Ulster hit Connacht for six with a second half demolition of the Westies. Danielli and Humphreys crossed in the first half with Kyriacou, Whitten, Tuohy and Smith completing the scoring in the second.
Humphreys added three conversions and a penalty and O’Connor chipped in with a conversion to take the final score to 41 – 10.
Not everything went Ulster’s way with Rory Best suffering a painful leg injury. It certainly must have been painful for at the time with the way his head shot back I thought he had been butted in the face by one of our own players!
Subsequent reports suggest that the injury is not as bad as first feared and while it would be a disappointment for Rory to miss out on the upcoming tour to New Zealand and Australia I would rather see Rory take a rest at home after this season’s rushed return.
The withdrawal of Best saw some substantial game time for the underused Kyriacou who made an immediate impact with a well disserved try. While the blond haired Greek Adonis may not be a “classic” ruck and maul hugging hooker like Best or Brady I do think that he adds considerably to the game as a link between the forwards and backs and should have had a few more run outs.
Robbie Diack was another player who had a substantial impact on the game and the young South African has certainly hit a rich vein of form since his return. With his sublime hands and excellent positional play it’s going to be a tight call between him and the much vaunted Rush next season.
However the man of the match was Andrew Trimble who, yet again, was Ulster’s most potent threat throughout the match. Trimble has easily been our most consistent star performer this season and if Ulster can sort out their forward issues next season he should be the name on everyone’s lips going into the world cup next season.
A few words for our departing players before I complete this terms report card. It was good to see that all three got game time and if they are all going to be replaced buy better players we are going to have some exceptional talents on display at Ravers next season.
O’Donoghue was immense throughout the game and really must be one of Ulster’s best signings over the last few years. A good hard working pro who did all that was asked on most occasions and will do the same for Leinster next season. A political decision, in my opinion, to let him go and if he had gone to the right Belfast school here I have no doubt he would have had his contract extended. While Muller may be an excellent replacement I would have rather seen the South African run out with O’Donoghue than any of the other second rows on the books for next season.
Less of a loss is Timoci Nagusa, and that is no disrespect to Jimmy who has been Ulster’s most improved player over the last couple of seasons. When he first arrived he looked skittish and vulnerable and struggled to cope with the weather. He has worked exceptionally hard during his stay adding to his silky skills and is now a powerful winger with a tremendous enthusiasm for the game, looking to get involved at every opportunity. I don’t thinks we’ve seen the best of Jimmy yet and he should do well in the Top 14 in France but with so many home grown youngsters coming through the academy the decision for Jimmy to make way was the right one.
The decision to dispense with Boss still astounds me and in my opinion he has taken the hit for Ulster’s underperforming forwards over the last few seasons. I have no doubt that his move to Leinster will see him as Ireland’s starting scrum half for the World Cup so it should be a good move for the popular New Zealander. Whether he’s replaced by Pienaar or Januarie or whoever, he has left behind large footprints to fill both on and off the pitch. It was a mark of the man, the current Ulster Rugby Patron of the Newforge Taggers, that he spent most of his warm up speaking to his many friends under the pigeon shed. To me it’s no surprise that Ulster’s season began to go off the boil as the details of his departure began to leak out.
Good luck to all three in their future careers an I look forward to seeing them all back at Ravenhill.
And so to next season, what is it going to have in store for the Ulster faithful?
The management team have had a fair degree of criticism, on this site and on others, but at the end of the day they are going to be judged on whether they get the big decisions right and, while I might not agree with some of their individual judgements, I think that their overall strategy of beefing up the forwards has been spot on.
In the modern game, with well drilled defences, front foot ball is all important. It provides the backs with those few extra feet of space in the cramped midfield and, more importantly in the Magners League, it gets the referee on your side inching penalty decisions your way.
The Ulster pack have produced some great displays in the bigger matches but too often it has been a band of individuals against a united pack and with slow ball the backs, from scrum half on have failed to sparkle.
With Muller and Rush on board things should improve dramatically in this respect. Both have certainly been round the block bringing experience and top class leadership qualities along with their undoubted playing credentials.
Muller should walk into the side, taking the place of O’Donoghue and if some of his qualities can rub off on Caldwell, McComb and Barker then Ulster could benefit from his arrival for years to come.
