Connacht vs Edinburgh Sat 1st 5pm (not on tv)

from the Connacht webpage

Changes up front for Edinburgh clash

The Connacht team to face Edinburgh Rugby tomorrow afternoon in round 10 of the RaboDirect PRO12 has been named. Following on from last week’s encounter with the Dragons, Head Coach Eric Elwood has made three personnel changes up front.

Brett Wilkinson who, tomorrow, earns his 150th cap for the province will start at loose head prop while Ronan Loughney replaces Nathan White in the front row.

Andrew Browne, making way for Johnny O’Connor, moves from flanker to lock position and partners Mick Kearney in the second row.

There are no changes to the back line while, on the bench, there are a few new faces. Prop JP Cooney is named among the front row replacements. Garryowen’s Bateman Cup winning prop joined the club last summer and has made a notable impression for the Connacht Eagles in the British & Irish Cup.

Athlone-born Danny Qualter is also named on the bench. The 20-year-old is in his third year of the Connacht Academy and could earn his first competitive start at the Sportsground tomorrow afternoon.

Following a lengthy injury spell this season, scrum-half Paul O’Donohoe returns to the fray a week ahead of the Heineken Cup Round 3 game with Biarritz.

Connacht's last six RaboDirect PRO12 fixtures have all been won by the home side on the day and the men in green will be looking to repeat last year’s win over Michael Bradley’s side (26-13) to earn their third home win of the season.

Connacht XV

15. Robbie Henshaw
14. Tiernan O’Halloran
13. Danie Poolman
12. Dave McSharry
11. Gavin Duffy (captain)
10. Dan Parks
9. Kieran Marmion

1. Brett Wilkinson
2. Jason Harris-Wright
3. Ronan Loughney
4. Mick Kearney
5. Andrew Browne
6. Johnny O’Connor
7. Willie Faloon
8. Eoin McKeon

Replacements (from):

16. Adrian Flavin
17. Denis Buckley
18. JP Cooney
19. Danny Qualter
20. Dave Gannon
21. Paul O’Donohoe
22. Miah Nikora
23. Fetu’u Vainikolo

Unavailable through injury: Rodney Ah You, Thomas Anderson, Finlay Bealham, Mata Fifita, Eoghan Grace, Eoin Griffin, Shane Layden, Darragh Leader, Mike McCarthy, John Muldoon, Frank Murphy, George Naoupu, Dave Nolan, Ethienne Reynecke, Michael Swift, Kyle Tonetti, Nathan White

Kick off at the Sportsground; 5pm.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR, 14th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Leo Colgan, Eddie Hogan-O'Connell (both IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Eugene Ryan (IRFU)


Edinburgh team

15 Greig Tonks
14 Tom Brown
13 Nick De Luca
12 Matt Scott
11 Tim Visser
10 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN
9 Richie Rees

1 Allan Jacobsen
2 Andy Titterrell
3 Willem Nel
4 Perry Parker
5 Sean Cox
6 David Denton
7 Roddy Grant
8 Stuart McInally

Substitutes
16 Alun Walker
17 John Yapp
18 Lewis Niven
19 Robert McAlpine
20 Izak van der Westhuizen
21 Chris Leck
22 Gregor Hunter
23 Dougie Fife

Absent through injury: Ben Atiga (knee), Ben Cairns (knee), Dimitri Basilaia (knee), Jamie Farndale (leg), Ross Ford (shoulder), Piers Francis (leg), Lee Jones (groin), James King (leg), Steven Lawrie (knee), Ross Rennie (shoulder), Netani Talei (knee), Steven Turnbull (knee).

Robbo

As expected, 2nd row is a problem area. Interesting to see Wilkinson get the nod over Buckley despite not seeing much action this year and apparently not having a good A game last week.

Also, we can't really sing "There's only one Johnny O'Connor" when there will patently be two of them starting in the back row.

Visser will be smarting a bit from being burnt by Vainikolo last week.

