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

b.gud

Newcastle Falcons v Connacht
Sunday December 20th
Kingston Stadium
Kick off 3pm

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

wp_rathead

Infairness, I still rate Whitehouse as a decent ref despite "D'incident" in Thomond

b.gud

wp_rathead wrote: »

Infairness, I still rate Whitehouse as a decent ref despite "D'incident" in Thomond

Yeah me too, my post was a bit tongue in cheek. I was driving back to Galway from the game with a Munster supporter and neither of us were happy with his performance, but I have to say after watching it back I thought he had a good game, bar "D'incident" of course.

Robbo

wp_rathead wrote: »

Infairness, I still rate Whitehouse as a decent ref despite "D'incident" in Thomond

D'incident aside he had a pretty good game and seems to be modelling himself as a "Nigel the Second" in terms of his approach and communication. More than happy for him to ref this.

S12b

Robbo wrote: »

Some gym pictures were put up on the Connacht Facebook and for what it's worth, TOH, Bundee and Healy were doing weights sessions.

TOH and Healy carrying quad and calf injuries respectively so an upper body session doesn't indicate anything. Similarly Aki has a minor ankle problem so squatting would not be an issue. It would be different if we saw him doing lateral jump work or lateral sprint work.....sorry to be the bearer of bad news!!

This doesn't mean they won't play this weekend, just that those pictures don't show anything regarding their injuries.

Zzippy

S12b wrote: »

TOH and Healy carrying quad and calf injuries respectively so an upper body session doesn't indicate anything. Similarly Aki has a minor ankle problem so squatting would not be an issue. It would be different if we saw him doing lateral jump work or lateral sprint work.....sorry to be the bearer of bad news!!

This doesn't mean they won't play this weekend, just that those pictures don't show anything regarding their injuries.

Would you squat heavy with an ankle injury? I would have thought that would be inadvisable...

b.gud

S12b wrote: »

TOH and Healy carrying quad and calf injuries respectively so an upper body session doesn't indicate anything. Similarly Aki has a minor ankle problem so squatting would not be an issue. It would be different if we saw him doing lateral jump work or lateral sprint work.....sorry to be the bearer of bad news!!

This doesn't mean they won't play this weekend, just that those pictures don't show anything regarding their injuries.

Not trying to contradict you because I don't know much, hardly anything if I'm honest, about S&C but surely doing squats, like this pic of Teirnan, would be one of the tougher excersies on quads so he might not be too bad. It is worth noting though that his weights seem to be a bit lighter, 30kg, than a few of the other back lads.



I think Pat said that Bundee still had an ankle niggle so he wouldn't be risked this weekend, which is good IMO, but I did take note of this exercise that he was doing which looked like it might put some pressure on the ankle

S12b

Re Aki and your question of squatting heavy with an ankle injury.....99.9% of ankle injuries come from a player turning on his ankle/twisting it...i.e the damage is done at the side of the foot. Squatting doesn't really challenge the ankle laterally to a great extent, it challenges the dorsiflexion of the ankle, something which would be largely unaffected by a minor ankle injury.

The same goes for him on the prowler, his ankle is working front to back (dorsiflexion) if that makes any sense, very little lateral movement.



Re TOH, I didn't see the pic of him squatting when I posted initially. You're definitely right to say a back squat would be challenging on the quads so it's obvious his injury isn't too serious. This would make sense as they still named him in the team last week and have suggested he may well be good to go for this weekend.

Robbo

Following recent events, an opening has arisen at the Top Table of Rugby Fandom. Therefore an emergency meeting of the Continuity Connacht Clan was convened. A six point manifesto was formulated with top PR consultants Urethra Franklin at great expense. Entitled R.E.S.P.E.C.T. you can find out what it means to meeee:

R - Refs Parking Space. The most important 6 square meters in the Sportsground. This should be denoted by a path of rose petals leading from College Road.
E - Eddie the Eagle. It's not funny when he falls over. It's hilarious
S - Shhhhhhhhhhhh for the kicker......Shhhhhhhh ya little bollix....is that my phone? Sorry about that lads.
P - Pints. The lack of cardboard quad-pint holders has resulted in the loss of over 4,000 cheeky sups this season between the Beer Shed and Clan Terrace. Don't be responsible for under-refreshment.
E - Eddie O'Sullivan. It should always be noted that wherever you are on Earth, Eddie is only a 20 minute drive away and is therefore the best man for any job.
C - Cold. No-one on the Clan Terrace can ever complain about low temperatures ever again because someone will remind them of the Russian trip.
T - Traditional Gags. The old chestnut about refs going to Specsavers is being phased out and shall be a bannable offence by Season 2017/18

freyners

Robbo wrote:

