Connacht v Saffries

daveirl

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High&Low

Diamondmaker wrote:

who is that Andy |Dunne fella and what insane team let hinm go west:D

Con deserved a try in the period arond the penalty....

Anyone hear that about Habana racing a cheetah, im gonn look it up and post it.

SOunds deadly!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7_iAQXyDJns

here tis!

I was thinking the same - how did Leinster let him go when he can play like that!!!

He has to be one of the unluckiest players in Irish rugby. How many seasons was he injured for Leinster?

buck65

well done Connaught you will certainly be there or there abouts in the ML this year if you play like thay

Sangre

Just talking to a girl I know, was up at the match for promotions. Met all the first team who weren't playing e.g. Matfield, Burger, Pienaar. Apparently they were on the absolute tear.

Didn't even know who they were, was wondering why people kept asking for autographs.

kevmy

Still I reckon Connacht done very well and might challenge Ulster this year for the Heino. Especially considering the amount of players Ulster have at the WC.

I have always said that the IRFU seem to see Connacht as a burden when instead they could be used as a fantastic asset, especially for younger players or Irish players forced down the pecking order at other provinces

dulpit

So final score was 18-3... Is that a bad result for SA??? And did they play poorly or did Connaught play mightily or what?

evil_seed

Santa Claus wrote:

they always seem to get shafted by the IRFU

never has a truer word been spoken. the ref lastnite was atrocious as always. connaught were super. great performance. great heart & passion. unlucky not to have scored a try near the end. they deserved it.

sugarattack

If Connaught had one or two line breakers in their side I seriously think they could up in the top 6 of the Celtic league. They have no problem against the bigger sides when they play them home or away but its just the lack of points scoring that loses them so many games.

daveirl

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Santa Claus

daveirl wrote:

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The IRFU can only send 3 provinces forward for the HEC and if I remember correctly about 3 years ago they out qualified Ulster but the IRFU decided they couldn't be having that and sent connacht back to the challenge cup as usual !

marco_polo

south africa -30pts on paddypower 10/11. Your buying money*!!

daveirl

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Poco Loco

Well done to Connacht, they deserve a bit of limelight for a change! Did you hear that SA beat Namibia 105 to 13 points in the last game!! In theory, Connacht could beat an entire country! Wow how far have they come eh

Stev_o

Poco Loco wrote:

Well done to Connacht, they deserve a bit of limelight for a change! Did you hear that SA beat Namibia 105 to 13 points in the last game!! In theory, Connacht could beat an entire country! Wow how far have they come eh

Difference is that was SA's full strength side that went out into that match. The team that played the men from the west was more of what you would have seen in the Tri Nations after SA lost to the All Blacks at home

zAbbo

15 JP Pietersen
14 Akona Ndungane
13 Jaque Fourie
12 Butch James
11 Ashwin Willemse
10 Ruan Pienaar
9 Ricky Januarie
8 Bob Skinstad (C)
7 Danie Rossouw
6 Wikus van Heerden
5 Albert van den Berg
4 Johann Muller
3 BJ Botha
2 Bismarck du Plessis
1 Gurthro Steenkamp

Not exactly lacking in experience were they

Poco Loco

Stev_o wrote:

Difference is that was SA's full strength side that went out into that match. The team that played the men from the west was more of what you would have seen in the Tri Nations after SA lost to the All Blacks at home

Granted, yeah. But still...you'd have to be delighted for them wouldn't you! I'd say there were a lot of sore heads in Connacht yesterday!

Zzippy

daveirl wrote:

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You conveniently ignored the fact that the one year Connacht looked like doing what was asked of them and finishing ahead of Ulster, they still weren't going to be allowed to go into the HEC. In the end Ulster came good and the IRFU was spared the embarrassment.
The original point was that Connacht have consistently been shafted by the IRFU and that proved the point. Chronic underfunding hasn't exactly helped them to qualify for the 4th spot the last couple of years, but when they should have earned the 3rd spot they weren't allowed to.

By the way, for those saying the ref was on Connacht's side, in that case why wasn't Du Plessis sent off for the disgraceful elbow to the face of McPhillips. It was one of the worst deliberate acts I've seen on a rugby pitch for a while. Should have been a straight red card and the ref bottled it cos he didn't want to be seen to ruin the guy's chance of playing in the WC. If SA had been down to 14 men for the rest of the game the result might have been a bit different

evil_seed

Don't forget the blatant eye gouging just before mcphillips almost got knocked out

Amazotheamazing

Galwayguy99 wrote:

You conveniently ignored the fact that the one year Connacht looked like doing what was asked of them and finishing ahead of Ulster, they still weren't going to be allowed to go into the HEC. In the end Ulster came good and the IRFU was spared the embarrassment.
The original point was that Connacht have consistently been shafted by the IRFU and that proved the point. Chronic underfunding hasn't exactly helped them to qualify for the 4th spot the last couple of years, but when they should have earned the 3rd spot they weren't allowed to.

