Connacht Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Part II

b.gud

flouncer wrote: »

If I were to pick a team there are certain things that are important. First up u need to have a beard or struggling with a hairline. You need to be 5 foot zero or enormous. Anywhere in between I'm simply not having it. Just my opinion and its why pat would be in my first 15 every time :-). Note this is just an opinion

Posts like this are why I'm glad you decided to come back (fl)ouncer

wp_rathead

wp_rathead wrote: »

Same
Worst thing is today was last day I'm at home where my ticket will be posted to. I'm away with work next two days and won't have time to get home and get ticket and then make the match, Was hoping I'd have the ticket by now..
Rather frustrating

I contacted Tickets.ie and they sent me an E-ticket which is really handy
Really excited for this game

wp_rathead

15 – 9: D Leader, F Carr, A Pewhairangi, B Aki, D Poolman, J Carty, I Porter

1 – 8: JP Cooney, T McCartney, R Ah You, U Dillane, D Qualter, J Muldoon (c), J Connolly, E. McKeon

Replacements:

Forwards (8): F Bealham, N White, J Dever, J Walshe, S Delahunt, B Marshall, S O’Brien, G Naoupu

Backs (6): C Blade, S O’Leary, C McKeon, D McSharry, R Parata, N Adeolokun

b.gud

wp_rathead wrote: »

15 – 9: D Leader, F Carr, A Pewhairangi, B Aki, D Poolman, J Carty, I Porter

1 – 8: JP Cooney, T McCartney, R Ah You, U Dillane, D Qualter, J Muldoon (c), J Connolly, E. McKeon

Replacements:

Forwards (8): F Bealham, N White, J Dever, J Walshe, S Delahunt, B Marshall, S O’Brien, G Naoupu

Backs (6): C Blade, S O’Leary, C McKeon, D McSharry, R Parata, N Adeolokun

Fairly happy with that looks like a good mix, would have liked to see Jake or Nepia get a game but happy to see Connolly get a shot

connachta

wp_rathead wrote: »

15 – 9: D Leader, F Carr, A Pewhairangi, B Aki, D Poolman, J Carty, I Porter

1 – 8: JP Cooney, T McCartney, R Ah You, U Dillane, D Qualter, J Muldoon (c), J Connolly, E. McKeon

Replacements:

Forwards (8): F Bealham, N White, J Dever, J Walshe, S Delahunt, B Marshall, S O’Brien, G Naoupu

Backs (6): C Blade, S O’Leary, C McKeon, D McSharry, R Parata, N Adeolokun

Half of our 1st team to start, yeah good mix

RobbieRuns

Great to see S O'Brien on any list..........

flouncer

Interesting centre partnership. Like seeing poolman at 11. Seems to be jacks favourite side so expect to see more of him than at 14. 2nd row wouldn't be my starting pair but it will be interesting to see what depth we have there. Glad to see fionn get a start. He really has had precious few opportunities to strut his stuff in the last while

oneofakind32

Any word on Ronaldson? Is he being rested or is he still out injured?

flouncer

b.gud wrote: »

Posts like this are why I'm glad you decided to come back (fl)ouncer

I'm just concerned what Connacht is trying to portray. Is it the rugged muldowney or Muldoon. Or is it the henshaw, toh young look. My opinion is that I'd be more scared meeting muldowney in a dark alley than toh. On a field I suspect opposing team would feel likewise. So we need to work harder on signing bearded or folically challenged players. Just a thought pat.

The Lost Sheep

oneofakind32 wrote: »

Any word on Ronaldson? Is he being rested or is he still out injured?

Wouldn't exactly say anyone is being rested if not involved tomorrow. Isnt injured as has been training.

connachta wrote: »

Leader and TOH need gametime too.. would like Peter Robb to have a go, could be worthwhile when Henshaw is absent

Robb could have college exams and mightn't be involved because of them. could be involved when they finish, so in time for Munster next week

connachta

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Wouldn't exactly say anyone is being rested if not involved tomorrow. Isnt injured as has been training.

