The
FRU will be doing a live text cast
of the Panthers Final Four of the Midwest Finals this Saturday,
10th November, from 5:00pm. We will now introduce
you to some of the key players ahead of this weekend's big
games.
Brittany Biedenbender (19) Winger.
Brittany had a sensational weekend in the State Finals
scoring five trys in the two games.
Brittany is looking forward to seeing the Ulster Bourgoin
game, meeting all the Ulster Players, drinking and taking
pictures during her Ireland tour.
Mollie Martin (20) Outside Centre/Full Back. Mollie also had a great weekend in the State
Finals bagging three tries in the two games.
Mollie is looking forward to playing against her Irish
opponents. Mollie has played rugby and hockey all her
life and is looking forward to meeting Niall O'Connor!
Kendra Johnson (20) Outside Centre.
Kendra bagged a brace of tries in last weekend's opening
game.
Kendra is looking forward to meeting fellow centre Andrew
Trimble and can't wait to see her first live "professional
match" when she watches Ulster Bourgoin.
Caila Ney (20) Flanker. Caila settled the teams nerves during the State
Finals when she got a quick try in the first game.
A classic hard running and hard tackling flanker Caila
is looking forward to learning more about rugby and seeing
Ireland.
Lyndsey Fickau (19) Inside Centre, No 8, Flyhalf.
A versatile player Lyndsey is very much the team play
maker, taking the ball up and making the breaks.
Lyndsey also helps with the place kicking and is looking
forward to seeing Ireland and meeting the players when
she comes to Ireland.
Kati McCormick (19) No 8, 2nd Row, Flanker.
Kati, who has toured with the USA ladies teams is looking
forward to touring with the Panthers.
An ex-cheerleader, and of Irish descent Kati is, "anxious
to see what true Irish men are all about". She
is looking forward to meeting only the cute Ulster Players.
(So that'll be Steiny and O'Connor
then!)
The Panthers have
battled their way through to the Final Four Midwest
Finals.
The Midwest is one
of the seven territories recognized by USA Rugby -
being Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific Coast,
South, Southern California, and West.
The Midwest encompasses nine Local Area Unions, being
Allegheny (Western Pennsylvania), Chicago Area, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and
Wisconsin.
Within the Midwest,
there are approximately 80+ recognized collegiate
women's rugby teams.
It's pretty neat that The Panthers are one of the
eight clubs left playing. (4 Division I, and 4 Division
II).
Send in your
messages of support to editor@thefru.co.uk
and we'll post them here.
You
can leave your message
of support here on our new blog, but make it
quick as the girls will be on the road for their Final Four
Playoffs on Friday afternoon. That's after 6:00pm on Friday
our time!
~
~ ~
~ ~ ~
Glasgow
25 Ulster 6 By our special
correspondent Mr U.A.Brill.
I
thought
that the lineouts went a lot better than they did
last week.
Andrew gets The FRU MotM.
~
~ ~
~ ~ ~
On Tour.
Despite
the result it was still a very enjoyable trip. It was
great to see so many familiar faces from Ulster trips
over the years. The Ulster traveling support is still
a wonder to behold. So many drunks so little trouble!
If you haven't toured with Ulster before then Glasgow
is one of the best places to start. It's reasonably easy
to get to and as capital cities go it's certainly one
of the least expensive with city centre pint prices between
£1.80 and £2.20.
The home crowd and players were very friendly (then again
they usually are when they win). However with players
and fans driving some of us into town after the match
I have to say that they went beyond the "post win
glow".
The only down side to a trip to Glasgow is the pitiful
number of home supporters. With a crowd of just over 2,500
the home support were outnumbered by the visiting fans
and this does not bode well for the Magners League in
Scotland. (It also gives Ulster's
management team a glimpse of Ravenhill in the future if
the current standards are maintained.)
The
FRU sent some questions to Ulster and Ireland's
Bryan Young and guess what, he sent them
back! So here goes with our intense interview...
