For my money, such as it is, the talking point of Friday’s game against the misfiring Gunners were the points left on the pitch by our misfiring outhalf Niall O’Connor.
There came a point (or points to be exact), halfway through the second half when the Gunners could have been decommissioned by putting away a relatively simple penalty kick and putting a near two try gap between the teams.
This would have allowed Ulster to expand their game and go in search of the bonus point far earlier than they did. It did not happen and O’Connor kicking from the left hand side of the pitch, missed narrowly to make the game far more entertaining from a Gunner point of view than it should have been.
To my mind O’Connor has put over some excellent kicks from the right hand side of the pitch and has done so on a regular basis against the O’s and Aironi, not to mention a couple on Friday night.
Remember the match winning kick from the Prom side to beat the O’s for example. Had it been from the Terrace side it probably would have shaved the wrong side of the upright.
Ulster have so far got away with leaving points on the pitch but one wonders for how long before this comes back to haunt.
An intriguing game with the Westies awaits next Saturday evening. At least we can’t say we aren’t forewarned on what to expect as they won again on Friday night, this time at Glasgae.
My spies on the ground wired me to say Connaught are: “Very big up front – stop – Keatley and Carr impressive – stop.”
The Cannonball Run West
Gillian intends to be at the game in Connaught having decided she can afford to take the wheels and slum it in a hostel. She will be following in the tyre tracks of Ulster’s most interpretative supporter Holywood Mike.
HWM is heading west in his 10 year old Clio. This is beginning to resemble Belfast to Galway’s very own bangers Cannonball run with Burt Reynolds lookalike Browner also planning to take wheels out West.
Looks like a fairly impressive Ulster support building there with rumours circulating that Ulster chicken magnate, Rooster ‘Cogburn,’ is taking tractor and trailer.
Throw in the odd URSC bus and oyster festival and the roads to Galway next weekend, will resemble the Western world’s very own version of a Chinese traffic jam.
For those of you unable to make the Sportsground there will be live TV for the game either on BBC 2 or TG4 if you wish to avoid Gusher’s English in favour of Gaelic. Wonder would UR consider opening the doors to the Long Room and bar to show the game?
Standing at the Crossroads Wondering Which Way They Would Go
I was located not far from the Long Room on Friday evening at the crossroads 22°E 55°N of the beer Tabernacle just past the corner of Moores boutique and slightly to the left of URSC’s party headquarters, in the former Ravenhill car park.
This is an interesting spot, as it seems to be the crossroads between trading on the East side (the Prom) along the beer route to the West side and Terrace.
It struck me as I stood there that the Scoop must be a sad lonely place these days, pre match. Many Scoop regulars ply this route and indeed GC could be seen ploughing a steady furrow to the East whilst Ragin’ Raven plied back and forth like Blackadder’s appalling comedy of the same name.
The e-steamed editor Dewi Barnes duly arrived dressed in what appeared to be a Smithy type tracksuit. Dewi has seen many incarnations of late, ranging from the long standing two headed persona of Dewi Barnes, to incarnation as Chatty Man and now re-incarnation as Smithy the irrepressible England trainer.
The Original, Original
Whilst embedded near the URSC party headquarters I was congratulated by the Party Chairman, The Original Kimble on last week’s article on the originality of the Original Kimble.
Having dispensed bonhomie, Kimble explained the real origins of the Original Kimble. It went along the lines of – real name at school, Campbell, nickname Kimble, e-mail addy Kimble had to be, The Original to avoid clash with the millions of other e-mail Kimble addy’s.
That’s the gist of it and whilst we chatted on such weighty matters I couldn’t but help notice his attire which resembled a senior boy scout’s outfit right down to the natty Perpignan cravat now tucked inside the URSC emblazoned hoodie.
With ‘URSC committee member’ tattooed across the back of the hoodie, the URSC appear to be continuing the long tradition of names on the back of clothing. A tradition first started when Kimble was a fledgling member of the Second Barrier Crew and they sported names like Grumpy, Maestro and Kimble on the back of their Ulster shirts.
The Cadre
With the emblazoned hoodies, stall, ‘country needs you’ type posters blaring out at you, one senses the expansion of the Supporters club and with it the trappings of power.
Having transformed since the dawn of ‘Perestroika’ and new age rapport with the fit controller, the URSC have moved on swiftly to consolidate their power base and with it the pitfalls that accompany such pacts and treaty’s.
