Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Big Jack Carty fan. There were seasons where himself and Farrell carried our attack kicking and screaming. Never gave anything less than 100% and like all players sometimes that was enough to get the wins and sometimes it wasn't. Thanks

Gone from Leinster thread. My bad

Jack is such an interesting case. I met many players prior and post Connacht games and of all of them Jack was different. I was at many games where the abuse hurled from the sidelines towards Jack was beyond offensive. And I know I did post negative stuff about Jack over the years but it was always about what was best for Connacht.

Any time I came across Jack at the dressing rooms when heading out to the pitch he never acknowledged anyone while most players would just be thankful that you came along as a fan.

He was a strange kid. You kind of felt a bit sorry for him as he never really embraced what he had but instead struggled all those years. And 15 years is a lot of your life to be struggling particularly when those are your best years

It's from a Reddit post about a season ticket holder Q&A.

Jimmy Duffy must be in the mix for forwards coach given he has just left Ulster to be closer to family in Galway.

33 includes Ioane, he's always been contracted but there was chatter around him nonetheless. I listed them out a couple of posts after that one.

Thanks.

Yeah I thought that it was interesting listening to Lancasters press conference yesterday where he was positive about the match but also pointed out a number of areas where he thought they didn't do as well as they could. So great to see that he is really driving standards in the group

I liked Lancaster's press conference after the Ulster game where he said we reset to zero. For me we pick Ioane to start v Ospreys, Munster and Edinburgh as all of them have suspect defenses. Jack would not offer value off the bench in these 3 instances so I figure he won't be used.

That said I think Jack in SA is going to be a different matter. I think his ability to just get the ball away when you have big lads bearing down on you will be important.

Jack has a role to play yet in how our season goes

It's really hard to predict but I think 50+ points might be required for top 8. Had a go at mapping it out but there's quite a few games that could go either way.

Bulls have the easiest fixture list and I think will pull away from this group and challenge for top 4. That leaves Cardiff, Munster, Lions, and ourselves competing for three spots, although Sharks could come into it if they win one of their away games.

Ultimately it's somewhat in our own hands. If we beat the three teams in this group we have a very strong chance, if we lose one it becomes a toss up, if we lose two we're probably done for.

Jackman mentioned Aungier going to Munster again for next season in a podcast this week so it must all be done behind the scenes.

Don't expect SHL to stay at this stage but if they could keep him and get a good lock forward in it would be fantastic. Hansen back would nearly be like a new signing at this stage.

That seems reasonable, only real difference seems to be you're more bullish on the SA teams and more down on Munster.

Sharks haven't won a league game outside of SA for almost a year so I don't back them to do much in the away games, but they always have the talent to pull it out of the bag.

Yeah I think Sharks are the real swing one. The fact they are playing Edinburgh and Ospreys away made me lean towards them, but very real chance they lose either of those and they won't be in the picture as I feel 50 points minimum will be needed.

I think with the fixtures my take on Munster is realistic to be honest. Can't see them getting anything this weekend, I would have them getting nothing at Connacht in Galway the way both are currently playing, and can see Ulster beating them (that's probably a 50/50 though). I think they have the hardest run in out of everyone with Benetton away not a gimme either. Lions at home is the game I think they will definitely win but that's the only one I would be confident in saying they will win.