Connacht Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Part II

freyners · 31-03-2014 3:17pm

wprathead wrote: »

Seen as it is a new thread I don't wanna start with the negativity of yore or tin foil hat wearing but have to say the RTÉ coverage was a joke surrounding Connacht yesterday.

The Connacht match is only mentioned with about 2 mins before kick-off (I understand there is no Against the Head to discuss the Rabo, but the entire build up was the Leinster-Munster game and new European Cup).

The panel clearly had very limited knowledge of the Connacht team -This post on the Connacht Clan site by phatguerilla summed it up for me:

At half time Daire O'Brien asked "Does anyone see a Connacht win?" and they all had a giggle - was pretty childish thing to do.

Now I don't want to be playing any daft "de meeja are against us - poor us" card but it is frustrating at times..

/rant

Delighted for Buckley, well deserved POTM award:cool:

The masterson criticism was ridiculous imo.

Tox56 · 31-03-2014 3:27pm

I thought some of the criticism of connacht by the panel displayed a lack of awareness from the lads which isn't really acceptable when its your job to be informed. Yeah we all would have liked to have seen connacht jackal for the ball more Shaggie, but with no 7's left to play and an 8 as flanker who has about a half dozen starts it wasn't going to happen.
Maybe make some sort of acknowledgement of how well he's done rather than just dismissing the backrow. If TOD and every other 7 at munster were missing for instance the panel would at least have known who was and wasn't familiar with the position and whether they were filling in or not.

This just reads like a fan unhappy with their team being criticised, Leinster were in a similar situation v Castres with an inexperienced 8 playing 7 and the lack of threat at the breakdown was rightly highlighted.

its_phil · 31-03-2014 3:41pm

Tox56 wrote: »

This just reads like a fan unhappy with their team being criticised, Leinster were in a similar situation v Castres with an inexperienced 8 playing 7 and the lack of threat at the breakdown was rightly highlighted.

It isn't unfair for a pundit to criticise a team, but it's also unfair not to add balance by acknowledging there were no 7's left to play including Heenan and Faloon. Masterson is 20/21 and only joined the academy in November.

Daire O'Brien claiming a TBP was a "rare occurrence" was pretty embarrassing considering it was our fourth in a row and only one short of Munster and Ulster this year in league. I've no problem with criticisim but misinformed generalisations is not up-to-par punditry and not one of the panel bar Jackman (I think) watched the Dragons game and probably the previous 3 games. Expected better from Horgan who no doubt is a fine pundit when it's a game that suits.

BeardySi · 31-03-2014 3:43pm

Am rather annoyed - nipped down to Ravenhill at lunchtime to discover the bloody Connacht match is sold out!

Have feelers out among my Ulster mates so fingers crossed....

b.gud · 31-03-2014 3:47pm

its_phil wrote: »

It isn't unfair for a pundit to criticise a team, but it's also unfair not to add balance by acknowledging there were no 7's left to play including Heenan and Faloon. Masterson is 20/21 and only joined the academy in November.

Daire O'Brien claiming a TBP was a "rare occurrence" was pretty embarrassing considering it was our fourth in a row and only one short of Munster and Ulster this year in league. I've no problem with criticisim but misinformed generalisations is not up-to-par punditry and not one of the panel bar Jackman (I think) watched the Dragons game and probably the previous 3 games. Expected better from Horgan who no doubt is a fine pundit when it's a game that suits.

Was on a stag so missed a lot of the commentary so can't weigh in too much on it. However regarding the TBP being a rare occurrence I believe he wasn't referring to it being a rare occurrence for Connacht, but rather a rare occurrence for a team to get a LBP and TBP in the same match

phatguerilla · 31-03-2014 3:54pm

Tox56 wrote: »

This just reads like a fan unhappy with their team being criticised, Leinster were in a similar situation v Castres with an inexperienced 8 playing 7 and the lack of threat at the breakdown was rightly highlighted.

