Charles Piutau

[Spiffy]

.... has arrived in Ulster.

The Ulster backs roster now includes:

Payne Piutau Ludik Bowe Trimble Gilroy Olding Marshall McCloskey Cave Jackson Pienaar. Not a bad selection of talent, but decent cover needed at 9 and 10.

All they need now is a pack of forwards.

[zer0]

Any details on long he's contracted for?

[Peat]

Ludik-Bowe-Cave-Olding-Gilroy

That is arguably now Ulster's second choice outside back unit.

That's a bit mental tbh.

[Spiffy]

Ludik-Bowe-Cave-Olding-Gilroy

That is arguably now Ulster's second choice outside back unit.

That's a bit mental tbh.

I think Olding will show that he is not second choice. Perphaps the most all-round talented midfielder of the lot. The Olding/Marshall combination worked well for Ireland. McCloskey could be the one to suffer but will still see plenty of action with Ireland callups for teammates, squad rotation etc..

[Eugene Wrayburn]

Ludik-Bowe-Cave-Olding-Gilroy

That is arguably now Ulster's second choice outside back unit.

That's a bit mental tbh.

That's utterly mental but depth is never a bad thing.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

Ludik-Bowe-Cave-Olding-Gilroy

That is arguably now Ulster's second choice outside back unit.

That's a bit mental tbh.

I think Olding will show that he is not second choice. Perphaps the most all-round talented midfielder of the lot. The Olding/Marshall combination worked well for Ireland. McCloskey could be the one to suffer but will still see plenty of action with Ireland callups for teammates, squad rotation etc..

I really couldn't give a monkeys who's the most talented. I'm only bothered about effectiveness and defending on opposition I can certainly see McCloskey, Payne and Marshall all being more valuable to the team in midfield.

[mcshinnertheligind]

Ludik-Bowe-Cave-Olding-Gilroy

That is arguably now Ulster's second choice outside back unit.

That's a bit mental tbh.

That's utterly mental but depth is never a bad thing.

Looks weak....
I remember having a chat with a mate the year Tommy scored the 2 tries to beat ingerlund ( sure you met him Eug) saying that the Irish backline could well be dominated by ulshterrrrr. Throw in a token ladyboy and it's getting there.

[Peat]

Ludik-Bowe-Cave-Olding-Gilroy

That is arguably now Ulster's second choice outside back unit.

That's a bit mental tbh.

I think Olding will show that he is not second choice. Perphaps the most all-round talented midfielder of the lot. The Olding/Marshall combination worked well for Ireland. McCloskey could be the one to suffer but will still see plenty of action with Ireland callups for teammates, squad rotation etc..

Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Its why I said arguable. Everyone there is capable of taking a first team jersey. Based on the end of last season and assuming Piutau takes the weakest man's shirt, that's what it looks like at the moment.

[Spiffy]

Ludik-Bowe-Cave-Olding-Gilroy

That is arguably now Ulster's second choice outside back unit.

That's a bit mental tbh.

I think Olding will show that he is not second choice. Perphaps the most all-round talented midfielder of the lot. The Olding/Marshall combination worked well for Ireland. McCloskey could be the one to suffer but will still see plenty of action with Ireland callups for teammates, squad rotation etc..

I really couldn't give a monkeys who's the most talented. I'm only bothered about effectiveness and defending on opposition I can certainly see McCloskey, Payne and Marshall all being more valuable to the team in midfield.

McCloskey is certainly bigger than Olding. But for a massive bloke he is not all that outstanding as a defender, and I believe Olding's defence is a tad underrated. I thought he did well in both defence and attack in the third test v. S.A.
It seems you are placing him in the "good enough for Ireland, but not for Ulster" category.
We'll see how it all pans out. All good players and I'm sure they will get plenty of game time, with some interesting combinations.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

I think Olding will show that he is not second choice. Perphaps the most all-round talented midfielder of the lot. The Olding/Marshall combination worked well for Ireland. McCloskey could be the one to suffer but will still see plenty of action with Ireland callups for teammates, squad rotation etc..

I really couldn't give a monkeys who's the most talented. I'm only bothered about effectiveness and defending on opposition I can certainly see McCloskey, Payne and Marshall all being more valuable to the team in midfield.

McCloskey is certainly bigger than Olding. But for a massive bloke he is not all that outstanding as a defender, and I believe Olding's defence is a tad underrated. I thought he did well in both defence and attack in the third test v. S.A.
It seems you are placing him in the "good enough for Ireland, but not for Ulster" category.
We'll see how it all pans out. All good players and I'm sure they will get plenty of game time, with some interesting combinations.

I thought he was pretty poor in the 2nd Test for Ireland and ok in the 3rd but far from excellent nor a permanent fixture. Marshall certainly seemed the better player over the series and Payne too - albeit in a different poition to midfield. All that before we get to McCloskey and needing to worry about whether he's good enough for Ireland but not Ulster, or whether that's a thing that makes any sense whatsoever.

[Peat]

McCloskey won a ridiculous amount of turnovers last season. His defence isn't tip-top, no, but the physical elements of it is something he's rather good at. And for the mental bits he needs to play.

Would quite like to see him and Olding play together really, but I'm not sure either fits at 13, and I'm not sure Skywalker's getting dislodged from the centres by anything but injury and rancid bad form for quite a while.