Connacht vs Toulouse 15/10/2016 Sky Sports 4 from 17.30

flogthebog

After a very slow start to the season Connacht have managed two back to back bonus point wins against Edinburgh and Ulster. Last weekend probably was the most pleasing performance of the new PRO12 season with fantastic performances from Blade, Heffernan and Kelleher. If Marmion, McCartney and Healy had been fit it was unlikely that any of these players would have started and says a lot about the depth and ability of the Connacht squad we have this year.

So where are Toulouse in the scale of things? Their last four results are as follows
Clermont vs Toulouse 29:25
Toulouse vs Grenoble 31:3
Toulouse vs Stade Francais 23:18
Lyon vs Toulouse 25:20

Indeed Toulouse have not won a game away from home so far this year. Lets hope this form continues. That said they did run Clermont close last weekend and cut Grenoble to ribbons the week before so their form is on an up.

Promises to be an exciting game.

Edit: Correction Healy did start and Kelleher replaced him early on in the game after matt damaged his hand

Bridge93

Who would've thought we'd see the day where a defeat against Toulouse would be a poor result for Connacht? I'll go with Connacht by 7

Zzippy

I remember our first home game in the Heineken Cup, against Toulouse, November 2011. The atmosphere was unreal... buildup all afternoon in town... pints watching Munster in the pub first... telling some lanky fecker to move out of the way, then realising it was Trevor Brennan (oops, sorry Trev, please don't kill me!)

Being pitchside before the game, a crisp evening, dry turf, Thierry Dusautoir, world player of the year, just back from the World Cup, warming up just feet away - in Galway! Yeah we never expected to win, but just to have the aristocrats of European rugby in our home ground, taking us seriously, and then, yeah ok we were losing well, but scoring a penalty try against a scrum full of internationals! Never been so happy after a defeat. Still get goosebumps thinking about it...

Now look at us. Pro12 champions, here on our own merit. 6,000-plus crowds now the norm when we used to have a few hundred. Our team now sprinkled with international caps, a brilliant coach, and this time, we might, just might, have a little bit more confidence taking on Toulouse. Thierry, we're not over-awed anymore!

Hon Connacht! The West's Awake!

b.gud

https://twitter.com/gavinmortimer7/status/786831311885533184

Damn right!

evil_seed

It's 17:35 now

Zzippy

evil_seed wrote: »

It's 17:35 now

It's 10.39 by my watch! :P

b.gud

Toulouse team announced
https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/786870172766339072

thomond2006

It's definitely not a lineup that strikes fear like the Toulouse of 5+ years ago.

wp_rathead

Big pack though
Pretty clear they here to try Bully us upfront

flogthebog

Toulouse 8/15 favourites. Connacht 17/10. Think I'll be taking a bit of that.

connemara man

Our possession game and keeping the ball moving should be good against them and create some gaps

flogthebog

Connacht team to face Toulouse, Sat 15th October, kick off 17:35, the Sportsground

15           Tiernan O’Halloran (106)
14           Niyi Adeolokun (37)
13           Bundee Aki (46)
12           Craig Ronaldson (52)
11           Cian Kelleher (4)
10           Jack Carty (59)
9             Caolin Blade (25)
1              Finlay Bealham (62)
2              Dave Heffernan (62)
3              Conor Carey (2)
4              Quinn Roux (35)
5              Andrew Browne (145)
6              Eoin McKeon (90)
7              Jake Heenan (37)
8              John Muldoon (captain) (280)
Replacements:
16           Shane Delahunt (18)
17           Ronan Loughney (188)
18           JP Cooney (32)
19           Ultan Dillane (32)
20           Sean O’Brien (20)
21           Kieran Marmion (106)
22           Shane O’Leary (19)
23           Stacey Ili (1)
Injured/Unavailable: Tom McCartney, Denis Buckley, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Ivan Soroka, Conan O’Donnell, Ben Marshall, Nepia Fox-Matamua, Eoghan Masterson, Rory Moloney, John Cooney, Marnitz Boshoff, Peter Robb, Matt Healy, Josh Rowland, Darragh Leader, Ciaran Gaffney, Cormac Brennan.

thomond2006

Is NFM out long term?

connachta

no, back in november in theory

BrokenMan

Dillane on the bench?

flogthebog

BrokenMan wrote: »

Dillane on the bench?

