Ulster Rugby v Exeter Chiefs

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No idea but I'll try Ulster 24 Chiefs 24

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Ben Hammersley

14 Campbell Ridl

13 Henry Slade

12 Len Ikitau

11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

10 Harvey Skinner

9 Stephen Varney

1 Scott Sio

2 Max Norey

3 Bachuki Tchumbadze

4 Dafydd Jenkins (c)

5 Andrea Zambonin

6 Tom Hooper

7 Christ Tshiunza

8 Ross Vintcent

Replacements:

16 Joseph Dweba

17 Ethan Burger

18 Josh Iosefa-Scott

19 Rusi Tuima

20 Finn Worley Brady

21 Tom Cairns

22 Will Haydon-Wood

23 Nick Lilley

Ulster

1. Sam Crean (17)

2. Tom Stewart (72)

3. Tom O’Toole (139)

4. Iain Henderson (C) (176)

5. Cormac Izuchukwu (51)

6. David McCann (88)

7. Nick Timoney (180)

8. Juarno Augustus (14)

9. Nathan Doak (106)

10. Jack Murphy (31)

11. Jacob Stockdale (148)

12. Stuart McCloskey (216)

13. Jude Postlethwaite (44)

14. Zac Ward (26)

15. Michael Lowry (132)

Replacements:

16. James McCormick (17)

17. Eric O’Sullivan (135)

18. Tom McAllister (3)

19. Charlie Irvine (11)

20. Bryn Ward (16)

21. Conor McKee (20)

22. Jake Flannery (37)

23. Ethan McIlroy (74)

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (France), Craig Evans (Wales)

TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

Weather Forecast as at 1200 Friday

Thundery showers and light winds from the south south-east
Temperature 14 degrees will feel like 15 degrees
Chance of Precipitation

Ulster 35 - 25 Chiefs. Because Hammersley is playing full back

TV Coverage

Available on Premier Sports

Pessimistic so:
Ulster 31 - 18 Exeter

15 worries me especially at their place. However Im going with my heart. Ulster 22 Chiefs 28

Obviously we've got some injuries and other unavailabilities so a bit understrength, however the squad will want to step up after last week's performance, so Ulster 24 - 28 Chiefs 🫣

Ulster 28 Chiefs 24

Hmmm...that looks like a tough Ulster team and a not-quite full strength Chiefs team. Yet I didn't throw money at getting to Belfast for nothing so feel I have to lean towards optimism.

Ulster 25 Chiefs 30?

Not confident. Hammers at FB is a concern, but the pack looks strong. A big opportunity for Norey to step up.
Ulster 30 Chiefs 20

In Rob we trust.
By the way - cream on first. There's nothing to debate.

We ned and I expect a response from last weekend.

It will be tough but I think it's fair to say that a trip to Ulster shouldn't be as daunting as it was maybe a season or two ago?

Like everyone else I am worried about our strength in depth, especially playing someone at full back who isn't a full back and isn't the strongest tackler?

Not confident but optimistic that we can get a result 🤞🙏

I’d love to see us go all the way but Ulster at home is not easy:
Ulster 29 - 24 Chiefs

These last two games have been costly for us. We've lost Yendle, woodburn, Paul BB, Greg and for a different reason Roots. Stick those five in the 23 and I'd feel a lot more confident. We especially miss the experience of the first two in that list, both have seen it and done it many times.
Like most people I'm not exactly thrilled seeing hammers at 15, I feel sorry for him really he's an inexperienced winger who seems to play more out of position. Full back is not an easy position and one where you can be easily exposed. I'm sure we must have a better option somewhere!!
Any news on Greg I hadn't realised he was an injury doubt. Surprised to see Josh IS picked over Jimmy roots given their performances at Gloucester.
Hope our first 15 have plenty of energy, the dubs bench doesn't inspire confidence. It wouldn't look at of place as a championship teams replacements.
Nothing anyone can do but our lack of depth is really costing us now. With a stronger bench would Ethan really of carried on last week?

Let's hope for no early injuries. I'm really hoping we can see this though but I'm afraid I'm not confident. If I was Ulster I'd be raining kicks down on poor old hammers from minute one. My pessimistic side is taking over now Ulster 34 Chiefs 21 really really hope I'm wrong.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:05:01:13:55:17 by Big Chief Little Chief.

neither english team will make the final, Toulon to spring a surprise on an undercooked blue Ireland
Montpellier to beat dragons

Ulster 31 - Chiefs 23

I share a lot of the pessimism. And some of the injuries definitely weaken the team.

