Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

I noted the last line of the Connacht statement mentioned starting the process to recruit a new head coach so I think I would be somewhat disappointed if Seib got it by default (even if that was the plan all along the optics wouldnt be hectic)

Admittedly I dont know a lot about him bar what I have read on here and if it is the case he is taking over I hope it goes well.

Funny you say that, because I thought that title was weird at the time too, and we all wondered what the dynamic was going to be.

So if rte are correct, and Seib will be head coach, why did the branch include this as the last line in their statement : "Cullie Tucker will remain as interim head coach for the rest of the campaign, and the club will now begin the process of recruiting a new head coach for the 2025/26 season."

I don’t know much about Seib but it looks like he has never been head coach of a professional team before?

If we are going to give someone like that a shot I would far rather Nigel Carolan. He has been successful in every role he ever had and knows Connacht rugby inside and out. Expect he will be a head coach in the short term and it will be a real blow if he is successful, when Connacht are seemingly lurching from one appointment to another.

Ideally though, there would be an actual interview process and opportunity to interview a range of people with different perspectives. I know there is limited time but I really don’t like tunnel focus on one guy. Ruane and co have already done that. It has not worked well.

You have trotted into this thread making three posts all with pretty **** takes, that have absolutely no basis in fact.

Give It a break.

Wilkins always came across as a decent guy, and it looks like Connacht wanted to retain him to focus on defence again. It's a pity they couldn't work something out.

The management team could look alright if they find a decent defence coach with the budget left.

The next two weeks will tell us where we stand regarding outhalves and full backs.

Solid stats, you are right, around the field they are good.

Least amount of lineouts lost in the league, I think the problem is where we have lost those lineouts…

We seem to be unable to secure the lineout in opposition 22…

https://www.unitedrugby.com/statistics/2024-25

But I do stand corrected… I blamed the lineout in error

So lets compared where we have gone from 2 seasons ago to where we are now…

So 22/23 season first and 24/25 second

Attack 12th → 2nd (+10 places)👍️

Defence 3rd → 13th (-10 places)🛑

Kicking 11th → 16th (-5 places Last)🛑

Discipline 10th → 5th (-5 places)👍️

Lineout 2nd → 1st (-1 places)👍️

Scrum 4th → 13th (+11 places)🛑

Position in the league 7th → 13th 🛑

Chances of Nigel Carolan are pretty slim…

With Gregor Townsend leaving the Scottish National job, Franco Smith is being tipped for the Scottish Head Coach.

Nigel is very popular in Glasgow (no surprise there), he would have some very interesting options in front of him… He is still relatively young with a young family that is very settled in Glasgow.

Just don't see it happening yet… Great Coach who was one of secret weapons for years…

I think Wilkins was kind of caught when he got promoted… After touring with Ireland they pushed for his promotion and as kind of obligation and a previous arguement with a player on the team, his coaching team looked untested in areas. That brought in problems…

Mark Sexton took a few months to bed in and thus we felt we weere going back and forth across the pitch.. Saying that, he has the attack very well set up now and he is a fine coach and we can get a thank you card from Ulster.

Defence has been a mess… Just plain and simple… I think Wilkins tried to take over it (rumour) but he was then trying to do his main job as well as another job with no one like Andy Friend to give a quite word of wisdom…

This I think can be very isolating… It is just too much and I mainly blame IRFU who pushed too hard ( not because they are evil or anything, just pushing too hard)…

Conor McPhillips for a defence/attack job?

More of an attack/skills coach but surely he would consider a move home from Georgia.

I think Carolan is on a trajectory that would mean only the top job would make sense, and that seems to be gone already

last stat is all i care about tbh!

tucker is not good at all as interim unfortunatley

I think it is a simple case of him being a good coach but not a manager …

I have been told that Andy Friend didn't take a single coaching session in Connacht Rugby… He was the Manager not a coach… Different skill set and not necessarily a promotion.

We have the same thing in many other industries, a great plumber doesn't mean he is a good Site Foreman OR A excellent Software Engineer is a a good Project Manager…

This is why Felix Jones might not necessarily want to be a head coach(Manager).

And I think Pete found being away from players coaching and dealing with other player issues while managing coaches draining…

I really hope Pete gets back to where he loved his job as I only heard he is a nice man..

I forgot, A KICKER…..

CoUld do with a big second row and a big hooker. The second rows are not big carriers and Joyce has not been great lately. Heff is not getting any younger and DTM is decent but I feel he is a little on the small side along with De Buitlear.

'Is it strange but I am looking forward to next season now….'

Its somewhat funny. You make one comment I agree with and then a comment like above which I completely disagree with. If what I believe is going to happen, Seib getting the main job without any search, I believe Connacht is flucked for the next few years to come. I suppose the bright side to this is that Willie Ruane will have no choice but to step aside after pure gross incompetence.