Connacht Rugby Thread - Part III - The Violence of the Lams

ClanofLams

connachta wrote: »

Why I'd prefer Robb as 12

cumulative tackling stats since Ulster game

Henshaw 19 missed 10
Aki 16 missed 2
Robb 31 missed 2

More straightforward to make your tackles at 12 than 13 and especially 15 so can't really compare across positions.

connachta

ClanofLams wrote: »

connachta wrote: »

Why I'd prefer Robb as 12

cumulative tackling stats since Ulster game

Henshaw 19 missed 10
Aki 16 missed 2
Robb 31 missed 2

More straightforward to make your tackles at 12 than 13 and especially 15 so can't really compare across positions.

True but I can't help to feel safer with a guy who completed 95% of his duties

ClanofLams

connachta wrote: »

True but I can't help to feel safer with a guy who completed 95% of his duties

They're pretty bad reading for Henshaw alright but if he's back at 12, which I'd say is likely, he will make 95% of tackles there too.

Billysays no

ClanofLams wrote: »

They're pretty bad reading for Henshaw alright but if he's back at 12, which I'd say is likely, he will make 95% of tackles there too.

i do remember back to earlier in the season when the scoring system was back to zero once tackle missed. is it possible our rock solid international is not rock solid for his place?

Bazzo

One of Robbie's main strengths as a centre is that he tackles hard and very frequently. It's not an issue.

ClanofLams

Billysays no wrote: »

i do remember back to earlier in the season when the scoring system was back to zero once tackle missed. is it possible our rock solid international is not rock solid for his place?

I think he hasn't been close to his best since the 6N. Whether that's tiredness (I know he had the injury enforced break but he's still pretty much been on the go for two seasons now like the rest of the world cup squad), maybe a bit unsettled in that he's leaving shortly or just general loss of form, I don't know.

Had Ronaldson been fit and playing 12 the last few weeks, it would be a really interesting decision and there would be a chance that Henshaw would bench. But in the absence of Ronaldson who I don't see Lam throwing in after two months out, would expect Henshaw to start at 12.

Worth saying too Lam has managed the Henshaw situation really well I think by resisting the temptation to throw him back in at centre until now. Robb has gotten invaluable experience and along with Parata at the start of the season, two guys who have looked very good alongside Aki.

its_phil

How on earth are people calling for Robbie to be dropped.

This place has been dragged to the pits at times since the announcement.

Also if people think Aki is a saint in defence they should check out the break that lead to the final Grenoble try. That's not counted in tackles missed because it was an appaling read.

Billysays no

Bazzo wrote: »

One of Robbie's main strengths as a centre is that he tackles hard and very frequently. It's not an issue.

stats indicate he misses most of them? it would seem to explain why he simply hasnt been involved or visible in recent games. so i get connachta's argument. Robbie has not been there, Peter Robb has been immense. Its like the Joe Schmidt argument all over again. Peter has been the better centre. Robbie is the more internationally qualified. Take your pick because our team depends on that pick. Pat, hope you make the right choice. While Joe refuses to look at indicators I hope Pat does.

ClanofLams

its_phil wrote: »

How on earth are people calling for Robbie to be dropped.

For the record, I'm not saying he should be dropped. He's one of Connacht's best players and one of a handful with big game experience.

But he's been quite a way off his best recently, especially in attack where he has sought contact when it was clearly the wrong option, most notably in the Ulster away game.

I was merely saying if Ronaldson hadn't gotten injured and had been playing the last few weeks it would be an interesting selection dilema. Who would make way? Probably Niyi but that seems very harsh considering the form he is in.

Anyway Ronaldson did get injured so this is all rather irrelevant.

Billysays no

ClanofLams wrote: »

For the record, I'm not saying he should be dropped. He's one of Connacht's best players

I would debate that

Billysays no

ClanofLams wrote: »

They're pretty bad reading for Henshaw alright but if he's back at 12, which I'd say is likely, he will make 95% of tackles there too.

either ways if henshaw does start robb will be on the bench to replace him. it is funny that our weakest link should be our defined international player. kinda where i'm at with joe

its_phil

ClanofLams wrote: »

its_phil wrote: »

How on earth are people calling for Robbie to be dropped.

For the record, I'm not saying he should be dropped. He's one of Connacht's best players and one of a handful with big game experience.

