Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Thought there was at least enough in it to turn over the penalty in our favour.

Going back to the yellow I thought it was fair enough by the rules but was very surprised Lowry didn't ha e to go for a HIA aswell. I think same was the case when zebo hit him and was red carded a few weeks back.

That can’t be a red. Lowry causes the incident he’s 5’7 and he dips at the last second to go probably well under five feet. Sullivan is going to make a perfectly legal low-mid chest tackle and Lowrys actions cause a clash. It shouldn’t even be a yellow for me but no chance it’s a red.

Definitely won’t be a popular view but if Joy Neville was James Neville wouldn’t be reffing at this level. Just repeatedly makes very poor mistakes.

Cracking turnover and finish. Super final pass.

Prendergast is everywhere, getting through absolute mountain of work.

Doak looks like he has the tools to get by Casey. He has a decent chance of going on summer tour to NZ if he has a big end to season.

Fair enough. I don’t understand their view because they’re basically saying you can’t tackle Lowry in that scenario where’s he catching a ball which will happen a lot obviously as he is at 15. When a guy that small dips he’s gonna make 80% of tackles illegal by that criteria.

That’s it. Players are going to need to adjust. I’m not saying it is easy for the tackler when they are committed, it’s very hard when Lowry is in that position. But you can’t make excuses because of Lowry’s height.

Comfortable enough for Ulster. Connacht tackled their hearts out though. Oliver and Prendergast were fantastic.

When everyone is available Connacht have a very decent side but once they have to dip into their bench and beyond the bench there are lads there that are stuggling at that level.

On a bad run of results now.

You absolutely need to take into account Lowrys height for me - you can’t just give him a massive advantage where he drops his head and is getting a lad a yellow every week. He controls his movements.

Harsh or not there’s a difference between a 6’0 guy and a 5’7 guy dropping a head.

Sullivan was making a tackle four and a half feet high, that’s really reasonable. Irrelevant to the result but Lowry can’t just drop a foot and make that tackle illegal it’s ridiculous.

Really frustrating to be bringing in fifita, bringing in tupimatu etc when they’re clearly not up to this level.

Connacht need a lot of recruitment in the pack this summer.

Nope. There is a responsibility on Lowry too, he is in control of his movements, he is aware a tackle is immediately coming, he dips a foot at the last possible second and his actions make a perfectly legal tackle illegal. BBC Ulster commentator spot on - rugby incident move on.

Agreed, but which part of the pack. For me, it's the front row, not just because of the penalties conceded in the scrum, but the contribution in the loose. I had higher expectations of Aungier and Duggan, this season, although Jordan has carried a heavy burden. They gave illo a senior contract, let's see him play. but we need at least one high quality recruit there.

At second row, Dowling and Murray are great and getting better (we won the line out today), Thornbury will be back soon, but Leva hasn't contributed enough, so we need one more. In the back row, there's a clear gap now between Prendergast, Oliver and the rest. Boyle is of that standard but rusty right now, Murphy will bring a lot, but we need at least one or two more. There may be another recruit to be had from Leinster, and we have the boys who've just graduated from the academy.

That wrong. If Lowry wants to dip, in the act keeping his balance, he is perfectly entitled to. There is nothing in the laws of the game that makes this illegal. I’m sure you will agree that he is not deliberately dipping in the hope of getting a shoulder in the head? If you agree with this, then the onus is back on the tackling player to take account of a possible dip when tackling. Lowry is a joy to behold, we need to protect him at all costs. If that means a few lads getting yellow cards, till the coaches of the opposition team realise who they are playing against and that they need be ultra careful, then so be it. We have got to protect the head at all costs.