Robb could have college exams and mightn't be involved because of them. could be involved when they finish, so in time for Munster next week

Yeah it's a problem that rugby players become intelligent:D

flouncer

connachta wrote: »

Yeah it's a problem that rugby players become intelligent:D

Scary more important. Muldowney for captain. Hard to say if he is scary but facial hair covering weaknesses.

flouncer

So all stuff aside I list my Connacht team. Note this takes into account loss of henshaw and marmion
1 Buckley
2 jhw
3 white
4 Marshall
5 muldowney (c)
6 Masterson
7 Heenan
8 McKeon
9 cooney
10 ronaldson
11 Healy
12 mcsharry
13 aki
14 poolman
15 toh

Strange thing is that it gets hard to call the bench. But this is my effort

16 loughney
17 mccartney
18 ah you
19 roux/sob (like sob but has been out of game for long time)
20 muldoon
21 porter
22 carty
23 leader

BrokenMan

I think Jack deserves to hold onto the 10 shirt for the start of the season. He came good right at the end last season with his game management and his kicking for goal was steadily improving.
Hard to leave Roux out of the starting team as well. He was very solid last season.
It's a hard call at hooker as well. An in form Tom is exceptional but he was tired at the end of last season. JHW has never let the team down though.
Apart from that I'd pretty much agree with you.

flouncer

I take your point. I know I tend to be a scratched record but as I witness games its on the backfoot with jack and on the front foot with craig. Yes jack learnt to kick position. I accept that. Yes jack kicks better at goal. I accept that. I just watch a gain line losing gain with jack. Every other aspect of his game has improved. He simply isn't big enough. He is an easy target

connachta

flouncer wrote: »

So all stuff aside I list my Connacht team. Note this takes into account loss of henshaw and marmion
1 Buckley
2 jhw
3 white
4 Marshall
5 muldowney (c)
6 Masterson
7 Heenan
8 McKeon
9 cooney
10 ronaldson
11 Healy
12 mcsharry
13 aki
14 poolman
15 toh

I've said

1) Buck
2) McCartney
3) AhYou
4) Roux
5) Muldowney
6) Masterson
7) Heenan
8 ) McKeon
9) Marmion (Cooney)
10) Carty
11) Healy
12) Aki
13) Henshaw
14) Poolman
15) Leader

And Ronaldson/Aki pairing when Henshaw isn't available.

So we 90% agree. Don't worry Ouncer, it just means we haven't enough squad depth yet to disagree:P

cosalofa

Does anyone know the cost of a ticket for today's match?

Incidentally, I was on the same flight as the whole Grenoble squad yesterday (I was afraid that the plane might not be able to take off!). From listening to them talk, it seemed to me that 1) they haven't touched a ball yet this season and 2) some of the players had the away french team mindset and were not expecting to win. Then again, this game is probably just about fitness for them.

freyners

Pretty sure it's 22 adult 15 concession

connachta

Le XV de départ : Fabien Barcella, Laurent Bouchet, Walter Desmaison - Ben Hand, James Percival - Jonathan Best, Mahamadou Diaby, Fabien Alexandre - James Hart, Clément Gelin - Xavier Mignot, Chris Farrell, Fabrice Estebanez, Amrand Batlle - Robinson Caire



Les remplaçants : Denis Coulson, Anthony Hegarty, Dayna Edwards, Mathias Marie, Peter Kimlin, Rory Grice, Christophe Loustalot, Charl McLeod, Jonathan Wisniewski, Nigel Hunt, Jackson Willison, Daniel Kilioni, Gio Aplon

RobbieRuns

flouncer wrote: »

I take your point. I know I tend to be a scratched record but as I witness games its on the backfoot with jack and on the front foot with craig. Yes jack learnt to kick position. I accept that. Yes jack kicks better at goal. I accept that. I just watch a gain line losing gain with jack. Every other aspect of his game has improved. He simply isn't big enough. He is an easy target

Same thing worries me about Conor McKeon. Happy to see him get a run out, but he is very very light and on the small side. Good hands, but even smaller than Jack.

connachta

What is the most worrying this year is our capacity to hold the ball in attack. That was already a weakness, and the backline without Henshaw isn't able on the paper to clean the rucks with a 95% effectivness.

Aki didn't engaged to this last season
Carty, TOH Niyi and Healy are too light
Api comes from League, doesn't know what ruck means
For me, there are just Poolman and Leader who'll have to involve themselves closer to the ball carrier, waiting for the forwards to come

Thoughts?

its_phil

connachta wrote: »

What is the most worrying this year is our capacity to hold the ball in attack. That was already a weakness, and the backline without Henshaw isn't able on the paper to clean the rucks with a 95% effectivness.

Aki didn't engaged to this last season
Carty, TOH Niyi and Healy are too light
Api comes from League, doesn't know what ruck means
For me, there are just Poolman and Leader who'll have to involve themselves closer to the ball carrier, waiting for the forwards to come

Thoughts?

