Connacht Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Part II

wp_rathead

typhoony wrote: »

It appeared to me that Muldowney took a more active role as the season went by last year, think we have enough leaders now in the team that captain is not as important as it used to be. Jake would be my second choice as he seems a smart lad and knows whats happening in the game

Not so much about leadership (where you're right we are rather spoilt) and More so about communicating with the Ref
Unfortunately Muldoon seems to rub refs up wrong way

CatFromHue

Conn during the RWC will be something like:

FR: Ah You, McCartney, Buckley
SR: Muldowny, Roux
BR: Heenan, Muldoon, McKeon
SH: Marmion, Cooney
OH: Carty, Ronaldson
Centre: Aki, and McSharry ??
Wing: Healy, Poolman, and Niyi
FB: TOH and Leader

Near first choice

freyners

CatFromHue wrote: »

Conn during the RWC will be something like:

FR: Ah You, McCartney, Buckley
SR: Muldowny, Roux
BR: Heenan, Muldoon, McKeon
SH: Marmion, Cooney
OH: Carty, Ronaldson
Centre: Aki, and McSharry ??
Wing: Healy, Poolman, and Niyi
FB: TOH and Leader

Near first choice

White maybe over ah you and Fox or masterson may break into the back row depending on Heenans fitness but pretty close there

ouncer

CatFromHue wrote: »

Conn during the RWC will be something like:

FR: Ah You, McCartney, Buckley
SR: Muldowny, Roux
BR: Heenan, Muldoon, McKeon
SH: Marmion, Cooney
OH: Carty, Ronaldson
Centre: Aki, and McSharry ??
Wing: Healy, Poolman, and Niyi
FB: TOH and Leader

Near first choice

Folks missing are Browne, Marshall, blade, jhw,

ouncer

CatFromHue wrote: »

Conn during the RWC will be something like:

FR: Ah You, McCartney, Buckley
SR: Muldowny, Roux
BR: Heenan, Muldoon, McKeon
SH: Marmion, Cooney
OH: Carty, Ronaldson
Centre: Aki, and McSharry ??
Wing: Healy, Poolman, and Niyi
FB: TOH and Leader

Near first choice

Folks missing are Browne, Marshall, blade, jhw, dillane, finn, George, Shane O'Leary, porter, conor mckeon and apologies to those i missed. Its just the players that struck we straight away. Of course Masterson is also an obvious. All of these guys, when given their chance have played extremely well (Marshall had an impressive emerging Ireland outing).

ouncer

CatFromHue wrote: »

Conn during the RWC will be something like:

FR: Ah You, McCartney, Buckley
SR: Muldowny, Roux
BR: Heenan, Muldoon, McKeon
SH: Marmion, Cooney
OH: Carty, Ronaldson
Centre: Aki, and McSharry ??
Wing: Healy, Poolman, and Niyi
FB: TOH and Leader

Near first choice

Folks missing are Browne, Marshall, blade, jhw, dillane, finn, George, Shane O'Leary, porter, conor mckeon and apologies to those i missed. Its just the players that struck we straight away. Of course Masterson and white are also an obvious. All of these guys, when given their chance have played extremely well (Marshall had an impressive emerging Ireland outing).

wp_rathead

James Connollyd deserves a mention, looked smashing player in his cameo against Gloucester

gally74

for me Tom McCartney should be captain next year!

ouncer

gally74 wrote: »

for me Tom McCartney should be captain next year!

Suspect that next season may be john's last before retirement. So while we all may have our likes or dislikes I do expect john to be captain next year.

kingofthekong

How long till SOB 2.0 is back , he's been out for ages

The Lost Sheep

kingofthekong wrote: »

How long till SOB 2.0 is back, he's been out for ages

Would imagine he'll be back for new season. Think he said something like that at end of college year...
Where do you think he may be played when getting up to Pro12 level?

Robbo

Pre-season starts today. Fox arrived last week and was into the Sportsground for a wander the next day.

ArmchairQB

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Would imagine he'll be back for new season. Think he said something like that at end of college year...
Where do you think he may be played when getting up to Pro12 level?

Would say his future is in the backrow probably at 6

wp_rathead

https://twitter.com/connachtrugby/status/616284001540681729?s=09

Darragh Leader finding his inner Mark McHugh

freyners

Jaysus Leader

connemara man

Ireland training camp on July 14 tickets available free for season ticket holders till about 3. I've picked mine up hoping I can get the day of work now lol

Looks like Mils has been charged. On mobile so can't link but was on BBC site.

total former

Deleted User wrote: »

Looks like Mils has been charged. On mobile so can't link but was on BBC site.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jul/03/mils-muliaina-charged-with-sexual-assault

Buer

Muliaina is now sitting proudly alongside the likes of CJ Van der Linde and Sam Tuitupou as big name signings that were complete let downs.

total former

Van der Linde at least had the excuse of a chronic injury problem, Muliaina has just been a disaster on every front. It was a big gamble and it backfired horribly.

b.gud

total former wrote: »

Van der Linde at least had the excuse of a chronic injury problem, Muliaina has just been a disaster on every front. It was a big gamble and it backfired horribly.

