Connacht vs Dragons, Saturday Sep4 5.30PM (TG4)

evil_seed

I for one cannot wait to get the season started and would be hoping that after the start of last season with losing our record of winning all our opening home games, we can get that back on track and kick off with a win. Hopefully the introduction of the TV coverage won't take away from the much needed crowd support. The die-hards, no doubt won't miss this for the world, but the likes of the people who only come to the "big" games need to start coming to the rest of the home games. EVERY game is a big game.

Connacht Rugby have named a 26 man squad ahead of their first Magners League clash of the new season against the Newport Gwent Dragons this Saturday in the Sportsground, Galway.

There will be late fitness tests for a number of players which gives some of the younger squad members the opportunity for inclusion. Dermot Murphy will join as cover at hooker, Aidan Wynne covers the back-line while Adam Kennedy adds an extra option at scrumhalf.

Speaking at this weeks press conference Head Coach Eric Elwood said he was happy with the preseason training (which included trips to the Aran Islands and the Curragh) and the two games against Harlequins and Saracens, but that the real test of the team was the Magners League and competitive matches.

The inclusion of Sean Cronin and Gavin Duffy, back from International duty, is a welcome boost to the Elwoods squad which has seen a number of players ruled out for extended periods with John Muldoon broken arm, Robbie Morris back, Johnny OConnor back all out of contention.

Connacht squad to face Dragons:

Ronan Loughney, Brett Wilkinson, Sean Cronin, Dermot Murphy, Adrian Flavin, Rob Sweeney, Jamie Hagan, Dave Nolan, Michael Swift, Bernie Upton, Michael McCarthy, Ray Ofisa, Mike McComish, Ezra Taylor, Cillian Willis, Adam Kennedy, Frank Murphy, Miah Nikora, Ian Keatley, Fionn Carr, Keith Matthews, Niva Taauso, Tiernan OHalloran, Aidan Wynne, Troy Nathan, Gavin Duffy

Robbo

I hope it isn't a sign for their level of organisation for the rest of the season, but TG4 had this listed as the Leinster game (live, a day after it happens) in the Sky EPG on Monday when I was setting it to record.

I was hoping that either of Monaghan or Fanning would have a look in but it looks like the wings will be Carr and Troy.

cuculainn

Think Connacht branch really need to up the hype around to get people aware that games are on......A couple of signs on the roads into galway is not enough.....

Anyway season ticket has arrived so heres looking forward to a good season with big crowds in the sports ground

Diom

cuculainn wrote: »

Think Connacht branch really need to up the hype around to get people aware that games are on......A couple of signs on the roads into galway is not enough.....

Anyway season ticket has arrived so heres looking forward to a good season with big crowds in the sports ground

There are a lot of restrictions about where you can put poster etc... especially in the city itself.
They had to get permission to display the signs on the outside of the SG ffs!

Only the first game of the season but really for Connacht these sort of games are must win if we are to make an impression on the league table. With a lot of injury doubts its a tricky one but I'm hopeful we'll edge a tight game.

porterbelly

Most likely connacht team:

1.Wilkinson
2.Cronin
3.Hagan
4.Swift
5.Upton
6.McCarthy
7.Ofisa
8.Taylor
9.Murphy
10.Keatley
11.Carr
12.Wynne
13.Ta'auso
14.Nathan
15.Duffy

16.Flavin
17.Sweeney
18.Loughney
19.Browne
20.McComish
21.Willis
22.Nikora
23.Matthews/O'Halloran

Don't think Matthews will be fit, if he is he'll probably start on the bench.

cuculainn

Diom wrote: »

There are a lot of restrictions about where you can put poster etc... especially in the city itself.
They had to get permission to display the signs on the outside of the SG ffs!

Yeah but a bigger effort is needed....why not go to HP, boston, medtronic, and sell tickets the week home games are on....giving discounts to groups

Go to the universities and do the same thing.

On similar note, what impact do people think matches on saturday will have on the crowd? I know it doesn't suit me as well, and a few of the lads that usually come with me wont be because sat doesn't suit

seanin4711

Dragons are strong and with some injuries in key positions for. Us I really hope for a result.
Need points winning or losing bonus points are key and hopefully compete away from home we have a chance to write our own script.

evil_seed

Connacht team to face Newport Gwent Dragons – Sportsground, Galway, Saturday 4th September, kick off 17.30


1 Brett Wilkinson
2 Sean Cronin
3 Jamie Hagan
4 Michael Swift
5 Bernie Upton
6 Michael McCarthy
7 Ray Ofisa
8 Ezra Taylor
9 Frank Murphy (C)
10 Ian Keatley
11 Fionn Carr
12 Keith Matthews
13 Niva Ta’auso
14 Troy Nathan
15 Gavin Duffy

16 Adrian Flavin
17 Ronan Loughney
18 Rob Sweeney
19 Dave Nolan
20 Mike McComish
21 Cillian Willis
22 Miah Nikora
23 Tiernan O’Halloran

http://www.connachtrugby.ie/2010090382276/connacht-team-to-face-dragons

thomond2006

From BBC:

Dragons: Jason Tovey; Will Harries, Rhodri Gomer-Davies, Tom Riley, Aled Brew; Matthew Jones, Danny Lee; Hugh Gustafson, Steve Jones, Ben Castle, Luke Charteris (c), Scott Morgan, Joe Bearman, Robin Sowden-Taylor, Hugo Ellis.

