Connacht Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

Hagz

First time Connacht have won 4 games in a row in this competition since the 2002-2003 season I believe.

thomond2006

Main thing for Connacht is to keep those on the treatment table to a minimum. They seem to lose a player or two as soon as they get one or two back!

wp_rathead

McShaz went of concussed
JHW seemed to ve hobbling for a while

Hopefully neither long term

freyners

Concussion while probably mean he is unavailable next week. Leader looked comfortable to fill in there.

JHW im much more concerned about, Heffernan is improving but the throwing is not there yet, plus who will be the replacement. Henry is out

its_phil

freyners wrote: »

Concussion while probably mean he is unavailable next week. Leader looked comfortable to fill in there.

JHW im much more concerned about, Heffernan is improving but the throwing is not there yet, plus who will be the replacement. Henry is out

Leader moved to FB and Robbie moved to 13. Shame for Griffin, who has looked great back at 13. He is a good stand in 12 and our best alternative by a country mile but I hate doing it to him. Has decent claims to be one of the best backline poachers in the country. Consistently at it. But needs outweigh wants thanks to our injury lists most the time.

S12b

gally74 wrote: »

Where's ouncer

Desperately trying to come up with something to give out about I guess. He did have a go at Buckley during the game about his binding in the scrums.....I thought the scrum was going alright!! :D

Anyways, great few weeks but I wouldn't get carried away yet, none of Edinburgh, Zebre, Treviso or Dragons are top teams....for me the key is to get performances against Scarlets and Munster.

Beating one of those teams, now that would really signal progress....we all know Connacht are capable of the big one off wins but consistently operating at a higher level is what we want!!

Bring on Munster!!

CIARAN_BOYLE

Its amazing that during the autumn before the last rwc Ireland were relying on a faded John Hayes and Tony Buckley at TH. Come this years AIs Connacht alone will have 3 IQ TH props better than either of those were at the time.

freyners

its_phil wrote: »

Leader moved to FB and Robbie moved to 13. Shame for Griffin, who has looked great back at 13. He is a good stand in 12 and our best alternative by a country mile but I hate doing it to him. Has decent claims to be one of the best backline poachers in the country. Consistently at it. But needs outweigh wants thanks to our injury lists most the time.

Sorry didnt realise, although he played twelve v munster a few weeks back and got a hat trick so something about there must suit him

ouncer

errlloyd wrote: »

Duncan Bell seems like great banter. Played 40 minutes didn't concede.

it was a strange game. first, kudos to Connacht for a bp win. however there are some things of serious concern. once bell came in, Buckley simply could not contest with him as he couldn't bind with him. this brought our scrum wins to a standstill. once bell was replaced the scrum superiority went back to normal. my point is that it was blatantly obvious what the problem was and lam should have replaced Buckley at half time. the other concern was the loss of jhw. he did not look good hobbling off. his lineout stats were 100%. when heffernan came on we started to lose lineouts though he did improve as the game went on. however these two issues meant that parity was introduced to the game for the best part of 40 minutes. and these 40 minutes was a lot of pressure being soaked up. the backline were essentially invisible for most of the game. griffin did some great work, henshaw dealt with what he had to deal with well, toh and fionn were quiet.

the darragh yellow card threw up for interesting problems. now it won't be the last time a back gets yellow carded but minutes after we have a dragons try. it was interesting watching fionn jogging across the back line until he realised that dragons were going to cross the line in his corner. certainly pat can put some work into how the back line should be structured minus a man as it was clear that fionn wasn't where he should have been.

so yes it was a great bp win but dragons were simply rubbish. keep that in mind. scarlets will not be so easy. pat really needs to see how the balance of a game shifts and react to it in time.

Morf

ouncer wrote: »

and fionn were quiet.

was interesting watching fionn jogging across the back line until he realised that dragons were going to cross the line in his corner.

Saw him transfer ball to one arm after Marmion break in 2nd half to be stripped/knock on in contact. It was very disappointing not to recycle in that situation.

Neil3030

ouncer wrote: »

the darragh yellow card threw up for interesting problems. now it won't be the last time a back gets yellow carded but minutes after we have a dragons try. it was interesting watching fionn jogging across the back line until he realised that dragons were going to cross the line in his corner. certainly pat can put some work into how the back line should be structured minus a man as it was clear that fionn wasn't where he should have been.

Even while playing for Leinster under Schmidt - a proven world class coach with one of the strongest affinities for structure over everything else - Carr would drive you demented with his positioning. I don't think you can hang that on Lam at all, imo.

gally74

The henshaw tackle was explosive towards the end

freyners

actually i thought fionn had a decent outing at defense, two big turnovers in our twenty two and used the touchline well to defend. TOH was always looking to make a break but the ball didnt get to him once or twice and ran out of space other times. No complaints about the wingers to be fair

porterbelly

Poolman and Healy should be brought in next week as they are our 2 best wingers and they are the best we have defensively also which will be needed against the Scarlets

If McSharry has concussion, move TOH to 15, Henshaw to 13 and Griffin to 12. Remember how the Griffin/Henshaw combo worked v Leinster.

