Individual errors are always going to happen with a team like Connacht that lack experience and quality in certain areas but I think its obvious at this stage that the problems are systemic both in defence and in attack. Teams who make bad decisions in pressure moments are invariably ones who either lack quality and/or don't have belief in what they are doing and to me its mainly the latter for me
Missing out on top 8 wouldn't really bother me if I saw that we were making progress in terms of what we are trying to do but I don't see anything cling to.
The lineout has got a bit better from the early season meltdown but to me that wasn't an major area of concern to begin with.
It's clear to me that in every other measurement we are going backwards at a rate of knots and the signings for next season wouldn't give you any faith that the management know what they are trying to do rectify things.
Next season we won't be in contention for Top 8. We won't get those early season soft wins we got this year and Sharks will be better. Also while Ospreys and Cardiff are starting from a low base they both have improved as the season went on.
Are Jack, JJ or Forde able to kick the ball a reasonable distance? Imo they are. This poses a question for me then, why are we not able to exit, or kick long for touch either from hand or in play?
Misguided Tactics is the only answer I come up with and who sets the tactics? The Coaches.
I'm not a fan of calling for heads but there comes a point when repeating the same tactical errors match after match shows that there is a lack of nous to change or accept that there is a need for change.
We currently have the best squad we have ever had, imo, we are post wc where we have more of a level playing field. We had an acceptable run of fixtures and the Welsh are in a struggle. Comparing this season's win % doesn't hold water imo.
I expect more from this squad and the coaches. I believe that this squad are being let down by our strategy and I hold the coaches accountable.
Without significant change this season is only the beginning of the fall.
Just went to renew my season ticket. I am in the clan so I have to relocate. It seems the main stand is sold out online. I don’t remember seeing any mention that it was running low. Am I wasting my time calling as I know we could renew by phone?
Edit: All sorted. Rang and it was an online glitch.
My guess at the reasoning for Jack not getting much length on the kicks was that he's just back from a hamstring injury.
He's been going for too much length and putting them dead for years and it's never stopped him before.
I'm quite happy for us to miss out on the Heineken Cup next season. We were shocking in it this year, and did nothing for us.
Challenge Cup is also a much stronger competition that it used be, so we'll still get a decent game or two out of it.
I've come around to accepting we're just not a very good team right now. I'm excited about some of the younger players coming through, but we really need to spend some money on our front 5. We get beaten up there way too easily. We could have the best backs in the world, but without a solid set of forwards we'll never be seriously competitive.
When Lam took over, it was signings like Tom McCartney that made the difference, not Mils Muliaina.
Saying that, replacing Blade and Carty permanently wouldn't be a bad start either. At least we're trying to do both of those things right now
Do we normally announce departures before the last home game? Assume Burke, McElroy, DRM, Thornbury, Butler, Daly, Farrell, and McNulty will be confirmed to be leaving if so.
There are lies, lies and statistics..
Just comparing our stats this year to last…
Attack improving has my head scratching as I didn't think it had (someone explain that to me).
Nice to see Discipline improved …
Our real area of concern has been the drop in Lineout and Scrum stats, dropping from leading position to well into bottom half.
These are URC only figures…
Attack
22/23 season
23/24 Season
Defence
22/23 Season
Kicking (Drop)
Discipline (Major Improvement)
Lineouts (Major Drop)
Scrums (Major Drop)
The attack stats are telling to me - broadly similar number of offloads and defenders beaten, with a significant increase in clean breaks, but a massive drop in actual tries scored.
I felt the attack at times this year have seemed a bit aimless going back and forth until we eventually made a mistake.
Is this just something stuck in my head or real?
How do you interpret that? Why are we beating defenders and making clean breaks but not scoring tries?
The most obvious answer is that we're playing on the wrong areas of the pitch. The fact that we kick the second least in the league backs that up imo. It's also notable that we have the least retained kicks in the league, likely largely because we don't have a particularly standout box kicker in the squad.
We also tend to align very laterally so perhaps when we do make a linebreak, there are less players ahead of the play and in position to run a support line and convert the opportunity.
Yeah, that's exactly how I interpreted it too: trying to play too much rugby in the wrong parts of the field.
You'll get cheap metres and occasional linebreaks, but it's the logical explanation for why it doesn't convert into tries.
Is the drop in lineout success and steals simply down to Niall Murray getting less game time? He topped the individual charts by some distance last year if i'm remembering right.
