Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Digifriendly · 17-09-2022 10:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119628332#Comment_119628332

Find to hard to understand how winning or losing is irrelevant. Sounds like throwing in the towel before the match starts.

connachta · 17-09-2022 10:34PM

One positive? No major injury appearently..

Farrell tried to survive decently.

typhoony · 17-09-2022 11:05PM

The penalty that led up to the first try was a strange decision by the Ref, usually it's offensive team that are penalised for off their feet or going in from side. Porch came down cleanly enough placed the ball and defenders got in position to protect the ball.

mackattack11 · 18-09-2022 12:43AM

hard Watch, heffernan hasn’t been playing at a decent level for about a year and TOH, great servant to Connacht but it’s time to hang up the boots

FACECUTTR · 18-09-2022 11:45AM

Wilkinson and Friend need to be gone. Friend hanging it on the players again in the post game interview. You cannot blame the players everytime there is a big defeat. The book stops at him and he can't get the message across its his fault.

Murphy as expected gave us the dog that's badly needed. 10 could be an issue now if only Forde and Hackshaw available. Both very inexperienced going to South A. Hopefully Fitzgeralds injury is not too bad.

18-09-2022 12:23PM

That was tough to sit through. Ulster away isn't a match you expect much from the best day ever but the nature of that performance was very worrying given the upcoming schedule.

As usual there was lots of positive vibes coming from the camp during the week about how the coaches have Bern empowered and all thus no sense. Also saying this is the start you want that Ulster wouldn't want to play us first up and it's the best time to catch the South Africans etc. I think it was the ideal game for ulster they didn't need to over extend themselves and picked up as easy a 5 points as will be offered all season.

After 1 game it looks almost certain we won't be anywhere near the play offs again. Call me negative if you want but its an uphill task for the play offs even with a strong well drilled team. This team is a mess. The internationals will improve us but other teams have far more ammunition to come back into the fold and getting close to the 50 or so points needed is very difficult. If this team reaches 30 that'll be about the height of it.

What frustrated me most was the period from just before half time til 60 mins or so. That 2nd try was shameful for a professional team to give away but at 14-3 just after half time you have to try dig in and keep yourself in the match. What followed after half time was absolutely shocking indiscipline that to me hints at there being zero leadership within that group. Indiscipline let us down so often last year and to come into our first game of the new season and start losing all control at the first sign of trouble says to me that nothing has changed. One losing BP in all of last season and its clear to see that in games where we aren't on top that's not going to change.

Looking at Cardiff earlier in the day they'll be significantly better this year. Treviso hammered Glasgow and Zebre gave Leinster a good scare. The teams above us are moving ahead and the teams behind excluding maybe Dragons are progressing too.

ShineyShiney · 18-09-2022 12:30PM

Pack 3/10

Backs 6/10

Pack beaten in set piece provided no ball and conceded so many penalties that the game was never in doubt.

I liked the defensive structure and thought we got off the line well and generally tackled well.

Think we might be short of a 2, 3, 8 and 15

ClanofLams · 18-09-2022 01:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119632798#Comment_119632798

Seemed to be leaning that way with him brought on Ireland tour over the summer.

Would be a shocking appointment. I don’t think Nucifora/IRFU are overly concerned about provincial performances and they seem to take easy option all the time eg renewing Graan last summer. A shortsighted approach.

Shelflife · 18-09-2022 01:31PM

Poor scrum.

Poor Lineout.

Poor handling.

Poor maul defence.

Terrible discipline.

Any line breaks in the game ?

No go forward ball, never in their 22 for the first half, only twice in the second half.

Ulster only had one warm up game and I genuinely thought we might be in with a shout.

Really worried for this season based on this.

AccidentallyOnside · 18-09-2022 01:54PM

Very tough watch....few enough positives.

Thought the attitude in defence was good, score got so high as we had no attacking threat, could barely win a line-out and had awful discipline. You can't spend the whole game defending and expect much.

Murphy was excellent.

