Due to legal reasons (restraining order by Kimble after we published details about his “Adult Movies”) The FRU were unable to attend the URSC AGM on Tuesday past. We did however send along one of our spies. Below is his heavily edited report!
First up was the legendary Jack Kyle who filled in before Swiss Matt and Steiner arrived. Mr Kyle talked about the great atmosphere in Cardiff and how Drico and Co. deserved to win the Grand Slam. The term Grand Slam was never mentioned in 1948, in fact it was not used until the 60′s, and the Triple Crown was the big prize then. His most difficult opponent was Cliff Morgan and he felt the Welsh were always hard to beat. He went on to talk about the Lions and the honour it was to represent them even in the professional era. In particular he talked about the 1950 Lions Tour to New Zealand which was the last to travel by boat. It took a month to get there, via the West Indies, Panama Canal and the Pacific. They spent three months in New Zealand followed by one month in Australia and travelled home by India and the Suez Canal with the tour taking six months in total. The heaviest player was 15 stone and the tallest was around 6ft 2in.
Next up was the erudite Jonathan Bill who gave a glowing tribute to the departing Steiner. Nice guy, class act, one of the most genial characters to play for Ulster and he has played more games for Ulster than any other non Ulster born player. Need we say more? Well yes, he also carried out a lot of work for the Newforge Taggers and was much loved by Ulster fans and much lusted by The Fruettes!
Steiner looked a bit sheepish (must be getting ready for his return to NZ) watching a Roster video of some of his tries and tackles and commented that he only came here for three years, stayed for six and was delighted with the support he’s received from the Ulster public and Ulster Rugby and his highlight was receiving the Fruettes Top Totty Award in 2007.
Swiss Matt was a smooth as ever and coped easily with the gentle questioning. He started with talking up Steiny though failed to mention that he hardly picked him last year when he was chomping at the bit for a game!
He admitted that he has been very frustrated by some of the recent performances and particularly the inability to close out close games. When asked about conditioning he said that he felt it was not a physical issue but maybe tactical naivety! (Hmm is that not the coaches brief?) He did go on to say that closing out a game is like making love to a beautiful woman – it is all about self belief/knowledge and a learning process for the team and especially the young players!
On the positive side he pointed out that Ulster have gone from worst defensive record in the league last year to fifth this year and there is a good stream of young players coming into the senior team through the Academy. However he did admit that the kicking statistics are not up to the required standard.
He thought Ulster were good of first phase but couldn’t give a definitive answer as to why they look a bit clueless when possession slows down. He talked a lot about leadership within a team and a new signing like Horua has this along with ball carrying qualities.
He stated that the team has a bright future with or without him which may be an indication that his personal issues are affecting his management decisions.
Finally, he did manage time to have a dig at Scottish referees and pointed out that Ulster hasn’t won a game with a Scottish ref in charge. But then as we’ve only won five games in the Magners this year perhaps this statistic could be a bit skewed!!
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