Connacht vs Munster, Sat 16th April 19.15, Sportsground. Sky Sports 5/TG4

jm08

Billysays no wrote: »

Eddie O'Sullivan and analysis used in same sentance. Lovely :-). He is literally a bitter 'little' man who has failed to achieve any goals in his life and has instead turned to be a bitter pundit. God Munster is full of them. The only pundit from Munster I have any respect for is Tony Ward. At least he appreciates decent rugby.

I think EOS is Connacht qualified at this stage. he has been living there for well over 3 years now.

Did you look at his analysis anyway?

PS - Tony Ward is from Dublin. He has played rugby for both Provinces.

Robbo

All this analysis made the Shelbyville pundits rather hungry...

CMOTDibbler

jm08 wrote: »

Eddie O'Sullivan did some analysis on Against the Head which is contrary to your analysis.

Eddie is a funny man sometimes. But that particular bell is one he won't be able to unring.

Cronin shifted his bind to just behind Bealham's shoulder and pulled him down. Clear as day and blatant as hell.

thomond2006

Billysays no wrote: »

The only pundit from Munster I have any respect for is Tony Ward.

Yeah_Right

Watched the game again and in one of the earlier scrums (I think it was the one when the ref gave the warning) Cronin is binding on Bealham's armpit and is pulling down. He definitely deserved to get the yc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td9vJRZrCPQ

Are my eyes deceiving me or did a TH prop score a try and also made an absolutely incredible catch which led to Holland's YC?

Dillane is a beast too.

b.gud

Deleted User wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td9vJRZrCPQ

Are my eyes deceiving me or did a TH prop score a try and also made an absolutely incredible catch which led to Holland's YC?

Dillane is a beast too.

And he (Bealham) offloads to Niyi for Connachts first try

connemara man

[Deleted User] wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td9vJRZrCPQ

Are my eyes deceiving me or did a TH prop score a try and also made an absolutely incredible catch which led to Holland's YC?

Dillane is a beast too.

And a TH that collects loose offloads and pops his own to Niyi for the first try. He had a great game.

connemara man

connemara man wrote: »

And a TH that collects loose offloads and pops his own to Niyi for the first try. He had a great game.

Even if he was utterly anonymous for the entire rest of the game, it's nice to see the 'fat lads' using their hands!

connemara man

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Even if he was utterly anonymous for the entire rest of the game, it's nice to see the 'fat lads' using their hands!

Sure Buckley usually sets up at SH when Marmion gets stuck at the bottom of a rucj not bad for a LH

CMOTDibbler

connemara man wrote: »

And a TH that collects loose offloads and pops his own to Niyi for the first try. He had a great game.

There was some consternation around these parts when Joe called him up during the six nations. Maybe he does know the players better than we think.

b.gud

Deleted User wrote: »

Even if he was utterly anonymous for the entire rest of the game, it's nice to see the 'fat lads' using their hands!

Our "fat lads" love using their hands

Ah I know all about Buckley. He's supposed to be the only one that's allowed do it.

When is Dillane moving to Leinster?

Bazzo

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

There was some consternation around these parts when Joe called him up during the six nations. Maybe he does know the players better than we think.

That's not really true. Everybody was delighted for Bealham, but disappointed that Buckley wasn't also present. Then when Bealham actually played at LH it was a bit of a bizzare situation because he's not even close to overtaking Buckley as first choice LH at Connacht.

Here's a screenshot I took the other day of the moment of engage in the scrum Cronin gets a YC(I don't know HOW this "debate" is still ongoing. With certain posters I really shouldn't be surprised I suppose).



About 20 seconds before this there was a reset and Whitehouse(after previously warning everybody there would be cards with continued shenanigans) pointed directly at Cronin and said "You keep your bind up".

FFS it's so clear cut it's ridiculous.

connemara man

But you cant let facts get in the way of outrage or an argument though

galwaylad14

I was at the match in the Clan Terrace so I couldn't really see the incident Cronin got the yellow for but just watched the highlights there. Now ordinarily I'll admit I have no idea what's going on in the scrum but surely that one was clear as day? He blatantly drags Bealham to the ground. What was Foley and a few on here raving about saying that it should have been a Munster penalty? I think Foley even went as far as to suggest that there was something more sinister involved in relation to Whitehouse carding Cronin for the second time this season.

Looks a very clear scrum penalty to me and given that he had warned the front rows previously I can't see how anyone could complain about that yellow

Very straightforward penalty yes.

CMOTDibbler

Bazzo wrote: »

That's not really true. Everybody was delighted for Bealham, but disappointed that Buckley wasn't also present. Then when Bealham actually played at LH it was a bit of a bizzare situation because he's not even close to overtaking Buckley as first choice LH at Connacht.

I wonder if Buckley's problem is his height and weight?. He seems quite small for a prop, any chance he could convert to hooker? He'd be a fantastic addition to the Ireland squad in the loose especially.

