Connacht Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

Amazotheamazing

TheTMO wrote: »

Nope Cusack was in the academy.
http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/7357.php

Don't want to labour this, but one summer training with the Academy doesn't mean you're in the academy. He was invited to train on the back of his AIL games with a view to joining it, but was offered a training contract instead. A fair few AIL players train with Munster and play training games with them. Mike Ross was in a similar position a few years back, as was Peter Bracken all the way back when he played with Boh's.

toomevara

Nice piece from Tony Ward in today's Indo:

Hard-up WESTERN HEROES can gun down aristocrats.

By Tony Ward
Tuesday April 27 2010

THE weekend's results may have been a relief to Ulster and maybe a handful of decision-makers at the IRFU, but they have thrown a damper on a basement scrap that was building to quite a final-day crescendo.

At the top end, it's still all to play for, with home advantage and the fourth semi-final spot still to be decided between Cardiff, Munster and Edinburgh, although realistically the winner of the shootout between the Blues and Tony McGahan's men will take that final Magners play-off slot.

Unfortunately for Connacht, the first of three possible routes to Heineken Cup involvement has been nipped in the bud: they would have to beat Ulster by 66 points at Ravenhill on Friday week to overtake the northerners in the league table.

Ulster, then, have effectively qualified for Europe's premier club competition, and deservedly so; Connacht can join them either if they win the Amlin Challenge Cup, or if Leinster or Munster land the Heineken Cup.

There can be few complaints with demolition of the westerners' shadow team at Parc y Scarlets, followed immediately by a full five-point return for fired-up Ulster at Murrayfield. Full credit to Brian McLaughlin's side for the quality of this performance under pressure but equally, what a sad reflection on Edinburgh.

Since Andy Robinson moved on to take up the national reins, the quality of Edinburgh rugby has dipped alarmingly. They are a pale imitation of the side that had been promising so much. Under Robinson there was a sense of excitement, but even more a sense of purpose to what they were about.

Overdue

That decline, though, should not in any way detract from this long-overdue Ulster performance. I agree with former coach Matt Williams' contention that this squad has far too many quality players to be struggling in the way they are.

But just as Irish rugby needs a successful Ulster side, so too does it need a professional Connacht set-up operating on a level playing field financially.

Once Michael Bradley goes beyond his core first-up squad, he is struggling badly when compared to the other three. Despite the exciting promise of former Colaiste Iognaid and Cistercian College Roscrea backs Eoin Griffin and Tiernan O'Halloran, the trip to Llanelli was always set to be an exercise in damage limitation.

Those two, with scrum-half Conor O'Loughlin and centre Troy Nathan (who has become a real leader of late), gave it their best shot but Connacht still leaked nine tries and shipped 58 points in a potentially demoralising demolition.

Yet, just four days after the uplifting victory over Leinster, I believe Bradley called it right in fielding an under-strength line-up ahead of Friday's Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final and what he had hoped would be a Heineken Cup qualification play-off at Ravenhill a week later.

So for Connacht, all eyes turn to Friday and the visit of wealthy, talent-laden Top 14 title contenders Toulon to the Sportsground. The ambitious French club's primary aim in this campaign was to qualify for next season's Heineken Cup and they have already done that, thereby lifting the pressure somewhat for what lies ahead.

That said, when you bring in Philippe Saint Andre as head coach and proceed to sign 16 Test players representing 13 different countries, plus a former New Zealand rugby league star in Sonny Bill Williams, the owner and fans have every right to demand silverware.

To that end, all the pressure will be in the red and black corner as Connacht -- like Munster and Leinster -- will be underdogs when kicking off a weekend of French/Irish knock-out action.

Logically it should be no contest, but as Jonny Wilkinson, Felipe Contepomi, Timmy Ryan and Pierre Mignoni know from experiences with Newcastle, Leinster, Munster and Toulon (back in 1999) respectively, the Sportsground is no place for the faint-hearted.

