Toulouse vs Connacht- HCup- Sat @ 3:40PM- Sky Sports Red Button

its_phil

First year novices Connacht finish their away round fixtures at the home of four time champions Toulouse on Saturday afternoon, with both sides entering the contest on opposite sides of the results spectrum. Last year's semi-finalists Toulouse have bounced back in the Top 14 with 3 comprehensive victories and 125 points scored since their shock home loss at the hands of Harlequins in round 3 of the Heineken Cup. While Connacht are on a 13 game losing streak dating back to September with their tiny squad showing signs of exhaustion and frustration in their loss to Aironi on Saturday. Players such as captain Gavin Duffy and George Naoupu have been forced to playing 880 minutes of rugby straight while flyer Tiernan O'Halloran and prop Brett Wilkinson have started the western sides last 11 games.

Connacht are currently missing Eoin Griffin (hamstring), Frank Murphy (groin), Dave Gannon (knee), Jonny O'Connor (fractured eye socket), Brian Tuohy (broken leg), Mark McCrea (hamstring), Dave Nolan (broken leg), Andrew Browne (achilles), James Loxton (knee) and Ronan Loughney (shoulder). The losses of influential local players such as Griffin and O'Connor will be especially missed by Connacht as well as Murphy and Loughney who had shown glimpses of good form in recent weeks. The French champions fortunately do not have to rent out a hospital wing unlike their pool 6 counterparts but are missing key players such as second row Romain Millo-Chluski and Springbok duo Gary Botha and Gurthrö Steenkamp.

The game has one result written all over it and it doesnt seem like the rot is about to end out west. Eric Elwood will not be able to change his team due to mounting injuries and a responsibility to put a top team out in front of potential fans and sponsors. Connacht will give everything as they always have this year (bar last weeks game in Italy) and walking out of the Stade Ernest Wallon denying Toulouse a bonus point victory would be an achievement in itself. Elwood's men will also be able to contend with the label underdogs, which is when Connacht are at their most troublesome best. Expect Connacht to give everything for 60 minutes with an emphatic effort against the mighty Toulouse, but fatigue should overtake passion and expect Toulouse to run away in the last 20.
An impassioned interview with arguably Connacht's player of the season so far, Mike McCarthy, revealed Gavin Duffy talked about going to the rugby equivalent of Old Trafford and how the side should look forward to the game rather than fear it. Manchester United have lost twice at home in the last couple months to teams such as Crystal Palace and Blackburn. Harlequins and Connacht at the Stade Ernest Wallon for Crystal Palace and Blackburn at Old Trafford anyone??

Key Matchup- Yannick Jauzion vs. David McSharry

If Connacht are to have any hope of denying Toulouse from repeatedly crossing the try line they will need McSharry to keep his 73 time capped Grand Slam winning opponent quiet. Connacht enter the game with a strong defensive system that see them in 6th place in their own league despite their poor form and still to concede a try bonus point this year. McSharry will most likely lead the defensive charge against Toulouse as he is the only regular fixture in a shuffled backline. Jauzion will be targetting the defense that allowed him a couple of cheeky offloads so McSharry will need to be ensure he takes ball and man but the leg power of Jauzion has proven overwhelming to many opponents before. The quick ball he will recieve from his forwards and half backs will be decisive to Connacht's defensive realignment. McSharry has been a revelation at Connacht and has talked of a heads up no fear attitude that may help keep them contain the big Frenchman, but he'll need a big game again to keep Jauzion quiet.

PREDICTION: Toulouse +20 and a TBP

Sorry Thomond for robbing your style but trying to get back into writing about rugby like I use to a while back!

good man its_phil, need more active Connacht representation on here!

Throw a few photos of crests and main players etc into the post and you're set. Nice write up too.

tolosenc

No offence, but I wouldn't even bother putting a poll on this one...

It'd be a thing of folklore if Connacht snapped their slide in Toulouse. At times like this, people say that "stranger things have happened", but they really haven't.

PhatPiggins

tolosenc wrote: »

No offence, but I wouldn't even bother putting a poll on this one...

It'd be a thing of folklore if Connacht snapped their slide in Toulouse. At times like this, people say that "stranger things have happened", but they really haven't.

When Glasgow beat Toulouse in Toulouse in the 08/09 season they were the exact same starting odds as what Connacht are now.

So from a mathematical point of view an equally as strange a thing has already happened

phog

It took years of H/C beatings for Munster and Leinster heading to France to return victorious over Toulouse, imagine Connacht doing it in their first trip to France. I think the whole country would rejoice.

its_phil

phog wrote: »

It took years of H/C beatings for Munster and Leinster heading to France to return victorious over Toulouse, imagine Connacht doing it in their first trip to France. I think the whole country would rejoice.

Munster beating the All Blacks in Thomand wouldn't have s*** on us

porterbelly

phog wrote: »

It took years of H/C beatings for Munster and Leinster heading to France to return victorious over Toulouse, imagine Connacht doing it in their first trip to France. I think the whole country would rejoice.

