Connacht V Scarlets Sat 12th Feb Sportsground 7.35pm

seanin4711

Ok lads and lassies lets kick this one off!
We really need to hit the ground running on saturday with some crucial fixtures coming up we need to seize the initiative and grab as many points as possible while the 6N's is upon us!
Anyone know how many we are going to be missing as a result of international duty?
slan
s

thomond2006

Cronin for certain and possibly Duffy.

The Scarlets will be missing a few, they'll have their third choice hooker playing as Rees is with Wales and Owens is injured. Same with fly-half, Priestland and Jones are both in the Wales squad and will both likely make the Welsh 22 this weekend. Lamont and Stoddart will also miss this.

PhatPiggins

Jonathon Davies will be gone as well. Bare bones stuff for the Scarlets and they're ropey enough away from home at the best of times.

Very winnable for Connacht, especially as they have built up some momentum the past month.

SparKing

If we can't win this one, what hope is there for us?
6 home games left and Aironi away, should be picking up 16+ points before the end of the season, wishful thinking?

KidneyPunch

4 points away from Glasgow warriors! i think Connacht will win this out of pride and necessity.

jacothelad

C'mon the Greens. A great chance to get tyhe ball rolling with a good few home games to come. No Scarlets team up yet. They lost to the Dragons with a team of very young players on the 4th.

porterbelly

Hopefully Macca, Wilko and Duffy will be released for the game. Scarlets squad will be stretched, and Glasgow the same next week. 8 points minimum for the next 2 weeks and we'll be back on the horse

evil_seed

I'm expecting wilko and big mc to be released. hopefully duffy too. Even without cronin we should be aiming for a bp win against these guys at home. Especially with them missing so many. I'll be there at my usual spot shouting my head off

seanin4711

so whats the craic now?
Are the wolfhounds playing this weekend or will we have an almost full deck to pick from???
heres hoping!!!

CatFromHue

no A game this weekend so i hope duffy and hagan are released to play for connacht.

i think lanelli are without 7 players who are with the welsh team.

connacht have glasgow at home next weekend and as it stands glasgow are 4 points ahead of connacht. a win this weekend would really put connacht in a great position to move up the table.

porterbelly

Stephen Jones, Rhys Priestland, Jonathan Davies, Morgan Stoddart, Matthew Rees, Josh Turnbull and Tavis Knoyle all missing for Scarlets.

If we don't get the 4 points we might as well throw our hat at it. 5 points is there for the taking.

While we should win, we should also remember we lost to a weakened Ospreys side at home in the Autumn so we can't take anything for granted. Looking at the upcoming games Connacht can finish the season on a high and make a significant move up the table but it has to be one step at a time. We haven't won in the league since September so lets take nothing for granted.

seanin4711

looks pretty much like full strength!
Connacht XV To Face Scarlets


Eric Elwood has announced the starting XV that will face the Llanelli Scarlets (The Sportsground, Saturday 12th February, ko 7.35pm)

The side remains largely similar to the team that beat Cavalieri Prato in The Sportsground 2 weeks ago. With Sean Cronin on Irish duty Adrian Flavin starts at hooker, the experienced former Irish U19 & U21 player has just signed a 2 year deal to stay with Connacht. The only other change in the starting pack sees Johnny O'Connor return from injury to captain the side and replace Shane Conneely at openside flanker.
In the backline, Troy Nathan replace Keith Matthews at inside centre.

Connacht have also been boosted this week with the re-signing of hooker Adrian Flavin, lock Michael Swift and flanker Ray Ofisa who have all signed contract extensions with the province.

Connacht XV to face Llanelli Scarlets - The Sportsgound Sat 12th Feb, 7.35pm - live on TG4

1 Brett Wilkinson
2 Adrian Flavin
3 Jamie Hagan
4 Michael Swift
5 Mike McCarthy
6 Andrew Browne
7 Johnny O'Connor (C)
8 Mike McComish
9 Frank Murphy
10 Ian Keatley
11 Fionn Carr
12 Troy Nathan
13 Niva Ta'auso
14 Brian Tuohy
15 Gavin Duffy

16 Dermot Murphy
17 Dylan Rogers
18 Rodney Ah You
19 Bernie Upton
20 Ray Ofisa
21 Cillian Willis
22 Mia Nikora
23 Shane Monahan


Scarlets View
Scarlets starting XV v Connacht 12/02/11, The Sportsground kick-off 1935: Daniel Evans, Darren Daniel, Regan King, Scott Williams, Gareth Maule, Dan Newton, Martin Roberts, Iestyn Thomas (capt), Emyr Phillips, Rhys Thomas, Vernon Cooper, Lou Reed, Rob McCusker, Johnathan Edwards, Ben Morgan.