But he's been quite a way off his best recently, especially in attack where he has sought contact when it was clearly the wrong option, most notably in the Ulster away game.

I was merely saying if Ronaldson hadn't gotten injured and had been playing the last few weeks it would be an interesting selection dilema. Who would make way? Probably Niyi but that seems very harsh considering the form he is in.

Anyway Ronaldson did get injured so this is all rather irrelevant.

Definitely a fair point on the looking for contact and I do find it interesting. Particularly noticed it in the Munster game. Looking for contact rather than taking the sensible option

Billysays no

it does annoy me when stats are ignored. connachta pointed a glaring reason why robbie shouldnt be selected but absolutely nobody would accept that peter should be in front of him. i have said for simply years that robbie is the modern day replacement for rob kearney, kick, catch, contact. Nothing like rob kearney ever was. He weaved through defences in his prime. So prime done. That feels like centuries ago. Robbie was never like that. Contact, contact, contact. Annoyed my head years ago, annoys my head now.

ClanofLams

its_phil wrote: »

Definitely a fair point on the looking for contact and I do find it interesting. Particularly noticed it in the Munster game. Looking for contact rather than taking the sensible option

To be fair to him it's probably a tough transition to make from Ireland where he's often used for hard yards as a bit of a battering ram at 12 and ball retention is prioritised to 15 in a team where the focus is on attacking what's on and offloading, etc.

Hopefully himself and Aki have a few serious games together and leave us all salivating for a potential international reunion down the line.

Billysays no

everbody is a battering ram with ireland. nothing else

Bazzo

Billysays no wrote: »

Bazzo wrote: »

One of Robbie's main strengths as a centre is that he tackles hard and very frequently. It's not an issue.

stats indicate he misses most of them? it would seem to explain why he simply hasnt been involved or visible in recent games. so i get connachta's argument. Robbie has not been there, Peter Robb has been immense. Its like the Joe Schmidt argument all over again. Peter has been the better centre. Robbie is the more internationally qualified. Take your pick because our team depends on that pick. Pat, hope you make the right choice. While Joe refuses to look at indicators I hope Pat does.

He mostly wasn't playing centre.

Calling for Henshaw to be dropped because he doesn't tackle enough is ridiculous. If you want stats to back it up then go look at any extended period over he last 2 years, he's frequently in the top few tacklers in any game.

Billysays no

Bazzo wrote: »

He mostly wasn't playing centre.

Calling for Henshaw to be dropped because he doesn't tackle enough is ridiculous. If you want stats to back it up then go look at any extended period over he last 2 years, he's frequently in the top few tacklers in any game.

Would you want him over Tiernan. Robbie is a crap full back. Would you accept Peter Robb is a better centre. There ya go. Feic the idea he's an international.

Bazzo

Billysays no wrote: »

Bazzo wrote: »

He mostly wasn't playing centre.

Calling for Henshaw to be dropped because he doesn't tackle enough is ridiculous. If you want stats to back it up then go look at any extended period over he last 2 years, he's frequently in the top few tacklers in any game.

Would you want him over Tiernan. Robbie is a crap full back. Would you accept Peter Robb is a better centre. There ya go. Feic the idea he's an international.

There's no point even talking to you about Henshaw. You've never given him any dues and you never will.

Billysays no

Bazzo wrote: »

There's no point even talking to you about Henshaw. You've never given him any dues and you never will.

thats fair. always thought he was just mediocre. within the connacht frame even less than mediocre. so what you say is true.

i did pick on two players. marmion and henshaw. marmion just wrecked my head with slow play while henshaw wrecked it with utter boredom. he hasnt a vein in his body that provides excitement (yes the one offload to aki, heavens what happened there).

marmion has developed. no more henshaw please

Billysays no

four years later and i feel the same. wow. thats at least consistent

Billysays no

and thank you connachta for providing the stats to prove not only is robbie lacking in imagination as a fullback he cant even make a decent tackle. off with him. but joe thinks he's great because joe is a master chess player. wtf

freyners

Billysays no wrote: »

four years later and i feel the same. wow. thats at least consistent

Easy to be consistent when you just rant without using any facts or logic

former total

It is absolutely hilarious that anyone thinks defence is a reason for Henshaw to be dropped. The guy has been a tackling machine at international level for the last two seasons.