Despite it being something of a fortress of late, I would have some concern on the basis that for this special occasion, there will be temporary seating installed, making undoubtedly for a better and certainly more intimate atmosphere, but therein lies the rub.

What I and every one of my contemporaries dreaded about playing in the Sportsground was its utter isolation. It was cold, almost desolate, and in winter, nearly always wet and exceptionally windy. It was the most unwelcoming representative venue bar none -- a horrible place to play. Connacht players knew that and capitalised on it to the full.

Now it has a beautifully firm sod which along with a spring evening and relatively enclosed playing area should not faze the French aristocrats one iota. Contrast that with the feeling of lonesome self-pity in a place devoid of atmosphere.

Hopefully that unique Wild West advantage will not be entirely lost on Friday.

Opportunities like this -- a home European semi-final -- don't come along too often, perhaps once in a playing career.

Bradley is right when he says his team will have little problem refocusing despite Sunday's mauling at the hands of Scarlets.

Joint top of the French championship (with Perpignan) against bottom of the Celtic equivalent should equal no contest, but rugby doesn't work like that. Too much hard graft has gone in for Connacht to get this far and roll over. It is Bradley's last hurrah --the last chance to achieve that Heineken Cup goal off their own bat.

In terms of class on paper it's no contest, but mix heart with desire in Bradley's last competitive game in charge at the Sportsground and the raw ingredients are in place for something different -- perhaps something special.

For once the Heineken Cup is on hold as a nation holds its breath in support of a team it has slowly but surely taken to its heart.

Toulon are red-hot favourites and rightly so. Would Connacht want or expect it any other way?

outwest

great artical.


what the story about flavin leaving next year.

fatguy2k1

outwest wrote: »

what the story about flavin leaving next year.

no story - all the players are on 1 year contracts - as per the irfu directive. doesn't mean he's leving.

Dave Joyce

Yea, agree with you, its a great article and I think that the weekends result shouldn't/won't affect the squad. Met Johnny O'Connor yesterday in the Sportsground and he was saying that the buzz about the match this Friday is great:)

ScrubsfanChris

Less than 1,000 tickets left!

Supporters are advised to purchase tickets as soon as possible as the game looks set to be a sell-out.

All tickets for the terrace on the stand side of the ground have been sold and all tickets for the terrace on the clubhouse side have also been sold.

The only remaining tickets are for the Bohermore terrace and the College Road terrace.

Tickets cost €30 for adults, with concession tickets €20 and juniors €10.

Tickets are available from the Connacht Branch headquarters at the Sportsground during office hours or online through Ticketmaster on www.ticketmaster.ie

outwest

we had 9 points from the 1st 10 games, not good enugh. hopefully half of the crowd there tonight will be impressed with conancht and not travel down to leinster and munster to support them instead.

if they can perform the way they half since elwood got announced as new coach, next year could be a good year for connacht.

a win in ulster would be nice to end the season.

Borders no.2

Ya its hard to think ahead to next season at this moment but with Eric coming in hopefully he can bring something fresh to the setup. Most of the key first team players are signed up for next season but we need that bit of class in the backline and a couple of players in the pack to make the difference.

Obviously we'll have to see how the HC finishes up but its not the end of the world if we end up in the Challenge Cup again next year, our seeding should improve a fair bit and a home q/f could easily be on the cards next year again. We need more consistency in the league alright. Obviously qualifying for the hc would help a few quality players undecided on their futures to consider the move west. The core of a good squad is there.

Gutted but very proud to be a Connacht supporter this evening. Considering how the last few years have ended up we finished on a high having the French multi-millionaires clinging on for dear life. Can't help having the nagging feeling that we should have brought it to extra time at least though.

thomond2006

Based on tonight's performance/endeavour and the brilliant support, Connacht has a bright future.

Aidric

thomond2006 wrote: »

Based on tonight's performance/endeavour and the brilliant support, Connacht has a bright future.

