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

connachta

We desperatly need McKeon. George can't play both 5 and 8. And I don't trust Marshall or Romaine for now, for such a crucial game...

BeardySi

Digifriendly wrote: »

Remember its TG4 via red button on Saorview/UPC/Virgin (advertised as such on TV listings) and almost certainly will not be on satellite.

What a pain in the arse.... wonder will it work on Sky in Nordieland?

Billysays no

Treadhead wrote: »

What a pain in the arse.... wonder will it work on Sky in Nordieland?

While game is not listed on sky satellite program guide for next Saturday on tg4 it is listed on the tg4 website program guide for next Saturday. Anyway bein is streaming it so you have the instructions on how to stream from earlier post. If you use a Linux based TV receiver such as zgemma 2s running openpli or openvix you simply download the tsmedia addon, and put the m3u file in/etc/TSMEDIA and then open the userMU3 option within TSmedia and now you stream direct to your TV. Tsmedia also supplies perfect high definition streaming of movies/series/music before they ever get released on DVD. And totally legal. The whole idea is currently in European court but for the moment streaming of content is legal. Once you don't save the content and then try and share it then it is currently perfectly legal to do so. Go europe

typhoony

chromecast is another option

sydthebeat

MarinersBlues wrote: »

I have gone for the slightly pessimistic side of my actual opinion. For example I think we will win one of the Edinburgh or Ospreys but picked the worst way around.

quite pessimistic i think... you should be gunning to beat leinster in round 18 given the probable team selections.

so i think youve leinster probably 6 points too much and connacht 3 to little

youve the rounds wrong as well.. put rounds 9 and 12 between 17 and 18 for a better overview.
not sure leinster will get 4 points away to glasgow

Billysays no

sydthebeat wrote: »

quite pessimistic i think... you should be gunning to beat leinster in round 18 given the probable team selections.

so i think youve leinster probably 6 points too much and connacht 3 to little

youve the rounds wrong as well.. put rounds 9 and 12 between 17 and 18 for a better overview.
not sure leinster will get 4 points away to glasgow

Agreed. We play Leinster week after end of 6n. Based on player welfare no Irish member will be released. As such Leinster will be playing second string. And for ospreys this weekend I see us winning the game. Opreys have many of their crew on international duty. McGinty was a star last week and my motm. If Craig not available Robb will do fine. Niyi was a relevation. His defence was excellent and his attack was top notch. If we lose Heenan we have Connelly. Without Masterson I believe McKeon will be available. We won't have marmion but blade will do fine. And while Marshall may have been rusty last week he will be fresher this week. I know its very unlike me but I see huge positives. Muldoon is probably playing his best ever rugby, matt and niyi complement tiernan, all playing the best rugby I have ever seen them play. I have no fear of peter and bundee at centre, aj is really finding his place, muldowney is just the finest, Denis is unbeatable, tom is a monster. So I see no problem. There ya go. My most ever positive post :-)

MarinersBlues

sydthebeat wrote: »

quite pessimistic i think... you should be gunning to beat leinster in round 18 given the probable team selections.

so i think youve leinster probably 6 points too much and connacht 3 to little

I think the Munster and Leinster games are 50/50, Munster was the one I happened to give us.
I also fancy us against Glasgow, they have no week off between now and the last round, along with all their internationals there could be a bit of attrition for them.

sydthebeat wrote: »

youve the rounds wrong as well.. put rounds 9 and 12 between 17 and 18 for a better overview.
not sure leinster will get 4 points away to glasgow

I realised that but couldn't be arsed messing around with that table anymore. If someone else wants to fix it off with ye.

ClanofLams

Billysays no wrote: »

McGinty was a star last week and my motm.

He was excellent. I'm a little concerned that the game and Zebre''s weak defence suited his style but hopefully he backs it up this weekend. If so time to renew his contract.

RobbieRuns

ClanofLams wrote: »

He was excellent. I'm a little concerned that the game and Zebre''s weak defence suited his style but hopefully he backs it up this weekend. If so time to renew his contract.

Good points and fully agree.

galwaylad14

ClanofLams wrote: »

He was excellent. I'm a little concerned that the game and Zebre''s weak defence suited his style but hopefully he backs it up this weekend. If so time to renew his contract.