Rush is a different matter and I suspect he has been brought in more as a mentor and a stand in for Stevie Ferris as I do not see him featuring in Ulster’s best balanced back row next season and I hope he is not started ahead of a fit Diack. His main role should be in maintaining Ulster’s form throughout the international periods with Pollock, Faloon, Henry and Anderson all benefiting from his presence but Diack has the potential to be as good as Heaslip and he must be encouraged.
I’m not overly concerned about our third signing, whether it’s Pienaar, Januarie, someone else or no one at all as I think that whoever is playing at half back will benefit considerably from the beefed up pack and this includes out half as well as scrum half.
If the pack can consistently deliver that go forward ball whoever is in place will benefit whether it’s Marshall, Willis, Porter or an unknown. If, as promised, the replacement is better than Boss then we will have a wonderful talent who could possibly make the difference between a good team and a great one as I believe we have some of the most exciting backs around when the are on their game.
At this point in time I’d settle with a team that lives up to the level of support and resources that Ulster benefits from and this should mean a top four Magners League finish and breaking into the top ten of European competition. World domination can wait for another season or two!
This brings us to the Management Team and, it may surprise you, but I’ve no real concerns here either.
By all accounts Ulster Rugby should be flooded with a fair degree of money over the next few seasons, with the planned redevelopment and other deals apparently on the table after the recent CEO switch, that even a poor executive would have no problems adding to the net worth. There should be no problems making Ulster a very attractive commercial option for other Chief’s should Mr Logan find that world domination is not achieved in a timely fashion.
Humphreys has had well documented problems in the transfer market but, as I said earlier, should be judged on the big decisions and in that he has been spot on with Muller and Rush. A better scrum half than Isaac would be a real bonus but it’s up front where it counts and he did well to entice those two to Belfast.
I still have a few worries about McLaughlin, with his apparent favouritism for certain players and his preponderance to play safe rather than exploit our most valuable assets in the backs, but his commitment to the cause cannot be questioned. Personally I’d far rather have an Ulsterman in charge of team matters so hopefully McLaughlin will have learned from this seasons experience and he is certainly worth another season with his own team before we even consider looking elsewhere.
Bring on next season!
Match pictures by rugbypicture.co.uk here.,
More like this:
30 Responses to “Ulster 41 Connacht 10”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
I agree with most of the above. However, I think it is an over-simplification to explain away Ulster’s serious underperformance in 2010 in terms of the news of Boss’s transfer.
I also think the positional “elephant in the room” has been ignored ie the problem at No 10. I had hopes that Ian Humphries would develop into a better all-round player. But this does not seem to have happened and whilst Niall O’Connor is an honest journeyman, he is not good enough if Ulster are to be serios contenders for Magner’s playoffs and Heineken knockout stages. If finances allow, then a decent
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Welcome aboard SRG. now you’ve signed in your comments will go up immediately if you use the same email and user name.
I don’t think that I’m ignoring the elephant in the room, I just don’t think it’s there. None of our half backs have been given enough good ball on a consistent basis for the last two seasons for them to be discounted. It’s hard to control a game if defenders are constantly in your face due to slow ball or if you’re going backwards.
Give them a season with a bit of control up front and then we can see if the elephant is hanging around or not.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
A bit of a simplification blaming all our woes on back foot ball. I agree with SRG we need an international class number 10. My own view is that our front 5 are too nice , the two who are most aggressive are Best and Botha who coincidently are our two smallest. I would have preferred the signing of another second row , someone like Ben Kay , who Leicester have let go, who would add both grunt and experience. Tuohy seams a nice enough lad and gets about the park well but lacks physical presence as does Caldwell who like Peter Pan never grew up and with Henry and Diack in the back row, two of the prettiest boys in the Magners League we are not going to strike fear in the opposition. I can’t remember when I last saw a good punch at Ravenhill, maybe thats a good thing , but we must starting bullying teams more and it starts up front. For David Humpherys sake I hope the signing of Muller works out as I believe he has had two broken arms in the past two seasons and the last thing we need is another sick note player.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
And that brings me on to the coaches .. I do not rate McLaughlin ,a fact that is well known, and it was put to me after the thrashing of bottom of the table Connacht on Friday night that I shouldn’t criticize him unless I could come up with a better coach. Sadly he has failed in every objective still 8 out of 10 in League and failed to get out of Heineken Cup group. His inability to change the team against a 14 man Bath team by not bringing on Ian Humpherys spoke volumes about his ability and be under no illusions if N O’C had not got injured in Edinburgh two weeks ago and McLaughlin was forced to bring on Humphreys that game would have been lost. If I knew how much was available for a new coach I could come up with a better one. There are plenty out there , Worcester have reportedly 20 applications already for a team heading for the English Championship , one of whom is Jake White the South African World Cup winner, so there Dergman is your answer , things weren’t so bad the last time we had a South African in charge.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
It is also obvious that we need a defence coach but not obvious we need a director of rugby. What have we got a coach and a CEO for? Are Ulster Rugby saying we could not attract the right sort of player without David Humphreys? Lets face it an ageing back row and an injury prone lock are hardly a marketing mans dream. I’ll not even bother to go into the Boss and O’D contract debacle. For Humpherys sake I hope he has an international scrum half up his sleeve and all will be forgiven. I am sure he has learned much this year and will be better for it , I wish I could say the same for McLaughlin.
