connachtexile wrote: Suddenly I like our chances of beating Ulster. Have you seen their injury list from yesterdays game?!

Ruan Pienaar will miss at least six weeks of action after medical tests confirmed the re-occurance of an AC joint problem.

Rory Best has picked up a “significant ankle sprain” and will miss six to eight weeks.

Dan Tuohy broke his hand and will be out until May.

Roger Wilson broken thumb out til May also.

Andrew Trimble has a concussion. The right wing must now complete the IRB’s return-to-play protocols.

John Afoa picked has a disk injury and will definitely miss Friday night’s Pro12 clash with Connacht at Ravenhill.

That's a massive amount of their key players out injured and will have to affect their chances of winning the Rabo.

also will Jared Payne will be suspended?

Mucker wrote: For that to have been a straight red card surely it has to be a straight red card every time it happens. Payne got the red for the severity of the injury rather then for his reckless challenge.

I agree. I think this is an area that needs to be looked at. Payne was clearly 100% focussed on catching the ball. People are saying he was reckless - does that mean the attacking player is expected to look at the ball, and also cencentrate on what his opposition number might do? That's not easy when the ball is coming from over your shoulder. Rugby is a contact sport, and there are dangerous aspects to it, this is one. As Mucker said, on this ocassion the referee's decision was clearly influenced by the fact a player appeared to be badly hurt (thankfully he was wandering around having a laugh half an hour later). For me it was a terrible decision, and one which cost Ulster the game. Even after that Saracens struggled to win the game, which tells me they're going to be found out in the next round (hopefully).

For that to have been a straight red card surely it has to be a straight red card every time it happens. Payne got the red for the severity of the injury rather then for his reckless challenge.

Gutted.

Anyone but Sarries. Allez les jeunes.

Tough way to lose, i thought they matched Saracens in most departments, still not convinced that Jackson has what it takes to make it at this level, some of his kicking from hand and decision making was very poor. if they had a top class 10 outside Piennar they would have won that game

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In theory the red card was probably right but for the sake of the game I think a yellow and a very strong warning may have sufficed but regardless of whether intended or not it was reckless. After that Ulster can't really have any complaints, penalty count was something like 13 v 8 in Ulster's favour.

Ulster fought to the very finish but Paddy Jackson needed to give his pack a proper platform to engineer a drop goal attempt from the final penalty. His kick fell way too short for a side out on their feet. He slotted the two penalties before that well in fairness.

I thought they were real contenders !! Shame about the red card but we know all too well about poor refereeing decisions. If Leinster beat Toulon then I think they will win it. Don't think Munster are quite there yet but I hope I'm proven wrong.

50/50 split? Fair play to them for staying in it until the very end.

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We must line up

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Absolutely with McCallister he could do worse than us. Porter could be a really great one for us as mentioned before with kicking when our frontline 10 goes off. Frank I think has slipped too far out with injury and age. POD has improved so much this season and with more competition for the bench he might even progress more. Don't forget that Blade got the seal of approval from Carolan too so he should feature for us too.

Paddy McAllister was hyped as a prospect only a couple of years ago but has had some injuries. Could be worth a punt for Connacht to replace Brett Wilkinson if his wage demands are reasonable.

thefrontrowunion.com/2014/03/ulster-herb...-five-more-to-leave/

Porter closer than ever