Zebre -v- Connacht - HEC October 19th : 13:45 KO

oneshot0kill

Yeah what was up with that? Was it Parks himself making the calls for shot at goal? I know they're in a pool that they aren't expected to get out of but at least give it a go and who knows what could happen.

freyners

BP would have put us in 2nd ahead of Sarries, opportunity missed

freyners

Honestly I was nervous about this one, Zebre targeted this one and we were vunerable with our injury list. Convincing win even if the scoreboard doesn't reflect how well Zebre played at times.

1-23 played well today, no-one shirked their effort, even healy, who was starved of possession, came out well in defence. Overall it was a very controlled game from the whole team, no panic in defence when Zebre were in control, no silly penalties. Killed off Zebre in the first half perfectly. Defence system as a whole today was very good, big hits and intelligent counter rucking.

Lineout was as good as I've seen it in years, Henry and JHW both great throwing, Clarke organised it impeccably bar one sloppy moment. Set moves came off brilliantly, nice to see some variation and thought on what to do when the ball is received.



Standouts for me were Marmion, Poolman, Parks and Heenan (again). Marmion really has to be called to the training squad because bar Murray I don't think their is a better SH in Ireland and, with Murray only coming back from injury, is probably the most in form 9 at the moment. Only issue I have is him at the back of scrums, I dont know what is happening their but he needs to sometimes go in and take it instead of leaving it to George.

Return of McSharry and Loughney was also a highlight even if they were generally quiet..

Feels harsh to put this here as before the match I would have taken any sort of win but the lack of the BP rankles. No need to take those last two penalties, result was never in doubt. Frankie Sheahan was right:eek:, our lineout was on top and we could have had at least one more try.

its_phil

The most professional performance I have ever seen Connacht give. Connacht had little possesion but when they got it they were clinical. Parks was MOTM for me. That backrow is very good and well balanced. Same again please.

The lineout is a weapon and I want us to bully any team we play with it. It could get us wins away from home. I think all Connacht fans were worried if Marmion or JHW got injured, but POD and Henry have been excellent this year.

And as a bonus the Eagles beat Rotherham with a last minute Darragh Leader penalty from 60m.

ouncer

Weird game. Zebre looked like they were playing with a hot potato. Their play was amateur at best and it was always only a matter of time before they knocked the ball on. As previously said, why did Connacht not go for the bonus point win. It was incredibly frustrating watching parks kicking for goal when the game was already won. The lineout was winning everything so the bp was there to be taken.

wp_rathead

In parmaa
Fairly drunk
Spme win
Heenan a machine

f1dan

wprathead wrote: »

In parmaa
Fairly drunk
Spme win
Heenan a machine

\thread

freyners

wprathead wrote: »

In parmaa
Fairly drunk
Spme win
Heenan a machine

i fairly hate you right now:P

ouncer

:-)

ouncer

Take little value out of this win. Zebre's play was utterly insane. Any professional team would have ripped them apart and maybe shown a bit more sense than Connacht did. To think there was a positive out of this, other than a win against a valueless team with no concept on how to play rugby, is ludicrous.. That was the most disjointed ball of rubbish I have ever seen. And then the parks kicking show just showed that there is a braincell missing in this Connacht team

blackdog1

How did ronaldson play? Always stood out a mile in ail.

ouncer

Ronaldon is a fine player and did well. Marmion was once again an incredible frustration. Is it really necessary that George must hand the ball to the lad. Feic sake. Talk of him being an Irish scrum half is daft. Murray, Sheridan, boss, reddan, Marshall then Marmion. Constant slow play

freyners

ouncer wrote: »

Ronaldon is a fine player and did well. Marmion was once again an incredible frustration. Is it really necessary that George must hand the ball to the lad. Feic sake. Talk of him being an Irish scrum half is daft. Murray, Sheridan, boss, reddan, Marshall then Marmion. Constant slow play

Ouncer will you ever cop the **** on

Scrum bit aside(where i agree with you) calling his play slow or an irish call up daft is further proof your talking out your hole. He is this years henshaw for you. His speed of service is A1, he is fantastic at breaking around rucks (only thing that keeps a defence honest with parks in situ)