Did I renew my season ticket ? Too right I did! World domination starts next season, the rollercoaster ride has begun.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Ulster’s place in the league is down to a serious lack of “losing bonus points” Munster have only two wins more than Ulster and are in the play offs but they have 6 losing bonus points to Ulster’s 2
A bigger pack may provide fewer opportunities to the opposition to put points on the board
But my main concern is that two of our best attacking players constitute our defensive Achilles Heel and playing both leaves Ulster with what at times is a 13 + man defence which is totally exploitable if an Ulster player is carded
And is possibly the major reason for Ulsters lack of LB points
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Whilst I see your point mote , Ulster’s place in the league is down to a serious lack of winning matches , 7 wins out of 18 is pathetic. Only the Scarlets and Connacht won less and guess what , they finished below us in the league. A win is worth 4 or 5 points whilst a losing bonus is worth 1. Do the maths.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Some rumours (hardly substantiated ones though) that Rush may be looking to stay at Cardiff with Andy Powell going to league. Whilst this would be a slap in the face for Ulster with Diacks form (what number 8 in the Magners has better hands?) and Henry backing up would it be wise to go for a new 10 and trusting the current backrow? We have been a tad unfortunate with injuries this season and Faloon will be more used with ML rugby next season.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
or maybe ‘mote’ it is because Munster don’t get any Scottish ref’s (easy to blame the ref all the time), i think personally the lack of bonus points is down to Ulsters lack of discipline this season they score as many tries as the top teams but they gave away far too many penalties straight in front of the sticks.
and ED was never offered a contract and Cadly was so your theory is all wrong.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
yip on the net
‘Rush and Cardiff Blues are in negotiation with Ulster to keep the player at the Blues next year. Rush recently changed his agent and in february this year struck a deal with Ulster. Rush at the time felt things at the Blues were not that good. Having seen a change in fortunes and results at the Blues, Rush who has been in outstanding form and won the Player of the Year last night, reckons his chances of staying are 60/40 in favour of the Blues. He wants to stay.’
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Thats interesting about Rush. Nothing would surprise me.
The only other matter that concerns me about Fridays match against Connacht was BJ Botha’s reaction to the crowd when he was replaced near the end. It was more emotional than usual and more like that of a player who had played their last game at Ravenhill.
I hope it was the beer goggles and I am wrong.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
i hope so too he is awesome and vital for the ulster scrum next season…..
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
So you are going to listen to some eejit in a chip shop in Cardiff that thinks Rush is staying, I heard Elvis visits the same chip shop on a regular basis and Lord Lucan actually peels the spuds.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
rumours at the minute Ulster need the player and not the extra money….
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
wouldnt argue with that Jordy but with Diack in some form and Henry backing him up is 8 that position. To be honest i would rather have Rush as the odds of signing a top 10 this late and also this close to a RWC are slim. That said i dont think losing Rush would be the end of the world. Just a blow.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Ragin
Cardiff won more matches than Munster but miss out in the play offs
The point raven is that no team wins every game and with that in mind the losing bonus makes a serious difference in the league position
re Rush I would rather have someone who wants to play than someone who is made to play if the player wants to stay at the blues we are in diffs
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Mote, you are quite right that is the exception that proves the rule , winning is better.