As I see it the right choice for the game in hand. Roux adds more to the scrum which will be important tomorrow.

Just thinking last year Connacht were in Krasnoyarsk. What an adventure that turned into a travel nightmare

BrokenMan

Yeah looking at it that way it makes sense. It's a big Toulouse pack and hopefully Roux will add a bit of grunt. Hopefully we keep ball and move them around a lot and tire them. Dillane could punch big holes through them when he comes in.

FACECUTTR

BrokenMan wrote: »

Yeah looking at it that way it makes sense. It's a big Toulouse pack and hopefully Roux will add a bit of grunt. Hopefully we keep ball and move them around a lot and tire them. Dillane could punch big holes through them when he comes in.

Apparently Roux is a beast for the scrum and with Carey only playing his 3rd game having Roux behind him will help.
Dillane, Marmion and IlI will add pace to hopefully a tiring Toulouse team.

connachta

Let s be cristal clear
Toulouse have 6 forwards on the bench, they have won 6 penalties + 2 turnovers AWAY against CLERMONT at scrumtime!
Connacht have suffered against Ulster (3 pens, 2 free-kicks), I ve watched it closely. Bealham has only played those 2 games at LH since his short appearances with Ireland. Buckley was the man in the scrum/rucks. Carey also only played those 2 games but it s worse, these are his 1st caps in top competition.
On the other side Toulouse starting backs aren t impressive. At all. David/Huget are ageing, Fickou, who was so harmful in the sportsground 3 years ago, isn t in the main 15. McAlister won t travel.

So It s all about the Leinster Pro 12 Final strategy. Ball exit as soon as possible and spread it wise from the scrums.
The real deciding factors is rain or not. More then 12 scrums in the game would mean IMO at least 4 pens and one yellow card against us. Toulouse would make us pay (look how quick we can concede tries from pen+lineouts, maul or not, against Ulster, Glasgow)
If it s dry or at least not too wet, the exit strategy from our 22 will work, I m convinced we can even Toulouse in back-row, and make their defensive line be exhausted quick enough. Niyi and Cian have superior speed to conclude the moves.

So any player much focus on the team weakness (tackles) and strength (passes) ; And IMO our key guys will be Roux (ruck protection), Browne (Muldowney s pivotal role), Heenan (turnovers), Ronaldson (defence and coping with pressure in attack), TOH (high balls).

flogthebog

connachta wrote: »

Let s be cristal clear
Toulouse have 6 forwards on the bench, they have won 6 penalties + 2 turnovers AWAY against CLERMONT at scrumtime!
Connacht have suffered against Ulster (3 pens, 2 free-kicks), I ve watched it closely. Bealham has only played those 2 games at LH since his short appearances with Ireland. Buckley was the man in the scrum/rucks. Carey also only played those 2 games but it s worse, these are his 1st caps in top competition.
On the other side Toulouse starting backs aren t impressive. At all. David/Huget are ageing, Fickou, who was so harmful in the sportsground 3 years ago, isn t in the main 15. McAlister won t travel.

So It s all about the Leinster Pro 12 Final strategy. Ball exit as soon as possible and spread it wise from the scrums.
The real deciding factors is rain or not. More then 12 scrums in the game would mean IMO at least 4 pens and one yellow card against us. Toulouse would make us pay (look how quick we can concede tries from pen+lineouts, maul or not, against Ulster, Glasgow)
If it s dry or at least not too wet, the exit strategy from our 22 will work, I m convinced we can even Toulouse in back-row, and make their defensive line be exhausted quick enough. Niyi and Cian have superior speed to conclude the moves.

So any player much focus on the team weakness (tackles) and strength (passes) ; And IMO our key guys will be Roux (ruck protection), Browne (Muldowney s pivotal role), Heenan (turnovers), Ronaldson (defence and coping with pressure in attack), TOH (high balls).

