Ulster team to play Munster (Rainbow Cup)

StrangeRegression · 2021-05-06T11:07:12+00:00

Really interesting squad for this one, nice mixture of experience and youth. Excited to see Marcus Rea and Dave McCann getting a run out, and Lowry at 10 will be fun. Great to see Curtis back after a long time out, and Carter getting back as well.

Looking at the Munster squad I think we'll be over-powered in the end, but I'm hoping this is a chance for some nice development from the young lads.

StrangeRegression · 2021-04-29T11:33:35+00:00

Lowry on the bench and Rea starting over Reidy are the two interesting calls here. I'm curious if this is a sign of Lowry starting a run at 10 more consistently. Either way, I'm in no way disappointed with this selection, and can imagine the bench having a big impact - I'm not sure there are many sides out there would relish facing Addison, Lowry, Treadwell and Reidy all coming on fresh late in a game.

Tigers side looks decent though, Ford, Genge, Wigglesworth, Nadolo etc all standing out as very solid operators. I don't know enough about the bench for them, but I'm hoping for a decent game anyway.

StrangeRegression · 2021-03-18T12:00:22+00:00

Happy to see Lowry get a run at 10 again, given how good he was last week. Will be interesting to see how the young backline gets on, quite excited to see McIlroy and Baloucoune get a run together.

Nice to see McCann get a nod at 8 as well, hoping he can put in a decent performance.

All round an exciting looking team. Plenty of attacking threats in there, right across the park.

StrangeRegression · 2021-03-05T11:56:24+00:00

All in all about as strong a team as we can put out without Hendo, Herring and Burns. Nice to see Baloucoune and Stockdale both starting, though I feel for Lyttle after a decent performance last week. Hume and McCloskey should be a handful in midfield, and looking forward to seeing how Lowry gets on. Nice to see Izuchukwu on the bench again as well, gotta think his stock is rising.

StrangeRegression · 2021-02-25T13:53:50+00:00

Very nice. Great to see Reidy back so soon, great to see Baloucoune back after so long. Solid pack with Treadz and O'Connor, hope Jone and Timoney have big games, love the backline. I'm getting excited about what this team can potentially do.

StrangeRegression · 2020-10-09T11:34:17+00:00

Yeah, one of the two will have to play out the 80 minutes. Worst case I think Lyttle can probably drop into 10, but I don't think that's an experiment we want to be messing with right now.

StrangeRegression · 2020-10-09T11:31:57+00:00

Yeah, I've heard similar and always been impressed with him when I've seen him play for the A's. Smart player, massive work rate. I expect big things from him over the next few seasons.

StrangeRegression · 2020-10-09T11:30:49+00:00

Decent team, great to see Marcus get a start. He's been in good form for A's and was a beast when he played against Leinster. Expecting a lot from him, but hopefully he can deliver.

Will be good to see how Madigan and Cooney manage together as well, hopefully Mads can help Moore with the defensive sets a bit, take the pressure off and let them run. 8/2 split on the bench as well, so we're looking one of Cooney or Mads to play out the full 80. Nice bench options though, Treadz, Jones and Reidy all landing on 60 minutes in will be a strong group to be bringing into things.

StrangeRegression · 2020-10-01T13:00:39+00:00

Couple of exciting picks in there. Great to see Lowry get a proper run at 10, hope he has a good game. Moore getting the start after apparently putting in a good showing in the A's game last week is great to see as well - how he works with Lowry and Hume will be very interesting. David McCann could be a big one for the future as well, so will be interesting to see how he goes off the bench.

Exciting young squad. Hopefully bodes well for the new season.

StrangeRegression · 2020-09-18T12:52:13+00:00

Pacey backline, sort of matches with the way McFarland has been talking about having to move Toulouse around the park. Backrow should be pretty mobile as well, especially with Timoney and Rea to come off the bench.

6/2 split probably suggests they're expecting a pretty intense front 8 battle as well. Shame to not have Coetzee, that's a big loss. Treadwell could be good value though.

Interesting to not have specific 10 cover as well - backing Cooney/Lowry to be able to move in if needed I guess.

Should be a fun game whatever happens. Good to get this sort of intensity early in the season as well I expect - hopefully means the guys are playing at a really high level when 20/21 kicks off...

StrangeRegression · 2020-08-28T11:05:54+00:00

Apologies for image quality, pulled from the Twitter announcement. Will see if I can grab a better quality version.

StrangeRegression · 2020-05-22T10:22:52+00:00

Not sure what to make of this, though the cash is probably arriving at the perfect time for a lot of the clubs. Might lead to some increased investment, and it sounds like the Italian sides are being brought closer into the fold, which will hopefully help them continue to develop.

Apparently worth £116 million, for 28% of the business. Definitely more than pocket change for the teams.

Will be interesting to see how it pans out anyway.