I noticed the last day…
Leinster from hand can give the ball to Ross Byrne, Frawley, Osbourne or Lowe…
We on Saturday had only Jack who seemed to be nursing a hamstring (he does take it longer than that).
Sorry, Kicking is a learnt skill, you can practise it and become good at it, especially from hand. A backrow could if they were not too exhausted.
Even Penalty Kicks, a few years back year only two 6 nations had there out half as kicker. We seem to be obsessed by it in Ireland. I would have Matt Devine and Shane Jennings out kicking this week… Start them early..
We really lack options, especially compared to Leinster as you say, who will generally have 3+ kicking options in the backline plus JGP. We haven't had a 9 with a good kicking game since Cooney. Devine already looks to be the best in the squad but it's early days yet. When receiving a deep kickoff, most teams aim to work the ball to a position just inside the 22, 10 metres from the touchline, from where most decent 9s are able to find touch somewhere between the 10 and halfway. We don't use Blade for exits, instead generally choosing to pass backwards 10 metres to a player under pressure.
Outside of 9, we don't have many players with a strong kicking game. Hanrahan is technically poor and struggles for distance. Carty is better technically but looks low on confidence and seems to be making more errors than ever, after a very decent 22/23 season. Forde is the only decent kicker in the outside backs, but even he's miles off the likes of Osborne or Lowe as a left footed option. Our first choice centres can't kick at all. We don't have any options in the back 3 either, which seems rare these days.
The 2006 group could be strong one for us, the last interpro winning group (2001) has yielded five pros - de Buitléar, D Murray, McCormack, Forde, and Jennings. The three players shortlisted for the u18 poty award are exciting prospects.
Rory Gavin (lock) is Hugh's brother and played for Ireland u18 schools this year, which is relatively rare for Connacht players.
Diarmuid O'Connell (back row) also played for the u18 schools team.
Seán Walsh (centre) is the brother of likely future academy member Bryan and also a Galway minor footballer, played for the u18 clubs team.
Walsh is an in demand footballer… Can Connacht keep him?
rumorued that Eanna McCarthy UCC backrower joining Connacht Academy.
Last year Niall played 806 min last year by round 16 to this compared 746 this year… that is not a 10% difference with one player.. But Niall has 10 less steals than last year.. But Josh murphy had 8 as well (3rd in whole league)…
Stealing lineouts is about reading teams and having lifters in right place.
Might this have something to do with it:
We benched him a lot this season.
Our top this season is Cathal Forde at 30 (inside Center) and Blade at 25 Scrum Half…
Outside Centre breaks have less traffic after the break.
They brought Jennings in as an u19 which I assume was to keep him from the GAA, not sure if that's an option this time though.
Walsh in school next year but presumably they'll try to add him to academy straight out of school.
missed irish u18s at easter due to injury.
I don't really understand this… Gaelic Football is our national sport, it is hard to find someone who is into sport in Ireland that can't kick from hand with accuracy…
After that it is a simple skill which you can practise and practise… Look at golf, Rory McIlroy, he is one of the best strikers of the ball in the world, but is he a natural putter? Well he doesn't like one(think of the putter swaps), but he is 61st in the PGA mainly down to practise.
That is my 2c on it…
I think when analysing stats we quickly forget that for most of last season we were awful. The Ulster home game last season looked like the death nail of our league season and inexplicably we threw away our challenge cup hopes with a strange selection against Newcastle and a catastrophic opening 20 minutes or so.
We got a bit of a head of steam up towards the end of the season in the league but even at that we got a huge favour from Sharks writing off the away fixture and Munster drawing with them near the end of the season. We also were blessed to come away from Dragons against 14 men with a win.
The Ulster away win was great but ultimately it was a poor game and getting over the line was as much to do with ulster's failings as our good play.
Also leaving are Kilgallen, McDonald, with McNamara and Moore from this season's squad already having left.
Every season we have one nightmare coming from nowhere stinking the place out. This year that was that horror show at home to the Lions when we really needed 5pts. We've also left 7pts behind us in last play defeats to Embra, Leinster, and Treviso. We get those 12pts we comfortably make 5th/6th place in the league and qualify for next season's HEC. We won away in South Africa, are one of the only teams to beat Glasgow this season, and for most of the season have looked in better shape that Ulster.
We've missed a real abrasive edge in the pack, and hopefully Josh Murphy will bring that on his return next season. We've flogged Joe Joyce to death and Niall Murray has regressed. Similarly Conor Oliver hasn't repeated his excellent form of last year, and Boyler looks a shot player. We're going to need more, much more, from Sean O'Brien and Sean Jansen next season to complement the consistently excellent Prendergast and SHL.