Replacements: Rhys Lawrence, Simon Gardiner, Owen Evans, Jonny Fa'amatuainu, Nick Cudd, Gareth Davies, Owen Williams, Nick Reynolds.

Scarlets Head Coach Nigel Davies said: "It's good to see some key players coming back from injury for us and we are happy with the quality of the side we've been able to put together for this weekend given the number of injuries we're carrying and those on international duty both at senior and age-grade levels - we've only had one player released back to us this weekend from Wales.

"This is a critical period in our season now, we've done well to get to where we have got to in second spot and that's where we want to stay. The next three games - Connacht away this weekend and then our two home games (Ulster and Edinburgh) are absolutely critical for our ambitions this year.

"We know we need to build momentum in Connacht and then keep that going into the home games. It's not going to be an easy place to go to - it's dirty, its muddy and we have to bring the right tough mental attitude. Our forwards are going to have to play a big part in this performance against them, but they are more than capable of doing that.

"We have to flip the mentality that it's a tough place to go and get this team to look forward to going there and the challenge it will present - knowing that for the first time in a number of years, we are second in the league and we have everything to play for. They may be at the bottom of the league, but we know that they will be very competitive, committed and will want to get an upset.

"We're pleased with our Magners League form - we've only lost one of our last five games in the League and that includes going away and winning against the Dragons at Rodney Parade, the Blues and recently up in Edinburgh, and Connacht must be no different for us.

"If we do that, then it will put us in a good position for the next two matches. As I've said, it's a huge month for us, if we can get some results now in these next three games, it will go a long way to deciding whether we are in with a chance of a play-off place."

Last time out, Connacht ran in a record breaking 83-7 win over Italian side Cavalieri Prato and will be looking to make it three wins in a row when the Scarlets visit and with it the chance to overturn their defeat at the hands of the Scarlets in September. Connacht have not won in the Magners League since round three.

The Scarlets have only been defeated once in their last five Magners League games. The Welshmen have lost on their last eight visits to Ireland since beating Connacht in Galway 17-14 on 9 January 2009. Connacht have won just one of their last five encounters with Scarlets: 16-10 at the Sportsground on 30 October 2009.

Robbo

1 Brett Wilkinson
2 Adrian Flavin
3 Jamie Hagan
4 Michael Swift
5 Mike McCarthy
6 Andrew Browne
7 Johnny O'Connor (C)
8 Mike McComish
9 Frank Murphy
10 Ian Keatley
11 Fionn Carr
12 Troy Nathan
13 Niva Ta'auso
14 Brian Tuohy
15 Gavin Duffy

16 Dermot Murphy
17 Dylan Rogers
18 Rodney Ah You
19 Bernie Upton
20 Ray Ofisa
21 Cillian Willis
22 Mia Nikora
23 Shane Monahan

Is Griffin injured? I was looking forward to seeing him outside Ta'auso again in the centre.

Zzippy

Very late notice, but I'm just back this minute from holidays. I have 2 free tickets for the match this evening, offered them to mates but they can't go, so anyone who wants them - PM me before 7pm with your mobile number and I'll meet you outside the ground.

iamjenko

This on telly tonight?

its_phil

iamjenko wrote: »

This on telly tonight?

tg4 now

CouchSmart

TG4

iamjenko

Good stuff!

wixfjord

Sweet thanks for the heads up lads.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Full time, Connacht 17 -Scarlets 13. Nice to break a ML losing streak that goes back a good while. Warriors next week should be a good chance to get a good run of results going.

evil_seed

Very poor turn out by the supporters tonight. The ref again was bad. He let both teams do what they wanted at the break down and couldn't see any knock ons. I thought macca was outstanding tonight and even though johnny got m.o.t.m and had a great game, I thought macca deserved it. Great to get back to winning ways, that's 3 in a row now. Bring on the warriors

porterbelly

Poor crowd is right,I'd say 1500 at the very most. Hopefully there'll be a few more next week. Good atmosphere in the 2nd half though.

We grinded it out, wasn't pretty at times but we got the 4 points we needed. Thought Rodney Ah You was excellent when he came on, he looks a lot more comfortable in the loose than Hagan and his scrummaging looked fine as well. Hope he gets a start next week. Keatley kicked well for the majority, and Concrete deserved his man of the match, he's playing super stuff at the minute.

seanin4711

We duked it out and scraped a win.
Bring on warriors.
Good sign that we stuck with it.
Delighted to be part of the supporters that turned out.
Ah you big impact sub did great when he come on.
Great to see ofisa back on the pitch!
A wins a win.
4 points were crucial and were obtained.
Result