That was the play of the game from Henshaw today with that huge tackle towards the end. Sealed the win effectively, Dragons could have got in with an overlap outside. Showed his decision making in the 13 channel. Remember this is the timing he got wrong v Sarries at home with led to Wyles try, so it shows he's definitely learning from mistakes.

Scarlets has not been a happy hunting ground for us. They tend to play with too much pace which we fail to deal with. Our defence needs to be massive and we need to get dominant at set piece and use our maul wisely again.

its_phil

porterbelly wrote: »

Poolman and Healy should be brought in next week as they are our 2 best wingers and they are the best we have defensively also which will be needed against the Scarlets

If McSharry has concussion, move TOH to 15, Henshaw to 13 and Griffin to 12. Remember how the Griffin/Henshaw combo worked v Leinster.

That was the play of the game from Henshaw today with that huge tackle towards the end. Sealed the win effectively, Dragons could have got in with an overlap outside. Showed his decision making in the 13 channel. Remember this is the timing he got wrong v Sarries at home with led to Wyles try, so it shows he's definitely learning from mistakes.

Scarlets has not been a happy hunting ground for us. They tend to play with too much pace which we fail to deal with. Our defence needs to be massive and we need to get dominant at set piece and use our maul wisely again.

Don't think I would bring Danie back. Picked up a hamstring injury IIRC last week. He's been out for a while too, so just in terms of injury and not a lot of gametime I would not pick him. JHW is the injury I'm most worried about, Heffernan will get there but he needs time which no one would begrudge. If McSharry is out I'd go for:

15. TOH
14. Carr
13. Henshaw
12. Griffin
11. Healy
10. Parks
9. Marmion

1. Buckley
2. JHW/Heffernan
3. Ah You
4. Muldowney
5. Kearney
6. Muldoon
7. Masterson
8. McKeon

It just shows how important a player JHW has quickly developed into. His darts today were outstanding. Heffernan's improved with the game.

Funk It

its_phil wrote: »

If McSharry is out I'd go for:

15. TOH
14. Carr
13. Henshaw
12. Griffin
11. Healy
10. Parks
9. Marmion

1. Buckley
2. JHW/Heffernan
3. Ah You
4. Muldowney
5. Carr - ????
6. Muldoon
7. Masterson
8. McKeon

Nice try Eddie O'Sullivan....

Funk It

I would love to have Healy back in the starting line-up, an injury to JHW scares me though. How long until Henry is back does anyone know?

evil_seed

ouncer wrote: »

it was a strange game. first, kudos to Connacht for a bp win. however there are some things of serious concern. once bell came in, Buckley simply could not contest with him as he couldn't bind with him. this brought our scrum wins to a standstill. once bell was replaced the scrum superiority went back to normal. my point is that it was blatantly obvious what the problem was and lam should have replaced Buckley at half time. the other concern was the loss of jhw. he did not look good hobbling off. his lineout stats were 100%. when heffernan came on we started to lose lineouts though he did improve as the game went on. however these two issues meant that parity was introduced to the game for the best part of 40 minutes. and these 40 minutes was a lot of pressure being soaked up. the backline were essentially invisible for most of the game. griffin did some great work, henshaw dealt with what he had to deal with well, toh and fionn were quiet.

the darragh yellow card threw up for interesting problems. now it won't be the last time a back gets yellow carded but minutes after we have a dragons try. it was interesting watching fionn jogging across the back line until he realised that dragons were going to cross the line in his corner. certainly pat can put some work into how the back line should be structured minus a man as it was clear that fionn wasn't where he should have been.

so yes it was a great bp win but dragons were simply rubbish. keep that in mind. scarlets will not be so easy. pat really needs to see how the balance of a game shifts and react to it in time.

Hard to bind on the jersey when it's bet onto him. He simply couldn't get a hold of his jersey. No prop would have

wp_rathead

Pretty sure Henry out for season unfort

So who gonna be on the bench? Rael?

Have a feeling will be Leader fb and Carr TOH on wings with Healy on bench

freyners

Rael is injured I thought? Jack Dineen started for A recently so could be him

its_phil

Funk It wrote: »

Nice try Eddie O'Sullivan....

Jesus what was I trying to do!

S12b

Ya on the hooker front, Henry is out for season so unless JHW or James Rael can recover.....it will be Jack Dineen on the bench. 19 year old just out of secondary school who is only playing hooker for a few months!! :eek:

ouncer

evil_seed wrote: »

Hard to bind on the jersey when it's bet onto him. He simply couldn't get a hold of his jersey. No prop would have

that was one part of the problem, the other part was that he was a huge man with much bigger reach than Buckley. Buckley simply couldn't reach far enough to get the bind. because of this he was more focused on not dropping to the ground and giving away a penalty instead of actually being focused on engaging in the scrum.

you do raise an interesting point in jersey design though. no reason why a jersey can't be designed to allow the least amount of possible grip for the opponent. gives your team a significant advantage (both in the forwards and in the backs) or are there design rules associated with a jersey?

freyners

ouncer wrote: »

that was one part of the problem, the other part was that he was a huge man with much bigger reach than Buckley. Buckley simply couldn't reach far enough to get the bind. because of this he was more focused on not dropping to the ground and giving away a penalty instead of actually being focused on engaging in the scrum.

you do raise an interesting point in jersey design though. no reason why a jersey can't be designed to allow the least amount of possible grip for the opponent. gives your team a significant advantage (both in the forwards and in the backs) or are there design rules associated with a jersey?