I don't know if it's fair to class him as a disaster on all fronts. He was great for marketing the Connacht brand and generating some excitement in a year when we didn't have Heineken cup rugby. While there is no way to prove this I personally feel that he had a huge positive affect on the players particularly in the early part of the season.

On the field, bar one or 2 games, he was a disaster, and spent more time injured than playing. Overall I think it was a bad signing but I do think there were some positives gained from the young lads in the team spending time with and learning from a 100 capped all black

Buer

There are some positives but I get the impression they're pretty much solely related to the buzz around his signing and increased merchandise and ticket sales that generated.

Obviously, he went badly on the pitch and I have no insight into how things went behind the scenes. With that said, I think one of the regular Connacht fans on here posted that they understood that his input and interest off the field was minimal.

I don't think I've any doubt that someone like Henshaw would be much more inspirational to the other young lads in the squad. A bloke who came from their own back yard and is mixing it with the very best and more than holding his own.

I genuinely feel a little sorry for Zebre. I can't see him being anything other than an expensive mistake.

total former

Buer wrote: »

I genuinely feel a little sorry for Zebre. I can't see him being anything other than an expensive mistake.

I would be surprised if he ends up going there at all tbh.

Swiwi.

total former wrote: »

I would be surprised if he ends up going there at all tbh.

Surely if these allegations proved he goes to jail, no? Which is probably what your saying.

b.gud

Buer wrote: »

Obviously, he went badly on the pitch and I have no insight into how things went behind the scenes. With that said, I think one of the regular Connacht fans on here posted that they understood that his input and interest off the field was minimal

Don't recall that post but it certainly could be true, I have no inside knowledge or contact with anyone who would. My post was very much a personal opinion of my view on things

Buer wrote: »

I don't think I've any doubt that someone like Henshaw would be much more inspirational to the other young lads in the squad. A bloke who came from their own back yard and is mixing it with the very best and more than holding his own.

Henshaw is huge for underage kids and the guys in academy to show them that someone can come through Connacht and play at the highest level. When I talked about young team members I was talking about the younger senior players. There were a good few games where the average age of our back line was like 23 or 24. Having someone with the experience and knowledge of Mils to give you advice on a game or training would have been huge for them, Henshaw included. I have no doubt that in a few years to come Henshaw would have the same influence on players around him

Buer wrote: »

I genuinely feel a little sorry for Zebre. I can't see him being anything other than an expensive mistake.

Ya he's really not what they need, unless they're hoping to generate some publicity, and given the current situation it might not be good publicity

b.gud

A summary of week one of pre season training http://www.connachtrugby.ie/week-one-of-pre-season/#ConnachtNews

RobbieRuns

He should be innocent until proven guilty though.......... he is saying that he is going to fight the charge.

People are getting way ahead of themselves here. Mils has had his injury problems and has not played as much as he would have liked and was not the worlds greatest signing from a rugby perspective but with regards to this charge, lets wait until the facts come out before condemning the man.

Swiwi.

RobbieRuns wrote: »

He should be innocent until proven guilty though.......... he is saying that he is going to fight the charge.

People are getting way ahead of themselves here. Mils has had his injury problems and has not played as much as he would have liked and was not the worlds greatest signing from a rugby perspective but with regards to this charge, lets wait until the facts come out before condemning the man.

Where there's smoke there's fire. Don't think anyone has condemned him guilty yet before the usual judicial process, but after a lengthy enough consideration the police obviously consider they have enough to go on to prompt a formal charge.

In terms of his playing, he was a shadow of his former self for the Chiefs in the year prior to coming to the Wesht of Ireland, in fact his career was already sliding in 2011 when Israel Dagg overtook him as NZ's first choice FB. So it shouldn't have been a surprise.

Bazzo

RobbieRuns wrote: »

He should be innocent until proven guilty though.......... he is saying that he is going to fight the charge.

People are getting way ahead of themselves here. Mils has had his injury problems and has not played as much as he would have liked and was not the worlds greatest signing from a rugby perspective but with regards to this charge, lets wait until the facts come out before condemning the man.

I don't think anyone was even linking this incident with his time at Connacht being disappointing though? At least I didn't get that impression. A lot of money was spent to get him here for a year to have a couple of half decent performances, miss a lot of games through injury and the remaining games he played he was sub-par to be kind.

As for his influence with players off the pitch, who knows? I have an inkling that he did mingle well and might have helped a few of the young lads out but only the team can know for sure.

Zzippy

Mod: Lads, it's a general rule on boards that court cases cannot be discussed until concluded. Now that he is charged (yes, I know it's in another jurisdiction) let's leave any discussion of the case aside please.


Has there been any news of pre-season friendlies?