But on the plus side, Henry and Len, Manny and Ridl, Daf, Zambo and Hooper are all capable of swinging a game. Varney and Skinner are eminently reliable and our pack is pretty decent overall.

I too feel sorry for Hammersley, but he has turned in some surprisingly good performances in the past, I just hope that this is his weekend.

Just as a matter of interest, does anyone have any thoughts about why Manny and Ridl have swapped wings?

Ulster 23 Chiefs 30

I’ll be setting off from Spain in about 10 hours from now, so a long day ahead, hope it will be worth the effort, Treviso certainly was. Surprised Dan John wasn’t selected for the squad, along with Jimmy R, and is Greg injured or just rested for the big game next weekend? And i too wondered why Ridl and Manny swapped wings. Christ T looked good when he came on last week, plenty of experience in our forwards. But Ulster do look strong!

I have to go with heart over head

Ulster 28 Chiefs 31

Ulster 26; Chiefs 31

Is Fisilau injured? Huge loss. But looking on the bright side, Vintcent might have a few more chances to use his pace from 8 and Tshiunza often gets a couple of lineout steals.

Greg was limping badly at the end of last weeks game, so no shock he is missing. We will miss him like all our big players who are not available. So disappointed that Wimbush not in our squad, he has played in the Champions Cup, was outstanding in the Prem cup after a long injury lay off. He has so much to offer and can play on the wing allowing Ridl to continue at full back. We all know Hammersley is a car crash waiting to happen, Dan John must be fed up, he rarely makes a glaring error. In saying this I hope Hammersley can hold his own, it is such an important position in the modern game.
Away on a plastic pitch is not going to be easy especially with Ulster having a lot of their quality players returning from injury. I think we will score a few points but defensively we look a shadow of the side from earlier in the season. Ulster 38 Chiefs 24.

I posted earlier and was going to mention that Ulster have the benefit of an extra days rest over us from last weekend having played on the Saturday compared to our Sunday but have just noticed that Ulster basically rested virtually their entire first 15 last weekend so that is irrelevant! Lol.
Us playing 6 days ago and them having a good break makes this an even more difficult task so we are really up against it.
At least we played on plastic last weekend so that was a benefit

Ulster 28 Chiefs 35

Ulster 21 - Chiefs 28

Ulster 31 - 33 Chiefs

Good luck!

Quote:

PaulHerox
Good luck!

Thanks Paul, we'll need it!!

Ulster 34 us 27
Concerned our back row may be a bit lightweight, and not sure Hammersley is the answer at 15. Is Dan John unavailable.

Ulster 31 Chiefs 24

Best wishes to those making the trip and good luck tomorrow. Here's hoping we can meet next week in the knowledge we have done our best to represent English clubs in European competitions. Looking forward, hopefully, to supporting each other in Bilbao in 3 weeks time!

I'm not sure I really believe this will happen but Ulster 24 Chiefs 26

Well….will be tough

Feel for Hammers, but he never backs off even when he makes mistakes and always puts his body on the line when a lesser player may go missing in action- so I hope he plays a blinder, of course we would prefer Woody or Tommy Wyatt to be there but that’s life

We’ll have a good line out hopefully with Chinz adding to our world class 2nd row..

Ultimately if we really want it ,we can win it , if we are even slightly off the pace…..Ulster it is

COYC

Is this the time to say, oh well focus on the league!?

Yep, keep running into brick walls, that'll work..not!
Invention? Chip over the top, play the territory game with some kicks to pin them back?
No, keep bashing the door!
Disappointing say say the least!
As for the yellow card on Mani...clear head contact and coupled with grabbing his head and throwing onto the floor!!
A clear red!!
Hey ho, rant over.

Huff and puff and no imagination. Do we suffer from nerves at these critical games. So many handling errors and knock ons I lost count the times the Ulster supporters sang the "knock on" tune.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:05:02:20:43:20 by Chief10tank.

What is worrying is that we clearly have no strength in depth, and Baxter is quoted as having almost completed his squad for next season. Difficult run in to the end of the season and lots of injuries, fear we will not make the top 4. Is top 6 our best bet?

