Connacht Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Part II

wp_rathead

Zzippy wrote: »

What's An Pucan like for food? Thinking of heading in early to get some grub and a seat with a view of a tv for the England game...

for a good seat you'd wanna be there around 1, gonna aim for 12:45 myself to see if Cardiff v Edinburgh game be shown
Food is surprisingly tasty, the wings are savage in there

Redo91

Any idea how long they will be letting people into the SG after K/O? I'm working til 6 so will be missing the 1st half but I have a season ticket so I might as well catch what I can when I already have it paid for. Would there still be lads at the gate around the start of the 2nd half?

testtech05

wprathead wrote: »

for a good seat you'd wanna be there around 1, gonna aim for 12:45 myself to see if Cardiff v Edinburgh game be shown
Food is surprisingly tasty, the wings are savage in there

Id say it will be busy even before then. Liverpool are playing man city in the premiership on sunday at 12 so Id say a lot of people will plan on heading in for both games!!

The Lost Sheep

Redo91 wrote: »

Any idea how long they will be letting people into the SG after K/O? I'm working til 6 so will be missing the 1st half but I have a season ticket so I might as well catch what I can when I already have it paid for. Would there still be lads at the gate around the start of the 2nd half?

I normally work in the ground as a steward. They'll let you in. There is going to be so few stewards working at this game you will no problem getting in.

b.gud

Ulster doing us a favour they've just got their 3rd try against Scarlets are 12 points up with 20 mins to go and are well on top

Bazzo

Final score at Ravenhill Ulster 25 - 20 Scarlets. Disappointing that they gave away a last minute try to give Scarlets the bonus point but still, I'll take it.

eyeball kid

b.gud wrote: »

Ulster doing us a favour they've just got their 3rd try against Scarlets are 12 points up with 20 mins to go and are well on top

I think they let Scarlets in for a try at the end to give them a lbp. Not ideal but at least they didn't win.

hermano

eyeball kid wrote: »

I think they let Scarlets in for a try at the end to give them a lbp. Not ideal but at least they didn't win.

Very disappointing when you consider they were in ulsters 22 two or three times in the second half

evil_seed

5 points a must on Sunday after that. Cheers Ulster :rolleyes:

its_phil

Just looking at the table, if we pick up 5 points we're only 5 points behind the Ospreys. That would be some fall for them

Borders no.2

evil_seed wrote: »

5 points a must on Sunday after that. Cheers Ulster :rolleyes:

You can't blame Ulster, did us a big favour last week and they have their own concerns. They had the game won and were pushing for 4 tries so game was always going to get a bit disjointed in the last few minutes. Disappointing but we need to go out and look after our side of the bargain on Sunday.

ouncer

connachta wrote: »

100% agree

My gran rang pat about this. She pointed out that if he keeps playing players out of position how does she get any guarantee on her bookie bet. Its hard for people on pensions these days. They want some sense of a sure thing. Pat get it sorted

galwaylad14

I think Scarlets getting a point tonight means we absolutely have to take Treviso for 5 points on Sunday. Given our run ins over the last 5 games we'd want to have a decent bit of a buffer built up before then

ouncer

galwaylad14 wrote: »

I think Scarlets getting a point tonight means we absolutely have to take Treviso for 5 points on Sunday. Given our run ins over the last 5 games we'd want to have a decent bit of a buffer built up before then

Explain strategy. Do think it is a good team selection. That said poolman at centre has been poor to date. And mcsharry has been not great. Come back bundee. At least ronladson may do well. Thank god the carty saga is done

thomond2006

At this stage it would be unacceptable to not get 5 points here. I wouldn't take Treviso's result against Cardiff too seriously.

I only realised last night that all Connacht need to get a 7th place finish to guarantee qualification, right? Then the 8th place goes into the playoff?

S12b

thomond2006 wrote: »

At this stage it would be unacceptable to not get 5 points here. I wouldn't take Treviso's result against Cardiff too seriously.

I only realised last night that all Connacht need to get a 7th place finish to guarantee qualification, right? Then the 8th place goes into the playoff?

