Forde as the only rookie in this squad.
Interesting to see, now Hawkshaw(s) seems nailed as 12, if Forde is considered to be outhalf!
I don't get why we have rotated Thornbury out again. It's a short season with few easy games, pick your best players week in week out.
Tbh I’m not against it. Fafita was decent towards the back end of last year and having a big squad with everyone firing and rested Is important. Fifita also will be looking for family bragging rights even though his brother isn’t in the 23
If memory serves me correctly Thornbury took a knock at around 50 minutes last Friday and Dowling needed to come in early for him. He might need a weekend off to fully recover.
Thornbury was just interviewed at pitch side pre-match. He said that his absence was just down to rotation among the second rows. At least that means he's fully fit.
Desperate try to concede there. Long kick tennis battle and then the Scarlets just run one in from half way without a finger being laid on any Scarlets player.
Is it just me or is Hansen looking a bit sluggish? Beaten very easily on the outside there, hasn't seemed to have the same spark about him this season.
Very poor.. dare I say it.. lazy
Would have been a very handy score there right at the end of the half for Connacht given then now have to play into the wind. Incidentally I think Carty is 0/5 for conversions so far this season. Nailed a couple of pens alright but leaving too many points out there.
Missed score at the end there could be the losing of the game.
5 points lead with that wind seems like too little.
Seriously frustrating. What was he thinking?
Connacht finding new ways to mess up close to the try line. This time Boyle is sin binned. Slightly unlucky as Murray standing up is what actually turned the Scarlets player over the horizontal.
This year's experiment is a season of no rucking
Big score there with 14. Carty 0/6 for conversions now.
The subs are all making a positive contribution
Good to see us using the young lads early rather than just giving them 5 minutes at the end.
Mack Hansen is a decent tee kicker, I'm surprised he hasn't been given a shot at a few of them
Why do the TG4 lads pronounce Murray (as in Niall Murray's surname) the strange way they do? Is it an Irish language thing I'm not aware of?
Great BP win for Connacht
Knew they'd give Hansen player of the match but for me it was Hawkshaw.
Great little footballer and punches way above his weight in the carry and tackle. Serious find for us this year.
Got a bit of luck with the wind dying in the second half but good win that despite still plenty of mistakes.
This didn’t age well.
Not at all, very happy to look stupid in this case. He did get caught quite flat footed for their try but was great other than that.
They gave it to Conor Oliver. Agreed Hawkshaw was good, and has looked good for them this year.
Niall Murray very impressive again, and the younger lads contributed some off the bench. Carty much improved with ball in hand too.
Hawkshaw was my motm, seems to always carry fir a few extra yards, very low centre of gravity.
Mack's second try was unreal. Anyway, we should be happy, finally a bonus point win. Tons of mistakes again, but apart from the missed tackles for their first try, we were strong in that department while making Scarlets work hard on our own carry. Our defensive line out was destructive, with the usual impressive performance from Murray (why is he not the Irish picture?). Oliver looked good with ball, Distribution out to the wings is not working, but to echo the poster above, Hawkshaw has been very effective at twelve, and it was good to see Jack again have the nous to hand the kicking duties over.
Who finished at FB?
Didn’t hear it but presume they announced it “Marray” - that’s how he would say it, a Roscommon thing afaik.
Plenty to work on but unrecognisable from the first three games in fairness, pack has really improved.
If Connacht could get a win away in Ospreys next week, to go 3-4 in terms of win loss it would be a fairly decent start considering the fixtures.
I
I've learned something new! Never heard that before.
Porch I guess, Wootton was on the wing, so seemed to be Hansen on his final try
Yeah it was Porch
Interesting to see neither Wootton or Hansen are seen at all as FB
picking order still unstable but as McNulty/TOH (good tonight) or out-of-position Fitzgerald aren't perfect, John has a chance to end back there IMO
Hensen/Byrne/Porch is our trio to win Challenge Cup IMO
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