But yeah, Peter Robb has done OK in a couple of Pro12 games, play him, by all means!

connachta

For my part, just to be clear, I think both Robb (12) and Henshaw (15) should play, with TOH winger and Niyi dropped (not bad at all, just the weak-link compared to Robb)

b.gud

CatFromHue wrote: »

Why did Lam hand that out?

Here's an article taht talks about him handing out the sheet http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/connacht-rugby/lam-i-havent-played-best-team-34683438.html

MarinersBlues

Those quotes are all very odd.
He says that his squad don't have the same quality of players of other squads and then other days he says he can't understand why more aren't being selected for Ireland.

The quotes about players e-mailing him to join Connacht are very odd as well.
It's a strange combination of an inferiority complex and arrogance.

I'm not sure how the players are meant to interpret this carry on.
Let the talking be done on the pitch Pat. Otherwise ye could look foolish in the next few weeks not to mind next year.

Yeah_Right

Billysays no wrote: »

it does annoy me when stats are ignored.

Now this is hypocrisy! I have seen many debates on here where other posters have backed up their points with stats and YOU chose to ignore those stats because they didn't suit your agenda.

Bazzo

MarinersBlues wrote: »

Those quotes are all very odd.
He says that his squad don't have the same quality of players of other squads and then other days he says he can't understand why more aren't being selected for Ireland.

The quotes about players e-mailing him to join Connacht are very odd as well.
It's a strange combination of an inferiority complex and arrogance.

I'm not sure how the players are meant to interpret this carry on.
Let the talking be done on the pitch Pat. Otherwise ye could look foolish in the next few weeks not to mind next year.

Pat has a tendency to get carried away in front of the press, we've seen it before. He came pretty close to saying that the quality of the squad isn't what other teams have available, without actually saying it, which is pretty bad and he really shouldn't have gone anywhere down that road.

I think the main point he took issue with is the public/press implying that Connacht have only been successful because of the world cup disrupting other teams. Considering we've now been through 2 injury crises this season where over 1/3rd of the squad is injured he has a point when he says that they've had their disruptions to deal with just like everybody else, fair enough really.

b.gud

I was curious what exactly were the permutations of the outcome for Connacht so here are all the outcomes based on how many points they pick up:


5 pts

1st place regardless of any other results

4 pts

1st place if Leinster win

WITHOUT securing a BP

2nd otherwise

3 pts

2nd place if Leinster draw with a bonus point or lose securing an LBP and TBP

3rd otherwise

2 pts

2nd if Leinster draw

WITHOUT a try bonus or lose securing an LBP and TBP

3rd otherwise

1 pt

2nd if Leinster lose with a LBP

OR TBP but NOT both

3rd otherwise

0 pts

2nd if Leinster lose

WITHOUT picking up any match points AND Ulster win WITHOUT a bonus point

3rd if Ulster win

WITHOUT a bonus point

4th otherwise

Mr Tickle

of the possible semi finals to get Leinster at home might be one of the better ones. Not sure how connacht would do against glasgow twice in a row.
If you lose then the likely semi is leinster in dublin. could suit better than winning and facing ulster or glasgow away.

b.gud

Mr Tickle wrote: »

of the possible semi finals to get Leinster at home might be one of the better ones. Not sure how connacht would do against glasgow twice in a row.
If you lose then the likely semi is leinster in dublin. could suit better than winning and facing ulster or glasgow away.

I'm almost 100% certain that there are no permutations under which we could end up with an away semi final to Ulster. But I agree with you a match against Leinster, home or away would probably be my preferred match

b.gud

b.gud wrote: »

I'm almost 100% certain that there are no permutations under which we could end up with an away semi final to Ulster. But I agree with you a match against Leinster, home or away would probably be my preferred match

I was wrong we could end up away to Ulster if we get no points, Leinster get no points and Ulster get a BP win

connachta

b.gud wrote: »

b.gud wrote: »

I'm almost 100% certain that there are no permutations under which we could end up with an away semi final to Ulster. But I agree with you a match against Leinster, home or away would probably be my preferred match

I was wrong we could end up away to Ulster if we get no points, Leinster get no points and Ulster get a BP win

Yeah 90% chance to happen in fairyland!

b.gud

b.gud wrote: »

This might be of interest to any of ye who are based in Galway, tickets are free and Brian O'Driscoll will be there plus they are due to announce more people

https://twitter.com/offtheball/status/724710746639208448

wp_rathead wrote: »

