MATCH THREAD: Connacht vs Leinster, 19th Sept 2014 19:35, The Sportgroud, TG4

.ak · 19-09-2014 11:44am

its_phil wrote: »

Pretty sure it's Macca mate! Don't think he's gone backwards but probably hasn't kicked on as much as he would have liked. He's picked up injuries though IIRC. His tackling certainly isn't something that never went unnoticed down here. If himself or Swift tackled a player high and held them you knew a turnover was coming.

It's Maccer now.

Like I said I think he'd be happy with his progress, he was probably robbed of a few 6N caps due to his face being used as welcome mat. That was the only thing that set him back last season, so a bit of a fluke really. If he can re-do what he did last season he'll be back in the Irish 23 imo.

Tox56 · 19-09-2014 11:44am

Zzippy wrote: »

Personally I think it's a lazy stereotype to excuse a player not bringing his best form to a new club - oh, we had to get him up to our standard of fitness. Fionn Carr returned to Connacht last year and didn't perform as well as he did when he was here previously but I didn't hear any complaints that he wasn't fit from his time at Leinster...

It was an 'excuse' for literally only a few games/a few months, after that he was excellent for us

.ak · 19-09-2014 11:47am

Tox56 wrote: »

It was an 'excuse' for literally only a few games/a few months, after that he was excellent for us

Yep, even as big a fan as I am, he did have trouble getting around the park, but he literally burned into that after a couple of games and never looked back really.

its_phil · 19-09-2014 11:48am

.ak wrote: »

It's Maccer now.

Like I said I think he'd be happy with his progress, he was probably robbed of a few 6N caps due to his face being used as welcome mat. That was the only thing that set him back last season, so a bit of a fluke really. If he can re-do what he did last season he'll be back in the Irish 23 imo.

You guys ruin everything. Why not put an 'O' at the end for goodness sake?! You'd know no one in the RDS has heard of Mick McCarthy!!

But agree on everything else said

molloyjh · 19-09-2014 11:49am

Heard Blues Talk call him the king of the choke tackle recently. I really like the guy. He's not a massive ball carrying lock, but he is a solid and strong lump of a fella. He adds a lot to the engine room at scrum time, has a great work rate and is an aggressive defender. His physicality at ruck time is pretty good too. That's exactly what we need from him. We've got ball carriers in the pack already; Healy, Cronin, SOB and Heaslip. So he isn't being used to carry now.

.ak · 19-09-2014 11:52am

Yeah, all that stuff > ball carrying for me. Ball carrying is for show poneys anyway.

jspuds · 19-09-2014 11:54am

Anybody know if there is English commentary available anywhere?

ssaye2 · 19-09-2014 11:56am

jspuds wrote: »

Anybody know if there is English commentary available anywhere?

Maybe galway bay radio but thats it

Zzippy · 19-09-2014 11:56am

.ak wrote: »

Yep, even as big a fan as I am, he did have trouble getting around the park, but he literally burned into that after a couple of games and never looked back really.

Funny how he never had trouble getting around the park for Conancht either though - was brilliant at getting to and clearing out rucks.

Anyway, agree to disagree - my no. 1 memory of Macca from his time here - when he was sent off for fighting with Rocky Elsom after Leo Cullen had elbowed Keats off the ball (shoUld have seen red too :mad: )... cut to end of the game and the Aussie guy who used to do pitchside commentary for Setanta grabs Macca for an interview. First question: "WHY'D YOU DO IT MIKE?"

freyners · 19-09-2014 12:00pm

.ak wrote: »

Yeah, all that stuff > ball carrying for me. Ball carrying is for show poneys anyway.