Weather forecast is cold, no rain and not much wind; usual alternative coverage on Galway Bay FM and Twitter/Facebook.

its_phil

Make or break game here. If we don't win this we really have gone backwards this year. If Connacht retain any hope of finishing 7th and above then we have to win this game. We can't afford to keep letting these games get away and especially can't afford to cough up an LBP.

Bradley is returning for the second time, let's hope he leaves with nothing again. He has brought back in 5 Scottish internationals, including Nick De Luca, Gred Laidlaw and the punters try scoring money making machine Tim Visser.

Nathan White is out injured while Buckley is given the night off ahead of Biarritz next week so Ronan Loughney and Brett Wilkinson come in.. Andrew Browne, who according to Elwood had a great game last week calling the lineouts despite a sin binning, moves into second row with Johnny O'Connor moving into 6. The backline is unchanged with the in-form Vainikolo staring from the bench. JP Cooney and Danny Qualter could make their provincial bows tonight a further sign of Elwoods fearless attitude to giving youth it's chance.

Sympathy could be developed for Elwood when you see his monumental injury list that includes: Rodney Ah You, Thomas Anderson, Finlay Bealham, Mata Fifita, Eoghan Grace, Eoin Griffin, Shane Layden, Darragh Leader, Mike McCarthy, John Muldoon, Frank Murphy, George Naoupu, Dave Nolan, Ethienne Reynecke, Michael Swift, Kyle Tonetti, Nathan White. But Paul O'Donohue returns to the bench for Dave Moore.

The physio is definitely is earning his money right now and when Michael Swift is injured you know it is serious!

Another point worth making for the game tomorrow is that Connacht have 13 IQ players, one project (Poolman) and a NIQ (Parks) staring the game tomorrow. A fantastic number to see for any Irish province.

VERDICT: Connacht to win but concede the LBP.

Connacht: 15. Robbie Henshaw, 14. Tiernan O'Halloran, 13. Danie Poolman. 12. Dave McSharry, 11. Gavin Duffy(C), 10. Dan Parks, 9. Kieran Marmion; 1. Brett Wilkinson, 2. Jason Harris-Wright, 3. Ronan Loughney, 4. Mick Kearney, 5. Andrew Browne, 6. Johnny O'Connor, 7. Willie Faloon, 8. Eoin McKeon

Replacements: 16. Adrian Flavin 17. Denis Buckley 18. JP Cooney 19.Danny Qualter 20. Dave Gannon 21. Paul O’Donohoe 22. Miah Nikora 23 Fetu’u Vainikolo


Edinburgh: 15. Greig Tonks, 14. Tom Brown, 13. Nick De Luca, 12. Matt Scott, 11. Tim Visser, 10. Greig Laidlaw (c), 9. Richie Rees, 8. Stuart McInally, 7. Roddy Grant, 6. David Denton, 5. Sean Cox, 4. Perry Parker, 3. Willem Nel, 2. Andy Titterrell, 1. Allan Jacobsen.

Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 John Yapp, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Robert McAlpine, 20 Izak van der Westhuizen, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Gregor Hunter, 23 Dougie Fife.

Zzippy

Robbo wrote: »

As expected, 2nd row is a problem area. Interesting to see Wilkinson get the nod over Buckley despite not seeing much action this year and apparently not having a good A game last week.

Also, we can't really sing "There's only one Johnny O'Connor" when there will patently be two of them starting in the back row.

Visser will be smarting a bit from being burnt by Vainikolo last week.

Weather forecast is cold, no rain and not much wind; usual alternative coverage on Galway Bay FM and Twitter/Facebook.

I was at the A game last week and Brett didn't stand out at all, hard to fathom why Buckley not starting but maybe its to bring a bit of experience to the front row and pack with JHW starting and the 2 lads in the 2nd row.

Gannon is a good player, no worries about him, but that's a strong Edinburgh team and with all the injuries we have its going to be a tough ask...

CIARAN_BOYLE

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056820793

.ak

Threads merged.

justsomebloke

.ak wrote: »

Threads merged.