Honestly i think your happier when Connacht lose

freyners

blackdog1 wrote: »

How did ronaldson play? Always stood out a mile in ail.

solid game, should have backed himself at one stage, could have got the try I reckon cause he is not short of pace. He's out of position at centre and it shows at times but he'll quickly iron that out if this is going to be a regular thing. Cannot wait to see him take a full game at OH

ouncer

Not true freyners, but this win was daft. The bonus point was there to be won. Wtf. Zebre reached a new level of daftness and Connacht did similar. Utterly sick to death of seeing slow play from marmion, watched the same carry-on from frank for years and its so annoying to see marmion doing just the same. Have never been a fan of POD but truth being said would rather him over marmion these days. He's punchy, quick and things marmion is not at the moment

And then swifty went off and Clarke took over captaincy. So there was a decision to appoint swift, Muldoon and Duffy as joint captains. So then Clarke got the captaincy. Wtf. What is wrong with this management. Truth said none of them even deserve a starting position. Muldowney far above swifty, so'ooialo better than Gavin, McKeon better than Muldoon.

So its an interesting problem. Who is in fact the rock of Connacht rugby? All could only agree that today's game strategy made no sense. Honestly I'm mystified who could be a leader for Connacht. As said previous Duffy, swifty or Muldoon do not suffice. So if Clarke is to be skipper then let it be so. But simply agree on it and let it be done

Most importantly if you have a game to win with possible bonus point then win the feckin game with the bonus point. Who was making the decisions today. Nobody. Management, Dan, Gavin, swifty, simply nobody. An utter shambles.

.ak

Keep it civil lads.

freyners

ouncer wrote: »

Not true freyners, but this win was daft. The bonus point was there to be won. Wtf. Zebre reached a new level of daftness and Connacht did similar. Utterly sick to death of seeing slow play from marmion, watched the same carry-on from frank for years and its so annoying to see marmion doing just the same. Have never been a fan of POD but truth being said would rather him over marmion these days. He's punchy, quick and things marmion is not at the moment

And then swifty went off and Clarke took over captaincy. So there was a decision to appoint swift, Muldoon and Duffy as joint captains. So then Clarke got the captaincy. Wtf. What is wrong with this management. Truth said none of them even deserve a starting position. Muldowney far above swifty, so'ooialo better than Gavin, McKeon better than Muldoon.

So its an interesting problem. Who is in fact the rock of Connacht rugby? All could only agree that today's game strategy made no sense. Honestly I'm mystified who could be a leader for Connacht. As said previous Duffy, swifty or Muldoon do not suffice. So if Clarke is to be skipper then let it be so. But simply agree on it and let it be done

Most importantly if you have a game to win with possible bonus point then win the feckin game with the bonus point. Who was making the decisions today. Nobody. Management, Dan, Gavin, swifty, simply nobody. An utter shambles.

right since you failed again to point out where you think marmion is being slow then I just going to ignore that, its grade a bull as far as I'm concerned. Around the scrum is strange but that's an easy fix, his gets the ball away quickly and is not afraid to break. POD has improved this season but Marmion is our starter by a good distance still.

What your captains rant has anything to do with what you were saying before I have no idea, but I tend to agree, clarke is the obvious choice for captaincy

swiftman

ouncer wrote: »

Ronaldon is a fine player and did well. Marmion was once again an incredible frustration. Is it really necessary that George must hand the ball to the lad. Feic sake. Talk of him being an Irish scrum half is daft. Murray, Sheridan, boss, reddan, Marshall then Marmion. Constant slow play

so ouncer is grand with henshaw after we all thought he stole your girlfriend or something.
what up between you and Marmion? did you find him and your mum in bed or something. you write utter ****e

.ak

.ak wrote: »

Keep it civil lads.