Replacements: Lloyd Burns, Pat Palmer, Ali McKenzie, Rob Sidoli, Danny Lydiate, Gavin Thomas, Nicky Griffiths, David Bishop.

Joe Bearman is back for them after a long layoff, he's a big player for them. Think of the influence Nauopu had on Connacht last season and you get an idea of how important Bearman was when fit.

They have some serious gas on the wings, definitely their dangermen. Jason Tovey is a class act too and should get capped in the next few years IMO.

d-gal

Anyone care to tell me who the massive fella at the front of the pic at the bottom of the page is?

http://www.connachtrugby.ie/2010090182274/bank-of-ireland-squad-launch

siltirocker

d-gal wrote: »

Anyone care to tell me who the massive fella at the front of the pic at the bottom of the page is?

http://www.connachtrugby.ie/2010090182274/bank-of-ireland-squad-launch

Barry Faamausili

laugh

Yer one on the coverage is a hot crumpet.

brianthebard

Great start!

some_dose

Bloody hell! He just tried to pull his head off! A great start by Connacht though - really taking the game to them

Diabhal Beag

Good match so far from the Connacht lads. Cronin's try was great. Isn't the presenter from Cula 4 from years ago? They always make sexy ladies.

gally74

Conn look good, have improved from last year

Cosmo Kramer

Will TG4 not be streaming their ML coverage on their website like RTE are? It doesn't seem to be broadcasting today's game.

icdg

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Will TG4 not be streaming their ML coverage on their website like RTE are? It doesn't seem to be broadcasting today's game.

beo.tg4.ie is giving me the "Content not available in your region" message, even though I live in Dublin and have an Irish ISP. Wierd. I guess they aren't streaming it at all.

Cosmo Kramer

icdg wrote: »

beo.tg4.ie is giving me the "Content not available in your region" message, even though I live in Dublin and have an Irish ISP. Wierd. I guess they aren't streaming it at all.

Ya, that's what I'm getting too. It would be strange that RTEs rights would allow them to stream it and TG4s wouldn't, especially as the TG4 tv reception can be poor in some parts of the country. For me the Connacht games are the ones I would most want to see and they'll mostly be on TG4.

icdg

The fact that its the case during a UPC outage in my area is doubly annoying!

Diabhal Beag

Excellent performance so far. Impressive stuff.

Diabhal Beag

Ian Keatley

jd007

What a try! :eek:

wixfjord

What a try, put it down tho son.

Cosmo Kramer

Sounds like I'm missing a great game from a Connacht perspective.

BP try

40-12

Could be a good year for Connacht!

johnnysmack

If other results go their way Connaught could finish the weekend top of the table!! What were the odds on that!

B0X

That was some nice running rugby from Connacht there, good to see such a hefty win.

thomond2006

****ing brilliant, g'wan Connacht!

Absolutely fantastic result, delighted for ye and Elwood!:D

magicface1

what a great start from the guys they looked awesome at times today and it sets well for the season ahead.

PhatPiggins

Here you are gentlemen, enjoy:

Pos Team P W D L F A PD B Pts
1. Connacht 1 1 0 0 40 17 23 1 5
2. Munster 1 1 0 0 33 17 16 1 5
3. Cardiff Blues 1 1 0 0 34 23 11 1 5
4. Treviso 1 1 0 0 34 28 6 0 4
5. Glasgow Warriors 1 1 0 0 22 19 3 0 4
6. Ulster 1 1 0 0 27 26 1 0 4
7. The Ospreys 1 0 0 1 26 27 -1 1 1
8. Leinster 1 0 0 1 19 22 -3 1 1
9. Scarlets 1 0 0 1 28 34 -6 1 1
10. Edinburgh 1 0 0 1 23 34 -11 0 0
11. Viadana 1 0 0 1 17 33 -16 0 0
12. The Dragons 1 0 0 1 17 40 -23 0 0

RogerThis

Great win for Connacht, what a way to start the season. The Italian are looking competitive, so it's going to be an interesting season ahead. Top of the table, delighted for Eric.

