game. By hook or by crook, the youngun's are getting experience and are doing rightly.
BUZZIN' but realistic, my expectations have been surpassed up to yet. Oh yeah, Snipe, I prefer the notion of "fight" rather than "luck" getting us over the line.