This was a disappointing game, in fact the only thing that kept me awake was listening to the Setanta commentary to see if they made any mention of Ulster and Eddie O’Sullivan. Sure enough towards the end they did mention that they, “would be surprised if Ulster had not sounded out the USA coach”! Oh dear, let’s hope we hear something from Ulster Rugby this week to discount this rumour.
Unfortunately the performance on the pitch didn’t fill me with any more confidence for next season as some of the Ulster performances were underwhelming to say the least – though it is hard to be too critical with this end of season PR exercise.
Of the starting XV Whitten and Best did OK with their general play though Rory’s captaincy still leaves something to be desired. His arrows were good though and with The Lions facing a war of attrition in South Africa this performance probably did his chances no harm. I expected more from the usually reliable Cave, but he got a bang on the face early on and struggled to get involved after. Neither Cave nor Whitten were helped by Keatley running diagonally most of the time, closing down space on an already small pitch, and giving the Ulster boys little chance to show their attacking flair.
Court, came on early in the second half and looked as if he had received a bit of a rollicking after his performance against Canada. He covered a lot of ground and actually played quite well during the time he was on. He was fingered for missing a tackle for the USA try, but overall a good display. I’d have been more inclined to point the finger at Leamy who played as though his mind was in South Africa and he was only playing to keep himself fit and wait for a call up!
Caldwell got limited time on the pitch, but did manage to give a way a couple of penalties. He needs to cut this out and concentrate on making his impact with ball carrying and tackling. This is going to be a big year for him as he’s now beyond the “enthusiastic young player” category and really needs to be making his presence felt more often.
O’Connor didn’t make an appearance but let’s hope he gets some game time with a more focused team in the Churchill Cup.
Anyway, I better look out my pictures of O’Sullivan. Something tells me I may be needing them!
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