RogerThis

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Here you are gentlemen, enjoy:

Pos Team P W D L F A PD B Pts
1. Connacht 1 1 0 0 40 17 23 1 5
2. Munster 1 1 0 0 33 17 16 1 5
3. Cardiff Blues 1 1 0 0 34 23 11 1 5
4. Treviso 1 1 0 0 34 28 6 0 4
5. Glasgow Warriors 1 1 0 0 22 19 3 0 4
6. Ulster 1 1 0 0 27 26 1 0 4
7. The Ospreys 1 0 0 1 26 27 -1 1 1
8. Leinster 1 0 0 1 19 22 -3 1 1
9. Scarlets 1 0 0 1 28 34 -6 1 1
10. Edinburgh 1 0 0 1 23 34 -11 0 0
11. Viadana 1 0 0 1 17 33 -16 0 0
12. The Dragons 1 0 0 1 17 40 -23 0 0

That table should have the Ospreys at the bottom of the table. They were deducted 4 points from the start of this season for not playing Ulster in March.

PhatPiggins

RogerThis wrote: »

That table should have the Ospreys at the bottom of the table. They were deducted 4 points from the start of this season for not playing Ulster in March.

Thanks wasn't aware of that. Pulled the table off planetrugby

porterbelly

Cracking display to start the season, just what we needed. Super displays from Ofisa, Ta'auso and Keatley. Cronin and Duffy put in good shifts but you'd have to feel there's more to come from the two of them. Our scrum was top drawer, and the great thing about it is that when Loughney came in, it didn't weaken it one bit, in fact that's when we really started to turn the screw.

The good thing as well for Connacht is that potentially there's still alot more to come. I felt Swifty and McCarthy weren't as prominent in the loose as normal, but they still put in good solid work. I'd attribute that to the early season than anything else. Frank Murphy seemed a fraction slow off the base and can only improve. Ezra Taylor hasn't yet convinced but I'm sure there's more to come. Hopefully the knock he picked up isn't too serious either.

The important thing is that we keep the heads down in training and reproduce again next week away to the Scarlets. As has been said previously, we can't just rely on our home form we must go way from home and try to eke out a result or 3, and even losing bonus points. There's nowhere better to be travelling next week than the Parc Y Scarlets. The Scarlets are off a defeat to Treviso and their confidence will be brittle, and in front of a deserted stadium, they could be there for the taking. 2 from 2 anyone?

ScrubsfanChris

RogerThis wrote: »

That table should have the Ospreys at the bottom of the table. They were deducted 4 points from the start of this season for not playing Ulster in March.

Proper league table with Ospreys and there -3.

thomond2006

The Scarlets is a huge chance for Connacht to break their duck away from home.

If Elwood wants to rotate/rest players, then do that for Glasgow away the following week which would a far more difficult test than Scarlets.

PhatPiggins

thomond2006 wrote: »

The Scarlets is a huge chance for Connacht to break their duck away from home.

If Elwood wants to rotate/rest players, then do that for Glasgow away the following week which would a far more difficult test than Scarlets.

+1 Thomond. I'd never condone not trying to win every game but squad management and getting the odd away win must be constant in Elwoods planning. Bradley just seemed to concede every away ML game before KO.

evil_seed

What a fantastic performance! Just goes to show with a bit of extra and better coaching what we are capable of when it clicks. Ray proved what a great asset he is to us but also how much he was missed last year. It was nice to see so many tries against better opposition other than the likes of Spanish/Portuguese teams. I'm delighted for Eric and hopefully we can bring some of that form to llanelli, as I think we can all agree they are there for the taking. Off now to see what has been said in the press.

CatFromHue

historically connacht win at home to the dragons, i think they've only not won at home once.

historically lanelli win at home to connacht too, and sometimes by big scores.

Lanelli had a good pre season beating exeter and worchester at home and losing away to gloucester.

next week lanelli and connacht game is a big one for connacht. it really will show what this new coaching team is about. if they win it will give them a great start to the season.

but lanelli will also be targeting this game

what happend at the end of the game yesterday? it looked like a player had to be stretchered off and the ref told the receinving team from a 22 drop out to kick it touch to end the game!

evil_seed

CatFromHue wrote: »

historically connacht win at home to the dragons, i think they've only not won at home once.

historically lanelli win at home to connacht too, and sometimes by big scores.

Lanelli had a good pre season beating exeter and worchester at home and losing away to gloucester.

next week lanelli and connacht game is a big one for connacht. it really will show what this new coaching team is about. if they win it will give them a great start to the season.

but lanelli will also be targeting this game

what happend at the end of the game yesterday? it looked like a player had to be stretchered off and the ref told the receinving team from a 22 drop out to kick it touch to end the game!