Well if he can even place kick at the same level as he managed last week then I'd be happy enough. Of course he won't get the gaps he got last week to exploit but at the same time the Ospreys will know he's capable of it and will need watching. This might even be enough to give a bit of extra space to the backs outside him.

Aside from his place kicking this is my other big issue with Carty, never looks to go himself which means the opposition can just drift across to the guy outside him knowing that he'll shovel it on to him.

MarinersBlues

galwaylad14 wrote: »

Aside from his place kicking this is my other big issue with Carty, never looks to go himself which means the opposition can just drift across to the guy outside him knowing that he'll shovel it on to him.

He was doing a lot of "going himself" just before the injury. It was really bad timing for him, he was definitely in this best open play form in the run up to that accident.

Robbo

Definitely injured:
Player|Knack|Expected Return
Andrew Browne|A/C Fracture|Mid/Late February
Nepia Fox-Matamua|ACL|Next Season
John Cooney|Shoulder Dislocation/Tear|Ospreys/Late February
Dave McSharry|Concussion|Unknown
Darragh Leader|Wrist|Next Season
Jack Carty|Spleen/Waterslide Ouch|1-3 months from early February
Shane Delahunt|Unknown|Unknown
Rory Parata|Kneecap|Mid-March/Possible Surgery
Eoghan Masterson|Knee|Rest of Season


Returning: Shane O'Leary, JP Cooney, Ciaran Gaffney, Sean O'Brien and James Connolly were all involved in AIL matches last week.

Nearly There: Conor Finn and Quin Roux have been pictured training this week. Jake Heenan (hip pointer), Craig Ronaldson (knee ligament) and Eoin McKeon (ankle) are being monitored from last week.

Half backs may be a problem if Marmion gets a phone call and Ronaldson doesn't pull through.

connachta

I'm relieved Conor Finn and O'Leary are back. They'll cover any back position except FB, where Gaffney and Carr could have a go

galwaylad14

MarinersBlues wrote: »

He was doing a lot of "going himself" just before the injury. It was really bad timing for him, he was definitely in this best open play form in the run up to that accident.

In fairness I should probably have mentioned that, thought the Scarlets game was the best I've seen from him in regards his contribution in open play. His kicking was ok that day too.

Bazzo

Robbo wrote: »

Definitely injured:
Player|Knack|Expected Return
Andrew Browne|A/C Fracture|Mid/Late February
Nepia Fox-Matamua|ACL|Next Season
John Cooney|Shoulder Dislocation/Tear|Ospreys/Late February
Dave McSharry|Concussion|Unknown
Darragh Leader|Wrist|Next Season
Jack Carty|Spleen/Waterslide Ouch|1-3 months from early February
Shane Delahunt|Unknown|Unknown
Rory Parata|Kneecap|Mid-March/Possible Surgery
Eoghan Masterson|Knee|Rest of Season


Returning: Shane O'Leary, JP Cooney, Ciaran Gaffney, Sean O'Brien and James Connolly were all involved in AIL matches last week.

Nearly There: Conor Finn and Quin Roux have been pictured training this week. Jake Heenan (hip pointer), Craig Ronaldson (knee ligament) and Eoin McKeon (ankle) are being monitored from last week.

Half backs may be a problem if Marmion gets a phone call and Ronaldson doesn't pull through.

Between Blade, Porter and Cooney coming back scrum half shouldn't be a big problem. O'Leary is back too so he covers out half, Ronaldson's injury hopefully shouldn't be long term either seeing as he was training and it didn't even look that heavily strapped.

b.gud

Official squad update

This is probably the most significant new bit of info

Dave McSharry
Having sustained a number of concussions in the past 12 months, Dave McSharry has been reviewed by a specialist. He has been advised to undertake a period of rest from the game for the remainder of the current season. Dave, who has a contract with Connacht for next season, will continue to train in a non-contact capacity with the squad.