You can't base the future on one match ffs. That was their biggest ever crowd, reason being it was a semi-final and Toulon were in town. Where is the 8k for the Magners game? They'll most likely finish bottom of the Magners again.
No one is questioning their effort and endeavor but get a bit of perspective.

profitius

They should check out the academies of the other provinces and the AIB league. Theres plenty of lads around who would be good for Connacht. Its the squad that really needs strengthening. The first 15 are not too bad but after that.. well we saw what happened away to llanelli.

evil_seed

I know it's common knowledge that George is heading for japan. I was talking with the man himself lastnight about games and performances of the likes of lastnight and if it'd change his mind. He said he thought about it long and hard but "what would you do for half a million quid?" was his response. He'll be a big loss but fair play to him for gettin that dough

ozt9vdujny3srf

I'm sure they do check those academies, if those players wanted to play for connacht then that's where they'd be.

Zzippy

Aidric wrote: »

You can't base the future on one match ffs. That was their biggest ever crowd, reason being it was a semi-final and Toulon were in town. Where is the 8k for the Magners game? They'll most likely finish bottom of the Magners again.
No one is questioning their effort and endeavor but get a bit of perspective.

Do you ever have anything positive to say if its not Munster-related?
Its not so long since Munster wouldn't have got 8k supporters unless it was a touring international team that brought them out. You've been spoiled the last few years, and success has bred the support base you have now, don't get too arrogant about it.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Zzippy wrote: »

Do you ever have anything positive to say if its not Munster-related?
Its not so long since Munster wouldn't have got 8k supporters unless it was a touring international team that brought them out. You've been spoiled the last few years, and success has bred the support base you have now, don't get too arrogant about it.

Ahh to be fair to Aidric, all the problems Connacht had this season are still there. They've had a good cup run and taken their usual few inter-pro scalps. Something big has to happen if they are to become more competitive.

outwest

sometihng big has happened,

ever since elwood got announced as connacht coach, the performances have been great,

Aidric

Zzippy wrote: »

Do you ever have anything positive to say if its not Munster-related?
Its not so long since Munster wouldn't have got 8k supporters unless it was a touring international team that brought them out. You've been spoiled the last few years, and success has bred the support base you have now, don't get too arrogant about it.

Spare me the moral indignation and chippy shoulder. I've given Connacht credit where it's due on this forum. Check my post history if you want.
My point was entirely relevant. They have had a good run in the Challenge cup this season culminating in a bumper crowd for the visit of Toulon. That doesn't mask their woeful record in the Magners. Let's look at the stats shall we:

League Position
Season 05-06 - Joint bottom
Season 06-07 - second from bottom
Season 07-08 - bottom
Season 08-09 - bottom
Season 09-10 - likely bottom

Average Attendance
Season 05-06 - third from bottom (1790)
Season 06-07 - second from bottom (1980)
Season 07-08 - second from bottom (2260)
Season 08-09 - bottom (1989)
Season 09-10 - bottom (2147)

It seems easier for some Connacht fans to dismiss criticism while ignoring the facts. Your lot is unfortunate through lack of investment but don't go accusing Leinster or Munster fans of arrogance for pointing out the obvious.

inbodwetrust

Connacht have had a very good year but investment in some areas of the squad is required if they want to make the next step. I would suspect clubs will be interested in signing the likes of Carr, Cronin Duffy and Muldoon and its crucial that they can hold onto players of this calibre to build the team on. Instead of taking in players from abroad they should look into the possiblilty of taking players from the academys in Leinster and Munster .

sock puppet

inbodwetrust wrote: »

Connacht have had a very good year but investment in some areas of the squad is required if they want to make the next step. I would suspect clubs will be interested in signing the likes of Carr, Cronin Duffy and Muldoon and its crucial that they can hold onto players of this calibre to build the team on. Instead of taking in players from abroad they should look into the possiblilty of taking players from the academys in Leinster and Munster .

I wonder would Tonnetti be interested in a move? He's been decent any time I've seen him and doesn't really look like breaking into the Leinster squad.