Very few positives from that performance where we looked flat at times, that’s two weeks running away from home on plastic pitches we have played a team which has rested players for two weeks, it showed again with the lack of intensity in defence where we were bullied and could not stop the offloads in the tackle. Coupled with our error count of dropping balls and silly penalty errors (Norey for example) , we could not get any momentum in the game. A lot of that was good defence but we looked blunt in attack for the first time this season, a lot of course down to personnel on the pitch.
I thought we got selection wrong in a number of areas but that’s being picky we weren’t good enough and our squad lacks any depth to rotate. Another sickening injury for Manni, he may now be missing a few weeks as he’s had trouble with head knocks already this season, it was just a horrible challenge.
Another very solid game from Cam Ridl he is having a fantastic break out season.
Congratulations to Ulster by far the better team on the night.
Next week v Bath could well be a challenge selection wise with so many players unavailable.

Disappointed but I suppose this was always likely to happen. With depth so thin, we needed some luck with Injuries, instead we lost our entire back three! As soon as I heard Manny had failed his HIA I feared the worst. He was always likely to make something happen.
Each injury just shines more light on the lack of depth. We were in the game until our pack started to tire. With no firepower to bring off the bench we were always likely to drop off. Our limited game plan was solely down to the fact we didn't have any first choice back three players on the pitch.
Some players look exhausted now and are making silly mistakes due to that. I'm still not sure on Harvey at ten, too much responsibility is placed on Henry's shoulders. I actually wouldn't be surprised if we don't win another game this year. If investment comes then squad depth is number one priority. I feel sorry for the players and coaches, we can all see the number one issue but are powerless to do anything about it

I don't think that Ulster were the better team and given the lack of first team experience we were forced to send over there I thought we put up a great performance. How the heck Broussett can get away with awarding a yellow for the Mani foul is beyond belief and there was a second yellow/red that Ulster got away with when the game was all but done.
Personally proud of the boys today in the fight they put up and can't wait to see what next season brings with what is obviously a very up and coming team!

I thought Ulster were excellent today. They had every base covered, esp defensively and were clinical in our red zone.
Sometimes I think as fans (not just polarising it to rugby), we don’t look beyond our own team’s performance.
Why do Chiefs seem to make crucial errors in big games? Why do we give away so many pens in tight games? Rob has again mentioned post match about this which is obvious to all of us.
Is it mentality? Is it that maybe these players aren’t quite at the skill level we need them to be?
Either way, the narrative that Rob is churning out regularly after defeats ‘too many errors, too many pens’, is running thin.
Nonetheless we’ve moved on massively from last season.
But today, well played Ulster. Even a mistake free Chiefs team would’ve done well to win that

Well...we had our moments but ultimately well done to the Ulstermen!
We gave them a match in the first half but just collapsed in the second and even the Ulster fans could see that our pack wasn't up to scratch and their pack was on iffy form coming into this!

[quote NorthD 4ever]I don't think that Ulster were the better team ![/quote
They really were the better team, or have I missed something obvious?

Ulster won convincingly ergo they were the better team. I can’t see how anyone can argue otherwise.

From where i was sitting in memorial stand 6 (almost deserted) the turning point occurred just before half time when our penalty kick into touch didn’t reach touch, and Ulster under their yellow card, ran it back up field and won a penalty of their own that they successfully converted to go in ahead at half time. That seemed to take the wind out of our sails, and apart from Ridl at the end, we never looked like scoring.

Quote:

Big Chief Little Chief
lack of depth

Quote:

Big Chief Little Chief
Some players look exhausted now

Who knew playing your first team throughout the Prem Cup, year after year, might have consequences.

Ulster were clearly the better team and deserved to win, albeit their superiority in the first half was tiny. The second half was a different matter and they clearly were winning the collisions and exerting huge pressure. At least our scrummage held up throughout although we lost some linesout in important places.
To my mind their is a constant theme that demonstrates itself when times get tough, namely a lack of skills under extreme pressure, which is evidenced by dropped passes, lost ball at attacking linesout, players stripped of the ball in the tackle as they make a break etc.
Once MFW had been forced off we only had one player with pace, so defence was pretty easy for Ulster.
As BCLC has observed we may not win another game this season, which would be a great shame but reflect the shape and strength of the squad,
Dare I say it too, our approach to the game is looking rather old-fashioned with a lack of jackaling threats apart from Hooper.
Bath next Sunday is going to be interesting. I am hoping for a good match for my first attendance this season.
Before I am accused of a lack of support for our team I see no point in being unrealistic. We need to leaven our unflinching support for our team with a healthy dose of realism , without which we are simply talking pie in the sky and building ourselves up for grave disappointment. What I want to see is unflinching effort, and growth in terms of developing skills and wisdom forged from experiences in past battles. That will suffice for the moment.