Threads actually merged;)

wp_rathead

Can only assume Vainkolo being rested rather than Elwood thinking Duffy is a better winger than him..? The man has been on fire for Tonga in autumn series, and has been very impressive this season as a whole

POD back on bench is interesting, was at the Eagles game and he was very rusty (although going on last years form that could just be him)

The backrow looks abit lobsided with both Faloon and Johnny starting, but with Browne and Kearney on pitch aswell it might just work

It is a strong enough Edinburgh side- this is one of those "we should win it" games that we have a history of stumbling on..
fingers crossed though.

Zzippy

wprathead wrote: »

Can only assume Vainkolo being rested rather than Elwood thinking Duffy is a better winger than him..? The man has been on fire for Tonga in autumn series, and has been very impressive this season as a whole

POD back on bench is interesting, was at the Eagles game and he was very rusty (although going on last years form that could just be him)

The backrow looks abit lobsided with both Faloon and Johnny starting, but with Browne and Kearney on pitch aswell it might just work

It is a strong enough Edinburgh side- this is one of those "we should win it" games that we have a history of stumbling on..
fingers crossed though.

If he's not being rested it might be for Duffy's defence - with Poolman relatively untested and Henshaw inexperienced, vs Visser, de Luca, Brown etc he might reckon we need someone better defensively than Fetu'u...

wp_rathead

Zzippy wrote: »

If he's not being rested it might be for Duffy's defence - with Poolman relatively untested and Henshaw inexperienced, vs Visser, de Luca, Brown etc he might reckon we need someone better defensively than Fetu'u...

hmm perhaps, but in that case wouldn't it make more sense to drop Henshaw and have Duffy FB as Fetu'u would offer more in attack than Robbie
Vainkolos defence (apart from under highball) has been pretty solid this season

freyners

Danny qualter on the bench, interesting to see how he has come on the last year

seanin4711

OMG cannot believe this is not on TV!!!:P

I am being honest but I think the gunners are going to get 4 points here!
Our game plan seems to be :
1 Box kick by dan parks(instructed to do so)
2 when box kicking doesn't work fling it wide.
very very predictable!
I hope I am wrong.


We have 17 injured half the squad hence the reason the academy players are getting a look in!

As John Duffy from the savage eye would say
"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSS"

Mal-Adjusted

I thought TG4 was to promote the west of Ireland? it's not as if they have a professional sports team playing on their doorstep. they'd rather go off to Limerick instead

CIARAN_BOYLE

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

I thought TG4 was to promote the west of Ireland? it's not as if they have a professional sports team playing on their doorstep. they'd rather go off to Limerick instead

TG4 is to promote the Irish language rather than any patricular province.

Blackheath

Is someone going to keep us informed on how it is going???

its_phil

Blackheath wrote: »

Is someone going to keep us informed on how it is going???

Connacht rugby twitter or galway bay fm

Mal-Adjusted

Blackheath wrote: »

Is someone going to keep us informed on how it is going???

the PRO12 website will have twitter updates from all games as they happen.
http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/index.php
it'll be just to the right of the league table.

snow mad

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

I thought TG4 was to promote the west of Ireland? it's not as if they have a professional sports team playing on their doorstep. they'd rather go off to Limerick instead

Limerick is also in the west of Ireland

Mal-Adjusted

snow mad wrote: »

Limerick is also in the west of Ireland

and they get plenty of love from rte as it is...

Blackheath

Another try for Visser

thomond2006

Visser's try scoring record is beyond ridiculous at this stage.

ray jay

Blackheath wrote: »

Another try for Visser

Christ. On the upside, there's still plenty of time for Connacht to take the lead.

Scores can be tracked here: http://matchdaylive.rabodirectpro12.com/index.php?mobile=0

Mal-Adjusted

EdinburghRugby:
12' - Connacht looking dangerous and capitalise on a 5m lineout which the maul across the try line for the score #ERLive

7 - 7

ray jay

thomond2006 wrote: »

Visser's try scoring record is beyond ridiculous at this stage.

10 tries in the 7 matches he's played in the league so far this season!

ray jay

Parks with a successful penalty, 10-10 now. You can listen here.

CatFromHue

That's Vissers 47th try in the Rabo/Magners!!

