Monday, August 16, 2010
Bath looking good away from home at Ulster
Despite going down on the day, Ulster have plenty of positives to take from the match as they gave starts to a few new caps, with debutant Pedrie Wannenburg crossing for a try late in the game. Wannenburg, formerly of the Bulls and South Africa, made his debut for his new side and says there are good days ahead.
"We must not look at the result we must look at the positives, we kept the ball well in the first 20 minutes and we looking forward to the next game. Coming to Belfast is a new challenge for me and the atmosphere was very good and that is a positive for us, he said.
"I was a bit rusty as it was the first game of the season and there is still plenty of work to be done, we're looking forward to the next match.
"This is really a good bunch of guys and they have made me felt welcome since the moment I arrived. Bath played pretty well and it was good competition for us but it will be all about the results at the end of the season," he added.
Bath, who now have Lewis Moody in their camp, looked good as they shifted the ball through the hands and created tries for their backs. Matt Banahan crashed through the line for a nice try, as did fellow back Jack Cuthbert.
This is just a quick highlights clip to get you in the mood for the UK rugby season, which kicks off soon. Other noteworthy clips from the NH season will be posted over the next few months.
Time: 03:52
Posted at 3:47 pm | 14 comments
|
|
|
Viewing 14 comments
Wolfman21 August 16, 2010 2:29 pm
Bath dragons. Interesting to see how Luke Watson goes as captain this year.
Ulsterfan August 16, 2010 4:33 pm
I love rugby and I ive in ulster....you would think I would like watching Ulster play rugby, but every time I go and see them it seems that they either lose or just sneak a win, never a solid win that looks like everythings clicking.
10 seconds in is that marshall? clearly could have got hands on for a steal, laps it, everyone standing off when defending and no pressure on bath at all, and far to many missed tackles, compare to 10 years ago...we have fallen a long long way.
10 seconds in is that marshall? clearly could have got hands on for a steal, laps it, everyone standing off when defending and no pressure on bath at all, and far to many missed tackles, compare to 10 years ago...we have fallen a long long way.
AlternativeUlsterfan August 16, 2010 6:42 pm
In all fairness that was a strong Bath side and Ulster fielded a 2nd string team at best. The fact we didn't get destroyed gives me hope for when the other senior players come back.
I will agree that the backs were poor. "We managed to make Banahan look like he could play, which frankly is unacceptable." This quote I read off the UAFC forum made me chuckle and is 100% true. But the forwards did quite well, and about 5 of the 23 man squad were playing their first game at this level and they were all in or around 20 years of age. The new Saffers played well along with the rest of the back and 2nd row.
Half back wise Ulster are pretty screwed, Ian Humphreys, like most outhalfs, can't tackle for beans and the less said about Niall O'Connor the better. At the moment we only have Paul Marshall (who I like and by the way he couldn't of stolen that ball before getting cleaned, like he did by Grewcock and had to come off as a result) and Ian Porter (the young 20ish year old who actually played well considering it was his first proper game for Ulster having come on in the first 20mins) at scrum-half until Ruan Pienaar comes over and even then he's just done his AC Joint so will be out for a bit.
The next time Ulster play Bath will be Christmas in the Heineken Cup, 2nd round back to back matches. I wouldn't be surprised if the result is the other way around both times (touch wood!).
I will agree that the backs were poor. "We managed to make Banahan look like he could play, which frankly is unacceptable." This quote I read off the UAFC forum made me chuckle and is 100% true. But the forwards did quite well, and about 5 of the 23 man squad were playing their first game at this level and they were all in or around 20 years of age. The new Saffers played well along with the rest of the back and 2nd row.
Half back wise Ulster are pretty screwed, Ian Humphreys, like most outhalfs, can't tackle for beans and the less said about Niall O'Connor the better. At the moment we only have Paul Marshall (who I like and by the way he couldn't of stolen that ball before getting cleaned, like he did by Grewcock and had to come off as a result) and Ian Porter (the young 20ish year old who actually played well considering it was his first proper game for Ulster having come on in the first 20mins) at scrum-half until Ruan Pienaar comes over and even then he's just done his AC Joint so will be out for a bit.
The next time Ulster play Bath will be Christmas in the Heineken Cup, 2nd round back to back matches. I wouldn't be surprised if the result is the other way around both times (touch wood!).
Leeners93 August 16, 2010 8:42 pm
is it just me or has lee mears put on a few pounds?he looked a bit soggy around the middle in that clip
Anonymous August 17, 2010 5:17 am
The South African fitness trainer, referancing GPS systems the Boks use (and the ones NH clubs use, the data having been provided to them by the Northern clubs on former Springboks), has come out to say that the game in the north is twice as slow, and the players move half as slowly and half as much during games.
He basically stated that the ball rarely goes more than five or six metres from the base of the ruck.
Based on this clip, he;s not half right.
He basically stated that the ball rarely goes more than five or six metres from the base of the ruck.
Based on this clip, he;s not half right.
Anonymous August 17, 2010 10:24 am
I hope ulster play some of their younger players this year like the english clubs do cause theres some serious good players there paddy jackson for example
just type O2 challengle into youtube
stuart
just type O2 challengle into youtube
stuart
Anonymous August 17, 2010 11:47 am
in all fairness, banahan does look pretty good in this highlights clip. he took his try well, though fair play the tackling was very weak, he also sucked in two defenders and offloaded well for the jack cuthbert try, and drove wannenburg back in the tackle (no mean feat) prior to him driving over for his try
Mike August 17, 2010 2:04 pm
It's time for Ulster to come good again. They've been in the shade of Munster and now Leinster a bit too long, but there are a lot of good young players coming through.
NiWiTa August 18, 2010 11:58 am
Looked a good game to me for tries and attacking rugby attempted...look forward to the new season - means I won't have to have beer at 10am in the morning whilst watching the tri-nations!
I wonder if the refereeing stance taken by the IRB in the tri-nations will transfer to the UK competition?
I wonder if the refereeing stance taken by the IRB in the tri-nations will transfer to the UK competition?
Anonymous August 19, 2010 9:38 pm
well hello people of rugby dump i am a HUGE ulster fan and that was a weak ulster side in there first game in months # we have pienar on the way and with andrew trimble,paddy wallace, rory best and stephy ferris plus some of our south african players i truly do belive this will be a strong season for ulster this loss really means very little as it was against a 1st string bath side
Anonymous August 21, 2010 5:31 am
Why oh why did the IRFU sack Alan Solomons as Ulster coach? it's gone all downhill from there and no one wants to do anything about it.
Commenting as Guest | Register or Login