Quote:

lineoutball

Quote:

Big Chief Little Chief
lack of depth

Quote:

Big Chief Little Chief
Some players look exhausted now

Who knew playing your first team throughout the Prem Cup, year after year, might have consequences.

How very insightful aren't we blessed that you choose to bestow your wisdom upon us mere mortals from time to time.

Disappointed but not surprised.

We have had a recent run of big matches with short turnarounds that means short training weeks and less recovery time.
Players are picking up injuries because of this and undoubtedly there are players that are playing through injuries that potentially need resting but we clearly don't have strength in depth in the squad to do this.
Ulster basically rested most of their first choice 15 last weekend so have had a proper rest and could really attack the match and no surprise that it told in the second half when our fatigue from the previous few weeks started to take its toll.

We have been victims of our own success to an extent.
It's almost like we have started to run this season before we can walk!
Let's hope we rest up well and can get back on track next weekend 🤞

Quote:

Rowancroft73
Why do Chiefs seem to make crucial errors in big games? Why do we give away so many pens in tight games? Rob has again mentioned post match about this which is obvious to all of us.
Is it mentality? Is it that maybe these players aren’t quite at the skill level we need them to be?
Either way, the narrative that Rob is churning out regularly after defeats ‘too many errors, too many pens’, is running thin.

Tbh I think it's both mentality and skills, perhaps coupled with differing expectations from coaches and fans?

We know there aren't enough games for the number of players in our squad and that hasn't really been managed as well as it should (First team players used in Prem Cup as an example) but lately we have seen some of the wider squad players used out of necessity, and are all aware of the drop off in quality we've seen (some of which will likely be due to no rugby and just not being sharp enough. But, if the expectation from the coaching team is for these squad players is primarily to continue to improve themselves and get better each day (and the coaches see them daily) in order to earn a new contract, rather than just what happens on match days, there will be a difference in coaches and fan expectation.

As fans, our expectation should be that whoever has the shirt goes out and gives a performance that says "you can't drop me easily next week". That was definitely missing v Glos away.

Manny getting a shoulder in the face and then having his head deliberately driven into the ground was a big loss, not just because he was our most dangerous runner on the field, but because we had no back 3 options on the bench and poor Hammersley hobbling around injured.

We also sorely missed the dominant tackles of the Roots brothers and Fisilau, as well as the reliability and relentless physical presence of Yeandle.

Lineoutballs must be having recurring nightmares about Chiefs' Prem Cup squad selection.

Cant help prioritising Europe over the prem top 4 was the wrong decision. We don't have the depth to compete on 2 fronts and should have rested players in the prem Cup.

Note all 4 semifinals this weekend, resulted in home wins. Very difficult to win away, at the best of times and with a depleted squad, in hindsight was always a difficult challenge.
However, as a travelling fan, I would be disappointed if we hadn't gone as strong as possible, the prem cup final was an instance when we didn't prioritise the match in favour of the prem and got the outcome we probably deserved, when silverware was on the line.
Difficult decisions for Rob, but some inconsistencies about priorities.

Ouch, I think I earned a point this week? Not that it'll make any difference 😂😂

In Rob we trust.
By the way - cream on first. There's nothing to debate.

Re-watched the game and we were poor in the second half. Dweba’s line out throws were picked off but Ulster were constantly closing the gap, he complained to the assistant referee at one point who took no action.
The shoulder to head on Manny followed by pulling him by the head to the ground was cynical and merited at least a 20 minute red. There was also a shoulder charge on Lilley in their 22 which only drew a penalty.

Quote:

DumnoniiNomad
Ouch, I think I earned a point this week? Not that it'll make any difference 😂😂

3 actually DN! and if I'd recorded your prediction properly, you'd have got them 😂. I'll add them to next week's table when you accurately predict our 50-point win over Bath

Quote:

ouch!_that_hurts

Quote:

DumnoniiNomad
Ouch, I think I earned a point this week? Not that it'll make any difference 😂😂

3 actually DN! and if I'd recorded your prediction properly, you'd have got them 😂. I'll add them to next week's table when you accurately predict our 50-point win over Bath

Thanks mate. I'm off to celebrate 🥳

In Rob we trust.
By the way - cream on first. There's nothing to debate.