Following recent events, an opening has arisen at the Top Table of Rugby Fandom. Therefore an emergency meeting of the Continuity Connacht Clan was convened. A six point manifesto was formulated with top PR consultants Urethra Franklin at great expense. Entitled R.E.S.P.E.C.T. you can find out what it means to meeee:

Bravo. I will be shamelessly stealing this in the coming days.

its_phil

Robbo wrote: »

Following recent events, an opening has arisen at the Top Table of Rugby Fandom. Therefore an emergency meeting of the Continuity Connacht Clan was convened. A six point manifesto was formulated with top PR consultants Urethra Franklin at great expense. Entitled R.E.S.P.E.C.T. you can find out what it means to meeee:

Post of the year!

ClanofLams

Bit late to the party on this but delighted to see Eoin Griffin returning, bit of luck with fitness (seems unlikely at the moment!) and he'll be an excellent addition, real classy player.

Nice to see Pat Lam's comments today, no way would he be saying that were Henshaw leaving a done deal. Henshaw signing for another couple of years would really be massive for the province, as good as he is on the field it would be even bigger in terms of the intent and ambition it would show.

flouncer

its_phil wrote: »

Post of the year!

Personally I thought my poem was up there. But respect I suppose :-)

Zzippy

ClanofLams wrote: »

Bit late to the party on this but delighted to see Eoin Griffin returning, bit of luck with fitness (seems unlikely at the moment!) and he'll be an excellent addition, real classy player.

Nice to see Pat Lam's comments today, no way would he be saying that were Henshaw leaving a done deal. Henshaw signing for another couple of years would really be massive for the province, as good as he is on the field it would be even bigger in terms of the intent and ambition it would show.

What did he say? Link?

testtech05

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/connacht-rugby/robbie-henshaw-staying-builds-what-we-have-pat-lam-coy-on-leinster-transfer-rumours-34291383.html

S12b

ClanofLams wrote: »

Bit late to the party on this but delighted to see Eoin Griffin returning, bit of luck with fitness (seems unlikely at the moment!) and he'll be an excellent addition, real classy player.

Nice to see Pat Lam's comments today, no way would he be saying that were Henshaw leaving a done deal. Henshaw signing for another couple of years would really be massive for the province, as good as he is on the field it would be even bigger in terms of the intent and ambition it would show.

The position Leinster are in at the moment has to be a big factor working in our favour

Stan27

S12b wrote: »

The position Leinster are in at the moment has to be a big factor working in our favour

Yes I agree.
Firstly staying at connacht will not hurt his international chances.
Second pat is a better coach than Leo.

The big thing for connacht is keeping the whole squad for next year, plus another few good signings.
I think a lot of people focus on henshaw going that another player leaving may be just as important. Healy/ Buckley for example.

former total

Stan27 wrote: »

Yes I agree.
Firstly staying at connacht will not hurt his international chances.
Second pat is a better coach than Leo.

The big thing for connacht is keeping the whole squad for next year, plus another few good signings.
I think a lot of people focus on henshaw going that another player leaving may be just as important. Healy/ Buckley for example.

People saying Lam is a better coach than Cullen at this point in Cullen's reign have very short memories.

Healy and Buckley are far less likely to move.

evil_seed

How are they less likely to move? In what ways to fans have a short memories?
Lam is the better coach right now. It might be Cullen's 1st yr but Lam is the better coach right now. Proof of this would be all the praise in the past few months in the press

its_phil

former total wrote: »

People saying Lam is a better coach than Cullen at this point in Cullen's reign have very short memories.

Healy and Buckley are far less likely to move.

He is a better coach than Cullen right now and has actual experience at different levels of the game. There is nothing to back Cullen up, because he doesn't have it and Lam might have had a poor time at the Blues but his time at Auckland was successful.

Not saying Cullen can't become a successful coach but I can't see anything to suggest he will be at this stage other than a successful playing career.

Bazzo

Unless I'm mistaken Buckley signed a 2 year contract last year so he's not going anywhere.

Crimsonforce

Bazzo wrote: »

Unless I'm mistaken Buckley signed a 2 year contract last year so he's not going anywhere.

Buckley is a unbelievable player. would have def made 6 nations squad

former total

evil_seed wrote: »

How are they less likely to move?

Henshaw is a starting Ireland international and all three provinces would sign him if they could and would guarantee him gametime.