Like the look of Hawkshaw, should be ahead of fitzty.

connachta · 18-09-2022 03:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119633536#Comment_119633536

Yeah TBF 0-0 after 25 was a sign of improvement in our defense.

Outpowered but conceeded few linebreaks

1 positive stat in this nightmare :

178 tackles made, 92% success rate

Heff 15/0

Thornbury 16/0

Fifita'a 16/0

Hurley-Langton 12/1 (in 39 minutes)

CIARAN_BOYLE · 18-09-2022 03:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119633711#Comment_119633711

I'm pretty sure the province's CEO and board have more to do with appointing the coaches than Nucifora and the irfu.

Not sure Wilkins being brought on the Summer tour means a whole lost. ROG went on one one time as a coach. Maybe he was there for coaching lessons (not that it would make a huge difference) or something.

stephen_n · 18-09-2022 04:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119634135#Comment_119634135

So did Felix Jones but it is usually a sign of trying to nurture and advance from within.

Agreed though Nucifora doesn’t appoint the coaches but he would rubber stamp them.

19-09-2022 11:43AM

Connacht squad named for the trip to SA. https://www.connachtrugby.ie/travelling-squad-named-for-dhl-stormers-fixture-in-cape-town/

Strong squad with Bealham, Bundee and Mack all included.

They've also included the four who are in the Emerging Ireland squad, who are available for the Stormers game and then join up with the Irish squad afterwards in Bloemfontein (despite the whining last week about "disastrous" this tour was for Connacht). They'll add more players then to the squad the following week for the Bulls game.

Forwards (17)

Jack Aungier

Finlay Bealham

Ciaran Booth

Paul Boyle

Denis Buckley

Jarrad Butler

Peter Dooley

Oisín Dowling

Leva Fifita

Dave Heffernan

Shamus Hurley-Langton

Sam Illo

Josh Murphy

Niall Murray

Cian Prendergast

Grant Stewart

Dylan Tierney-Martin

Backs (11)

Bundee Aki

Caolin Blade

Tom Daly

Tom Farrell

Conor Fitzgerald

Mack Hansen

David Hawkshaw

Kieran Marmion

Oran McNulty

John Porch

Byron Ralston

Zeugnis · 19-09-2022 11:53AM

No Wootton or Byrne. Conor Oliver was subbed at half-time on Saturday, wonder if he was injured?

FACECUTTR · 19-09-2022 01:39PM

Somebody mentioned Byrne was in a moonboot after the Castres game. Missed why Oliver went off.

Strong squad but them are up against it.

19-09-2022 01:43PM

No O'Halloran is the most pleasing news

ClanofLams · 19-09-2022 02:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119636924#Comment_119636924

Lol typical Leinster knob.

Four players are going to miss crucial Connacht league games (admittedly games Connacht don't seem likely to get anything out of based on Friday anyway) so they can play some second tier South African sides on a rabble of a tour. It's a joke.

19-09-2022 03:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119637683#Comment_119637683

Nice childish response. 😊

ClanofLams · 19-09-2022 03:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119637931#Comment_119637931

Ah yes coming into Connacht thread and throwing a pointless dig was real mature. IRFU can do no wrong.

19-09-2022 04:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638022#Comment_119638022

When did I ever say the IRFU can do no wrong?

I don't think the timing of this tour is ideal at all, but I do broadly think the biggest weakness facing Irish rugby is how shallow our playing pool is. From that perspective, I think this tour makes sense.

I do think there is an argument that the current Irish coaching team have done a good job at developing players, which isn't a skillset you'd typically associate with a national coaching ticket. But the proof of this is in the handful of guys who they've elevated despite them not being first choice players for their provinces.

To that end, I think it's hugely beneficial for this young group of players to get together under the coaching ticket, experience a tour environment and play games together. The average age of the squad that toured NZ was 28; with the match 23's even older still. We may or may not get a bolter or two out of this tour, but even if we don't, it's a worthwhile investment into Ireland's rugby future.