Spoken like a man whos team never let him on the ball:D

S12b · 19-09-2014 12:02pm

Quick piece with Jack Rugby and Darragh Leader.....interesting to hear a young guy speak honestly and say how surreal it is for him to go up against his childhood heroes!!

http://bcove.me/0hy1w0ka

connachta · 19-09-2014 12:03pm

connachta wrote: »

too simple, you all say a team must adapt to the ref, but you don't recognize some styles of refereeing is adaquate to some styles of playing and structures which can't be changed in a day

And we all know ref is an art of interpretation:cool:

freyners · 19-09-2014 12:04pm

I think our hopes of winning rest on Leader. If Leader can finally get a nice kick to start him off I can see him turning in a good performance from the tee. He seems to be a confidence guy. We know how good he is in the air and on the d. Offensively he has kicked on massively as well. But if hes going to be a place kicker we need hit to start hitting 80% at minimum

its_phil · 19-09-2014 12:05pm

molloyjh wrote: »

Heard Blues Talk call him the king of the choke tackle recently. I really like the guy. He's not a massive ball carrying lock, but he is a solid and strong lump of a fella. He adds a lot to the engine room at scrum time, has a great work rate and is an aggressive defender. His physicality at ruck time is pretty good too. That's exactly what we need from him. We've got ball carriers in the pack already; Healy, Cronin, SOB and Heaslip. So he isn't being used to carry now.

Michael Swift disagrees. Everything Macca learnt from Swift. Swift is the Choke Tackle King and if you disagree, well...you get the idea of what he'll do

Eponymous · 19-09-2014 12:10pm

.ak wrote: »

Yeah, all that stuff > ball carrying for me. Ball carrying is for show poneys anyway.

He probably doesn't even own a pair of Beats headphones.

It should be a cracker tonight in any event. I can see Connacht fighting hard to preserve their record and they'll always up their performance when Leinster or Munster roll into town - it's a freakin' derby!!!!

That said, Leinster can't afford any complacency at all and having already had a poor performance in Glasgow, they really can't afford another one this early in the season. As they say in American Football circles at this stage you can't win the competition, but you can certainly lose it.

There were very strong performances all over the park last week for Leinster, I can't imagine that momentum not being maintained and I see it being a close fought match for at least 60 mins.

Leinster by 9 for me.

.ak · 19-09-2014 12:12pm

freyners wrote: »

I think our hopes of winning rest on Leader. If Leader can finally get a nice kick to start him off I can see him turning in a good performance from the tee. He seems to be a confidence guy. We know how good he is in the air and on the d. Offensively he has kicked on massively as well. But if hes going to be a place kicker we need hit to start hitting 80% at minimum

Yeah, for me Leader has all the prospects of being a great outhalf. Didn't he start against us last year and looked by far better in terms of tactical kicking then Mads etc? I think Connacht will need to keep it away from the pack to win the game, so expect a lot of kicking and lot of line speed.

porterbelly · 19-09-2014 12:13pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

ah come on now, blaming a ref even before the game starts???

Lacey is a good ref, despite what some ulster fans still think.

I think the referee is a relevant point given the Darcy try that was given despite a forward pass and the non Heaslip yellow for a late shoulder charge on Dan Parks in the corresponding fixture last season. The 2 key calls that went against us last year.

Seems to be a recurring theme in interpros

freyners · 19-09-2014 12:14pm

.ak wrote: »

Yeah, for me Leader has all the prospects of being a great outhalf. Didn't he start against us last year and looked by far better in terms of tactical kicking then Mads etc? I think Connacht will need to keep it away from the pack to win the game, so expect a lot of kicking and lot of line speed.

Think you mean Carty? Leader is the red haired Fb. Carty is the 10 with superior haircut to Mads

.ak · 19-09-2014 12:14pm

porterbelly wrote: »

I think the referee is a relevant point given the Darcy try that was given despite a forward pass and the non Heaslip yellow for a late shoulder charge on Dan Parks in the corresponding fixture last season. The 2 key calls that went against us last year.

Seems to be a recurring theme in interpros

Wasn't that the TMO not the ref? Anyway, if a controversial call is the difference between sides you only have yourselves to blame.

Zzippy · 19-09-2014 12:15pm

Eponymous wrote: »

He probably doesn't even own a pair of Beats headphones.

It should be a cracker tonight in any event. I can see Connacht fighting hard to preserve their record and they'll always up their performance when Leinster or Munster roll into town - it's a freakin' derby!!!!

That said, Leinster can't afford any complacency at all and having already had a poor performance in Glasgow, they really can't afford another one this early in the season. As they say in American Football circles at this stage you can't win the competition, but you can certainly lose it.

There were very strong performances all over the park last week for Leinster, I can't imagine that momentum not being maintained and I see it being a close fought match for at least 60 mins.

Leinster by 9 for me.

