Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

De butlear must have been injured was he Heffernan back on

Semi final would have been nice but a totally undeserved gloss on a shite season tbf. Couple of refereeing decisions were poor but we're way off. Handling and middle of the field defending the obvious ones but anything good in attack is entirely built off individual quality and I don't see any discernible scheme or plan. So frustrating because in all honesty the talent available isn't far off what we had in 2016, just awfully awfull coached imo.

I mean 70 points conceded against Fukking Pau and Treviso and not a lesson learned.

I wasn't expecting to win this game based on our season so far but I was hopeful that last week's game could be a catalyst for improvement. Sadly not to be. I believe that this coaching team is no longer viable as a collective entity. I've no idea who needs to go but collectively they are bankrupt.

I'd heard comments about bundi, Bealham and Mack making a difference but to be honest you could select South Africa en masse and put them in a Connacht jersey now and they would be cack.

When good players play shite rugby consistently then look at the environment.

Week in and week out it's the same. Week in and week out it's the same players that disappoint. So the question is why do we select these players that disappoint week in and week out. Dave's lineout has been an issue for years. So why does he keep getting selected. Hawkshaw needed to replaced by Farrell and shouldn't even be on the team sheet. Forde should have started at 10 and I would prefer never to see Jack or JJ within our 23. Instead stupid replacements. Thankfully Devine replaced Blade. An obvious move. Other than that they haven't a clue. This management is a complete joke.

Is that you Wilkins? Why not? You have tried everything else. OR HAVE YOU?

Ok, only issue he didn't come on at fullback

..

Overall there is nothing new to be seen here. Same complaints every time. If your coach can't see it then where are we at?

Give it a rest will you. Chill out.

looking this match, it was too hot for Connacht player. That's all. Never mind. Devine's tempo was very good. I think he will fit for actual fight.

names?

Those are all good players, and with the exception of O'Halloran, are all still in their theoretical prime. If multiple players are out of form, in my opinion you have to look at the coaching team. Hawkshaw doesn't pick himself at 13, a position he has (AFAIK) never played before this season. He has performed well when picked in his preferred position. Blade is out of form but he is not a bad player - Andy Farrell doesn't cap bad players. In my opinion there is top to bottom confusion with our attacking system which leads to him arriving to rucks not knowing which way to play, I don't recall seeing that from him prior to this season. The moaning to referees, simulation, hand waving etc. are all within his control though, and I would like to see some improvement from him in in those respects. Again, he didn't pick himself as captain, a role he is not suited to whatsoever (at least in terms of managing the ref).

it as mentioned yesterday during the match but prendergast is the only player who plays like a captain. I’d say give it to him, so what if he’s young

Playing those extra phases in our 22 after receiving a kickoff drives me mad. Benetton clearly knew what to expect, Brex made a read and shut it down in midfield and we were lucky to not get turned over. The only other team I can recall doing the same with such regularity was Kieran Crowley's shambles of an Italy team.

Two moments really stood out to me yesterday. The first, we were doing our usual lateral running and flat passing off first phase, nobody committed a Benetton defender so they just drifted until Jennings (I think) threw a pass to no-one, which they kicked in behind to score. The second was the 5 metre tap where nobody knew who was tapping the ball, Blade just stepped in and chucked it to Bundee for the score.

Perhaps it's a Mike Catt type situation where Sexton has a genius vision for the attack but just needs time, but it's very hard to see right now.

Dont agree on the Jennings comment. Jennings has been pinpointed (with Cordero) as the fullback replacement to TOH.

That aside the season is over for us. So give Bundee the rest of the year off. Put Gavin in to replace him. Put Tom Farrell in at 13. Put Jennings at fullback. Put Forde at outhalf. Put Devine at scrum half.

And this is how I would like to see it. We need to see if Jennings can cover fullback. There have been many failed experiments there to date. TOH is indeed slower these days, as you would expect, but he is always in the right place which is more important than speed.

Anyway all that aside and for all my best plans, what realhorrorshow says is the reality. It doesn't matter what players you put where if everything is total confusion from a coaching perspective

Timers are put into the game to provide consistency on actions and behaviours during the game. So to a degree it takes the actions of the referee out of the game. So let's continue down this line. I do remember in particular the Sharks game in Galway. When it was a Sharks throw they were into that lineout with no messing. When it was a Connacht lineout it was torture to get them into the lineout. So we put a one minute timer on a lineout. And then we have a timer from the point a referee says 'use it' at the back of a maul. Next we have a timer for when a player is held up off the ground before the a scrum to the opposition is called.

So do you begin to see the problem. Players are playing the clock rather than rugby but the game is played in a consistent manner for both teams by the referee (in these circumstances).

So let's continue down this line. So we have a scrum which many commentators suggest is pure dark arts and the decision of the referee is final. In 50% of cases it's clear and obvious. So what happens to the other 50%.

Well to solve the issue scrums are removed from the game.

Next we have the maul. Now the call that Paul Boyle didn't join the maul correctly was a travesty yesterday. So we need to remove the maul from the game so there can be no confusion

And then we have the ruck. Now this a real bugbear of mine. You have hefty guys going in at speed at players who are pinned on the ground. Now that's clearly an unsafe situation so players should not be allowed join the ruck once the ruck is formed. It clearly is impossible for the referee to manage this situation.

And while I write this as a form of wittism, the point I am making is that officiating such a game in a fair manner is nigh on impossible even if you wanted to be fair.

I did appreciate the comments about Mike Adamson before the game this weekend relating to the fact he is so bad he will be fair to both teams. As compared to Frank Murphy who has the latitude to do as he wishes. And he is one bitter gobshite.

Is this a serious post? Because every sentence of it is rambling nonsense.