What year was that?

Connacht have had an easy way into the HEC for the last 3 years, finish above the best Scots and Welsh and beat an Italian team. They've completely failed to do so.

Added to that that their crowds seem to have peaked and are now declining, due to the Connacht Branch's decision to continue with the half 6 kick-off on Friday evenings. It effectively tells Connacht supporters from outside Galway city to "**** off, we don't need you". Also, Connacht used to play a few home games in Athlone, again the CB stopped this, again a "**** off, we don't need you" attitude springs to mind.

All you ever hear is poor Connacht this and that, the truth is they are a badly run and badly coached province, and that's due to local level incompetence.

Danie Gerber

It was an SA B team that played very poorly. BTW, Fourie at 13 didn't play, only came on as a sub in the last ten min. Waylon Murray started. Butch James is normally at 10, Ruan Pienaar is normally a substitute 9, Pietersen plays more often on the wing. No wonder they were like a bunch of chickens in a heap of hay.

Also, there was an awful lot of niggle by both teams, Du Plessis knocked McPhillips out because McPhillips was raking him in a preceding maul while he was nowhere near the ball and then started pushing and shoving him afetr the whistle. Alot of hookers would have responded in exactly the same way.

The ref was poor and SA did get the worst of it but in saying that Connaught played out of their skins, espacially on defense. JOC is a little demon and I wonder should he have been in Eddie's 30. Reckon I would have taken him along to the WC if I had to choose.

Zzippy

Amazotheamazing wrote:

What year was that?

Think it was 04/05, at one stage Connacht were above Ulster in the league and it looked like they would take the 3rd spot, but IRFU said they were a development squad and didn't qualify. Fact is IRFU couldn't take the financial risk of not having one of the big 3 in the HEC.

Connacht have had an easy way into the HEC for the last 3 years, finish above the best Scots and Welsh and beat an Italian team. They've completely failed to do so.

Fact is they receive half of the funding from IRFU that the other 3 provinces do. Hard to recruit players as other provinces do when you've got half the funding, not to mention the revenue from sponsorship and tickets.

Added to that that their crowds seem to have peaked and are now declining, due to the Connacht Branch's decision to continue with the half 6 kick-off on Friday evenings. It effectively tells Connacht supporters from outside Galway city to "**** off, we don't need you". Also, Connacht used to play a few home games in Athlone, again the CB stopped this, again a "**** off, we don't need you" attitude springs to mind.

Actually season tickets sold this year are well up on last season so looks like it will be a good year for attendance.

All you ever hear is poor Connacht this and that, the truth is they are a badly run and badly coached province, and that's due to local level incompetence.

No, see my second point above - half the funding, only classed as a development squad by the IRFU. Can't recruit players, when they do develeop their own good players they are snapped up by the other provinces/foreign clubs with more money. Johnny O'Connor, Gavin Duffy just 2 examples. With the restricted resources they have they've done pretty damn well. Do you think Leinster or Munster would do so well with half their funding?

daveirl

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daveirl

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Danie Gerber

In my opinion, as an outsider, Ireland should have at least 4 strong provincial sides. Connaught should be funded and developed to catch up with Leinster and Munster. Same applies to Ulster. Provincial teams competing on an equal footing in big competitions are the breeding grounds of home grown rugby stars.

Ireland are lucky to have a full strong rugby team that consist of players from largely two provincial sides. That doesn't often happen anywhere in the world. Maybe Scotland and Wales but then, they are sffering badly at intern. leve at the mo.

Point is, the more competative, well funded and well run Provincial teams you have, the bigger and better the pool of players are that you can pick your national side from. Also, successful provincial teams breeds supporters. Supporters means money and it encourages participation. It's a cycle and Connaught aren't given the support to develop one.

I was at the Connaught - SA match. Went with 4 other people that's vener been to a live rugby match. Connaught performed so well that one of the guys are now considering buying a season ticket and getting into the whole rugby thing. Another, 14yr old lad, joined a local rugby club the very next day.

Fund them, fund them well, give them far more money than you do Leinster and Ulster and give them a chance to develop. See it as an investment into the future of the sport even if it means the big boys have to go through a rough spot...

daveirl

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Zzippy

daveirl wrote:

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Chronic underfunding is giving one province 50% of the funding the other 3 provinces get.

