RugbyRebels

Ulster: Stockdale; Ludik, Marshall McCloskey, Gilroy; Burns, Cooney; O'Sullivan, Herring, Moore, O'Connor, Henderson; Reidy, Murphy, Coetzee.

Replacements: McBurney, Warwick, O'Toole, Treadwell, Rea, Shanahan, Johnston, Faddes.

Harlequins: Chisholm; Ismaiel, Campagnaro, Lang, Ibitoye; Smith, Care; Marler, Elia, Sinckler, Lewies, Cavubati; Kunatani, Robshaw, Dombrandt.

Replacements: Musk, Auterac, Kerrod, Lamb, Lawday, Landajo, Saili, Goneva.

He's got both arms/hands on the defender. What the fuck are they on about?

Nice try.

Decent half of rugby. At least both sides are showing some ambition.

So far we’ve seen the best and worst of Dombrandt. A good line for his try and a couple of nice breaks, but Ulster’s try came from him giving up possession by carrying the ball in to traffic in one hand and he ignored what looked like a good opportunity to put Ibitoye away on one of his breaks.

Interesting to see the officials actually reffing the offside line.

Awful from Ibitoye. Dombrandt's saved him.

Hugely frustrating to lose by giving away a dull penalty. Quins did a lot right today and will be kicking themselves for not closing out the game.
Dombrandt did make the odd error, but was overall mightily effective. Sinckler and Marler were both very good.

fivepointer wrote:Hugely frustrating to lose by giving away a dull penalty. Quins did a lot right today and will be kicking themselves for not closing out the game.
Dombrandt did make the odd error, but was overall mightily effective. Sinckler and Marler were both very good.

Yep. Incredibly frustrating to let that one go.

Landajo coming on screwed us over. He is really, really sh*t!

Quins are almost a very good team and will click one of these days. Smith is a good and consistent FH who will only get better.
Dombrandt does seem to have the X factor with much natural talent. On the other hand, he has had over a year in the Premiership now - plenty of time to get really fit and tweaked. But he still looks like the chubby lad who appeared from nowhere out of university rugby, and not like a professional athlete. This lad will play for England sooner or later, but you'd think that he, and his club, would want to have him in peak physical nick right now. Or maybe he is but just doesn't look it? (A Deano Mark II?)

TBH, I expected him to come in this season looking leaner, but in fairness, he regularly plays the full 80 and his energy level doesn’t normally drop-off until 60-65 (not obviously anyway).

His game isn’t really about size. He’s naturally big but a lot of what makes him stand-out is his ability to pick very good lines which means that he’s often targeting space or weak shoulders rather than just trying to smash through. He’s also good at reading intercepts - he was wrongly called back last season vs. Sale for a near identical interception as the one he made last night and has picked off a few others too.

He’s raw and needs to refine his game, but a lot of the natural ingredients and the right instincts are there.

Yep. Not seeing any signs the gut is actually holding him back at all. He’s regularly making game-breaking interventions late in the game when starting.

You’d think it would naturally disappear just by going through the required fitness and training, but don’t see it as a big deal if not. There’s guys like Launch, Waldrom, De Jäger etc that didn’t ever look the part physically.

It's taken Tommy Francis quite a few seasons to look like a test player (and he might lose that out of the Wales camp anyway). Sometimes players do adapt over seasons rather than in a season

Yeah - I also think Jamie George is another good example. His physique is hardly aspirational there’s no issue with his dynamism or stamina.

I think there's a whole team in there somewhere. Armitage and Waldrom to complete the backrow with Dombrandt.

Andy Goode to captain the side obviously.

Mikey Brown wrote:I think there's a whole team in there somewhere. Armitage and Waldrom to complete the backrow with Dombrandt.

Andy Goode to captain the side obviously.

That’s genuinely not far off the condition he played his last couple of seasons in.

Dombrandt’s stats: 14 carries for 94 metres, 4 clean breaks, 8 defenders beaten and 16 tackles with zero missed.

Not bad for a fat lad.

Timbo wrote:Dombrandt’s stats: 14 carries for 94 metres, 4 clean breaks, 8 defenders beaten and 16 tackles with zero missed.

Not bad for a fat lad.

Yep saw that; I watched him closely, and he does pick and choose his moments to work...learned from Nick Easter . Very effective interventions.

Mikey Brown wrote:
Andy Goode to captain the side obviously.

just brilliant

Spiffy wrote:Quins are almost a very good team and will click one of these days. Smith is a good and consistent FH who will only get better.
Dombrandt does seem to have the X factor with much natural talent. On the other hand, he has had over a year in the Premiership now - plenty of time to get really fit and tweaked. But he still looks like the chubby lad who appeared from nowhere out of university rugby, and not like a professional athlete. This lad will play for England sooner or later, but you'd think that he, and his club, would want to have him in peak physical nick right now. Or maybe he is but just doesn't look it? (A Deano Mark II?)

Deano mark II, I like that!!

Ross Chisholm is truly hilarious. Good athlete, but such a poor rugby player.

I've got a soft spot for him. Looked like he was going to take a step up a few years back before a horrible injury. This is the first time he's looked close to that again, but yes, has his limits.

Timbo wrote:Ross Chisholm is truly hilarious. Good athlete, but such a poor rugby player.

indeed.