Cant agree, Bell is a big man but Buckley has come up against bigger (height wise) and had no issues. Bells jersey however was basically painted on to him, grip was a massive issue.

On jersey design, I know that there was an idea looked at where props jerseys would have pockets/panels to aid grip but it was found to increase the risk of breaking someones finger. I'd imagine a design that purposely gives less grip is a no go.

Shelflife

Bell is 39, and has been around the block, former international and has played at a high level for a long time.

Buckley is 23 and is a baby, theres 16 years more experience under Bells ever expanding belt.

This is how Buckley learns, Its not something id worry about, Bell is a shrewd enough operator to make a young prop work hard for his money.

ouncer

freyners wrote: »

Cant agree, Bell is a big man but Buckley has come up against bigger (height wise) and had no issues. Bells jersey however was basically painted on to him, grip was a massive issue.

On jersey design, I know that there was an idea looked at where props jerseys would have pockets/panels to aid grip but it was found to increase the risk of breaking someones finger. I'd imagine a design that purposely gives less grip is a no go.

agree that less grip would only make the scrum more dangerous. also take your point that increasing grip possibilities leads to a different set of problems

b.gud

Match report is up for anyone who missed it

ouncer

its_phil wrote: »

Leader moved to FB and Robbie moved to 13. Shame for Griffin, who has looked great back at 13. He is a good stand in 12 and our best alternative by a country mile but I hate doing it to him. Has decent claims to be one of the best backline poachers in the country. Consistently at it. But needs outweigh wants thanks to our injury lists most the time.

as later you qualify toh at fullback. so its a hard call in many areas for many reasons. so let's say mcsharry is unable to play next weekend and ronaldson isn't an option. as you say, to shore up the centre then its a given that Robbie must go 13 and eoin must go 12. but let's first accept that leader (while an all round player) is not a particularly strong centre. then you take the wingers. toh is defensively strong but seems to have lost his confidence as a player who in times past used to break gain lines. as an exact opposite fionn is simply moving from one side of the pitch to another to try and break a gain line without any consideration to defense.

really liked marmion this weekend. he did what I suggested he should do more often, taking the ball himself. but then toh is being defensive so he isn't available and fionn is likely to be anywhere. so the mention of Healy, who is both defensively decent and forwardly good would seem as as better alternative to both toh and fionn. playing the scarlets next week I would be cautious so would have toh at 14 and Healy at 11 so you get the best of both worlds. darragh at 15 is fine. would toh do better. not sure as he simply is more defensively focused so I think leader probably would be better. if we lose a centre darragh can take over, toh can move to full back and fionn can take the wing from the bench.

so that's all based on current players available. so then there is a game plan. now here I revert to last weekend. our forwards worked great stuff when bell wasn't around. however stuff happens in a game and you have to see it and adjust to it. the scrum stopped walking over dragons so it was time to try something else. but it didn't happen. this is what a coach is about. if it was working, but stops working, then change it. so if Buckley couldn't manage bell then rather than using the forwards you switch the impetus to the backs. the sad thing is that nobody could figure the problem or the answer even if it was blatantly obvious.

marmion was again fantastic. Dan did his thing and made a few tackles at that. I simply don't get miah over carty. have watched miah for too long. know his ability. carty is sizably better. its pointless having frank on the bench as he will add nothing so any development scrum half would at least match his abilities and get valuable game time in the process.

the most concerning issue from last weekend was the inability to change game strategy when it no longer worked. dragons were awful, but when parity was drawn in the scrum and lineout, Connacht continued anyway. it was simply braindead. and there lies one of many issues I have with my good friend pat lam

freyners

ouncer wrote:

the most concerning issue from last weekend was the inability to change game strategy when it no longer worked. dragons were awful, but when parity was drawn in the scrum and lineout, Connacht continued anyway. it was simply braindead. and there lies one of many issues I have with my good friend pat lam

Hmm, i get where your coming from, but I would see it slightly different. They replaced an entire front row against one that had played almost half a match. We had them contained in the backs so it was just a case of waiting for them to tire, bring in White and later Loughney, and striking on from their.

We have statistically the best scrum in the league I was informed a the treviso game, and near top in Line-outs also. Forwards is where our strength lies, so trusting them to regain their dominance was a good call imo.

Where I would agree is that we dont seem to have a cutting edge in our backs recently. Strong in defense but outside marmions breaks we dont see backs breaking the line often

Robbo

On the hooker injury crisis, Ronan Loughney? He came on there before as an emergency hooker and threw reasonably well. It has been said that he's played at hooker before.