We've a very good record in the Amlin away in France. Dax, Montpellier and Bayonne have all lost to us on home turf

ouncer

porterbelly said much of my response. o'halloran was brutal last week, o'donoghue simply is not a consideration, jarvis was appalling. On top of all this we have a huge injury list. Now I've always had a huge issue with the same Irish team being put out week on week so here is the suggestion. Give the U20s a blast. The season is over. Its time to see what is possible for next season. There are so many players (go through the connacht posts) that simply should not be included in this team. Accept we are rubbish this year with the possibility that we can be better next year if younger players are given opportunities. While Jarvis, O'Donoghue and our ever present normal Nr10 (NOC) that should be exiled to Southern Botswana for his deeds are simply pointless additions to the team many new kids on the block can take their places. This year has been a revelation for players like o'halloran, griffin, duffy and macsharry (i list them in order of what i saw of them). JOC was great, Ah You my god, flavin reynecke or my grandma, enough, time for bed

its_phil

ouncer wrote: »

porterbelly said much of my response. o'halloran was brutal last week, o'donoghue simply is not a consideration, jarvis was appalling. On top of all this we have a huge injury list. Now I've always had a huge issue with the same Irish team being put out week on week so here is the suggestion. Give the U20s a blast. The season is over. Its time to see what is possible for next season. There are so many players (go through the connacht posts) that simply should not be included in this team. Accept we are rubbish this year with the possibility that we can be better next year if younger players are given opportunities. While Jarvis, O'Donoghue and our ever present normal Nr10 (NOC) that should be exiled to Southern Botswana for his deeds are simply pointless additions to the team many new kids on the block can take their places. This year has been a revelation for players like o'halloran, griffin, duffy and macsharry (i list them in order of what i saw of them). JOC was great, Ah You my god, flavin reynecke or my grandma, enough, time for bed

The U20's aren't ready and I can tell you that from some of their own mouths. Think your being very harsh on Jarvis after only his second start since September. Give him a couple more games

ouncer

reality is that season is over. time to move systems, coaches and players. as indicated above there are a few players who have lived up to the mark. so wipe the system (it is already broken) and regenerate

Shelflife

Ouncer you are correct in saying that the season is effectivley over for us, however by fielding a weakened or second team even though it is the logical thing to do, that would send out the wrong signal to our sponsers and to the HC. You never know when a qualifying decision could come down to the "respect" shown to the competition.

I think we should see out our HC games and then start a proper rebuild for the new season both on and off the pitch.

ouncer

please understand, current team struggles. many new faces that work. great to see swifty involved. question : why? massive servant to connacht. time to move on! lets give the kids a go. as i say we are out of heineken and pro12. Lets get rid of the struggler's. Had enough watching these guys

porterbelly

Ofisa for Kearney is looking like the only change to the pack for Saturday

Robbo

porterbelly wrote: »

Ofisa for Kearney is looking like the only change to the pack for Saturday

Wilkinson's played an insane amount of rugby this season, it's been a miracle that he's stayed fit.

porterbelly

Robbo wrote: »

Wilkinson's played an insane amount of rugby this season, it's been a miracle that he's stayed fit.

He missed the first few weeks though

porterbelly

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David , 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Timoci Matanavou, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles , 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Census Johnston, 2 William Servat, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements:16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Yohan Montes, 19 Grégory Lamboley, 20 Jean-Marc Doussain, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Clément Poitrenaud, 23 Shaun Sowerby,

Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (C), 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 13 Kyle Tonetti, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Paul O'Donohoe, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Dylan Rogers, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke 17 Denis Buckley 18 Stewart Maguire 19 Mick Kearney 20 Eoin McKeon 21 Dave Moore 22 Miah Nikora 23 Henry Fa'afili

Date: Saturday, January 13

thomond2006

Connacht will be lucky to be within 30 of that Toulouse selection. Poux, Sowerby, Beauxis and Poitrenaud on the bench! :eek:

Shelflife

thomond2006 wrote: »

Connacht will be lucky to be within 30 of that Toulouse selection. Poux, Sowerby, Beauxis and Poitrenaud on the bench! :eek:

Maybe we should ask them to come to Connacht where we could offer them more game time

Tox56

My god that team looks terrifying.

molloyjh

porterbelly wrote: »

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David , 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Timoci Matanavou, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles , 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Census Johnston, 2 William Servat, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements:16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Yohan Montes, 19 Grégory Lamboley, 20 Jean-Marc Doussain, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Clément Poitrenaud, 23 Shaun Sowerby,

Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (C), 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 13 Kyle Tonetti, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Paul O'Donohoe, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Dylan Rogers, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke 17 Denis Buckley 18 Stewart Maguire 19 Mick Kearney 20 Eoin McKeon 21 Dave Moore 22 Miah Nikora 23 Henry Fa'afili

Date: Saturday, January 13

Yikes!

mareegoo

crikey!!!!!!

thats a first choice toulouse team....

still think connacht will be really competitive in this one....

