Humph and Soupy, scorers against Stade. 11th December 2004
The Heineken Cup fixture release has certainly refreshed confidence in Ulster’s ability to progress beyond the group stages this season. Over on the UAFC site, the normally seldom travelled tight wads have been vying with each other to be first to get the cheapest flight to the glamour fixtures of Stade and Harlequins fixtures though I don’t see too many booking for a cold wet December in Llanelli.
Certainly with Stade Francais first up at “Fortress Ravenhill Mk2″ Ulster do have a great chance of turning over the French Aristocrats who can be a bit temperamental away from home early on. However, a review of the statistics for the Heineken Cup shows that Stade may be the least of our worries. Stade are one of the few teams against whom Ulster have a positive win record. Our record against Llanelli and Harlequins in the Heineken Cup is decidedly worse.
Fair enough, our only game against Harlequins was in 1996 and resulted in a 15 – 21 home defeat so not too much can be read into that. However in the four games we have played against the Skaalets (in 2000 and 2007) we have won exactly none. In fact the 11 – 35 defeat home defeat on 13th January 2007 was the start of McCall’s demise. (Some people may think that after seeing Skaalets fanatic “Lucky Pants Man” ,right, in the flesh, so to speak, that McCall decided that he’d give it a year!)
So perhaps the real supporter should be considering a trip to Llanelli instead of a quick jaunt to Twickers or a weekend in Paris as, after all this is where the group will be won or lost.
See you there. (For the match anyway – we’ll be staying in Swansea as Llanelli is crap!)
Statistics below from www.rugbydata.com
Ulster v Stade Francais
Games played: 7
Games won by Ulster: 4 (57.14%)
Games lost by Ulster: 3 (42.86%)
Games drawn: 0 (0.00%)_
Most wins in a row for Ulster over Stade Francais: 2
Most losses in a row for Ulster to Stade Francais: 2
Largest points for Ulster: 33 (33 – 27)
Largest points against Ulster: 40 (40 – 11)
Largest winning margin for Ulster: 8 (18 – 10)
Largest losing margin for Ulster: 29 (40 – 11)
Total points for Ulster: 123
Total points against Ulster: 156
Average points for Ulster per game: 17.57
Average points against Ulster per game: 22.29
Average points difference per game between Ulster and Stade Francais: -4.71
Ulster v Llanelli Scarlets
Games played: 4
Games won by Ulster: 0 (0.00%)
Games lost by Ulster: 4 (100.00%)
Games drawn: 0 (0.00%)
Most wins in a row for Ulster over Llanelli Scarlets: 0
Most losses in a row for Ulster to Llanelli Scarlets: 4
Largest points for Ulster: 15 (21 – 15)
Largest points against Ulster: 35 (11 – 35)
Largest winning margin for Ulster: -6 (21 – 15)
Largest losing margin for Ulster: 24 (11 – 35)
Total points for Ulster: 35
Total points against Ulster: 105
Average points for Ulster per game: 8.75
Average points against Ulster per game: 26.25
Average points difference per game between Ulster and Llanelli Scarlets: -17.50
Ulster v Harlequins
Games played: 1
Games won by Ulster: 0 (0.00%)
Games lost by Ulster: 1 (100.00%)
Games drawn: 0 (0.00%)
Most wins in a row for Ulster over Harlequins: 0
Most losses in a row for Ulster to Harlequins: 1
Largest points for Ulster: 15 (15 – 21)
Largest points against Ulster: 21 (15 – 21)
Largest winning margin for Ulster: -6 (15 – 21)
Largest losing margin for Ulster: 6 (15 – 21)
Total points for Ulster: 15
Total points against Ulster: 21
Average points for Ulster per game: 15.00
Average points against Ulster per game: 21.00
Average points difference per game between Ulster and Harlequins: -6.00
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