Colin McBride

Probably Curry for me. I knew he was good and important for England, but my word, he has to be really good at both the big, obvious moments and also the nuts and bolts ugly stuff cos I've noticed that Earl is basically a highlight reels player.

I think this means that we are watching the 1st test centres tonight and probably increases Owen Farrell's chances of being on the bench as 10 and 12 cover, with Hansen and Freeman in contention for 14 shirt and the other on the bench.

I turned it on after 52 minutes, and on the basis of the 28 minutes I saw, I reckon the best version of the currently rancid, miserable, infuriating Ulster would have beaten Wales.

Gibbes was fine as a coach, but was another example of Bryn's being exceptional at office politics. He created the dynamic of three jobs for the workload of two people, and yet he survived and became more powerful than he had been after Kiss was sacked, and Gibbes felt undermined and wanted out.

10 years in the job, and I think there's been two good coaching decisions (Peel and Payne), and one of those was basically an accident through circumstances. You could maybe include McFarland initially, but his people skills were that poor, Bryn looked like a compassionate figure.

You'd almost think appointing bad coaches is a deliberate feature, not a bug, of Ulster Rugby. Yet, some would have you believe that it is IRFU diktats forcing us into this when every other province has been able to go big on coaching hires rather than individuals protecting their personal fiefdoms.

Screenshot hinting at Lancaster heading to Connacht

If you want to show ambition and appoint a good coach, the IRFU will make it happen.

Meanwhile, if you have a clueless bluffer of a GM who can't/won't identify competent coaches, you get lumbered with the IRFU picks and go down the toilet.

The Stormers were the 2nd biggest exploding clown car of a team I saw at Ravenhill this season (Ulster were obviously the biggest).

It'll be the first competition in any sport I can think of with a gap in its honours list for a reason other than COVID. Such an unserious plan.

All United stuff aside, I’m genuinely very happy for Ange tbh. I think the level of vitriol towards him has gotten a bit much. Maybe he’s not an elite coach, and he defo can be a sour fella (can’t we all) - but genuinely think he’s still probably a good guy and good company. Again, happy for him.

You would think the person most responsible for assembling a joke of squad over a 7 or 8 year period would have been sacked by now, but he's given himself promotions and seems to have the rugby equivalent of Papal Infalliblity.

The only team I'm fairly confident will finish below Ulster next season are the Dragon's. We have no URC standard loosehead, no convincing URC lock in 2025, one 9 with the talent to play in the URC but not the attitude, a 21 year old 10 and no real alternatives, and a joke shop of senior players.

Thank feck that season's over. Plenty at Ulster, players, coaching staff and administration at the club, need to use the long break to have a hard look at themselves. Not good enough. So little to pin hope on. Far too many don't have Ulster's best interests at heart, no matter what they think.

I said it really early in the season that I wouldn't have renewed Henderson, and I'm not sure I'd have given McCloskey a new deal, but I knew we would cos Bryn is an idiot. We're going to suffer consequences for it.

I can't think of a single game we've played well in with Henderson on the pitch and not many with McCloskey. Hand this over to the younger players and see where we go. Nothing good comes from continuing this nonsense.

It's a recurring theme with the senior players. He's not even close to the worst *looks squarely at Captain Invisible*

The first half showed why we are champions. Really clever and controlled aggression.

The second half showed why we went out to PSG. Lack of pace, lose duels, and drop-off in attacking and midfield options from the bench.

Not sure what on earth folks expected with Trent.

The way he’s engineered his exit always left him open to this sort of emotional reaction.

Wouldn’t pay too much heed to lectures/moralising from rival fans around what’s appropriate or not.

A distraction no one needs.

Think that's Slot's first inexplicable mistake. He shouldn't be near it again after the announcement. If you are worried about Bradley's fitness, anybody else was a better option. Just shows Slot doesn't have any social media burner accounts as he mustn't have thought the reaction would be this bad.

I feel like the Labour leadership is once again overestimating the vote-winning potential of a PR blitz. When some combination of universities and either the social care system or the councils that fund it start collapsing on your watch, no one's gonna care that you got a few good headlines first.

After Munster's lineout, Connacht's defence might be the 2nd worst performing unit in Irish men's rugby this season.

For me, there are probably 10 teams in the URC with stronger squads than Ulster (and 6 teams it is impossible to argue otherwise), and it's only getting worse. Until Cunningham goes, the rest is just rearranging deckchairs on The Titanic.

We've got a nine who has regressed since his first season. We've got an academy 10 as the senior options contracted by Cunningham are either 15s masquerading as 10s or an AIL player contracted cos of who his da is. The centres and back 3 are fine, but what's the point given the other issues?

The loosehead options are as bad as any in the URC. Our best lock is actually a 6, and our best paid player is a lock who is rarely fit, and the other locks are past their best and ill-disciplined. The senior players add no leadership. We've got 4 decent back rows who are ready for senior rugby.

The amount of Ulster fans still pushing this narrative that we have a top 8 squad is worrying. There are talented players, but fundamentally, there are gaps all over the place that no amount of coaching can cover up (and I say that as somebody not remotely convinced by the coaches).

6.5m is around what Ulster's budget is, and we are dogshit (mainly cos we've had a succession of dreadful CEOs and a lad in charge of recruitment who has effective tenure it appears). 6.5m barely touches the sides of what the regions need.

I’m sad to report that The English are At It Again.

I watched 55 minutes of Ulster's attempting to play rugby last night, and Monye's opinion there is still the shittest rugby related thing I'll see all weekend.

Yep. I think the only squad that is definitely going to be worse than ours next season is the Dragon's. I don't know what Zebre's will be like, the Lions always lose players but have significant home advantage, and I think it'll be around the level of Cardiff, Scarlets, and Ospreys (at best).

As bad as Petrie was, Cunningham couldn't have done more damage to Ulster if he was attempting deliberate sabotage. He did so much damage pre Petrie and got lucky that McFarland had an almost instant improvement, but I fear Cunningham has done too much damage this time for it to be recovered.