Surely you're not referring to Jordi Murphy, a player that Leinster list as a flanker on their official website, and who has over 30 senior appearances, and comparing his situation to that of a young academy player with less than a half dozen starts? Murphy just isn't good on the ground it has nothing to do with what position he is picked its just an obvious weakness in his game.

In any case I'll forgive this lack of background information as you're not a full time pundit unlike Horgan et al.

its_phil · 31-03-2014 3:58pm

b.gud wrote: »

Was on a stag so missed a lot of the commentary so can't weigh in too much on it. However regarding the TBP being a rare occurrence I believe he wasn't referring to it being a rare occurrence for Connacht, but rather a rare occurrence for a team to get a LBP and TBP in the same match

I'll recheck it but I don't think it was in that context TBH

Zzippy · 31-03-2014 3:59pm

its_phil wrote: »

I'll recheck it but I don't think it was in that context TBH

I thought it was in that context alright, but O'Brien was pretty condescending at half time with the old "development province" question.

Treadhead wrote: »

Am rather annoyed - nipped down to Ravenhill at lunchtime to discover the bloody Connacht match is sold out!

Have feelers out among my Ulster mates so fingers crossed....

Did you use your Connacht accent or a Bangor one? They probably wouldn't sell any to the enemy you see...

CatFromHue · 31-03-2014 4:02pm

In fairness at 13-6 down at halftime I didn't see Connacht coming back either and they do have a tendency to not always talk that much about the game that's being played before hand.

its_phil · 31-03-2014 4:03pm

CatFromHue wrote: »

In fairness at 13-6 down at halftime I didn't see Connacht coming back either and they do have a tendency to not always talk that much about the game that's being played before hand.

TBF to panel I didn't see them winning either

b.gud · 31-03-2014 4:03pm

its_phil wrote: »

I'll recheck it but I don't think it was in that context TBH

You could be right, wasn't really functioning properly next week, or today by the way my spelling seems to be going

Tox56 · 31-03-2014 4:05pm

phatguerilla wrote: »

Murphy just isn't good on the ground it has nothing to do with what position he is picked its just an obvious weakness in his game.

Im speaking relatively, it was his first H cup start. If he hadn't been promoted early this would only be his first year out of the academy.

As for the quoted, how is that any different to the Connacht situation?

phatguerilla · 31-03-2014 4:11pm

Tox56 wrote: »

Im speaking relatively, it was his first H cup start. If he hadn't been promoted early this would only be his first year out of the academy.

As for the quoted, how is that any different to the Connacht situation?

I don't think you're speaking relatively at all, you claimed Murphy was out of position which he was not. Also whether it could potentially be his first year out of the academy is irrelevant, its blatantly obviously that it his second senior season.

There's a pretty clear difference between a 22 year old flanker who has over 30 senior appearances and has glaring deficiencies in his game, versus a 20 year old who only had his first rabo start 4 months ago and is playing out of position.

BeardySi · 31-03-2014 4:37pm

Zzippy wrote: »

Did you use your Connacht accent or a Bangor one? They probably wouldn't sell any to the enemy you see...

That'd be it, more the fool me for going in with a big Galway head on me!

Am actually quite surprised it's full 2 weeks before the game with the new increased capacity and all - on previous years I've gotten tickets for that fixture on the gate!

Tox56 · 31-03-2014 4:43pm

phatguerilla wrote: »

I don't think you're speaking relatively at all, you claimed Murphy was out of position which he was not. Also whether it could potentially be his first year out of the academy is irrelevant, its blatantly obviously that it his second senior season.

There's a pretty clear difference between a 22 year old flanker who has over 30 senior appearances and has glaring deficiencies in his game, versus a 20 year old who only had his first rabo start 4 months ago and is playing out of position.

This is clearly a touchy issue so all Ill say is your description of him as a flanker is a pretty blatant double standard, as not only has the vast majority of his gametime been at 8, you don't consider Masterson a flanker when nearly all of his gametime this season has come in that position? Surely if Murphy can't be considered out of position, neither can Masterson

And yes I was speaking relatively. Unless you want the comparison between a H Cup game in France and a mid-table Rabo clash to be direct..