So grim

freyners

b.gud wrote: »

Official squad update

This is probably the most significant new bit of info

Good to see him being given the rest. Even better his contract isnt under threat. Hopefully he we will see him next season better than ever

connemara man

It's terrible to hear but I'm glad his health is being put first and he's being looked after

b.gud

Deleted User wrote: »

So grim

freyners wrote: »

Good to see him being given the rest. Even better his contract isnt under threat. Hopefully he we will see him next season better than ever

connemara man wrote: »

It's terrible to hear but I'm glad his health is being put first and he's being looked after

Yeah it's really worrying to hear alright. The one thing that I thought was slightly positive was that he was still training in a non contact capacity. IIRC this was not the case with the concussion that ended Craig Clarkes career.

Hopefully David can make a full recovery as he has been excellent for us, but more importantly hopefully there is no long term damage to his health

astonaidan

First Connacht game on the weekend, so easy to keep putting of something because its so close, but **** it bought the tickets and ticking it off the list

calico77

b.gud wrote: »

Yeah it's really worrying to hear alright. The one thing that I thought was slightly positive was that he was still training in a non contact capacity. IIRC this was not the case with the concussion that ended Craig Clarkes career.

Hopefully David can make a full recovery as he has been excellent for us, but more importantly hopefully there is no long term damage to his health

It sounds more like the sexton scenario from november 2014 to feb 2015

Robbo

A reminder that any season ticket holders entitled to two freebies to non-interpro games. That means you have the Ospreys match and Glasgow as last game of the season to use them.

lostboy75

Robbo wrote: »

A reminder that any season ticket holders entitled to two freebies to non-interpro games. That means you have the Ospreys match and Glasgow as last game of the season to use them.

Got mine yesterday, quick call to the branch, email sent out with link to tickets.ie. very easy to do rather than trying to arrange collection

evil_seed

astonaidan wrote: »

First Connacht game on the weekend, so easy to keep putting of something because its so close, but **** it bought the tickets and ticking it off the list

If we lose you're barred from the Sportsground:D:p

Robbo

No Marmion in the Ireland 23 so here's hoping he'll start on Saturday. Congratulations to Ultan Dillane on making the bench.

its_phil

Robbo wrote: »

No Marmion in the Ireland 23 so here's hoping he'll start on Saturday. Congratulations to Ultan Dillane on making the bench.

Very disappointed for Kieran, but honestly could not see us beating Ospreys without him this weekend. Rhys Webb is a quality player.

Ireland loss, Connacht gain.

Predicting a win now.

wp_rathead

If Marmion is released it will be a MASSIVE boost to us (if he is made available)
No slight against Blade but Webb is the best scrum half in the league

RobbieRuns

So delighted for Ultan............ just brilliant.

b.gud

wp_rathead wrote: »

If Marmion is released it will be a MASSIVE boost to us (if he is made available)
No slight against Blade but Webb is the best scrum half in the league

I'd imagine Marmion will bench for us, Pat seems to prefer if the starter has trained all week.

Zzippy

b.gud wrote: »

I'd imagine Marmion will bench for us, Pat seems to prefer if the starter has trained all week.

He started last week and I imagine he was in camp with Ireland most of the week. I think players were released on the Thursday, the rest trained on Friday, so he would have had just the captain's run with Connacht

b.gud

Zzippy wrote: »

He started last week and I imagine he was in camp with Ireland most of the week. I think players were released on the Thursday, the rest trained on Friday, so he would have had just the captain's run with Connacht

Nope because last week was a down week a good few players on the fringes, including Marmion, were released back to the provinces to get game time. He was training with the squad as early as Tuesday as can be seen in these photos http://www.sportsfile.com/more-images/1602135/

The week before he was sub for the Dragons match because he had been with the Irish squad for most of the week

S12b

Based on training today, team is as follows:

15) TOH
14) Niyi
13) Aki
12) Ronaldson
11) Healy
10) AJ
9) Blade

1) Buckley
2) McCartney
3) Rodney
4) Muldowney
5) George
6) SOB (first big start in the Sportsgrounds???)
7) Heenan
8) Muldoon

16) Heffernan
17) Loughney
18) Bealham
19) Marshall
20) Connolly
21) Marmion
22) **Robb (I'm assuming here, wasn't clear)
23) **Poolman (same)

Other noteworthy points:

1) They were running backline set plays off scrum and line out and (1) they looked seriously slick (James Connolly got a good bollicking at one stage for being in the wrong place) and (2) it's only when you remove the crowd you hear just how much talking and communicating goes on in defence

2) Quinn Roux taking full part in training

3) No sign of Eoin McKeon

evil_seed

There's no way Niyi plays ahead of Danie. He was rested against Zebre with this game in mind

wp_rathead

I'd have Poolman ahead of Niyi aswell personally - he is due a try (if Robbo doesn't bet on him)

Robbo

wp_rathead wrote: »

I'd have Poolman ahead of Niyi aswell personally - he is due a try (if Robbo doesn't bet on him)

My betting slip shall remain unsullied this weekend. Too much at stake.

