Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Mack wasn't brilliant but it's his his 4th? game in 10 months. I'd let him play his way back into form. He hasn't been awful.

Kicking for touch and missing it was a poor decision. I get the thought behind it; 2 maul tries. But you have to execute then. Taking a quick tap earlier was a bad call as well.

All told over the first 4 games it's a mixed bag but more positive than negative. 3 potentially tough away games with 8 points taken and 5 from the only home game, albeit we got put of jail there.

There's clearly a better belief in the team this year, I genuinely think last year we would be 0 from 4 now.

The risk is things start to slip and these lose results go against us. Hopefully the management can keep the positives and knock off the brain farts

No issue with anyone having a bad game but half hearted (at best) efforts shouldn’t be tolerated, a number of tackles he would absolutely make in an Ireland shirt he just fell off.

He looked like he would rather be anywhere else. Maybe there’s an understandable reason for that but if there is give him some time off. If there isn’t it’s not acceptable and he shouldn’t be picked against Leinster.

Sorry but it's not all on the coaches. Discipline and execution of simple kicks is an individuals responsibility.

So much of what has been good about Connacht’s pack’s performances over the past few weeks has been the intensity and aggression Josh Murphy has brought.

Especially the last two weekends he’s gotten that completely wrong and become a liability but would agree, when he gets it sorted he’s still a starter in that pack for me who is crucially important. The comments calling him a thug etc from other posters to me are harsh and unfair.

Pete Wilkins and Co deserved a lot of criticism last season, but this year to me Connacht look a lot better coached team with a coherent shape and attack. Josh Ioane (who’s largely been a good signing) has made two complete brain farts in 2 games, which have massively cost the team. That’s not on Wilkins for me.

I also think they came out on the wrong side of seem really questionable and significant decisions last night which had an outsized impact on the game.

I do think that Murphy has added some badly needed aggression and dog to the Connacht pack this season. Who were probably a bit too nice last year. 5 or 6 pens conceded last week and a yellow and a red this week is just overstepping the line though.

Just watching the replay this morning and Ioane missed that touch by a mile. it wasn't even close. Really lost control of the kick.

Couple of things here. Cordero is a winger by nature so Jennings at full back sounds good.

As for previous post about trip to Perpignan. Flights with Aer Lingus to Barcelona turn out at 250 for 2 13th to 18th. Train to Barcelona Central station, train to Perpignan, stay 5 nights in Perpignan. Accomodations plus travel adds up to just below 600. Bit of grub, beer, game and extras means a decent week for not too much expense.

Also Josh Murphy was excellent the first two games. He just has over intensified his efforts. Still a great man to have. Love his aggression

Ah stop. Look at a team like Leinster and contrast it to Connacht. Leinster remind me in the rucks as a dog searching for a juicy bone. Connacht are docile in comparison. If you don't have that aggression you're just depending on fast ball to live. It's hard being on the back foot as a 10.

Ioane didn't give away silly penalties giving access to our 22. Ioane can't stop a rolling maul. Ioane isn't responsible for other players missing tackles.

Did he have the greatest game in the world? No. Should he have found touch at the end? Of course.

But he certainly isn't the reason we lost the game.

I’d hope the Forde comes back into the starting team this week. I’d prefer if he was at 12 but think it’ll be 13 outside Bundee. I’d also consider dropping POC back to 15 and Santi on the bench

I think we have two issues with squad balance.

1. We have an abundance of talented back 3 options, but most if not all are more comfortable on the wing than at fullback.
2. We have an abundance of talented centres, but most are more comfortable at inside than outside centre.

We have tried to address these issues in a number of ways, trying the likes of , Smith, Hansen, and Jennings at 15, Forde at 13, etc. The only experiment we really persisted with was Hawkshaw at 13, which was not a success in my opinion.

One solution I have been mulling over is O'Conor at 15 and Gavin at 13, starting with the home game against the Dragons. I think this improves our first choice back 3, and gets our best young player (possibly ever) into the team, skipping the enormous logjam at 12. On the flip side, it leaves Hansen, Cordero, Bolton, Jennings, Mullins, Smith, etc. competing for two jerseys, so we would have a lot of talent sitting in the stands. It also potentially jeopardises Gavin's development by moving him away from his best position at a key stage of his career.

Cordero on the bench as 23 is certainly not going to help as he is not a utility back. He either starts or is not included

Leinster don’t look brilliant, don’t get me wrong they should still beat 90% of URC games no bother.

Their attack still isn’t clicking and while their scramble defence is unreal, they concede a lot of line breaks. I can easily see Ben a Murphy scoring off first phase or a bit of Mack magic getting through.

Against Leinster you also need to take advantage at scrum time. I think D Murray and Joyce behind Buckley Heff and Bealham will be key.