The price being paid for this, is the provinces are without the players for a couple of games (or possibly only one game in Connacht's case), and in return, it would appear as though the IRFU have released back the full internationals sooner to compensate for this. That was why I deem the excessive, hyperbolic moaning about this last week to be whining, and if you disagree with that, that's fine, that's your view.

ClanofLams · 19-09-2022 04:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638342#Comment_119638342

Well firstly you might want to get your facts straight, it's a minimum of two games. The high likelihood is it will be three games (the tour has a fixture on Sunday October 9 and Connacht play Leinster on Friday October 14), given anyone touring won't be able to train until Tuesday October 11 at the earliest, I would be surprised if they were selected for Friday night, certainly anyone who played the previous Sunday won't be chosen, maybe one or two of them will be on the bench, but that will probably reflect poor performances or injuries. Either way, if any are in the 23 for the Friday fixture their preparation will be very far from ideal clearly. Three games out of an 18 game league is a not inconsiderable chunk.

All for a tour outside of an international window playing second tier sides. The league right now is the strongest it has been in years and the IRFU are clearly undermining that.

19-09-2022 05:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638399#Comment_119638399

Does the player management policy not undermine the league far more than this could ever be argued to?

In that scenario, teams are forced to rest players simply by dint of their status as a first choice international. This is a scenario where young players, trying to prove themselves and elevate themselves in the minds of the international coaches, will miss a handful of matches because they're actually playing matches.

You've conveniently overlooked multiple times the fact that the IRFU have released first choice international players to play with the provinces earlier this season to mitigate whatever loss they suffer from this too (not something that typically impacts Connacht to any great degree, but last season Bundee Aki didn't play his first game for Connacht till mid October after the Lions tour; the other provinces don't usually have first choice internationals back who played summer test matches till the last round of matches before Europe typically either).

ClanofLams · 19-09-2022 05:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638539#Comment_119638539

Bundee Aki returned in round four last year when the Lions tour finished on August 7. He is returning in round two this year after a tour that finished three weeks earlier on July 16. The IRFU aren’t making any major concession here.

The player management programme has been long established and is related to actual international rugby not some development tour outside of an international window.

The URC has emphasised repeatedly and publicly that they will seek to avoid clashing with international windows so that squads will have as strong as sides as possible, the IRFU has quite clearly undermined that and made the league look second rate.

Former Former Former · 19-09-2022 05:58PM

In fairness, I doubt the player management rules apply here. These lads aren't test players who need to have their game time managed. If they're healthy coming back, they'll be allowed to play.

ClanofLams · 19-09-2022 06:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638645#Comment_119638645

Yeah I don’t think they won’t be allowed to play but the earliest they can train is Tuesday (given they won’t be in to Dublin until Monday morning at the earliest, even then can prob only train on Tuesday assuming they didn’t play on the Sunday).

They will only have Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of an interpro against Leinster as Connacht won’t train on the Thursday. Maybe it will be dire straits and they will be thrown in but they’re not really available for selection in the proper meaning of the phrase either and obviously were any of them to play, they would have pretty poor preparation.

Wegians89 · 19-09-2022 10:05PM

Wonder what the plan at 15 is. Not bringing TOH is a good call in my opinion. Wouldn’t mind seeing Hansen getting a few games at 15 with porch and ralston on the wings

RichieRich_89 · 20-09-2022 12:16AM

Farrell might be keen to see Hansen play a bit more 15.

The way thinks are shaping up I'd say the back three options for the Worl Cup could be:

left wings: Lowe, Stockdale

right wings: Hansen, Conway/Baloucoune

fullback: Keenan

...with Hansen being the back up 15.

Wegians89 · 20-09-2022 07:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119639943#Comment_119639943

Few lads would be raging to see Lowry not involved you’d imagine..

From a Connacht point of view getting Hansen more involved at 15 could be very important.

Very noticeable when the “big” players aren’t involved. Would expect a much better performance this week with Bealham, Bundee, Mack and Prendergast back involved

Lsdrugbyfan · 20-09-2022 08:11AM

no report on the eagles big win?

Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

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