When did you start playing rugby? I started playing when in P 7 at Fourtowns Primary School.
Started in ernest at Ballymena Academy.
Have you always played prop? I was originally in the second row, moved to blindside,
hooker then finally prop.
Who’s been your toughest
scrummager you’ve encountered to date? Cobus Visagie (Saracens and South Africa).
Dewi and Bryan discuss garlic!
Does size matter i.e. is it easier to prop against
players who are taller or smaller than you? I think its sometimes easier to play against the bigger,
heavier guy, the smaller guy generally has made it to this
level by having really good technique.
Do you shave before matches? No, l know my face is going to take a battering so not
fussed how l look.
Ever eaten a ‘’feed
of garlic’’ before a match to put off your opponent? No never been that desperate to put off an opponent.
Do referees have a clue about Front
Row play? No they don't have a notion, in fairness no one really
does.
Most complete prop playing international
rugby at present? Tony Woodcock (North Harbour and New Zealand).
Bryan On Ireland's
World Cup.
Where did it all go wrong? We lacked momentum and confidence going into the tournament
which was compounded by poor performances at the start.
How did the provincial players
get on with each other? We get on very well, even when things were going badly
the spirit within the squad was still strong.
Was there dressing room unrest
with the management? No!
Were the team under orders not
to speak to or mix with the supporters? No, nothing like that, l think the players were embarrassed
by the way they were playing and in those circumstances
it's hard to face the supporters sometimes, but l have to
say l didn't see anyone actively avoiding supporters.
How did the Ulster boys feel being
benched all the time? Better than the Ulster boys felt not in the match 22's!
Bryan On Ulster.
A mixed start to the season, how
do you think it'll pan out? Once we have some consistency in our performances we'll
be very difficult to beat.
Who's your toughest opponent in
the Magners League? The next one.
Where do Ulster least like playing? Nowhere compares to Ravenhill, and the atmosphere generated
there prepares us well to go anywhere.
Do supporters make a difference? Absolutely, we've definitely got the best supporters
in the league, home or away the support can give us a lift
when we most need it and help us win in tight games.
~
~ ~
~ ~ ~
Are Ulster Losing
Support?
Is
Ulster's current form causing the supporters
to stay away?
Take the young couple from Omagh, Grace
and Adrian. Normally they would spend their weekends following
Ulster but this weekend they decided to try something different!
Says Grace, 16, "Normally we'd
be away having a couple of WKD's as we watched another Ulster
win, but now it's just not the same as we are getting beat
every week. That's why we decided to go for the intense
competition of the Texel Sheep Breeders Miss Texel
2007. It really brought the excitement back into
our weekend and we got to visit exciting locations like
Carrickfergus and Larne.
Friday nights at Ravenhill will be
a bit dull from now on."
Ulster Branch - You have been warned!
Young Omagh couple pick up awards
in Larne!
~
~ ~
~ ~ ~
Caption Competition.
We
couldn't resist starting up the old caption
competition when Grumpy sent us this photo of The
General, Cockatrice and "a
friend".
So what has The General said to bring a smile to the
faces of his two companions?
A night out with
The Panthers in January for the winner!
~
~ ~
~ ~ ~
News from the Colonies!
We
will be having a big Panthers week
this week as we pull together the player profiles. Keep
checking out the site throughout the week. In the mean time
here's some pictures to keep you going!
Coming soon to a pitch near you!
~
~ ~
~ ~ ~
Week 9. Heineken Cup
Weekend Friday 9th November 2007.
Ulster v Gloucester
Perpignan v Dragons
Leinster v Leicester
Viadana v Biarritz
Stade Francais v Harlequins
London Irish v Treviso
Edinburgh v Toulouse
Wasps v Munster
Ospreys v Bourgoin
Cardiff v Bristol
Saracens v Glasgow
Clermont Auvergne v Llanelli
Three groups of four.
Bonus point for each group you get all correct.
Predictions to be in by 6:00pm Friday 9th November 2007.
Sponsors Please support our Sponsors.
They support us.