Denis Buckley and Eoghan Masterson are both good talkers, hopefully they get them on, be a good interview

Here's the line up for tonight
https://twitter.com/offtheball/status/727866621201657857

Journeyman_1

Went to one of these in the Three Arena towards the end of last year, enjoyable evening. Id encourage people to go along if possible.

wp_rathead

Woo Dennis! TOH is good talker too if you can drag him away from the clichés :pac:

aperture_nuig

Journeyman_1 wrote: »

Went to one of these in the Three Arena towards the end of last year, enjoyable evening. Id encourage people to go along if possible.

Just to avoid disappointment, even though it's a free event you had to sign up for it online (here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/newstalk-off-the-ball-roadshow-galway-tickets-24929326286) and it's showing up as sold out.

Robbo

I'd pay good money to see EOS arrive late on account of the traffic from Moylough.

b.gud

Robbo wrote: »

I'd pay good money to see EOS arrive late on account of the traffic from Moylough.

Buckley was cutting it close he was just ahead of me going into the car park

Billysays no

current weather forecast looks less than promising. is that good or is that bad. hard to say. one thing is for sure. playing at home has always been an advantage so I'm going for a TBP win. No matter what the weather these two teams score tries. so i expect 4 tries probably scored by both teams. just hope we are on the right end of the result. other than buckley we are pretty much at full strength

Billysays no

for those not going to the game its on bbc1 scotland hd

mjp

TG4 showing it aswell

Bazzo

Connacht beating Munster in Thomond was voted IRUPA moment of the year last night for those that missed it.

Adbrowne

Billysays no wrote: »

current weather forecast looks less than promising. is that good or is that bad. hard to say. one thing is for sure. playing at home has always been an advantage so I'm going for a TBP win. No matter what the weather these two teams score tries. so i expect 4 tries probably scored by both teams. just hope we are on the right end of the result. other than buckley we are pretty much at full strength

Connacht struggled to One try in two games v Leinster in poor conditions though. Hopefully you get over your amnesia soon.

its_phil

Adbrowne wrote: »

Connacht struggled to One try in two games v Leinster in poor conditions though. Hopefully you get over your amnesia soon.

As did Leinster and that kind of weather suits Leinster much more than it suits Connacht these days.

thomond2006

Glasgow will take it IMO. They are on a run of 9 wins since February, albeit 3 of those were over the Italian sides. They are the form team in the league and I expect them to retain the title at this stage.

Digifriendly

thomond2006 wrote: »

Glasgow will take it IMO. They are on a run of 9 wins since February, albeit 3 of those were over the Italian sides. They are the form team in the league and I expect them to retain the title at this stage.

All 3 panellists on Scrum V last weekend have tipped Glasgow to take the title. Best way for this not to happen would be for them to lose this weekend and face an away semi-final. If they get to the final it will be on 'home' soil and I can't see them losing as they will undoubtedly have bigger support than their opponents.

connachta

thomond2006 wrote: »

Glasgow will take it IMO. They are on a run of 9 wins since February, albeit 3 of those were over the Italian sides. They are the form team in the league and I expect them to retain the title at this stage.

Oh come on! Is Glasgow scrum so powerful?
Because if not I can't see any other position where they are above of us!
Look at our full-strenght backline, look at McKeon and Heenan both back to the business, look at Dillane/Muldowney pairing!

Don't tell me I'm the most optmistic, it's so unusual!

its_phil

thomond2006 wrote: »

Glasgow will take it IMO. They are on a run of 9 wins since February, albeit 3 of those were over the Italian sides. They are the form team in the league and I expect them to retain the title at this stage.

Hard to argue against that. Connacht playing at home is why I think they will win. But this is the best team to come to the Sportsground this year.

One loss all season at home and Leinster away by 13 points being the largest defeat in league, I fancy us against anyone at home.

thomond2006

connachta wrote: »

Oh come on! Is Glasgow scrum so powerful?
Because if not I can't see any other position where they are above of us!
Look at our full-strenght backline, look at McKeon and Heenan both back to the business, look at Dillane/Muldowney pairing!

Don't tell me I'm the most optmistic, it's so unusual!

I'm going by results. It was their win at Scarlets that caught my eye, they absolutely torched them.