I'm looking forward to it, a few pints in Dublin, handy bus to and from aviva 👍
I won't try and persuade you but I did acknowledge his Lions selection and Gatland clearly holds him in high regard. I compare Murray's recent performances to those of 2018 and earlier and feel he's a shadow of what he was, despite some recent improvement.
The 42 have reported that the crowd is estimated to be between 6-8,000. Said initial projections were for 30,000. Would love to have some of what they were smoking to come up with that figure. Was never going to get close to that.
Assume thought a lot/all who attend all the time in Sportsground would travel over, few more may travel to see Connacht play in Aviva where they havent played much before and then the Dublin crowd as well as its easier to get to Dublin from Belfast than Galway
I think they judged it badly with the regulars in particular. I’ve had a season ticket for years and know plenty others in the same boat and off the top of my head I only know 2 that are going up. I don’t see the appeal in travelling over 2 hours to a game that I could have gotten to in 30 mins if it was in the SG. Also don’t get the novelty of seeing us play in the Aviva when we haven’t actually earned it. Would be different if it was a champions cup QF against Leinster or something.
I just think an email to season ticket/Club 1885 members would have given the idea of how it would go down rather than just consulting the Clan. Makes matters worse that this would have been our first game in over 18 months with a full house at the SG.
Yes, while I kind of get why they thought it might be a good idea, it was obvious to me and many others the moment it was announced that it was a bad call. The fact they kept going on about how they consulted "the clan" when it was announced was like a pre-emptive move to throw whoever they consulted under the bus, sensing that there was a fair chance it was going to go down like a lead balloon. It would be good if the branch acknowledged their mistake, and "owned it" to borrow a phrase from Andy Friend.
I actually think there will be more than 8000 at the game on the day, but a fair chunk of them will be on freebies, or discounted tickets, so revenue wise we'll probably never know what it amounts to. What is clear is the vast majority of the people there will have spent a relative fortune in order to attend, very little of which will benefit the club, or any business within the province (transport, accommodation, food, drink etc).
Fingers crossed we get the win - which would go a long way. Willie Ruane and co. will be praying we don't get badly beaten, or the decision will come under even more scrutiny.
Exact same situation here of the 3 of us who have had ST for 8-10 years each only 1 of us is going.
The other 2 of us can't make due to other family commitments but had the game been in the sports ground we would have been able to go! I think it could be a similar case for a lot of us who can't make time for the journey to/from Dublin.
I really hope we can get a win and avoid being made very foolish by giving up home advantage for what looks like being little financial gain! Maybe if the weather is nice in Dublin tomorrow it might pad the numbers a bit too!
Team named.
Bundee out with a slight knee problem expected to be fit for Irish duty
CONNACHT RUGBY MATCHDAY 23 VS ULSTER RUGBY
Saturday 23rd October, Aviva Stadium @ 17:15
Number/Name/Caps
15. Tiernan O’Halloran (194)
14. John Porch (43)
13. Sammy Arnold (20)
12. Tom Daly (52)
11. Mack Hansen (4)
10. Jack Carty (163) (C)
9. Kieran Marmion (190)
1. Matthew Burke (27)
2. Dave Heffernan (148)
3. Finlay Bealham (163)
4. Niall Murray (20)
5. Ultan Dillane (118)
6. Eoghan Masterson (112)
7. Conor Oliver (24)
8. Paul Boyle (61)
16. Shane Delahunt (104)
17. Jordan Duggan (16)
18. Jack Aungier (17)
19. Oisín Dowling (10)
20. Jarrad Butler (77)
21. Caolin Blade (134)
22. Conor Fitzgerald (38)
23. Diarmuid Kilgallen (2)
Would like to see Porch back at 15 and Boyle and Papali'i at 6 and 8 respectively. Kilgallen must be training well, nice show of faith for him to make the squad ahead of the likes of Bolton, McNulty, Sullivan, Healy, etc.
That's lousy news on Bundee. We look so depleted, don't have a good feeling about this.
Surprised that Papa Leahy isn't in the squad, is he on the naughty step for poor handling last week or did he pick up an injury as well?
Not very confident here either. Maybe they are doing damage limitation with the 6-8k estimate and know it will “exceed” expectations with ten k showing up but it wouldn’t shock me if there was 5k at it.
Will look like utterly ridiculous decision if that happens.
Bundee out with a knee injury. Hope it's nothing serious, last week showed us what we're missing without him...
Oops, just saw it was mentioned above, page hadn't refreshed for me.
Reality is that Jack will leave for a decent payday in UK or France if he isn’t getting a look-in with Ireland. Couldn’t blame him really, although we don’t have somebody at his level to slot in if he does leave!
Sadly, I agree!
How did Brace single Daly out there? About 10 players ran in from both sides.
More referee issues. Brace's decisions already are incredible
This is mental refereeing
Looks like the TMO fed him that info.
Connacht maul defence looks better than last season anyway. Bigger problem now is the penalty count is again going against us by a distance.
The attendance at the match today has to be a wake up call for the IRFU and the URC.
Is Rugby as popular as people think it is?
He shoved Doak
Porch very lucky there. Made a complete hames of collecting that ball.
Should have been a penalty to Ulster.
Penalty try is a possibility there. Clear trip on Hume off the ball.
Connacht get the ref decision this week. Porch should have been binned and a penalty try awarded.
That was definitely a penalty try and a yellow card. Connacht certainly got the benefit of a dodgy refereeing decision there.....
Connacht are going to get really annoyed with this **** refereeing and rip Ulster apart
Annoyed at not being a man and 6 points down?
Yes, they should be really upset they got away with a yellow card and Ulster penalty try. Carry on.
Hansen is a stud.
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