I'm not sure last week is a great form guide. Sure Leinster were impressive, but Scarlets were woeful, heads went down early on and their defence was fairly porous. Having said that, even if Connacht play a lot better than Scarlets, if Madigan gets much ball and plays like he did last week I can only see one result. Close him down early and we have a chance. McSharry just the man to take him on...

its_phil · 19-09-2014 12:16pm

.ak wrote: »

Wasn't that the TMO not the ref? Anyway, if a controversial call is the difference between sides you only have yourselves to blame.

It was a call that cost us a LBP and would have been the difference in the table last year of one place. But it's irrelevant now

S12b · 19-09-2014 12:16pm

.ak wrote: »

Yeah, for me Leader has all the prospects of being a great outhalf. Didn't he start against us last year and looked by far better in terms of tactical kicking then Mads etc? I think Connacht will need to keep it away from the pack to win the game, so expect a lot of kicking and lot of line speed.

You're mixing up Carty and Leader.....Carty started at 10 last year at the sportsgrounds and had a pretty good game. He probably did out play Madigan who was subbed off for Gopperth who made a big impact.

Leader is the fullback from the 2013 Ireland u.20s and plays fb for us but is currently taking the kicks at goal.

Zzippy · 19-09-2014 12:18pm

.ak wrote: »

Wasn't that the TMO not the ref? Anyway, if a controversial call is the difference between sides you only have yourselves to blame.

Ah here, tell that to the lads on the Irish team who lost to "that" Mike Phillips try in Cardiff in 2011.

former legend · 19-09-2014 12:21pm

porterbelly wrote: »

I think the referee is a relevant point given the Darcy try that was given despite a forward pass and the non Heaslip yellow for a late shoulder charge on Dan Parks in the corresponding fixture last season. The 2 key calls that went against us last year.

Seems to be a recurring theme in interpros

1. It's a different ref - unless you think they're all biased against you?
2. The TMO made the call on the try, and it was very unclear either way.
3. Not scoring for the entire second half was probably a key factor too.

Zzippy · 19-09-2014 12:28pm

former legend wrote: »

1. It's a different ref - unless you think they're all biased against you?
2. The TMO made the call on the try, and it was very unclear either way.
3. Not scoring for the entire second half was probably a key factor too.

1. Totally agree
2. It wasn't unclear at all, the ball went about a metre forward. But sometimes those things go for you, sometimes against.
3. This is the real reason we lost that game.

its_phil · 19-09-2014 12:42pm

Zzippy wrote: »

1. Totally agree
2. It wasn't unclear at all, the ball went about a metre forward. But sometimes those things go for you, sometimes against.
3. This is the real reason we lost that game.

We weren't going to win the game. Leinster gave a masterclass in killing a team and its fans in the second half. It was a carbon copy of the second half performance Harlequins had against us in 2012. We defended well but Leinster kept the ball and took all the wind out of our sail while not setting the world alight. We deserved a LBP but a win would have been stretching it

Tox56 · 19-09-2014 12:43pm

porterbelly wrote: »

I think the referee is a relevant point given the Darcy try that was given despite a forward pass and the non Heaslip yellow for a late shoulder charge on Dan Parks in the corresponding fixture last season. The 2 key calls that went against us last year.

What the hell? This is getting ridiculous. How is this even vaguely relevant to this game

molloyjh · 19-09-2014 12:45pm

Zzippy wrote: »

I'm not sure last week is a great form guide. Sure Leinster were impressive, but Scarlets were woeful, heads went down early on and their defence was fairly porous. Having said that, even if Connacht play a lot better than Scarlets, if Madigan gets much ball and plays like he did last week I can only see one result. Close him down early and we have a chance. McSharry just the man to take him on...

This. 100 times this. The reason we were so successful last week, as I said in that match thread, was because we were afforded time and space a la Franklins Gardens. And we all know what happened in the Aviva the following week.

CatFromHue · 19-09-2014 12:47pm

The forward/not forward pass was a close call but there was never a metre in it.

ssaye2 · 19-09-2014 12:58pm

Gopperth came on as a sub the last two times and the scoreboard went in our favour. We are starting him now. Be Afraid.

MATCH THREAD: Connacht vs Leinster, 19th Sept 2014 19:35, The Sportgroud, TG4

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