Buckley would probably start at Ulster but would be lucky to make the 23 at Munster and definitely would not do so at Leinster. Healy would be even worse off. Why would they move?

evil_seed wrote: »

In what ways to fans have a short memories?
Lam is the better coach right now. It might be Cullen's 1st yr but Lam is the better coach right now. Proof of this would be all the praise in the past few months in the press

Compare Lam's opening few months to Cullen's opening few months. Was it ten defeats in a row or something equally horrendous?
It's simply too early to say one way or the other.

wp_rathead

We had 3 awful performances in Lam 1st season :
Edinburgh, Treviso and Saracens away
Ulster away was bit overwhelming too
However he had us starting to play the brand of rugby we are seeing now
Obviously was some teething problems - but even back then most of the fans saw what we were trying and what Pat's philosophy was.
He also had THAT win away in Toulouse which wasn't too shabby

connachta

former total wrote: »

Buckley would probably start at Ulster but would be lucky to make the 23 at Munster and definitely would not do so at Leinster. Healy would be even worse off. Why would they move?

You must be kidding for the part about Munster. He'd start anytime, any game. Ok he is behind Healy and McGrath, not by far, but he is the 3rd Irish LH, without any contest. My opinion. Just missed international exposition because the 2 other props aren't often injured during 6 nations/RWC periods, and, yes I dare say this, because he is from Connacht. But times are changing, and he's just 25...

former total

connachta wrote: »

You must be kidding for the part about Munster. He'd start anytime, any game. Ok he is behind Healy and McGrath, not by far, but he is the 3rd Irish LH, without any contest. My opinion. Just missed international exposition because the 2 other prop aren't often injured during 6 nations/RWC periods, and, yes I dare say this, because he is from Connacht. But times are changing, and he's just 25...

Buckley is a good player but statements like this are hard to support. Would he really be guaranteed to start ahead of Dave Kilcoyne and James Cronin?

S12b

former total wrote: »

People saying Lam is a better coach than Cullen at this point in Cullen's reign have very short memories.

Healy and Buckley are far less likely to move.

Agreed and agreed.

During Pat's first season we lost pretty much every match from the start of September to the end of December....it takes time for players to get used to a system and it's unfair to label a new coach so early into his career.

The only province it would make sense for Buckley to go to would be Ulster and I really don't think that is going to happen. It's not beyond the realms of possibility a lower ranked Premiership or Top 14 team would sign him as a squad player....he would make a lot more money but again I really don't see it happening. Of course this is all hypothetical as he signed on until summer 2017.

Matt Healy is a strange one....has to be the most under-rated player in Ireland. Non Connacht fans never give him a hope of playing for Ireland and whilst in the short term I'd have to agree i.e I can't see him making the 6 Nations squad, I firmly believe he's right up there with the best of them (Bowe, Trimble, Earls, Fitz, Zebo) as an attacking winger. I watch him week in week out and he consistently makes numerous line breaks out of nothing. Obviously his defence and aerial abilities are his issues and probably why he won't play for Ireland, especially under Schmidt, but if we're talking attack only, I'd say he's in a different league to Kearney, McFadden and Kirchner....you simply can't beat genuine explosive speed on the wing.

b.gud

former total wrote: »

Buckley is a good player but statements like this are hard to support. Would he really be guaranteed to start ahead of Dave Kilcoyne and James Cronin?

I think he'd get ahead of Cronin.

I'd see him and Kilcoyne as similar to Cooney and Marmion in Connacht. Both really good and both pushing each other to improve, with a fairly even share of starting and benching caps for both players

ClanofLams

former total wrote: »

Buckley is a good player but statements like this are hard to support. Would he really be guaranteed to start ahead of Dave Kilcoyne and James Cronin?

Kilcoyne and Cronin are good players and to be fair less experienced at this stage than Buckley. But I certainly wouldn't swap Buckley for either and he would start for Munster IMO.

S12b

ClanofLams wrote: »

Kilcoyne and Cronin are good players and to be fair less experienced at this stage than Buckley. But I certainly wouldn't swap Buckley for either and he would start for Munster IMO.

Not sure I'd agree with that. Cronin and Buckley are both the same age and while Buckley has about 30 more caps, Cronin has his Ireland caps and his Ireland training camp experience. Kilcoyne is two years older again and has 15 Ireland caps so you'd have to say he's more experienced that Buckley.