Zzippy · 31-03-2014 4:57pm

Tox56 wrote: »

This is clearly a touchy issue so all Ill say is your description of him as a flanker is a pretty blatant double standard, as not only has the vast majority of his gametime been at 8, you don't consider Masterson a flanker when nearly all of his gametime this season has come in that position? Surely if Murphy can't be considered out of position, neither can Masterson

And yes I was speaking relatively. Unless you want the comparison between a H Cup game in France and a mid-table Rabo clash to be direct..

I don't know what the argument here is - perhaps the point to take out of this is that it was unfair criticism of both players, both playing out of position, both young and inexperienced at the level they were being asked to fill a role, and both playing with older, more experienced heads who should have been able to support them better. Lazy punditry or expecting too much of young players.

Re yesterday, I agreed that Connacht were being "out-jackaled" but thought Muldoon, McKeon, Buckley and JHW should have been doing more to protect our own ball, not that Masterson wasn't doing enough. Although to be fair, the one time McKeon got over the opposition ball and legally got his hands on it he was penalised, whereas Scarlets got away with a fair bit at the breakdown. JHW also needs to learn when to carry into contact - he does it too much when there is no support around him, and gets isolated. Happened several of our players yesterday, seemed very unstructured, no pods, just single players taking it up...

phatguerilla · 31-03-2014 6:14pm

Tox56 wrote: »

This is clearly a touchy issue so all Ill say is your description of him as a flanker is a pretty blatant double standard, as not only has the vast majority of his gametime been at 8, you don't consider Masterson a flanker when nearly all of his gametime this season has come in that position? Surely if Murphy can't be considered out of position, neither can Masterson

And yes I was speaking relatively. Unless you want the comparison between a H Cup game in France and a mid-table Rabo clash to be direct..

Lol its only a touchy subject for you because you keep changing the goal posts and standards. Leinster describe him as a flanker, not me.
Just because you only became aware of him this year doesn't change what Leinster call him.
You keep trying to make out Murphy is inexperienced when he has over a dozen games for Ireland u-20, played for emerging Ireland as well as playing for Leinster for over two seasons now. It doesn't wash.

molloyjh · 31-03-2014 6:26pm

phatguerilla wrote: »

Lol its only a touchy subject for you because you keep changing the goal posts and standards. Leinster describe him as a flanker, not me.
Just because you only became aware of him this year doesn't change what Leinster call him.
You keep trying to make out Murphy is inexperienced when he has over a dozen games for Ireland u-20, played for emerging Ireland as well as playing for Leinster for over two seasons now. It doesn't wash.

Will ya relax. Murphy has been predominantly used as an 8 for Leinster. The word that appears on his profile on the website doesn't change that. At HEC level he's inexperienced which is what Tox is saying. It looks like you want to take him up the wrong way and are looking to make a mountain out of a molehill here.

Not even sure where you're getting the "only became aware of him this year" bit. He's been around for a while and most Leinster supporters have been aware of him for at least a couple of years.

connachta · 31-03-2014 10:20pm

Does someone know who made the deflection on the last Connacht restart kick?

AngeGal · 31-03-2014 10:44pm

Was looking forward to a game on RTE for a change, then we got a twenty second preview, and had to listen to Daire O'Brien being his usual condescending pretentious self, how that guy still has a job at RTE boggles the mind, given his rather notorious past, he probably had Scarlets to beat the handicap backed so was annoyed. Jackman and Horgan hadn't exactly done their homework either, they reminded me of Dunphy and co bluffing about teams with limited knowledge, although not as bad as them tbf. Personally don't think it's too much to expect pundits to do an hour or two research on the teams unless they have pre-existing in depth knowledge, Eric Elwood or someone of his ilk would have been a welcome addition to the panel. Roll on our return to TG4.