Dave Joyce

Spare me the moral indignation and chippy shoulder.

Well, I for one would LOVE to hear your opinion on how we can solve our problems especially when the IRFU would love the chance to close us down if they could at all.

Please don't give me the same ol' same ol', build up the crowds (support apart from diehards can be very fickle) who will only come when we have a string of results. Build up the squad, which we can't do without the necessary finance. Please don't tell me we need the results first as that is putting the cart before the horse and besides we need some imports like Munster and Leinster alongside the home grown talent. Where would they be without the Howletts, DeVilliers, Van Der Linde, Hines etc etc

cityman 18

Being in Dublin quite a bit, i see regularly the marketing machine that goes on behind Leinster. There are these massive billboards all over the city and adds in the radio, papers etc.....compared to the small pieces of paper that are stuck to a piece of wood and placed in a few areas around Galway. The difference couldn't be more stark. It's very easy for a Leinster fan to bleat on about our lack of support, but we have no marketing money at all, and we're based in a much smaller city also.

TheTMO

cityman 18 wrote: »

Being in Dublin quite a bit, i see regularly the marketing machine that goes on behind Leinster. There are these massive billboards all over the city and adds in the radio, papers etc.....compared to the small pieces of paper that are stuck to a piece of wood and placed in a few areas around Galway. The difference couldn't be more stark. It's very easy for a Leinster fan to bleat on about our lack of support, but we have no marketing money at all, and we're based in a much smaller city also.

One correction, Aidric is very much a Munster man!

But I do see your point. Heres the thing though, Connacht got 8,000 people to this game with the same market budget. Its a simple fact, Connacht start winning and people will start showing up. I disagree with the general consensus though, Connacht may not have the same budget as Leinster, Ulster or Munster but they do have a budget good enough to ensure they aren't finishing bottom of the Magners every year. They have, in some cases more foreign players on big money than some of the Scottish and Welsh teams that finish far above them. Connacht need confidence through the management and the supporters, on Friday we saw what they can do with those two factors.

thomond2006

Sorry Connacht.

outwest

for what we missed up our season,

thomond2006

outwest wrote: »

for what we missed up our season,

Would have liked to seen ye in the HEC, particularly with an RWC to come afterwards.

PhatPiggins

sock puppet wrote: »

I wonder would Tonnetti be interested in a move? He's been decent any time I've seen him and doesn't really look like breaking into the Leinster squad.

+1 isn't this his last year in the academy as well? Can't see him getting offered a contract in Leinster.

BoarHunter

i heard on the french Radio today that if Biarritz win the Hcup then That would get a ticket to Connacht for next year's Hcup as France can't get 8 clubs qualified.

This is to be confirmed of course i am just relaying what i heard. It might be rubbish ...

LeeroyJones

Rumor has it Connacht are signing up St Marys College winger Fanning.... He'll be in action this weekend on telly in the AIL final if you want to have a look. He played in a Connacht 'A' game a couple of weeks ago

B0X

BoarHunter wrote: »

i heard on the french Radio today that if Biarritz win the Hcup then That would get a ticket to Connacht for next year's Hcup as France can't get 8 clubs qualified.

This is to be confirmed of course i am just relaying what i heard. It might be rubbish ...

Come on Biarritz if that's true, sure Toulouse don't need another Heineken cup

sock puppet

BoarHunter wrote: »

i heard on the french Radio today that if Biarritz win the Hcup then That would get a ticket to Connacht for next year's Hcup as France can't get 8 clubs qualified.

This is to be confirmed of course i am just relaying what i heard. It might be rubbish ...

Yeah France have a maximum of 7 teams. It doesn't matter whether Biarritz or Toulouse win it. But that also depends on Toulon winning the Amlin. If Cardiff win the Scarlets will make it.

If Toulon win I really don't know what happens. The place will go to either Gloucester or Scarlets but I'm not sure how they'll decide which. But Connacht won't qualify anyway.