Blade's form has tailed off alarmingly in the second half of the season, but with Devine and the incoming Murphy next season we could actually improve at 9. The coaching team are going to have to try out and stick to either Hawkshaw or Forde at 10 because we really can't go with Carty anymore and outside of accurate kicking off the tee JJ adds nothing. Can't understand at all why Farrell - who has been our most consistent back outside Bundee in the last 7 years - is being let go. A bizarre management decision. There's cause for optimism though in the back 3 with any combo of Mack, Cordero, Porch, Smith, and Bolton being as good as any in the league.
Finally, can't see any point in the recruitment of Dave O'Connor or McBurney at all. Journeymen's journeymen at best are they likely to be upgrades on McElroy or Thornbury. I don't think so!
I expect the coaching ticket will get another season given this was their first but they've shown very little overall this year. Wilkins talks a good game in interviews but no sign yet that he's a good head coach. Fardy has had a rough spell over the defence. He may come good but he's clearly learning on the job at the moment. Worryingly we took a few right hidings this season.
Injuries haven't helped. Especially among the backs. Cordero and Hansen have both basically missed the entire season. Connacht are depending on those two for creativity and tries.
The signings for next season are pretty underwhelming apart from O'Conor who has some pedigree in the Premiership. But will be be better than Tom Farrell? Doubtful. And I think McBurney will contribute. Not sure I see the others making much of an impact. Murphy will be back I guess which will at least be another body up front. The players leaving seem better than the players arriving so that's never usually a good thing.
10 still a problem position. Hanrahan out until the new year now and he played a lot of games this season. Carty still mixes the sublime with the ridiculous. Even in the same game.
Important next season for Connacht. Won't be long now until they will have a bigger stadium to fill and more season tickets to sell. Can't really afford to go into that on the back of 2 or 3 bad seasons.
Is there not space for Paddy Jackson yet? I belong to nationality (race) who are too torelant against such an ethical issue far more than all Irish people, so I think that he has reflected himself long time enough. In 2017, I watched him at the hot (above 30°c) and very high-humidity (near 90%) Tokyo (Ajinimoto) stadium in June. He came to Japan as a member of Ireland excluding Lions squads (including Connacht 5 players). Then he did place kicking practice about an hour in such a hard conditition before whole Irish member's pre-match training. In that game Ireland won by big margins, so he had many conversion chances and he succeeded all kicks including kicks from both cornors. He didn't loose his concentration for 80 minutes. We are impressed very much by the seriousness of Irish team (Tonner, Leavy, Ringrose etc) especially Jackson. I believe even now that if he were in the squads of 2019 Rwc, Ireland were never beaten by Japan because Ireland lost the game due to a fatal mistake (over the dead-line) of restart kicking (at the beginning of 2nd half). Who was the kicker? I think that ordinary people have the learning (from mistake) ability, but someone have not it. Anyway I expect at next season Connacht use two academy FH( West and Naughton) if Jackson is not available. They may mistake sometimes, but would have the learning ability. And Devine can help them.
The IRFU are a very "safe" organisation. They won't do anything controversial. It doesn't matter to them that Jackson was found innocent. As far as I can tell it's about protecting their public image and their relationships with sponsors. Anyone who is even slightly controversial due to brushes with the law over sexual or domestic violence cases is got rid of.
Some cases are clearly worse that others. But how bad the crime the player is accused of committing doesn't actually matter. Gang rape (Denis Coulson), not attempting to stop a crime (Chris Farrell), physically attacking a woman (Sevu Reece), receiving consensual oral sex (Stuart Olding), engaging in a consensual threesome (Paddy Jackson) - all these cases are treated exactly the same, with the player no longer being offered contracts in Ireland.
I would argue it's a questionable stance by the IRFU in cases where individuals have been found not guilty by the courts, but it is what it is.
I watched an u18s clubs game with i think gavin, o connell and walsh the centre. All great athletes. I really think this is a bit of a potential golden era of homegrown talent coming through at connacht right now. All of those guys, the other walsh, other gavin, farthing, flynn would be in demand at other academies i think.
Not sure if this is a serious post or not but just to be clear, not guilty does not mean innocent either. It only means it wasn't proven by the evidence presented in court. Those listed could easily still be guilty.
Not really a questionable stance at all IMO. Even if not guilty, some of those above showed themselves to pretty sh#t people, who would want to work with them or have them around the squad realistically?
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