Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Was one of worst penalties I have seen conceeded in a while. Right in front of the ref.

Is that 8 interpro in a row now we have lost? Even when we were at our lowest ebb you always had hope for an interpro performance.

Need more than a good meeting this time from Lancaster and the coaches

Btw I thought Naughton added some much needed power when he came on. It's really hard to identify what our best team is at present.

Prendergast went well at 7 as well.

Losing of the game was probably the first 30 minutes. Connacht completely on top but only came away with 10 points. Knocked on twice close to the Ulster try line. Also got turned over on the Ulster try line. Ulster somehow went in 2 points ahead at the break after playing about 5 minutes of good rugby.

It’s a factual assessment of the incident - I’m not a fan of either team and don’t give a shite who wins the game.

He’d adjudicated a penalty against Kok, then against McCloskey for aggravating the incident, why does Bundee’s incident override both of those penalties?

Must be our worst run since the pre Pat Lam days.

That's fair.

I know we complain about refs, but Leinster are being rode raw by theirs tonight.

I'd see it differently FtD.

He was playing advantage against kok then escalated to penalty when mcC wrapped Murphy then responded correctly imo to Bundi becoming the 3rd man and escalating the situation. Reversed the penalty. I was with him up to that point but how and why McCloskey got a card is beyond me. He played almost no part in the scuffle, got three fists in the gob ( not punchs just straight arm pushes but you can see his head going backwards on the second and third) from Bundi and didn't react.

He is a rubbish ref, and I'm a connacht fan but that was all about bundis petulance. He tried to hit McCloskey in the ruck missed and then came back twice more looking for cheap shots. I'm also a huge Bundi fan but this was just silly and cost us position deep in Ulster half.

That's just my opinion and of course you are entitled to yours.

We all see different things and I'm not too bothered about it one way or the other.

Bundi shoved his hand into Hume's face. Hume, at the time, was lying on his back on the ground.

The ref was a gutless wonder and so gave Bundee a yellow and McCloskey a yellow (seemingly for being grabbed round the back of the collar). "For fighting".

Absolutely appalling reffing.

Ref was indeed poor but we can't blame him for very poor decisions in defence, particularly poor tackling on a number of occasions and also jamming in unnecessarily when we had cover inside. We were also very poor on several high kicks. The changes at half-back made a huge difference. Daniel Ryan tried hard and made positive contributions but is clearly not ready for this level yet. A year or so at AIL would help. Our maul defence has improved and our attacking maul ( particularly with 7 against their 8) was very good.

It is not a player issue.

It is entirely a coaching issue.

The team is not performing to the sum of its parts. That is not necessarily Lancaster's fault to begin with. However, it is his problem now.

No point in bitching about culture 7 months into the job.

He needs to own it and fix it.

I agree the ref wasn't bad. Bundee was very lucky to escape red for his actions in the McCloskey/Hume incident. Was due a yellow alone for having a go three times at McCloskey and then his cowardly go at Hume on the floor (which was perilously close to gouging territory) exacerbated it. Extremely lucky to get yellow only, and the biggest bloody sin was costing us valuable field position. The negatives seem to outweigh the positives from Bundee these days and we only seem to be selecting him to keep him fit for the national side. Forde and Gavin are now clearly our primary centre partnership and should be selected so from now on. Forde is not a 13 and should never again be selected there. Ralston (when back fit), Gilbert, or Hawkshaw should be our options there if Gavin isn't available. And to think we let Tom Farrell go to accommodate the late and unlamented Piers O'Conor.

Pondering our recent woes, coupled with the good news about Frawley's signing, I had a thought which may be ridiculous: Josh Ioane can't kick but breaks the line more often than any of our backs except for Mack.

What would he look like at 13?

His tackling has been highly suspect at 10 can't see him being any better at 13.

It's a shame as his running game is top notch