Really need to re-write that as it doesn't make much sense. Are you talking about quick ruck ball or clearing out of rucks? Because it certainly wasn't a problem last season or before. It's actually one of the strongest aspects of our play, highlighted by nomination for collision kings award previous season, and choosing a back on basis of his rucking ability is like choosing a prop for his play-making abilities. Great, but not the only reason.

connachta

its_phil wrote: »

Really need to re-write that as it doesn't make much sense. Are you talking about quick ruck ball or clearing out of rucks? Because it certainly wasn't a problem last season or before. It's actually one of the strongest aspects of our play, highlighted by nomination for collision kings award previous season, and choosing a back on basis of his rucking ability is like choosing a prop for his play-making abilities. Great, but not the only reason.

Clearing out when the ruck is contested (not quick balls) was a problem, lots a turnovers conceded, could be worse without Henshaw

MarinersBlues

R.E. Grenoble friendly.

Pros: Nice play from Carty - creating two tries one of them a nice solo score.
Cons: BIG gaps in defence particularly when their 13 ran through Carty and Aki.
Indifferent: Second half, it can't be used to judge anything. Niceto see SOB back in action.

Aside: Anyone who payed €20 to watch that must be fuming. The subs and random jerseys without anouncement were frustrating, even the twitter account was no help
quote:
Back for the second half at the sunny Sportsground. Pretty much a new team on the pitch so we won't call them all out

They should not have charged anywhere near pro12 price for that.

MarinersBlues

R.E. Grenoble friendly.

Pros: Nice play from Carty - creating two tries one of them a nice solo score.
Cons: BIG gaps in defence particularly when their 13 ran through Carty and Aki.
Indifferent: Second half, it can't be used to judge anything. Niceto see SOB back in action.

Aside: Anyone who payed €20 to watch that must be fuming. The subs and random jerseys without anouncement were frustrating, even the twitter account was no help

connacht twitter account wrote:

Back for the second half at the sunny Sportsground. Pretty much a new team on the pitch so we won't call them all out

They should not have charged anywhere near pro12 price for that.

MarinersBlues

R.E. Grenoble friendly.

Pros: Nice play from Carty - creating two tries one of them a nice solo score.
Cons: BIG gaps in defense particularly when their 13 ran through Carty (possibly McKeown?) and Aki.
Indifferent: Second half, it can't be used to judge anything. Nice to see SOB back in action.

Aside: Anyone who payed €20 to watch that must be fuming. The subs and random jerseys without announcement were frustrating, even the twitter account was no help

Connacht twitter account wrote:

Back for the second half at the sunny Sportsground. Pretty much a new team on the pitch so we won't call them all out

They should not have charged anywhere near pro12 price for that.

seanin4711

again this will be lams mantra only to fall short

The Lost Sheep

MarinersBlues wrote: »

R.E. Grenoble friendly.

Pros: Nice play from Carty - creating two tries one of them a nice solo score.
Cons: BIG gaps in defence particularly when their 13 ran through Carty and Aki.
Indifferent: Second half, it can't be used to judge anything. Niceto see SOB back in action.

Aside: Anyone who payed €20 to watch that must be fuming. The subs and random jerseys without anouncement were frustrating, even the twitter account was no help
quote:
Back for the second half at the sunny Sportsground. Pretty much a new team on the pitch so we won't call them all out

They should not have charged anywhere near pro12 price for that.

The opposition were much more advanced in their pre season and start top 14 two weeks before we start pro12...
It was annoying about announcements but what you going to do...

Very few at the game. How much would you have charged in? A lot there were kids who had tickets from going to the summer camps so tickets mainly bought by parents who were dragged along.

flouncer

seanin4711 wrote: »

again this will be lams mantra only to fall short

Now that's just a bit over the top. And I thought I was bad :-). Lack of emerging Ireland players, lack of henshaw and marmion to international duty, lack of many other first team players. I wouldn't pass much remarks on the result. As a team selection goes I would expect that even with an extensive iinjury list we would be able to field a stronger team. I do agree that folks should not be charged full whack to watch experimental stuff.

MarinersBlues

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

How much would you have charged in?

Based on €15 for Galway Utd v Derry on the same night (Competitive and attractive soccer) and that I paid €15 iirc for a Clare football/hurling Championship double header in Ennis and you can get into Croke Park for €25 for TWO quarter finals tomorrow and an evenings racing last week was €25 I would have put it at €10 at the VERY most