Re Rush If someone didn’t want to play I wouldn’t have him either. But I would be wary of believing what some Welsh Sheep shagger heard in a Chip Shop.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Raging
Hardly much more reliable but apparently on scrumV Johnathan Davies was quoted as saying ‘he isnt gone yet’.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
…………….. neither has Gordon Brown or Peter Robinson!
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Fingers crossed then ha!
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Don’t believe the Rumour that Rush is staying, but on the slim chance that he does then use the money to get Jake White in, BMcL will be going next season anyway as he only got a two year sabbatical if memory serves me right, and as already has been mentioned the 2 goals that he set of getting out of the group stages of the HC and a top 4 play-off finish were sadly missed. If UR want to be taken seriously then a professional coach is a must not a school teacher……..
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Ho Ho Raging, You must be on the cooking sherry early- Jake White is your credible alternative!!! I’d imagine his stock is still quite high since last world cup and thus very expensive. Could ulster afford it? doubt so.He may well be one of the ‘reported’ 20 applicants for worcester job but then cecil Whatshisface over there has deep pockets.
I totally agree that some of McL selection decisions have been appalling but unlike the typical Man City fan i’m pepared to give him some time, ie this time next year, If by then he hasn’t improved the team and learnt from this year’s errors then it’s time to go back to the chalkboard.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Dergman …………… at last I have coaxed you out of message board retirement. I knew if I threw out a big enough whopper you would bite.
FYI I was gutted when they sacked Sven and raging when they sacked Sparky who would have led us to glory this season. Retro Scarf Boy can head back to the land of the bottom stabbers anytime.
Wether McL improves the team next year will have no effect on his tenure. He will be heading back to school teacher land and UR will have wasted another two years.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
“Land of the bottom stabbers”? Never realised Mancini was from Larne….
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
No ………….. Ballyclare!
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
OK
Serious assessment time for the ragin raven
The three strongest squads in the ML are Leinster Ospreys and Munster with Cardiff in that mix as well an unbiased assessment would be that a win against those sides either home or away cannot be guaranteed — four home wins your breaking even.
Glasgow while lacking the same quality of talent have the best outhalf capable of controlling a game and putting points on the board but his ability to open a game up and play attacking rugby is sadly lacking his forte is keeping the game in opposition half thus making Glasgow a very hard team to defeat. trys for 31, points for 390 ( the highest in the league) only leinster and Gonnaught scored fewer trys
Surprisingly Edinburgh scored the most trys (40) and Ulster were the second with 39
The moral of the tale is that a sound defence win matches not the best attack
Which brings me back to the point I made If Ulster continue to play with a side that is basically 13 + + man defence Ulster will continue to struggle and forfeit points if any Ulster player is carded
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Don’t see anything to argue with as I have been calling for a defence coach all season. Out of interest who are the + + players. I assume one is Humphreys.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
I let you work it out its easy if you have eyes to see
And as I have said a defence coach would be a waste of money when the defence consists of 13 + + and one in the bin
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
Couldn’t agree more in respect of the ‘blond Greek Adonis’.
Underused since last December and massively under-rated by the club.
Here’s hoping he’s given the chance to realise his full potential next season.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0
As I was saying above Ulster seriously needs a No 10 who is A More physical and dependable than Ian Humphries ( good as he can be in flashes) and B More creative than Niall O’Connor. At No 9 Paul Marshall is far too small a featherweight for the modern game and Willis is clearly very average. So there is another problem position.
If Xavier Rush is actually transferring to Ulster then he is clearly good enough to be a first choice player rather than an ocassional stand in as has been suggested above. Many of his performances this year have been the equal of the great Ferris.
I also agree with the comments above relating to the lightweight and unintimidating nature of the front five -with the exception of Botha.
On the positive side The new full back Smith seems talented ; Trimble is back to top form and the likes of Whitten and Cave have it in them to improve. Nagusa was an excitingly mercurial impact player -but is now gone. Danielli is sound. Wallae has still much to offer -but seems very injury prone.
Ulster scored a high number of tries in the Magners; but alas they also leaked far too many daft penalties — and despite weekly assurances that this will improve, it does not.
Rate this comment. Like or dislike?
0 
0