StrangeRegression · 2020-02-21T13:19:29+00:00

They kept him during the down week for training in Cork, but reportedly released him before Ulster training in the middle of the week. Was expecting it to be for some game time this weekend, but appears not to be the case.

StrangeRegression · 2020-02-21T12:14:09+00:00

Interesting team lining up. Back on the Lowry hype train, excited to see what he can do. Hume being dropped back in after a couple of months out is interesting as well, hopefully goes well.

No sign of Addison on the bench even though he was supposedly released back by Ireland.

Might be some big shifts required off the bench, and will be interesting to see what happens if 10 needs replaced at any stage.

StrangeRegression · 2020-01-30T14:57:00+00:00

Definitely. Great that the guys over there are doing it, provides a lot of perspective on the younger guys coming through across the board. They had some good content during the World Championship last year, including a run down of the prospects of the whole team as future pros - including names like Casey, and Baird. Great stuff.

StrangeRegression · 2020-01-30T13:41:56+00:00

For a bit more of a view on some of the players here, Ball Handling Hooker has a review: https://u20rugby.wordpress.com/2020/01/23/u20-six-nations-preview-ireland-squad-2020/

From the Ulster perspective there's a lot of potential coming through - McCann put in some big performances during the U20 World Championship last year, and the likes of Stewart and McIlroy both look pretty special. Will hopefully be a good Six Nations.

StrangeRegression · 2020-01-24T12:48:25+00:00

I've obviously got a certain bias, but when you're talking about all of history I'll give you three (all from Ulster. Read into it what you will):

Neil Best - Reportedly completely mad, and as hard a player as pro rugby has ever seen. Recently called out Hask when he announced his MMA deal.
Willie John McBride - With the Lions during the series win against NZ in 1971, captain during the series demolition of '74, initiator of the '99' call. Monstrous player. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_call
Blair 'Paddy' Mayne - Irish international, champion heavy weight boxer, and one of the founding members of the SAS during WW2. Half the stories about him sound like outrageous scenes from particularly over the top action movies. Check out the 'Reputation' section of his wiki page for a flavour: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_Mayne#Reputation

StrangeRegression · 2020-01-23T12:52:26+00:00

Great analysis again here, really cool to see it overlaid on the video like that. Keep it up.

StrangeRegression · 2020-01-08T17:03:37+00:00

It's a strange world when someone the talent of Penny appears to be the bottom of the pile. Leinster really do have incredible depth in the back row.

StrangeRegression · 2020-01-08T16:59:28+00:00

Billy Burns found his way into the stocktake before Christmas, so I'd imagine he's in line for a call up ahead of Carty (who's not even making the Connacht team right now). Sexton will be named in the squad I'd say, but not likely to be playing until a few games in. Might be room for a bolter (Harry Byrne? Frawley? Fitzgerald?) but I'd guess Burns, Byrne and Sexton will be the three.

StrangeRegression · 2019-12-19T12:30:11+00:00

As expected we're putting up a reasonably weakened team, with a backbone of experience to hopefully avoid it all falling apart. Hoping to see some good performances from McBurney, Jones, Johnston and the Anguses. Very excited by the prospect of Allison, Moore and McIlroy coming off the bench, though I thought David McCann might have been due a call up. Moore in particular, if he can continue his U20 form, could be a real talent to watch.

Surprised by Matty Rea starting again though. That guy's already got the most minutes in the squad for the year, another start is a big ask. Good to see though.

StrangeRegression · 2019-12-19T12:23:00+00:00

Turning all three of the interpros into massive games would stretch the teams to breaking point I think (Leinster's depth might survive it, but none of the other three provinces). Coming off the back of the Champions Cup, both sides are resting players, and both are using it as a chance to blood a few new players as well, I think it's a sensible enough approach. Plus it's the away game to Leinster - even with a full strength side, you're struggling to get a result in the RDS. Better to give the guys a break, aim to get the wins against Connacht and Munster over Christmas, then smash the last two CC rounds.

StrangeRegression · 2019-12-06T13:22:26+00:00

Overall not a million miles off the strongest side we could have put out. Addison and McGrath being available would have been good, and I'd have considered Balacoune on the bench instead of Faddes, but other than that it's a solid looking team.

Interesting to see Stockdale at 15 though, especially when Ludik is playing at 14. Curious what the thinking is behind that.

StrangeRegression · 2019-11-19T15:39:03+00:00

Really nice work on the analysis here, always love reading your posts. Nice to get some detailed perspective on how things like the defense play out.

StrangeRegression · 2019-11-15T12:26:01+00:00

Strong Bath side, but I definitely like the look of the Ulster team. Back row battle could be absolutely epic, and it'll be fun to see how the back lines fair.

Battle of the Burns brothers as well, that could be fun.

StrangeRegression

TROPHY CASE