ClanofLams

S12b wrote: »

Not sure I'd agree with that. Cronin and Buckley are both the same age and while Buckley has about 30 more caps, Cronin has his Ireland caps and his Ireland training camp experience. Kilcoyne is two years older again and has 15 Ireland caps so you'd have to say he's more experienced that Buckley.

You're right about Kilcoyne, not sure why but thought he was younger and only had 3/4 caps.

Would still say he has more experience than Cronin. It might only be 30 more caps but I would imagine without looking at it that Buckley has far more minutes as he has played 80 a lot and not made as many sub appearances I would think.

S12b

ClanofLams wrote: »

You're right about Kilcoyne, not sure why but thought he was younger and only had 3/4 caps.

Would still say he has more experience than Cronin. It might only be 30 more caps but I would imagine without looking at it that Buckley has far more minutes as he has played 80 a lot and not made as many sub appearances I would think.

Yup that's definitely true, Buckley is a machine in terms of minutes played, especially for a prop....could be wrong but I believe he had the second most minutes in the squad last season behind Muldoon.

Bazzo

I can see people saying there's not much between himself and Kilcoyne, I still think he's the better of the two but that may be my bias in play. I don't really see any argument for why Cronin would be ahead of him at the moment though.

b.gud

really good interview with Ronaldson in the Indo today

b.gud

6 changes for Newcastle

15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Belisario Agulla, 12 Chris Harris, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Craig Willis, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 1 Alex Rogers, 2 Scott Lawson, 3 Jon Welsh, 4 Mouritz Botha, 5 Sean Robinson, 6 Will Welch (C), 7 Daniel Temm, 8 Ally Hogg

16 George McGuigan, 17 Rob Vickers, 18 Taione Vea, 19 Calum Green, 20 Richard Mayhew, 21 Michael Young, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Juan Pablo Socino


No sign of a Connacht team, which has me worried that they're struggling to field one

connachta

I do think we've the potential to win in Newcastle, even if it's a better team fielded, with our guys. Apart from Qualter, Saba, O'Donnell and O'Leary (most if not all of them will be on the bench), all the players have prooven there are up to it, on a multiple-game basis, including Blade, Robb and Parata IMO

former total

Only 22 players named...

15 Danie Poolman
14 Rory Parata
13 Peter Robb
12 Craig Ronaldson
11 Niyi Adeolokun
10 Shane O’Leary
9 Caolin Blade

1 Conan O’Donnell
2 Jason Harris-Wright
3 Rodney Ah You
4 Danny Qualter
5 Andrew Browne
6 Sean O’Brien
7 Eoghan Masterson
8 George Naoupu (captain)

16 Shane Delahunt
17 Finlay Bealham
18 Saba Meunargia
19 Aly Muldowney
20 Dave Heffernan
21 Ian Porter
22 Jack Carty

connachta

former total wrote: »

Only 22 players named...

15 Danie Poolman
14 Rory Parata
13 Peter Robb
12 Craig Ronaldson
11 Niyi Adeolokun
10 Shane O’Leary
9 Caolin Blade

1 Conan O’Donnell
2 Jason Harris-Wright
3 Rodney Ah You
4 Danny Qualter
5 Andrew Browne
6 Sean O’Brien
7 Eoghan Masterson
8 George Naoupu (captain)

16 Shane Delahunt
17 Finlay Bealham
18 Saba Meunargia
19 Aly Muldowney
20 Dave Heffernan
21 Ian Porter
22 Jack Carty

Good selection, as I expected. I guess one of TOH/Healy will travel, and be assessed before k.o to determine if it's ok to be n°23

BrokenMan

Glad to see there are no risks being take with anyone even slightly doubtful. It's still a pretty decent team. Robb and Ronaldson certainly wont be run over and should be able to get some forward momentum. Poolman at FB could be interesting, he has a good eye for a gap.

b.gud

Unavailable from European registered Squad (20): Tom McCartney, Denis Buckley (deregistered), Ronan Loughney, Nathan White, Ben Marshall, Quinn Roux, Nepia Fox-Matamua (deregistered), John Muldoon, James Connolly, Eoin McKeon, John Cooney, Kieran Marmion, AJ MacGinty, Bundee Aki, Dave McSharry, Robbie Henshaw, Fionn Carr, Matt Healy, Darragh Leader, Tiernan O’Halloran.

It is scary how close to our first choice team can be made of those unavailable

Buckley
MacCartney
White
Roux
Marshall
Muldoon
Fox-matamua
McKeon
Marmion
MacGinty
Healy
Aki
Henshaw
TOH
Leader

connachta

The injury list is splitted in 3 part, hopefully the good part is better filled...