Bazzo wrote: »

About 20 seconds before this there was a reset and Whitehouse(after previously warning everybody there would be cards with continued shenanigans) pointed directly at Cronin and said "You keep your bind up".

FFS it's so clear cut it's ridiculous.

I didn't need to look at it twice it was that obvious. It was brain dead by Cronin and he deserved his YC. But you have to ask what the coaching staff are doing by letting that kind of play get on the pitch. Fine if you can get away with it; that's clever play, but when you're specifically warned not to do it and go ahead anyway, then that's another problem entirely.

Bazzo

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

I wonder if Buckley's problem is his height and weight?. He seems quite small for a prop, any chance he could convert to hooker? He'd be a fantastic addition to the Ireland squad in the loose especially.

I really don't know what the reason he's being excluded is but I've always been told by the heavies I know that shorter LH props are usually better scrummagers because they have a lower centre of gravity and are harder to get under.

He's slotted in at hooker once for Connacht for the last 10 mins of a game a few years ago when there was a spate of injuries and I think he may have played the odd game for Blackrock there but he's not a hooker and it's probably a bit late to go about changing him into one now.

galwaylad14

Also after watching teh highlights, what a contribution by Finlay Bealham.

Won the penalty that led to the yellow for Cronin.
Was in position to take Bundee's offload and give Niyi the scoring pass for the first try
Did extremely well to hold a poor pass in the corner and from the resulting ruck Holland didn't roll away and was yellow carded.
Contributed to the pushover try
Scored a try himself

CMOTDibbler

galwaylad14 wrote: »

Also after watching teh highlights, what a contribution by Finlay Bealham.

Won the penalty that led to the yellow for Cronin.

I'm sorry, but you can't give him credit for that.

CMOTDibbler

Bazzo wrote: »

I really don't know what the reason he's being excluded is but I've always been told by the heavies I know that shorter LH props are usually better scrummagers because they have a lower centre of gravity and are harder to get under.

On the other hand, I believe that the props need to be as close in height as possible in order to scrummage squarely. It was always said about John Hayes, that he was too tall for a prop and he had to bend himself horrendously in order to remain square. We always had a weak enough scrum because of it.

Bazzo wrote: »

He's slotted in at hooker once for Connacht for the last 10 mins of a game a few years ago when there was a spate of injuries and I think he may have played the odd game for Blackrock there but he's not a hooker and it's probably a bit late to go about changing him into one now.

It probably wouldn't suit Connacht anyway and Ireland have enough hookers at the moment. Just if it's his height that's holding him back (I can see nothing else tbh) then it might be worth trying.

Yeah_Right

Bazzo wrote: »

I really don't know what the reason he's being excluded is but I've always been told by the heavies I know that shorter LH props are usually better scrummagers because they have a lower centre of gravity and are harder to get under.

He's slotted in at hooker once for Connacht for the last 10 mins of a game a few years ago when there was a spate of injuries and I think he may have played the odd game for Blackrock there but he's not a hooker and it's probably a bit late to go about changing him into one now.

Interesting. I always found shorter props easier to scrum against. Also they can't lift as high in the lineout. The Connacht scrum must be quite strange with Bealham at 1m90, McCartney at 1m85 and Buckley at 1m70. Normally the hooker is the shortest.

CMOTDibbler

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Interesting. I always found shorter props easier to scrum against. Also they can't lift as high in the lineout. The Connacht scrum must be quite strange with Bealham at 1m90, McCartney at 1m85 and Buckley at 1m70. Normally the hooker is the shortest.

You can actually see it in the pic above. Bealham is quite a bit ahead of Buckley; Cronin is getting mashed as a result (I suspect that's why he pulled Bealham down) and is being driven inwards.

Bazzo

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Interesting. I always found shorter props easier to scrum against. Also they can't lift as high in the lineout. The Connacht scrum must be quite strange with Bealham at 1m90, McCartney at 1m85 and Buckley at 1m70. Normally the hooker is the shortest.

If it's strange and it works The scrum has been one of Connacht's strengths for the last 2 seasons. Very few teams have got the upper hand on them there.

margueriteob wrote: »

.

Fair point, well made.

CMOTDibbler

Bazzo wrote: »

If it's strange and it works The scrum has been one of Connacht's strengths for the last 2 seasons. Very few teams have got the upper hand on them there.

Finlay Bealham is the new John Hayes. You heard it here first

CMOTDibbler

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Finlay Bealham is the new John Hayes. You heard it here first

Hayes was certainly not known for his scrummaging ability!

thomond2006

Deleted User wrote: »

Hayes was certainly not known for his scrummaging ability!

John Hayes is the greatest scrummager of all time. He was just consistently mis-understood by incompetent referees.

CMOTDibbler

Deleted User wrote: »

Hayes was certainly not known for his scrummaging ability!

The comparison was made in relation to their heights. Nothing more, I promise .

I'd like to see Bealham doing a John Hayes lift in the lineout though