I'm not really happy with this viewpoint. I've already hit the bookie, got my 13/8 price, walked out happy and you hit me with this analysis. Couldn't you have done it a bit earlier in the day. There I was betting on a dead cert at a great price. Connachta I am most unhappy with you :-)

connachta

flogthebog wrote: »

connachta wrote: »

Let s be cristal clear
Toulouse have 6 forwards on the bench, they have won 6 penalties + 2 turnovers AWAY against CLERMONT at scrumtime!
Connacht have suffered against Ulster (3 pens, 2 free-kicks), I ve watched it closely. Bealham has only played those 2 games at LH since his short appearances with Ireland. Buckley was the man in the scrum/rucks. Carey also only played those 2 games but it s worse, these are his 1st caps in top competition.
On the other side Toulouse starting backs aren t impressive. At all. David/Huget are ageing, Fickou, who was so harmful in the sportsground 3 years ago, isn t in the main 15. McAlister won t travel.

So It s all about the Leinster Pro 12 Final strategy. Ball exit as soon as possible and spread it wise from the scrums.
The real deciding factors is rain or not. More then 12 scrums in the game would mean IMO at least 4 pens and one yellow card against us. Toulouse would make us pay (look how quick we can concede tries from pen+lineouts, maul or not, against Ulster, Glasgow)
If it s dry or at least not too wet, the exit strategy from our 22 will work, I m convinced we can even Toulouse in back-row, and make their defensive line be exhausted quick enough. Niyi and Cian have superior speed to conclude the moves.

So any player much focus on the team weakness (tackles) and strength (passes) ; And IMO our key guys will be Roux (ruck protection), Browne (Muldowney s pivotal role), Heenan (turnovers), Ronaldson (defence and coping with pressure in attack), TOH (high balls).

I'm not really happy with this viewpoint. I've already hit the bookie, got my 13/8 price, walked out happy and you hit me with this analysis. Couldn't you have done it a bit earlier in the day. There I was betting on a dead cert at a great price. Connachta I am most unhappy with you :-)

You should be happy, sun announced for the afternoon, so my analysis is pretty positive

irishbucsfan

Connacht, the Pro 12 Champions, are playing Toulouse in the Champions Cup and the good news for their fans is that the weather in Galway is scheduled to be good. Is this real life?

connachta

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Connacht, the Pro 12 Champions, are playing Toulouse in the Champions Cup and the good news for their fans is that the weather in Galway is scheduled to be good. Is this real life?

times are changing, right

flogthebog

have to admit my betting stance has been impeccable. until doubts raised by connachta. even against ulster I bet for toh and payne to score a try. and I won on this one also. if we lose against Toulouse I will blame connachta badly

connachta

Toulouse 2nd row (4,5, and 19) = 397 kg!:blink:

Why not directly bring a good hummer in the Sportsground?

connachta

flogthebog wrote: »

have to admit my betting stance has been impeccable. until doubts raised by connachta. even against ulster I bet for toh and payne to score a try. and I won on this one also. if we lose against Toulouse I will blame connachta badly

FFS I had a balanced stance, and it's still wrong for you:devil:

connachta

flogthebog wrote: »

BrokenMan wrote: »

Dillane on the bench?

As I see it the right choice for the game in hand. Roux adds more to the scrum which will be important tomorrow.

Just thinking last year Connacht were in Krasnoyarsk. What an adventure that turned into a travel nightmare

Worcester has been travelling there to play in Russia tomorrow 1PM!

flogthebog

connachta wrote: »

Worcester has been travelling there to play in Russia tomorrow 1PM!

I watched it over again tonight. krasonyarsk was a team building experience. I loved every second of it. it said so much about Connacht.

connachta

flogthebog wrote: »

connachta wrote: »

Worcester has been travelling there to play in Russia tomorrow 1PM!

I watched it over again tonight. krasonyarsk was a team building experience. I loved every second of it. it said so much about Connacht.

Niyi's try in the end was a confidence boost for him too

BrokenMan

connachta wrote: »

flogthebog wrote: »

BrokenMan wrote: »

Dillane on the bench?

As I see it the right choice for the game in hand. Roux adds more to the scrum which will be important tomorrow.

Just thinking last year Connacht were in Krasnoyarsk. What an adventure that turned into a travel nightmare

Worcester has been travelling there to play in Russia tomorrow 1PM!

Weather looks a lot better than last year

Bazzo

BrokenMan wrote: »

Weather looks a lot better than last year

It was about a month later in the year when the lads traveled, might make a big difference in that part of the world.