Agreed, we're at home to a Treviso side decimated by international call-ups and we have our first choice pack available to us.....if we do the basics well, limit errors and play the game in their half....the floodgates should open as the game goes on. Plus if the weather is decent, it could be a chance for Matt and Niyi to stretch their legs!

I'm never too well informed on these things but has it not always been top 6 automatic with 7th place into the play-off??? Has something changed??

thomond2006

S12b wrote: »

I'm never too well informed on these things but has it not always been top 6 automatic with 7th place into the play-off??? Has something changed??

Dang now that I think about it you're right. It will be top 6 + plus the top Italian team who are automatic qualifiers.

CatFromHue

Just looked on the HEC website and they've updated the qualification page for next season, the winner of the Challenge Cup was never mentioned before.

Clubs qualify for the 2015/16 European Rugby Champions Cup in the following ways :.

• PRO12: The seven highest-ranked clubs based on their finishing positions in the league. The seven qualifiers must include at least one club from each of Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

For the 2014/15 season, the 20th qualifier was determined by a play-off over two legs between the clubs ranked seventh in the Aviva Premiership and the Top 14.

For subsequent seasons, the play-offs for the 20th qualifier will include the following clubs:

The eighth-ranked club from the PRO12, or the winner of the 2014/15 Challenge Cup if from the PRO12 and not already qualified for the Champions Cup.

So with the Italian teams at the bottom it's going to be top 6 plus best Italian team who qualify automatically.

Then the 7th placed team in the league, assuming the Italians stay at the bottom of the league, will go into the play off. Except if a Pro12 team wins the Challenge Cup and finishes lower than 7th.

There are 4 Pro12 teams in the Challenge Cup knock outs (Conn, Edin, Cardiff, and Dragons) so it's not too unrealistic to see a Pro12 winner

molloyjh

S12b wrote: »

Agreed, we're at home to a Treviso side decimated by international call-ups and we have our first choice pack available to us.....if we do the basics well, limit errors and play the game in their half....the floodgates should open as the game goes on. Plus if the weather is decent, it could be a chance for Matt and Niyi to stretch their legs!

I'm never too well informed on these things but has it not always been top 6 automatic with 7th place into the play-off??? Has something changed??

It is the top 7 but then you have to include 1 side from each country. Forgot about that bit when we were talking about it yesterday thomond....

its_phil

It's essentially top 6 qualify and then 7th (provided someone below doesn't win challenge cup) goes into a playoff against English club to eventually meet a Franch club.

d-gal

Treviso will be missing 11 players who are on international duty. We should be looking for nothing less than 5 points

Cosmo Kramer

Brendan Macken has gone on loan to Gloucester on loan - he might have been a player we could have used over the next few weeks with our current issues in the centre.

Padkir

What's the weather like in Galway lads? Nice sprinkling of snow here in South Mayo.

S12b

Padkir wrote: »

What's the weather like in Galway lads? Nice sprinkling of snow here in South Mayo.

Snowy, sleety, rainy morning.....grand day really!!

connemara man

S12b wrote: »

Snowy, sleety, rainy morning.....grand day really!!

No weather for 5 points though

Padkir

S12b wrote: »

Snowy, sleety, rainy morning.....grand day really!!

No risk of game being called off or anything?

its_phil

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Brendan Macken has gone on loan to Gloucester on loan - he might have been a player we could have used over the next few weeks with our current issues in the centre.

Someone tell Neil Francis who thought he was better baller than Henshaw after the Leinster game in Galway...

freyners

its_phil wrote: »

Someone tell Neil Francis who thought he was better baller than Henshaw after the Leinster game in Galway...

Neil Francis and objective reporting on Connacht dont go hand in hand

S12b

Padkir wrote: »

No risk of game being called off or anything?

Not a fear, blue skies here in the city and the snow has melted....provided it doesn't rain, conditions could actually be excellent by 5.

Bridge93

Good looking result for Connacht at the minute in the Arms Park. Cardiff beating Edinburgh 14-0 at halftime