Ulster v Aironi

breakdown · Post by **breakdown** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 11:46 am

iHumph had a decent game, yes he didn't 'tackle' as such but from what I seen he certainly attempted to stop the player in his tracks and wait for support to bring him down. kicking was average, made some good kicks and some awful kicks but generally happy and with a weeks practice for next week hopefully he gets it spot on.

Also, with Pienaar being right footed and iHumph being left footed, generally it's not spoken about but I would say that's a key factor in the Pienaar/Humph axis, being able to kick to both sides of the pitch most of the time.

TC seems to have regained most of his confidence and put his Twickers disaster behind him, if he has a good first half vs Munster he will have an even better 2nd half I would say.

Agree with ruck, Stefan ozzes class but made a few mistakes last night, think I can forgive him though..

Roll on next week!!

Bart S · Post by **Bart S** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:00 pm

Baggy's summation of IH last night is right - he was fine against not very challenging opposition. Good for him to get a bit of confidence although frankly I have no idea how he'll go next weekend.....that's one of the things about Hump. Looking to next weekend he's not going to become Jonny Wilko in the tackling department and Munster will be targetting his channel - no question. If he can at least hold men up until the big guns arrive, then that's all we can really ask of him.

On another subject - we've had 2 real spanners in the works thrown at us over the past 2 seasons - Xavier Rush pulling out at the last minute (at a time when he was absolutely sensational for Cardiff) and Jared Payne's injury. Both came at times when recruitiing quality replacements was extremely difficult. The fact that we have ended up with 2 players in Pedrie and ST who have done very well for Ulster represents some very shrewd recruitment by Dr Davy and co for which they deserve a fair amount of credit.

Thought Pedrie was ok last season but that he has really stepped it up this season, notably in the big Heiny games when we really needed him to. Another one next Sunday would be nice !

breakdown · Post by **breakdown** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:12 pm

Agree Bart. iHumph was good although playing well against the bottom side in the league isn't that big an acheivement although he will have got confidnence from it, as will TC and the whole pack, I don't think people realise that Aironi's pack had 6 internationals in it so squeezing the life out of it is pretty good. Although Munster will be targeting iHumph's channel he has Wallace outside him, Fez Henry and Tuohy will have been told to target Munster's 9/10/12 channel of, more than likely TOL, ROG and Mafi. Ulster's 9/10/12 axis is much better than Munster's, Pienaar (world class), iHumph (not great), Wallace (best 12 in Ireland ATM), so I would say it would be an easier job to slow down Munster's back line rather than ours.

If anything we have ended up with better than what we were meant to get, compare Pedrie's form with Rush this season and I know which one I'd rather have. Payne will be like a new player and hopefully we can get a win win situation and Terblanche can stay on as back's coach as well

Yet again agree with Bart, Pedrie really puts in good shifts in Heiny cames and shows real determination to win games. Scored twice vs Aironi last season in the Heiny to get us a BP, and had an immense game vs Leicester. Had a bit of a rough time vs Clermont away and got pushed back a fair bit in the first 10 minutes but sorted himself out after that and out in another good shift.

The Ghost of Thomas Moore · Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:13 pm

scrum5 wrote:McGlocks said that Ferris was a doubt for next week

A little prayer.

With one voice a nation says,
From Rathmullan through to Derrybegs,
In Monaghan and the Shankill,
God we know's an Ulsterman,
So please fix Stevie's ankle!!!!!

pip14 · Post by **pip14** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:22 pm

Good news regarding Ferris. According to some Twitter reports Ferris is fine and will most likely be
Playing next Sunday!

breakdown · Post by **breakdown** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:30 pm

Pip, are you sure? Smoke and Mirrors and all that...

Also, Cave should be fine, he was just too lazy to play any longer.

pip14 · Post by **pip14** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:34 pm

Ferris wrote himself on twitter "rolled my ankle but will hopefully be sweet for next Sunday"
Also reports of BBC that it wasn't as bad as originally thought.

breakdown · Post by **breakdown** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:37 pm

Even if he wasn't 100% I still think he would have played some part, benched or not.

breakdown · Post by **breakdown** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:37 pm

Even if he wasn't 100% I still think he would have played some part, benched or not.

Troglodyte · Post by **Troglodyte** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:06 pm

breakdown wrote:Even if he wasn't 100% I still think he would have played some part, benched or not.

Two parts?

pip14 · Post by **pip14** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:45 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17571592

Rooster · Post by **Rooster** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:56 pm

breakdown wrote:Pip, are you sure? Smoke and Mirrors and all that...

Also, Cave should be fine, he was just too lazy to play any longer.

Should have seen him last week, off the pitch when subbed, quick shower, shades on, found himself a lounger in the sun and was on his third latte by the time Whitten scored, absolutely sensational speed

rumncoke · Post by **rumncoke** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:02 pm

IH is the weakest link anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't understand what he sees.

The team lack confidence in his ability to tackle if it were not so why would he be shifted all over the park in defence he missed at least 2 tackles last night .

The wings seldom score when he plays because he drifts across the pitch running away from the defence .
when the field position suits his left foot he kicks with confidence . But frequently it is a lottery . He is a player whose game requires self confidence which is undermined easily because he is his own worst critic.

He didn't have a good game last night but he and the team survived because we weren't playing a better team. Against a good side that performance would be enough to change a possible win into a loss.

Aird · Post by **Aird** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:29 pm

I H may or may not be the weakest link but the combination of him and Ruane is still the best available option. I personally thought it was one of his better nights

whilst his defence is never going to set the world on fire he was at least trying to stop players.
I would be the first to admit that I find him frustrating in that on occasions he can produce some magical moments, then he can be very careless in his game at other times.

Agree also a confidence player if he starts well can improve but make a blunder and can develop into a disaster.

breakdown · Post by **breakdown** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:33 pm

The first 15 minutes in TP could be crucial for IH.

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