Aled brew injured his neck and had to be strrtchered off. Hopefully it ain't too serious. The injury happened in the last minute or so and with the game at 40-17 it was over. Ref did the smart thing by getting the ball kicked into touch.

porterbelly

Listening to Rob Murphy on Galway Bay Fm on Friday, he seemed to be believe that Elwood will try to play his strongest team available every week, even if it means 1st team players would be rested from training during the week if need be. I would subscribe to this to a point. We probably should rotate a small bit during the season, not wholesale changes from week to week, but try to integrate the younger lads, Griffin, Fanning, O'Halloran and Monahan into the team. Some of our fringe players like Ronan Loughney, Mike McComish, Brian Tuohy, Cillian Willis and Miah Nikora are more than capable of starting games, which is a good thing for us, so if need be we can rotate lightly from week to week.

I'd like to go to the Scarlets with a full team again, ie. the same team that started this week, as I feel we have a great chance of getting a result. The following week against Glasgow would be a good chance to make a couple of chances just to freshen it up a bit and give a few lads to stake a claim for a first team slot. I'm not saying it's beyond the realms of possibility that we get a result in Firhill, but it's a notoriously tough place to go, and a losing bonus point would be just that, a 'bonus'. The following week at home to Ulster, we should go back to full strength and we may even have John Muldoon back in action.

outwest

long night last night, delighted with the result, 4 trys, defence was good,

why was jones the ref, he kept dragons from getting a hiding.


next week is another big game. i think scarlets are there for the taking, 9 point from the two games we can send a second team to play glasgow and focus on the ulster match.

croinin was unreal yesterday, keatley should be the 3 choice for ireland this year.

Zzippy

What a great start to the season! Can we play the Dragons every week please??

Standouts for me were Jamie Hagan in the scrum, and he set up Cronin for his try. Expect a big season from him. Cronin was under pressure in the lineout with 2 huge jumpers, Charteris is feckin massive! Still made all his throws, can't remember losing any of our lineouts. The scrum was excellent, we were pushing them back all evening. Swifty carried well as always, and Ofisa was outstanding. Taylor showed well on his debut, I thought the high tackle was unlucky as when I saw highlights on tv it seemed he tackled chest high and his arm slipped up higher and caught the guy round the neck, apart from that he he was very good and controlled the base of the scrum well. Would be worried about his knee injury...
Keatley was also outstanding, 25 points is a great haul and he made a great line break before getting his try. Ta'auso showed well and set up the first try very well, and made a few more breaks throughout the game. Defence all round was very good, gave away a few too many penalties, but Dragons never looked like really scoring until late on when Elwood had emptied the bench.
Onwards and upwards, top of the league! Can we blow it up early and call Connacht champions??

Diom

Was a great game. I switched to the sunny side of the pitch for a change. I may have to stay their all season now!

James Jones reffed that game expertly. Consistent and concise. He was calling in from the side, but never called for off the feet (except for that one time when it was blatantly obvious... Keatley isolated).
The main point is that what was sauce for the goose was sauce for the gander. The players were clear on where the lines were and JJ penalised them for crossing them. Made for a good game.

Players wise:
Front row - all 6 of them were great! Hagan got about the field a little bit more which was always my criticism of him... he doesn't need to be a back row forward but he does need to go faster than plodding speed. Great to see Loughney playing so well at LH.

Ofisa was class. Lots of work he got though. His interview at the end was funny too. Comedian and sport star...what's not to like.

Taylor - The high tackle looked horrible in real time, but I've since seen the replays, and he did have his arm at chest height when it started. It bounced off after first contact and that's when it made contact with the head. Still up to him to control his arm but not as bad as I thought originally. He worked very hard for the game though and I hope he recovers soon.

Murphy - could still speed up the back line ball a little, and he still needs more length out of his box kicks, but did well over all.

Keatley - class.

Centers - both did really well, especially given Matthews lack of game time.

Back three - Duffy did very well I thought...again his first game back. Fionn was great with ball in hand, and defended well enough despite living on the edge with his kicks sometimes.

evil_seed

anywhere online have the highlights. would like to see this game again. The official Magners League site and RTÉ have nothing :mad::mad:

Zzippy

evil_seed wrote: »

anywhere online have the highlights. would like to see this game again. The official Magners League site and RTÉ have nothing :mad::mad:

Nothing on TG4 website, although they have the hurling final and other games they've shown lately. Must be a legal thing that they can't show it online, just live on tv.

Digifriendly

Zzippy wrote: »

Nothing on TG4 website, although they have the hurling final and other games they've shown lately. Must be a legal thing that they can't show it online, just live on tv.

This match was shown 'in the clear' on TG4 via Sky here in NI unlike RTE's 2 matches which were blanked out. Presume this is due to Irish language rights being for the whole of the island so would be surprised about restrictions to showing this match even online.

Diom

I recorded it... I have a gander at how hard it would be to do a highlights package (I'm not up for putting the whole thing up sorry... )

Diom

There are highlights on the BBC site if you can view their content (UK proxy).