30-18 to toulouse is my prediction

Digifriendly

mareegoo wrote: »

crikey!!!!!!

thats a first choice toulouse team....

still think connacht will be really competitive in this one....

30-18 to toulouse is my prediction

Competitive for first 60 minutes I guess. Toulouse by 20 pts margin at least.

porterbelly

Digifriendly wrote: »

Competitive for first 60 minutes I guess. Toulouse by 20 pts margin at least.

Even the likes of Munster, Leicester and many of the French sides in the Top 14 would be pleased with that against that Toulouse team when they have their head screwed on and are ruthless, which suggests they will be judging by the team they've picked

CatFromHue

porterbelly wrote: »

Even the likes of Munster, Leicester and many of the French sides in the Top 14 would be pleased with that against that Toulouse team when they have their head screwed on and are ruthless, which suggests they will be judging by the team they've picked

Toulouse need to run up a big score if possible in this game. At the end of the pool stages in deciding teams on equal points trys scored come into play. Last season Perpignan, Biarritz and Toulouse all had 22 points. Perpignan though were ranked highest of the three as they'd 23 trys scored. Biarritz were ranked higher than Toulouse as they'd 16 trys as opposed to Toulouse's 15. This meant that Toulouse were given an away QF match. As it stands Toulouse are ranked fourth of all the pool leaders on try's scored. They've 9 compared to Leinster's 13, Ulster's 12, and Saracen's 10.

[Jackass]

Niall O'Connor vs Luke McAlister



I fear for Connacht in this one...

CiaranMT

The Connacht scrum is gonna be squashed.

Zzippy

That's about as strong a team as Toulouse sent to Galway, and we lost by 26 points, which is the margin Paddy Power has for this game. We had almost a full team that night, and the lads were psyched up for it - this time we have a few missing through injury and morale has to be a lot lower. They also need 5 points and to get their try count up, as they will expect Quins to get 5 points next week. Toulouse by 30+ I'm afraid.

sock puppet

[Jackass] wrote: »

Niall O'Connor vs Luke McAlister

Hardly the biggest mismatch. He's played against far better.

irishbucsfan

Servat v. Flavin.

porterbelly

I fear most for our 2 young bench props, because they'll come on at some stage.

They'll get mashed in the scrum and they're not in the best of shape so I'd imagine they'll be blowing out of their holes after a couple of minutes. Defibrilator(s) on standby

cgpg5

Genuinely hope that Toulouse don't run all over them but there is all the indications that they will do so... Can't see Connacht getting within 30 unfortunately. Still, a fair amount of teams that are in the tournament would be blown away by Toulouse away

[Jackass]

sock puppet wrote: »

Hardly the biggest mismatch. He's played against far better.

You underestimate how bad O'Connor has been I see...

irishbucsfan

porterbelly wrote: »

I fear most for our 2 young bench props, because they'll come on at some stage.

They'll get mashed in the scrum and they're not in the best of shape so I'd imagine they'll be blowing out of their holes after a couple of minutes. Defibrilator(s) on standby

Maguire v. Poux! Holy god.

porterbelly

[Jackass] wrote: »

You underestimate how bad O'Connor has been I see...

I'm actually delighted McAliister is playing because his kicking can be very ropey

Diabhal Beag

This won't be good

porterbelly

Within 30 would be a huge effort realistically considering we had to try our damdest to keep them within 26 or whatever the last time.

To be honest, we have to forget the scoreline. I just want to see us go out and not be afraid to play a bit, not be nervous like in Aironi and make mistakes. Play a bit if rugby, don't turn the ball over in contact and score a try or 2.

wp_rathead

the fry is on and the rosary beads are out
Playing Toulouse away- this is where we wanna be lads
C'mon Connacht:cool:

cgpg5

Clermont's 82-0 demolition job of Aironi, I think, really puts into perspective how poor Connachts result was last week

cgpg5

Chance for Connacht to take the lead Could be game over lads if he slots this

EDIT- Oh dear. This will be a tough evening for the boys from the West

seanhynes

Gob****e that Frankie Sheehan 'David v Goliath,Apollo Creed V Rocky Balboa,you'd think he should be asking for his autograph.. eejit:rolleyes:

its_phil

Mike McCarthy is everywhere again. Man is amazing

cgpg5

Toulouse first meaningful attack results in a delicious chip through for a Matanavou try. I hope that the floodgates don't open and that Connacht continue to compete as they have been as they're doing very well so far.

Funkstard

McSharry you clown, one pass away from a Connacht try

cgpg5

McSharry has blown a blatant try scoring opportunity. Why didn't he give it out wide?

eyeball kid

Unbelievable!! Don't know that wasn't a score.

thomond2006

Score?

its_phil

He didnt look, wasnt going for glory.

Connacht tackling is excellent preventing the offload

Funkstard

5-3 Toulouse, Connacht scored first

justsomebloke

5-3 toulose

its_phil

thomond2006 wrote: »

Score?

5-3

Should be 5-8 but McSharry didnt look wide for Duffy in 10 meters of free space

Funkstard

Connacht chase is good. One returned kick off and another caught garryowen there.