S12b

It was only when I was driving home I thought of Poolman and I can't remember seeing him....Gaffney, Carr and Ed O'Keefe were back 3 for the seconds so maybe he has a knock.

MarinersBlues

S12b wrote: »

Based on training today, team is as follows:

15) TOH
......

Eoin McKeon

Steve Tandy would pay good money for that info

typhoony

indeed please delete

Billysays no

evil_seed wrote: »

There's no way Niyi plays ahead of Danie. He was rested against Zebre with this game in mind

Agreed. Ospreys are a totally different kettle of fish to the type of unstructured mental play that Zebre have. We are going to have to be defensively very strong to keep Ospreys at bay so Danie is an obvious selection

The Lost Sheep

Juan Anaya, Galwegians player(has also played with the Eagles) in Spanish squad for their ENC game against Georgia this weekend

oneofakind32

evil_seed wrote: »

There's no way Niyi plays ahead of Danie. He was rested against Zebre with this game in mind

Yeah, unfairness he did have a good game. Looked like someone who has been waiting for the opportunity. But Zebre are still Zebre, you would have to go with Dannie.

Billysays no

Wonder what's going through ultan dillane's head today. One day before he enters the Twickenham Colosseum. A mixture of excited and scared ****less I expect. I would think a bit of a sleepless night will be had tonight. Go ultan. Do us proud.

wp_rathead

Didn't he play a game or two with Corinthians at start of season?
Some rise for him

b.gud

Robbo wrote: »

My betting slip shall remain unsullied this weekend. Too much at stake.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's superstitious about placing bets on Connacht games. My previous attempt was that Connacht would cover the 30 or points spread in the Saracens away game. Boy did I get that one wrong :eek:

b.gud

wp_rathead wrote: »

Didn't he play a game or two with Corinthians at start of season?
Some rise for him

Yeah pretty sure he did. He also has a habit of making his debut in big games. His first game for Connacht was the away Leinster interpro

Robbo

S12b wrote: »

Based on training today, team is as follows:

15) TOH
14) Niyi
13) Aki
12) Ronaldson
11) Healy
10) AJ
9) Blade

1) Buckley
2) McCartney
3) Rodney
4) Muldowney
5) George
6) SOB (first big start in the Sportsgrounds???)
7) Heenan
8) Muldoon

16) Heffernan
17) Loughney
18) Bealham
19) Marshall
20) Connolly
21) Marmion
22) **Robb (I'm assuming here, wasn't clear)
23) **Poolman (same)

Other noteworthy points:

1) They were running backline set plays off scrum and line out and (1) they looked seriously slick (James Connolly got a good bollicking at one stage for being in the wrong place) and (2) it's only when you remove the crowd you hear just how much talking and communicating goes on in defence

2) Quinn Roux taking full part in training

3) No sign of Eoin McKeon

You read the tea leaves well. As predicted, with the second rows the other way round.

The Lost Sheep

wp_rathead wrote: »

Didn't he play a game or two with Corinthians at start of season?
Some rise for him

Yeah. Played in one of their only wins in AIL so far against Nenagh and think he may have played another AIL game

wp_rathead

Would prefer James Connolly at 6 with how he has performed this season but hopefully Sean O'Brien shows on his undoubted potential

Also personally wouldn't have Niyi ahead of Danie - suppose if surface is dry and hard it'll suit his game

Can't fecking wait though!!

connachta

Rather confident about Niyi and Poolman as impact player
SOB should be in form as he's prefered to Connolly
Muldoon as 8 and AhYou starting are worrinesses.
Very Happy Ronaldson and Heenan can start.
I'd like Marmion and Bealham to come in the game as early as possible, half time or so...