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

evil_seed

wouldn't the new lad be more likely to be replacing Rodders?

freyners

evil_seed wrote: »

wouldn't the new lad be more likely to be replacing Rodders?

That was Conor Carey

mareegoo

freyners wrote: »

That was Conor Carey

im not having reservations about carey...up and coming and good season with nottingham

like the other new signing mccoy both of them are hungry and will want to impress from the get go.

a decent pre-season and work on skills ; they will improve in every aspect under lam

connachta

TOH first start Healy fisrt cap. Good

FACECUTTR

The experience that the Connacht lads are getting will be worth its weight in gold for next season and further. 3 new international caps added to the team. Wonderful.

BrokenMan

Think TOH could surprise a few people who haven't seen a lot of him. Very intelligent runner and picks a good line usually.

Utopia Parkway

BrokenMan wrote: »

Think TOH could surprise a few people who haven't seen a lot of him. Very intelligent runner and picks a good line usually.

Will be hard to replace Payne but I'm sure he'll give it a good go. Hope Healy gets 20/25 minutes off the bench at some point.

nootroc

Hope they finish their season on another high and get a well earned rest. It's been a long season for them.

Number 137

I've heard Ian Porter won't be signing a pro contract anywhere and is heading back to play AIL with Banbridge. Handy acquisition for them!

evil_seed

Champions Cup draw today lads. Where do we want to go?

Zzippy

evil_seed wrote: »

Champions Cup draw today lads. Where do we want to go?

The missus says somewhere sunny, I say Clermont!

NiallBoo

Number 137 wrote: »

I've heard Ian Porter won't be signing a pro contract anywhere and is heading back to play AIL with Banbridge. Handy acquisition for them!

That's surprising. In the few games I've seen him in he looked easily good enough to get a professional contract somewhere . You'd think that someone like an rfu championship or even lower premiership side would be delighted to pick him up.

NiallBoo

Zzippy wrote: »

The missus says somewhere sunny, I say Clermont!

Montpelier would probably make the nicest holiday, though I can see them being tough opposition next year.

Just don't suggest a nice romantic break in llanelli.

b.gud

Zebre in Parma, reasonable weather, beautiful Italian food and easy opposition

Zzippy

NiallBoo wrote: »

That's surprising. In the few games I've seen him in he looked easily good enough to get a professional contract somewhere . You'd think that someone like an rfu championship or even lower premiership side would be delighted to pick him up.

How much would he be on there? I don't know what his background is, but if he's starting in another field he could well be on more money than pro rugby in the lower tiers.

NiallBoo

Zzippy wrote: »

How much would he be on there? I don't know what his background is, but if he's starting in another field he could well be on more money than pro rugby in the lower tiers.

Good question. I don't have an answer but I would guess that it would still compare well to a starting salary in an office job - unless he's got something really good lined up.

Besides, you've only got so many years to be a rugby player, you've got the whole rest of your life to do other things.

freyners

For anyone not following the grenoble english twitter account have a look. Some nice banter over alys never ending road trip

freyners

I'd prefer a minnow in the pool. We've a stated aim of the knockout stages and to do that we will need a either a favourable league schedule or a favourable draw as with our knack of illtimed injuries crisises we need a break

We cannot draw any Irish team and we have to have at least one English and one French team. Is there any other conditions for the draw?

ironkiwi

http://live.epcrugby.com/eng/player1.php

For anyone stuck in work.

wp_rathead

Connacht get Wasp's and Toulouse and Zebre

MarinersBlues

Great draw! We have a chance of progression now.
Really looking forward to these games.

RobbieRuns

That is actually not too bad.......

mjp

When are fixtures and times released??

freyners

Reasonably happy. Wasps is tough but Toulouse are not what they once were. Zebre makes it doable

b.gud

Assuming that all those who went on tour are unavailable for the 1st game of the league here's the team I'd like to see start.

Buckley
McCartney
White
Marshall
Brown
Muldoon
Heenan
McKeon (So hard to pick a back row with the available options we have)
Cooney
Boshoff
Kelleher Poolman
Robb (Really like Robb and would like to see him and Aki get a bit of a partnership going)
Aki
Adeolokun
Leader (Hopefully he'll get back to full fitness and get back to his best level)

Heffernan
O'Donnell (harsh on Loughney but would like to see O'Donnell get some more game time this year)
Carey (Don't know much about him or Robertson-McCoy so it was a toss up)
Qualter
Fox-Matamua (This spot could easily have gone to SOB or Connolly we have great depth in the back row at the minute)
Blade
Ronaldson (Offers a bit more positional cover than Carty)
Gaffney

wp_rathead

No Danie Poolman b.gud?

b.gud

wp_rathead wrote: »

No Danie Poolman b.gud?

Knew I was forgetting some back when I was putting the team together.
I'd swap him in for Kelleher in the starting team and leave Gaffney on the bench as I'd like to see him get some game time

mareegoo

b.gud wrote: »

Knew I was forgetting some back when I was putting the team together.
I'd swap him in for Kelleher in the starting team and leave Gaffney on the bench as I'd like to see him get some game time

white is retired ?????? thats awful trying to play him when he's injured....!!!!!!!

wp_rathead

mareegoo wrote: »

white is retired ?????? thats awful trying to play him when he's injured....!!!!!!!

Is that confirmed? Just rumoured AFAIK

mareegoo

wp_rathead wrote: »

Is that confirmed? Just rumoured AFAIK

AFAIK , it is regrettably true

props for next season:

buckley, mccartney, bealham, loughney, cooney, carey, o donnell, robertson mccoy

any word on saba getting a new contract ?

connachta

Well I guess there's still a new 2nd row to come, and Griffin will be in the balance too, b.gud...

b.gud

mareegoo wrote: »

white is retired ?????? thats awful trying to play him when he's injured....!!!!!!!