Back now or so, before new year (15) -
Browne, Masterson, Marmion, Porter, Ronaldson, Poolman, Aki, Healy, Loughney, O'Halloran, Heenan, Pewhairangi, MacGinty, McCartney, McKeon

Back sometime in February (6) -
Buckley, Cooney, Leader, Marshall, Roux, JP Cooney

Uncertain, probably January (4)
Carr, Henshaw, Finn, McSharry

Next season
Fox-Matamua

Zzippy

former total wrote: »

Only 22 players named...

15 Danie Poolman 26
14 Rory Parata 21
13 Peter Robb 21
12 Craig Ronaldson 25
11 Niyi Adeolokun 25
10 Shane O’Leary 22
9 Caolin Blade 21

1 Conan O’Donnell 19
2 Jason Harris-Wright 27
3 Rodney Ah You 27
4 Danny Qualter 23
5 Andrew Browne 28
6 Sean O’Brien 21
7 Eoghan Masterson 22
8 George Naoupu (captain) 32

16 Shane Delahunt 21
17 Finlay Bealham 25
18 Saba Meunargia 21
19 Aly Muldowney 32
20 Dave Heffernan 24
21 Ian Porter 27
22 Jack Carty 23

Average age 24.06!
3 out of 6 front row players under 21!

connachta

If TOH isn't in the plane at all (I still expect a good surprise), I guess Porter would play on a wing if one of the backs is out. He did so during a Wasps friendly in London last year IIRC...

ClanofLams

Why is James Connolly named as unavailable? Was hoping he would be rested anyway but he hasn't picked up an injury has he?

wp_rathead

Nice team, thought Parata has played FB underage though - but having Poolman 15 could be a masterstroke
I've never seen Robb at 13 - could be our very own Bastareaud in the making

Delighted for Conan to get his first start- has been really impressive off the bench for us all season

Rather Masterson wasn't starting but hopefully his thumb is alright and he gets through it unscathed for Ulster

That is a much stronger Newcastle side though- they'll be up for this and hoping to get a rare win in what has been a pretty miserable season for them..

connachta

Bad news Henry rested for Toulouse, Williams on the bench. Their back-row will be fresh and scrary in the Sportsground. Hope we will have our Heenan/Masterson/Muldoon association, with McKeon/Connolly on the bench, to counter this threat...

The Lost Sheep

wp_rathead wrote: »

Nice team, thought Parata has played FB underage though - but having Poolman 15 could be a masterstroke
I've never seen Robb at 13 - could be our very own Bastareaud in the making

Delighted for Conan to get his first start- has been really impressive off the bench for us all season

Rather Masterson wasn't starting but hopefully his thumb is alright and he gets through it unscathed for Ulster

That is a much stronger Newcastle side though- they'll be up for this and hoping to get a rare win in what has been a pretty miserable season for them..

Parata has played 15 in age grade but Poolman there is better. He has more experience there
Would say Robb at 13 is quite one off.. due to injuries. Better have Masterson than Heffernan starting in back-row I suppose
Just as long as there's no more injuries in this is the important thing

wp_rathead

Has Poolman ever played 15 before?
Can only ever remember him on wing and at 13

wp_rathead

connachta wrote: »

Bad news Henry rested for Toulouse, Williams on the bench. Their back-row will be fresh and scrary in the Sportsground. Hope we will have our Heenan/Masterson/Muldoon association, with McKeon/Connolly on the bench, to counter this threat...

We won't see Heenan start vs Ulster anyway - he isn't even on the bench for Eagles so would be madness starting him against Ulster

Connacht Eagles team to face Jersey RFC

15 Ciarán Gaffney
14 Adam Leavy
13 Api Pewhairangi
12 Cormac Brennan
11 Ed O’Keeffe
10 Conor McKeon (captain)
9 Stephen Kerins

1 Jacob Walshe
2 Pat O’Toole
3 Conor Kenny
4 Peter Claffey
5 Cillian Gallagher
6 Marc Kelly
7 Rory Moloney
8 Stephen McVeigh

REPLACEMENTS
16 Juan Anaya Lazaro
17 Matthew Burke
18 Cian Romaine
19 Matthew Cosgrove
20 Ryan Feehily
21 Aidan Moynihan
22 Jack Keegan

b.gud

wp_rathead wrote: »

We won't see Heenan start vs Ulster anyway - he isn't even on the bench for Eagles so would be madness starting him against Ulster

They're really looking to make sure that no chances are taken with him this time, which is great to see