*ahem*

thomond2006

.ak wrote: »

*ahem*

I'm emailing Jerry Springer!

ouncer

swiftman wrote: »

so ouncer is grand with henshaw after we all thought he stole your girlfriend or something.
what up between you and Marmion? did you find him and your mum in bed or something. you write utter ****e

Didn't say I was grand with henshaw at any point:-) . just have been less critical as his game play has improved. There was similar reference as above when critical of henshaw. Marmion is the best scrum half that Connacht has, I do not dispute that. It just irritates me that marmion is so slow out of the scrum. In open play he is as good as the rest but how he approaches the scrum, waiting for the back of the scrum to give him the ideal pass, slows everything down and ensures the backline are closed down by the time he gets the ball out.

freyners

ouncer wrote: »

Didn't say I was grand with henshaw at any point:-) . just have been less critical as his game play has improved. There was similar reference as above when critical of henshaw. Marmion is the best scrum half that Connacht has, I do not dispute that. It just irritates me that marmion is so slow out of the scrum. In open play he is as good as the rest but how he approaches the scrum, waiting for the back of the scrum to give him the ideal pass, slows everything down and ensures the backline are closed down by the time he gets the ball out.

So now we've gone from him being slow, to only being slow out of scrums, any gone from wanting POD ahead of him, to being the best sh again.

ouncer

Would say that was my main issue with marmion for rather a while. Please indicate where I said different. The guy is destabizising the scrum while he waits for sweet pass. Look at Sheridan and boss as competition. These guys are digging the ball out and feeding it fast. In all other cases marmion is interesting but in this one area he would not be my choice of scrum half.

freyners

ouncer wrote: »

Would say that was my main issue with marmion for rather a while. Please indicate where I said different. The guy is destabizising the scrum while he waits for sweet pass. Look at Sheridan and boss as competition. These guys are digging the ball out and feeding it fast. In all other cases marmion is interesting but in this one area he would not be my choice of scrum half.

ouncer wrote: »

Not true freyners, but this win was daft. The bonus point was there to be won. Wtf. Zebre reached a new level of daftness and Connacht did similar. Utterly sick to death of seeing slow play from marmion, watched the same carry-on from frank for years and its so annoying to see marmion doing just the same. Have never been a fan of POD but truth being said would rather him over marmion these days. He's punchy, quick and things marmion is not at the moment

And then swifty went off and Clarke took over captaincy. So there was a decision to appoint swift, Muldoon and Duffy as joint captains. So then Clarke got the captaincy. Wtf. What is wrong with this management. Truth said none of them even deserve a starting position. Muldowney far above swifty, so'ooialo better than Gavin, McKeon better than Muldoon.

So its an interesting problem. Who is in fact the rock of Connacht rugby? All could only agree that today's game strategy made no sense. Honestly I'm mystified who could be a leader for Connacht. As said previous Duffy, swifty or Muldoon do not suffice. So if Clarke is to be skipper then let it be so. But simply agree on it and let it be done

Most importantly if you have a game to win with possible bonus point then win the feckin game with the bonus point. Who was making the decisions today. Nobody. Management, Dan, Gavin, swifty, simply nobody. An utter shambles.

Literally on the same page...

ouncer

Freyners, this is the slow play I talk about all the time. What is new here. Get the feck in ball out. Marmion simply doesn't do it. Frank didn't do it. Pod is insane but at least he tries. Best player is marmion but go in and dig the ball out by yourself marmion. Give the back line a chance. Get the ball out in time

ouncer

Anyway it was a totally ludicrous game. Zebre were not like the normal zebre, their game strategy was pants. Yes, they are a hard team to beat normally but how they played was not rugby. I take no value from the win. It was like a bunch of kids running from one end of the field to the other. It was senseless. But you might have thought that Connacht had more sense than that and taken full value out of the game.

ouncer

Come the weekend Gavin will be full back and the daftness will continue. Sorry for bothering with an opinon. Tiz a bit negative but week in week out same stuff. Lots of value. Clarke good, muldowney good, henry good, Faloon good, Buckley back, ronaldson quality, marmion ability, Healy and poolman very good, henshaw fitting in well and would be nice to see mcsharry back. Such a pain to see same players dragging and still selected