I’ve seen the informality of contact with the grass roots lost in many other small organisations, as tables and forms come twixt supporter and committee and with it the commonality of in it together as supporters.
Question time.
I will not be reporting on the Meet the Bokkers event as I feel paying a fiver for the privilege of meeting the Springboks is about £5 too much.
This could well come as a relief to BJ, Ruan, Johann, Pedrie and Robbie who might have been expected to face such Pennisesque questions as:
“BJ, why do you always bring such bad weather back with you and is Durban really halfway to heaven?”
or
“Ruan, does Blomfontein really remind you of Belfast, I’ve never heard of the ‘Troubles’ there?
Do you know we have another Ruane here, let’s hope you’ll be more popular than she is after your first season.”
or
“They say you are a nice guy Johann. Do you really expect us to believe that, when you’ve played 23 times as a Springbok second row?”
A Happy Bunnyman
Little Jackie Paper, aka the effervescent poster Jackie Brown, is an ever present presence on the Munsterfans Forum or (MFF for short).
Last week on Munsterfans he expressed in terms reminiscent of a simple man, his undying devotion to the latest Ulster arrival Ruan Pienaar.
Under a two picture spread of a grinning Pienaar arriving in Belfast’s, George Best City Airport, Jackie gushed, ‘I’m so happy he’s here,’ momentarily abandoning his marriage, career and long term future to dwell in splendid communion with the sainted Ruan.
One would expect Jackie to have regained his sanity, stabilised his marriage and resumed his career following his momentary out of character experience. One would also pray that Pienaar can reside here and express his undoubted talent, even with the weight of expectation already stacked on his wounded shoulder.
In passing, the Munster supporters have the Munsterfans Forum, (MFF). Leinster supporters have the Leinsterfans Forum, (LFF), so why don’t we have the Ulsterfans Forum, (UFF).
Well alright, maybe that acronym explains why not!
Forkins Rocksolid Sired by Tamnamoney Ned! Ye Ha!
Ever since reading a few weeks ago, on this site, of Texel King’s® legal attempt to gain oodles of premium sheep dip out of UR as compensation for the misuse of his picture and name, I have been intrigued by the Texel Sheep society.
My attention has been subsequently drawn, through the News Letter’s Farming Life, to Forkins Rocksolid. Forkins is a Texel prize winning ram from Norn Iron that has just been auctioned to Trinidad Investments for the princely and Norn Iron record sum of 65,000 gns. (Presumably that’s guineas).
Here is a few extracts from Saturday’s Farming Life to give you an insight into a world beyond the big smoke and hedgerows of Norn Iron’s famous drumlins.
‘Not only does Rocksolid have a great pedigree, sired by Ned who is a Douganhill McFly son, he also has the length, skin and backend to justify this excellent price.’
‘Alistair (the owner) has throughout the years, paid particular attention to producing Texel sheep with good skins, and good confirmation, while keeping a watchful eye on legs and feet and staying true to Texel type.’
Should Texel King® secure his premium sheep dip as compensation from UR, he too will be on his way to increased earnings just like Alistair’s family whose son and daughter have sold their female Cherryvale gimmer for a record breaking £8,400!! (That’s more than the URSC’s annual budget!)
This Week’s Sartorial Affair Cancelled
Although Dewi was in the running for the prize this week with his Smithy tracksuit, it wasn’t enough to justify an award. Moondance, the previous recipient of this prestigious, but highly useless, worst dressed supporter prize, ruled himself out of the contest by dressing normally in jeans and jacket,
Though he claimed to have the lengthy cargo shorts underneath his jeans, the predominance of kids in a public place ensured MD was not asked to prove what he really had under them.
There the matter has rested, with even Kimble being absolved of any kind of chance to win by dressing up from his normal dressing down!
This Week’s Note to Mote
I note Barnesy (Stuart that is!) joins will Greenwood and myself in bemoaning the way the adapted laws have changed the game. Stuart’s point was basically there is little or no contest at the breakdown now allowing teams to play keep ball.
Noticed in yesterday’s game at Thomond that players having been tackled were allowed to hold on to the ball like grim death even though a defender was clearly in a position to wrestle it free.
Sad that there is a steady erosion of so many facets of the game and to quote Barnesy, (Stuart that is!).
“Unless rugby reverts to collision, the tweaking in the name of entertainment will make union the poor man’s rugby league.”
OUCH!
Corrections, comments or questions?