Rant over, onto the game:

Honestly we were lucky it was so close, considering the kicks Priestland missed. Two points was a good return all things considered I think, albeit disappointing in the circumstances as it ends our Heineken replacement hopes. Going to miss Eoin Griffin, he was uncharacteristically poor in defence yesterday but he had some lovely touches and he's very underrated, will be a star if he stays fit LI I think. Dave Mcsharry and Henshaw could be a brilliant partnership next season though, Robbie has resumed his rapid progression, working with O'Driscoll was a big help I would imagine.

Our breakdown work wasn't up to standard but missing last seasons POTY Faloon and a contender for this year in Jake Heenan that's probably inevitable. More worryingly we seemed to drop off in concentration levels at times, most notably for the Davies try.

Lots of positives to work on for next season and feel far better about the Lam reign at this stage. Although given we will likely be missing Robbie and Marmion for the 6N next season wouldn't like to be relying on picking up as many points during that period as we have done this year. A strong finish to the season is obviously hugely important, especially to ensure we don't lose too many season ticket holders without the heineken next year. They should look at doing a 'Connacht charge' to the new heineken marketing campaign or something similar, important that the more casual fans realise qualification is a realistic goal.

b.gud · 01-04-2014 10:36am

McFarland is going to be the Head Coach of the emerging Ireland squad, well deserved

http://www.connachtrugby.ie/mcfarland-appointed-as-head-coach-of-emerging-ireland-squad/#ConnachtNews

jacothelad · 01-04-2014 1:55pm

Treadhead wrote: »

Am rather annoyed - nipped down to Ravenhill at lunchtime to discover the bloody Connacht match is sold out!

Have feelers out among my Ulster mates so fingers crossed....

Post a request on UAFC. Might help.

The Lost Sheep · 02-04-2014 4:22pm

Connacht Eagles play Enesei in the Sportsground on Saturday.
This is fourth or fifth consecutive year the Eagles play Enesei who have also played Munster A over the past few years.
Enesei are normally very strong and game should be a good one. Shame it kicks off at 2.30 and slightly clashes with Munster game as that will affect attendance

on the river · 02-04-2014 4:30pm

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Connacht Eagles play Enesei in the Sportsground on Saturday.
This is fourth or fifth consecutive year the Eagles play Enesei who have also played Munster A over the past few years.
Enesei are normally very strong and game should be a good one. Shame it kicks off at 2.30 and slightly clashes with Munster game as that will affect attendance

is there any emergening talent in this side ?

wp_rathead · 02-04-2014 4:44pm

As much as I'd love to go Sportsground to watch the game, I don't wanna miss the Munster game..
Already missed the All-Ireland replay thriller due to Ospreys home game

Robbo · 04-04-2014 11:04am

Edinburgh took a rare away win at the Dragons last night to move ahead of us on the table. Despite Connacht having a better points difference and more bonus points, number of outright wins has them ahead, such are the league rules.

Also, the Eagles team to play the combined Ivan Drago/Zangief XV is announced at noon or so.

S12b · 04-04-2014 12:34pm

Eagles team for tomorrow:

Faloon and Gilsenan in. Blade getting his first start I think and a few club players in the backline.

15. Shane Layden

14. Niyi Adeolokun

13. Jerome Harimate

12. Conor Finn

11. Danie Poolman

10. Miah Nikora

9. Caolin Blade

1. Ronan Loughney

2. Jack Dineen

3. Nathan White

4. George Naoupu

5. Danny Qualter

6. Conor Gilsenan

7. Willie Faloon

8. Mata Fifita

Replacements:

16. Peter Reilly

17. Finlay Bealham

18. JP Cooney

19. Ultan Dillane

20. Cian Romaine

21. Mark Dolan

22. Jack Carty

23. Rory Parata

24. Ciarán Gaffney

.ak · 04-04-2014 12:41pm

Gilly at 6 is interesting....

freyners · 04-04-2014 12:46pm

.ak wrote: »

Gilly at 6 is interesting....

Its something lam ran earlier in the year, fielding two 7s. Seems to be a tactic he likes

Robbo · 04-04-2014 12:47pm

Great to see Faloon back, especially given the recent backrow injuries.

Connacht Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Part II

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