POC is turning into a decent FB.
Poor Cordero is having a nightmare. He's better than this
What happened to Bolton missed a couple of mins and saw Gavin had come in. Hopefully he won't be out for long
Hopefully he won't be out for long.
Some of the guys are carrying really well. Boyle and Prendergast especially
I’m sure Cordero is a better player than we are seeing but he’s having a nightmare out there and has got to be on borrowed time.
Think Piers O'Connor is taking the full back position for himself. Superb
Is he Irish qualified?
Decent first half. Forde kicking is a no brainer but glad we've done it, his line kicks especially have been very good. Piers O'Conor looking like the answer at 15, and Prendergast having probably his best game since being made captain. I love that Hugh Gavin has come off the bench on his second cap and is immediately coming off his wing and looking to playmake out the back of pods, hopefully he gets a bit of space at some point.
Harsh because he's obviously trying hard but I don't think it's in our interest to keep trying to play Cordero into form when he is likely to leave at the end of the season. We have other options who would likely make less errors, and into whom investing gametime makes more sense in the long term.
Increasingly getting more on board with the idea of trying Forde or Hawkshaw at 10.
He's looked poor in every game this season
Would like to see them cut out some of the silly errors
Apparantly so, along with Australia, New Zealand, and England!
liked the way Blade looked so pissed off returning the ball after his try. clearly he is pissed off with the way Murphy has taken his position. rightly so. so channel your rage Caolin
He's been very good, exactly the reaction you want to see.
interesting the body language between Dooley and O'Connor there. if looks could kill
amazing piece of play. free play from scrum, Devine with ball and nobody had a clue what to do
and Ralston isn't much improvement to the mayhem
this is embarrassingly awful
Lovely from Devine, Forde in the right place.
Second half has been rough but job done. Devine lively as always.
and Ralston tops the list
Devine has been hungry, deserved that.
Bolton injured again, limping going off, rotten luck after being called into the Irish camp. Goddam 4G pitch.
Big time, competition keeps players on edge. Murphy is class and it's got a reaction. That's exactly what a coach wants. Devine was good coming on, really good. Connacht seems blessed for the last 10 years at no9
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.
Great advice and parking behind the G worked a treat (parked just after 6).
Great atmosphere and the weather made it. We were with the U12 boys/girls who did the half-time match and they all had a ball. A few of the players stopped for pictures and autographs with them afterwords which was greatly appreciated. Bundee was a big hit!
Only downside was an extremely angry and over-zeaolous steward roaring at people to get their kids off the 'step' at the Bohermore end. Only a minor blot.
Thanks for the advice given on parking (only spotted the other posts this morning mentioning the paid car park).
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.
Never mentioned the family jewels, 9 oh my god have we ever had such riches in any one position before. I'm enjoying the internal battles.
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.
https://www.connachtrugby.ie/news/cian-prendergast-signs-threeyear-contract/bp3197/
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
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