Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

There's a fair smattering of talent across the squad, it'll come good in time. Lancaster is a good coach and we need a little luck on the injury front too.

Thanks for your words… It seems a dark place right now…

I think Richie got some great coaches into Ulster… They don't have sexy playing resume but they are some of the best coaches around… Duffy was very important too…

Jarad Payne might be an option for us as defence coach…

Our big problem right now is injuries… We just don't have the depth to had two loose head and two tight head and our no.1 hooker injured against Leinster… We played the last 10 min with a two Academy props and our third choice hooker Front Row against a Front row of 2 Lions and Irish International…

We have lost games because we have no kicker and we solved that (hopefully), We lost games in early December because we have no scrum.

We just need a break from injuries… We will have better days…

hopefully some hard questions asked as to where the plan and progession is ?

Is Sean Naughton injured?

Yes. Not far off returning according to Lancaster in the Leinster post match press conference (along with a few others).

The only positive i can see at this stage is that we are only 3 points off 8th place with a game in hand also that game in hand is played during the 6 nations which is good news

As I think someone else pointed up above, you could very well be facing a Leinster side more akin to the team we rolled out for the first couple of weeks of the season, minus all the internationals I suspect.

I believe Ireland are going to camp in Portugal that week, and Leinster will probably be fully loaded the next two weekends in Europe.

I agree with Shiney…

Before this injury crisis we were almost winning… The performances were good and we were just ending up on the wrong side of games…

We lost to Cardiff away and Munster away for the lack of a kicker… We played a backline of kids… Matt Devine played 50 min on the wing…

Lost by a point to the Bulls after a wrong Red card was given out and the SA player didn't get one… That went to last kick of the game which a very green Sean Naughton took.

Munster by two points where we had 0 kicks from 5… Devine had to come on for Ralston after 42 min. Munster hammered Leinster the week before. They were on a 5 in a row.

Beat Sharks

Ospreys game looked bad but our scrum just collapsed… We were playing with 13 playes for 10 min at point (I think) against the wind. It was a classic day of what could go wrong, went wrong. Like Munster v Zebra last season.

Beat Black Lions.

Dragons was a very sore point and probably the main reason for our heads dropping… It was bad. The team just fell apart for 40 min, it was a shambles… But we scored the last 3 tries to claim a bonus point, it is a poor consilation prize but it shows that this team can rally. Carty did very well that night, he came on and settled the ship.

Ulster loss was no disgrace. They are going great guns at the moment. We are disappointed that we had them under so much pressure and failed to convert but they are a very well coached side and are clearly further along their path than us right now. But we kept it close and I think we a few changes we could win these type of games.

Leinster, well we gave it our best… We just don't have the depth in front row, our back defence was exposed… This was a bridge too far at the moment… We gave a great half of rugby but the benches were miles apart… Leinster 6-2 split just hammered us and their backs totally exposed us.

So get some players back… Need better lineout and need props back to hold the scrum… We have a kicker or two… Naughton is coming more and more important… Devine needs a bit of luck at this stage…

I might be a bit optimistic but Pat Lam had a worse start… I think we have a lot of good players and especially a great crop of young players… Get coaching right in all areas and Connacht could be the place that the best young talent in Ireland want to be to cut their teeth…

Look at it this way…

Last season we played Ulster who were going throught the horrors and we played at home and lost 17 - 7. Ulster were full of injuries and we had very few.

This year same encounter… Ulster is flying, playing some of the best rugby in a decade. We are decimated with injuries. We loose 29 -24.

I know this isn't a win but it is a vast improvement. Lancaster has done that mainly by expanding his picking pool… Wilkins had ghosted a chunk of players who are back now.

While the results aren't going our way, I am some how excited that we are improving with young team… Coaching is key, especially assistant coaches, Ulster have shown that… I prefer a good young lad with good coach over a established player with poor coaching..

Interesting, I have thought throughout the season that Sam Illo in particular looks very unfit. For most of Lancaster's tenure at Leinster, they were rotating heavily in the league as the competition was weaker, their squad was bigger, and there were more games during international periods. Perhaps he needs to adjust the training load to account for the fact that he now has less ability to rotate week on week. Sean Jansen, Josh Murphy, Dave Heffernan, and Darragh Murrray have played between 64% and 78% of available minutes so far this season.

Alternatively, perhaps we are trying to bulk players up to try to win the collisions that we need to play Lancaster's high phase count game.

Rumours of Jack Aungier to Munster ahead of next season.

Connacht to bring in up to 10 new players. Obviously one already confirmed in Frawley.

Was gonna say, for all the doom and gloom a BP win v. Scarlets and we're top 8 - its not over yet but there is zero margin for error. Need Stu to string together a few wins back to back. For all the poor execution in the red zone, we actually did play some really good rugby in that first half against Ulster.

Feels like the CC funding model could have a seismic effect on Irish rugby this season.

A 40% funding of the Leinster CC could have as much as a 1.5 million (guestimate) hit on Leinster's playing budget. That means lots of players on the move.

Boyle would be a decent addition to our loose heads and we could survive losing Aungier even if it is a little unpalatable.