Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

amazing piece of play. free play from scrum, Devine with ball and nobody had a clue what to do

this is embarrassingly awful

Second half has been rough but job done. Devine lively as always.

Bolton injured again, limping going off, rotten luck after being called into the Irish camp. Goddam 4G pitch.

Devine looks now No1 SH in Ireland (maybe above JGP). He can kick from both side of foot (feet?) as needed. And he can read well the flow of game.

It hasn't worked out for Cordero and last night was perhaps the worst performance by a Connacht back in the past 20yrs. His confidence is shot and now's the time to invest time in Smith, Jennings, or Mullins (or even Porch or Ralston) for the Bulls game at the end of November.

Bundee looked sharp and O'Conor has surely bagged the 15 shirt for now. Difficult to know what to do at 10. Forde kicked okay tonight, and will play 12 for the next few games with Bundee rested post the Internationals, but is Ioane better than Carty if neither of them are trusted to kick.

We're blessed at 9 with three top class options and strong too in the back-row. Jansen is a real find and Boyler has played himself back into form. It's been a good start to the season and if we aim to get 18pts in each six game block we'll easily qualify for the play-offs.

Good return from this block, pity we didn't come out the right side of one of the Munster or Ulster games.

Think the coaches have a few problem areas to concern themselves with in the break.

13. O'Connor, Hawkshaw, Forde or Ralston. None look a natural 13 to me with O Connor looking the best of them now looking like our best option at 15. Forde can do a solid job there but he can't be the answer to every question and looks a class option at 12.

14. With O'Connor at 15 and Bolton on one wing who fills the other? Mack when not on Ireland duty but someone needs to step up. Doesn't appear to have worked for Cordero for now.

5. NMurray is the obvious foil to Joyce's grunt and graft but a bit lightweight yet. DMurray is bulkier but a bit unspectacular for me, drifts in and out a bit but fairly solid. This is where my money would be going for next season, a good big line out operator. Easier said than done. Maybe Josh Murphy is an option here.

10. 2 x non kicking distributors or 1 x kicking non distributor. What to do. I know I'd take Ross Byrne instead of all 3 if I could get him. Forde is filling gaps all over the place.

On the other side of the ledger we have some excellent players coming Boyle, Jansen, SHL, SOB, Prendergast and Murphy. Great to have such quality in the back row. Heffernan is in the form of his life and DTM is playing really well.

I was very negative coming off last season but feel credit where it's due they have set out a much better stall so far.

We've always been fairly well stocked at 9 for a while now - ever since Marmion (3rd choice Irish SH at the time) couldn't get into the team when Blade emerged.

Thats an interesting statement. I have never come across such an early recruitment. It has to make you wonder about why it happened so early. Obviously we are glad to have Cian for another 3 years but there is a sense of desperation. It's like this signing is a means of overlooking the weaknesses of the coaching staff. The timing is just a little strange

Seems like your looking for the negative in a positive

Iirc some contracts once upon a time got announced around the AI back in the noughties.

Could it be there were advances from other clubs for him so Connacht tied him down.

I think getting the club captain signed on a long term deal shows continuity and stability as you head into negotiations with other players especially in times of change.

Last weeks speculation around bundi may just have pushed them to announce early.

If we were losing a few senior ish lads it might be very important to give other lads a vision of the future.

Joyce Boyle and SHL are probably the next ones that need to be tied up. Also with the new Prop rules on niqs we better do our business in the front row ASAP. Cos Munster will be in the market for a rake of lads.

Would be really keen to see Fiachna Barrett too and how he's progressing - looks to be going very well for Corinthians.