CIARAN_BOYLE

CatFromHue wrote: »

That's Vissers 47th try in the Rabo/Magners!!

Bowe is on 48 and is the competitions leading scorer in its history.

There is a race to 50 tires between them

seanin4711

you heard it here first!

ray jay

Vainikolo on for an injured Duffy.

seanin4711

ray jay wrote: »

Vainikolo on for an injured Duffy.

any idea?

ray jay

He walked off so hopefully nothing too serious.

seanin4711

rob murphy on gbfm was so excited i turned up the radio and it was gunners who scored,rob the jinx murphy!
10-17 gunners!
scott with an easy run in!
gunners have not had to work for their scores which worries me bigtime!!!
come on connacht!
Its not like bradley would know much about winning in the sportsground

its_phil

seanin4711 wrote: »

rob murphy on gbfm was so excited i turned up the radio and it was gunnres who scored,rob the jinx murphy!
10-17 gunners!
scott with an easy run in!

how is that a jinx if he scored the try?

seanin4711

its_phil wrote: »

how is that a jinx if he scored the try?

he will reveal himself every once and a while

Blackheath

Parks with a pen

seanin4711

Blackheath wrote: »

Parks with a pen

13-17 gunners

its_phil

24-16 to Edinburgh

Henshaw having a cracker

liam12989

Connacht Rugby
‎69" Danie Poolman goes into the corner for a try. Conversion hits the post and goes over

Connacht 23 Edinburgh 24

seanin4711

liam12989 wrote: »

Connacht Rugby
‎69" Danie Poolman goes into the corner for a try. Conversion hits the post and goes over

Connacht 23 Edinburgh 24

typical connacht!

porterbelly

Disappointing defeat for Connacht tonight 23-24

Should have won it in the end, Parks missed a glorious drop goal opportunity in front of the posts with 2 minutes to go. Just before that we butchered a 3 on 2 with the line at our mercy. No composure. Edinburgh should have been well ahead but missed a couple of easy chances. 2 of their tries were shocking mistakes from us, the first one a Parks kick was blocked and Visser outpaced Faloon in a race for the ball and finished it off. Parks was a bit off touch tonight, place kicking was perfect but he kicked alot of ball needlessly away and allowed Embra counter.

Best for us were Mick Kearney and Browne in the 2nd row, Faloon at 7 and in the backs Henshaw had another great game and Vainikolo when he came looked dangerous every time with ball in hand. McSharry had a good game as well.

Worryingly, Duffy had to go off with what looks like a recurrence of the hamstring injury he had. TOH bar one great run and offload was not good. Needs to pull up his socks. Scrum was middling. Poolman, while he showed some flashes, needs to be more aggressive in contact.

wp_rathead

Right...

Well we gifted them 10 points in the first half, poor pass by Parks led to Poolman spilling it and Visser going up the field to score and then, just after our try, we give a stupid penalty when no one called for the ball from the restart.. So frustrating..

We have to get out of the habit of doing those Garryowens- pointless on a night like tonight, keep possession!!
TOH had a shocking first half but made amends I feel in 2nd half, beautiful pass to send Poolman in the corner and set Fetu'u away at one point aswell when he commited 2 Edinburgh players

Positives though:
Wilkinson had good game in the loose, and Buckley was fantastic when he came on at scrum time
Vainkolo seems to have carried on his Tonga form with him, he was electric when he came on- although he attempted a skip pass when we had a 3 on 2 overlap which was hairpullingly unneccesary
Both our Second Rows were phenomenal tonight
Dan Parks place kicking, although he will rarely have a calmer night in Sportsground weather wise, was pin point accurate- shame about his drop goals though

Very entertaining match (dear broadcasters ye missed out on great game) but frustrating to loose when gave away so many stupid points needlessly. That said Edinburgh did twice knock on just in front of our try line so they wre prob worth the win..

BeardySi

Disappointing game... we picked up their scraps to just about keep up, but Edinburgh were clearly the better side... we were very lucky they didn't get at least two more tries, mainly from our errors...
That said, the ref and touch judges need to swot up on offsides, they missed a few blatant ones under their noses....