Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Bundee in the Aviva enjoying himself

I believe Premier are streaming it but it's not on either of the main channels.

Lovely try

Looks like Smith might have to go off now too. Looked lively and was hoping for a big game for him 1st day back.

Great stuff from Cordero, exactly what he was signed for.

Very positive half, Perpignan don't seem to have much about them so we need to avoid giving them easy access to our 22.

No idea how Cathal Forde is so strong in contact, given he's not a huge man. Needs to tighten up a little on his kicks from hand though.

A bit blessed there i think.

Agree that we were lucky not to get a yellow, but what followed was a great defensive set.

Overall a very positive last two weeks. Our internationals have gotten a good rest and ten points in the bag. Plenty of dry powder for the coming interpros where we should be targeting a win against Ulster.

good win. refereeing didn't allow for any continuity which killed the spectacle. but it's all about the result and Connacht got that. Ralston, Boyle my standouts

Super win. Jack deservedly Man of the Match but lots of good performances. Selection for Leinster will be interesting.

Bundee signed up for another year. Presumeably if his form holds up we'll be looking at another extention up to the World Cup

Great news

It was very odd. Everyone involved in it got contracts after the initial charges.

As regards Coulson: Connacht announced his signing in a post on August 28, 2017. Two weeks later he made his first appearance. Looks like a shotgun marriage to me.

The rape occurred the previous March, so six months before that. Is it likely that they had signed him but not announced the contract?

If his contract was signed after the rape, but it was not divulged to Connacht during the negotiation, it would be incompetence on the part of their lawyers if this was not grounds for invalidation.

He was stood down and suspended by Grenoble in April 2017 as well, so it's absolutely inconceivable Connacht weren't aware of the allegations (as they then were) at the time.

Even if they'd signed the deal with him prior to March, they absolutely could have gotten out of it surely based on the arrest etc had they wanted to do so.

I have slightly more sympathy for Munster with Chris Farrell - my understanding is his involvement / presence in this didn't come to light until much later, and was actually revealed via a video Coulson submitted of the incident which revealed Farrell was present. The crutch that was found to have been involved in the incident belonged to Farrell.