I did think about that but since there hasn't been any confirmation I kept him in the team

b.gud

connachta wrote: »

Well I guess there's still a new 2nd row to come, and Griffin will be in the balance too, b.gud...

Similar to White I ignored rumours when deciding who I'd play.
I considered Griffin but I'd love to see Aki and Robb develop a partnership think they have huge potential.

Griffin will be great for the squad when we inevitably pick up some injuries

connachta

b.gud wrote: »

connachta wrote: »

Well I guess there's still a new 2nd row to come, and Griffin will be in the balance too, b.gud...

Similar to White I ignored rumours when deciding who I'd play.
I considered Griffin but I'd love to see Aki and Robb develop a partnership think they have huge potential.

Griffin will be great for the squad when we inevitably pick up some injuries

Perfectly agree about Robb/Aki. But if he can play a bit winger, he'll be 23 ahead of Gaffney/Kelleher for sure..For me the best and most polyvalent 23 would be Parata TBF

RobbieRuns

Griff is a way better player than Robb......

ClanofLams

RobbieRuns wrote: »

Griff is a way better player than Robb......

Griffin is quality, if he can get a bit of luck on the fitness front he's a huge addition. But the above is a bit harsh on Robb who performed really well this season band was never found wanting. Think he can develop further too. Along with Ronaldson (who starts in pole position given his form last season imo) McSharry and Parata, really well stocked in the centre considering just lost the best 13 in the country.

Second row is the only position there would be a bit of depth missing at the moment I think. Hopefully a signing is still to come there. If not will likely need SOB to play a bit there or Romaine to step up.

Hagz

Yeah I think that comment is harsh. London Irish have a pretty poor centre combination yet Griffin was only involved in 3 of their 22 premiership games. Started 8/22 the season before.

He's good though. Hopefully he kicks on under Pat Lam but it wouldn't surprise me if Robb sees more game-time.

Diabhal Beag

Robb was super consistent last season too. One of the few glimmers of hope from that Treviso game. A fit Griffin would hopefully be back up to pre-LI form but I'd give happily give Robb the initial nod ahead of Griffin. Ronaldson is probably the likely centre partner for Aki though.

ClanofLams

Hagz wrote: »

Yeah I think that comment is harsh. London Irish have a pretty poor centre combination yet Griffin was only involved in 3 of their 22 premiership games. Started 8/22 the season before.

He's good though. Hopefully he kicks on under Pat Lam but it wouldn't surprise me if Robb sees more game-time.

He struggled with injuries a lot over there too. He was very good before leaving and agree he could kick on further under Lam. Needs a bit of luck on the fitness front though.

freyners

Just seen preseason starts tomorrow. Does anyone know has boshoff arrived or is that post Currie cup

wp_rathead

RobbieRuns wrote: »

Griff is a way better player than Robb......

He really isn't

mareegoo

ClanofLams wrote: »

Griffin is quality, if he can get a bit of luck on the fitness front he's a huge addition. But the above is a bit harsh on Robb who performed really well this season band was never found wanting. Think he can develop further too. Along with Ronaldson (who starts in pole position given his form last season imo) McSharry and Parata, really well stocked in the centre considering just lost the best 13 in the country.

Second row is the only position there would be a bit of depth missing at the moment I think. Hopefully a signing is still to come there. If not will likely need SOB to play a bit there or Romaine to step up.

Yes hopefully mcsharry can come back good. He is extremely extremely good defensively and runs good lines. Les Kiss will be hovering around to see how he is doing.

I have been championing the praises of romaine - i think romaine is the next big thing. He's a mammoth / tank.....it won't be long until you see his friend dillane and him together pulling the strings in the second row.....lam will unleash him this year me thinks

b.gud

freyners wrote: »

Just seen preseason starts tomorrow. Does anyone know has boshoff arrived or is that post Currie cup

At the very least we'll need to wait until the end of super rugby before we see him. There are still a few rounds left in that and I think the Lions are looking like they'll make the play offs

b.gud

Finn Russell talks about his injury and the support he received from Connacht players and their families

b.gud

Elverys confirmed as new sponsor on a 3 year deal, new gear will be launched later this month

http://www.connachtrugby.ie/new-major-sponsorship-deal-with-elverys-intersport/#ConnachtNews

KBurke85

Hope Elverys have improved used to be poor at bringing gear and Jersies out in time for the start of seasons.

Shame we're not with BLK anymore. They had some nice stuff

freyners

KBurke85 wrote: »

Hope Elverys have improved used to be poor at bringing gear and Jersies out in time for the start of seasons.

Shame we're not with BLK anymore. They had some nice stuff

I think elverys are replacing lifestyle rather than blk. Or at least that's the way i read it

b.gud

KBurke85 wrote: »

Hope Elverys have improved used to be poor at bringing gear and Jersies out in time for the start of seasons.

Shame we're not with BLK anymore. They had some nice stuff

AFAIK we're still with BLK, in fact if you look at the right hand solder of the polos in the pic I'm pretty sure that's the BLK logo.

This is just replacing Life Style Sports as the title sponsor

sorry
LIFE
STYLE
SPORTS

its_phil

KBurke85 wrote: »

Hope Elverys have improved used to be poor at bringing gear and Jersies out in time for the start of seasons.

Shame we're not with BLK anymore. They had some nice stuff

It's still BLK

wp_rathead

The green T-shirt is nice https://twitter.com/connachtrugby/status/748812077423169536?s=09