As for incompetent coaching - they didn't look too badly coached the other night. After all, you said in your first post you reckoned they would lose by 80 points at least :rolleyes:

Danie, glad to see another couple of converts, I'll hopefully see them at a few games

Amazotheamazing

Galwayguy99 wrote:

Think it was 04/05, at one stage Connacht were above Ulster in the league and it looked like they would take the 3rd spot, but IRFU said they were a development squad and didn't qualify. Fact is IRFU couldn't take the financial risk of not having one of the big 3 in the HEC.


Fact is they receive half of the funding from IRFU that the other 3 provinces do. Hard to recruit players as other provinces do when you've got half the funding, not to mention the revenue from sponsorship and tickets.


Actually season tickets sold this year are well up on last season so looks like it will be a good year for attendance.


No, see my second point above - half the funding, only classed as a development squad by the IRFU. Can't recruit players, when they do develeop their own good players they are snapped up by the other provinces/foreign clubs with more money. Johnny O'Connor, Gavin Duffy just 2 examples. With the restricted resources they have they've done pretty damn well. Do you think Leinster or Munster would do so well with half their funding?

Season tickets are falling, see the thread on leinsterfans about it. The CB are a joke.

Munster, Ulster and Leinster also produce the vast majority of their players, who are good enough to play for Ireland. Hence the extra funding. Very few Connacht players are snapped up by other provinces, however, other provinces often supply players to Connacht. Even Duffy learned his rugby in Roscrea, hardly a Connacht heartland.

Connacht have done quite poorly with their resources imo.

Crash

Danie Gerber wrote:

Ireland are lucky to have a full strong rugby team that consist of players from largely two provincial sides.

Point of information - more like 3 to be honest. Look at the numbers in the 30 going away - Munster top it, then Ulster, then Leinster.

Zzippy

Amazotheamazing wrote:

Season tickets are falling, see the thread on leinsterfans about it. The CB are a joke.

With all respect, given the smug and superior attitude of Leinster fans, I'll take anything on that forum about rugby in other provinces with a pinch of salt. Article in yesterday's local paper in Galway stated season ticket sales were well up on last year. Probably boosted by the SA match, but still...

Munster, Ulster and Leinster also produce the vast majority of their players, who are good enough to play for Ireland. Hence the extra funding. Very few Connacht players are snapped up by other provinces, however, other provinces often supply players to Connacht. Even Duffy learned his rugby in Roscrea, hardly a Connacht heartland.

Of course they do, they have the money and the players. Connacht can't compete to sign the top class players and they have a small playing base at juvenile and club level to develop their own players from. As another poster has said, a successful team breeds supporters and gets kids interested in playing - if you're starved of resources to develop a successful team that won't happen. With relation to player movements, the other provinces only take the best Connacht players, Connacht have to make do with players who couldn't cut it in the other provinces. Thats why more move west than go east or south from here. Economics, all related to the lack of resources.

Connacht have done quite poorly with their resources imo.

Typical Leinster attitude imo

Amazotheamazing

Galwayguy99 wrote:

With all respect, given the smug and superior attitude of Leinster fans, I'll take anything on that forum about rugby in other provinces with a pinch of salt. Article in yesterday's local paper in Galway stated season ticket sales were well up on last year. Probably boosted by the SA match, but still...



Of course they do, they have the money and the players. Connacht can't compete to sign the top class players and they have a small playing base at juvenile and club level to develop their own players from. As another poster has said, a successful team breeds supporters and gets kids interested in playing - if you're starved of resources to develop a successful team that won't happen. With relation to player movements, the other provinces only take the best Connacht players, Connacht have to make do with players who couldn't cut it in the other provinces. Thats why more move west than go east or south from here. Economics, all related to the lack of resources.


Typical Leinster attitude imo

What top Connacht players have the other provinces poached? Reddan and Flannery are both from Limerick, Fogerty is from Tipp, Gannon is from Leinster, John O'Sullivan is from Kerry, Keane is from Skerries, Warwick is from Australia. Most of Connacht's best players came through the rugby systems of the other provinces.

The guy posting it, Sea Point, is probably the most hardcore Connacht fan there is. Nothing to do with an anti-Connacht bias. No matter how you ignore it, the CB are a joke.

The other provinces have the players because of mass grassroot work that often has little or nothing to do with IRFU funding. How many underage club coaches are on big wages from the IRFU?

The funding is just a convenient excuse for the CB to hide their inadequacies.