Connacht Team Talk Thread V - The Friend Zone

realhorrorshow

Wonder which province is going to be the one to take a punt on Peter Sullivan.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

realhorrorshow wrote: »

Wonder which province is going to be the one to take a punt on Peter Sullivan.

Heard Connacht were in for him on an academy deal. Not sure how reliable that is though. Sure most provinces will be in for him

Bazzo

Mul, it's over

Not exactly an inspiring signing if it's true. I could end up eating my words, after all Carey and Farrell both came from the championship, but ignoring Carey (he probably got a good offer from Worcester) I'd rather have held on to O'Donnell to be honest.

FACECUTTR

Bazzo wrote: »

Not exactly an inspiring signing if it's true. I could end up eating my words, after all Carey and Farrell both came from the championship, but ignoring Carey (he probably got a good offer from Worcester) I'd rather have held on to O'Donnell to be honest.

That is very true. Both really stepped up when they arrived. Murphy has only featured once as far as I remember which is the other side of the coin. I suppose it would be difficult to get past Heff, Delahunt and McCartney.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

Signing Burke would be as a third choice TH in my eyes, I felt a second choice was needed. Big year needed from McCoy if it happens, I can see bealham getting back into Irish square post World Cup, Andy Farrell spent a fair bit of time watching Connacht matches compared to Schmidt. Out of curiosity what paper did the Burke rumor start?

Stan27

FACECUTTR wrote: »

That is very true. Both really stepped up when they arrived. Murphy has only featured once as far as I remember which is the other side of the coin. I suppose it would be difficult to get past Heff, Delahunt and McCartney.

who is the no1 hooker ?

realhorrorshow

Stan27 wrote: »

who is the no1 hooker ?

Seems to be Heffernan.

stephen_n

Zzippy wrote: »

Ulster TH dropped his bind twice in first half and got the penalty both times. Buckley was not at fault. He just needs officials who can ref the scrum properly.

Most refs don’t have a bulls notion what’s happening in the scrum. Was the exact same the week before, Leinster destroying the Ulster scrum. Yet the penalty count goes in Ulsters favor. It’s just guess work most of the time. Connacht’s scrum should have yielded them more penalties. Mike Ross was probably right when he said there should be a scrum specific TMO.

ClanofLams

Mul, it's over

Conan O’Donnell on bench tomorrow vs Brumbies. Will be interesting to see how the move works out, wouldn’t rule out him returning in the future.

Shelflife

stephen_n wrote: »

Most refs don’t have a bulls notion what’s happening in the scrum. Was the exact same the week before, Leinster destroying the Ulster scrum. Yet the penalty count goes in Ulsters favor. It’s just guess work most of the time. Connacht’s scrum should have yielded them more penalties. Mike Ross was probably right when he said there should be a scrum specific TMO.

A common misconception is that if one team is destroying another in the scrum them they will get the pens.

one of the reasons a team may be destroying another is because they are scrummaging illegally, even if a team is totally dominant in the scrum they still must scrummage in a legal manner.

Former Former

You've got a Friend in me

Another common misconception is that it's always the other guys who are cheating.

ClanofLams

Mul, it's over

https://twitter.com/murray_kinsella/status/1127562820764094469?s=21

Bazzo

Mul, it's over

Very late to the party but just heard an interesting point from Dan McFarland in the post match press conference, 43/46 players in the quarter final were IQ. The other 3 being Butler, Fainga'a and Coetzee.

kingofthekong

Connacht should try and scoop up Tadhg Mcilroy from Bedford/Saracens academy could be a useful signing

Squidgy Black

kingofthekong wrote: »

Connacht should try and scoop up Tadhg Mcilroy from Bedford/Saracens academy could be a useful signing

More than likely won't want to go anywhere near the IRFU if he can gain a development contract with Saracens after the whole JWC saga.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

kingofthekong wrote: »

Connacht should try and scoop up Tadhg Mcilroy from Bedford/Saracens academy could be a useful signing

Think Connacht are pretty stacked at hooker tbh. Delahunt and heffernan are potentially and already Irish capped standard and McCartney and Murphy backing them up and the extremely talented Tierney Martin is going into his second year in the academy.

Mr Tickle

Wegians89 wrote: »

Think Connacht are pretty stacked at hooker tbh. Delahunt and heffernan are potentially and already Irish capped standard and McCartney and Murphy backing them up and the extremely talented Tierney Martin is going into his second year in the academy.

That's probably the ideal sort of depth for a front row position right there.

kingofthekong

Wegians89 wrote: »

Think Connacht are pretty stacked at hooker tbh. Delahunt and heffernan are potentially and already Irish capped standard and McCartney and Murphy backing them up and the extremely talented Tierney Martin is going into his second year in the academy.

Ok But Mcartney is on his way out soon And Tadhg is probably a better prospect than Murphy,

Think if Connacht want to be winning Pro14 trophies again they need competition for spots to drive players on, Heffernan clear first choice, Delahunt is a fairly average player and Tierney Martin and Tadhg to battle it out for game time,

Can only do the team favours, Tadhg kept the highly rated Ronan Kelleher out of the starting 2 shirt for the u20s so he's absolutely worth a punt

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

kingofthekong wrote: »

Ok But Mcartney is on his way out soon And Tadhg is probably a better prospect than Murphy,

Think if Connacht want to be winning Pro14 trophies again they need competition for spots to drive players on, Heffernan clear first choice, Delahunt is a fairly average player and Tierney Martin and Tadhg to battle it out for game time,

Can only do the team favours, Tadhg kept the highly rated Ronan Kelleher out of the starting 2 shirt for the u20s so he's absolutely worth a punt

Agree that Connacht need competition for places to drive players on, loosehead, tight head and ten would be the ones if real concern though.

I’d expect McCartney to leave after his current deal, think that’s next season and Tierney Martin to step up to the senior squad. McElroy probably would be a better prospect than Murphy but would he come back to be 3rd/4th choice after all the hassle he had with the irfu? Could only really see him coming back to be first choice somewhere

Bazzo

Mul, it's over

Wegians89 wrote: »

Agree that Connacht need competition for places to drive players on, loosehead, tight head and ten would be the ones if real concern though.

I’d expect McCartney to leave after his current deal, think that’s next season and Tierney Martin to step up to the senior squad. McElroy probably would be a better prospect but would he come back to be 3rd/4th choice after all the hassle he had with the irfu? Could only really see him coming back to be first choice somewhere

Better prospect than Tierney-Martin? Wouldn't necessarily think that myself

Squidgy Black

Wasn't McElroy offered an academy contract with Connacht at the time of the whole JWC drama and held out in the hopes of a Leinster academy deal.

Now obviously a full contract is a different story, but still.

slingerz

I can't believe it's not Butler

Squidgy Black wrote: »

More than likely won't want to go anywhere near the IRFU if he can gain a development contract with Saracens after the whole JWC saga.

if anyone was poaching him i would expect it to be Ulster with Best retiring

Squidgy Black

slingerz wrote: »

if anyone was poaching him i would expect it to be Ulster with Best retiring

Ulster have Herring, Andrew and McBurney, as well as Zack McCall in the academy. Herring's showed he's capable of stepping up, and McBurney is a decent prospect who's gotten decent game time so far.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

Bazzo wrote: »

Better prospect than Tierney-Martin? Wouldn't necessarily think that myself

Meant than Murphy, I’ve fixed that. Personally think DTM has huge potential

slingerz

I can't believe it's not Butler

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Ulster have Herring, Andrew and McBurney, as well as Zack McCall in the academy. Herring's showed he's capable of stepping up, and McBurney is a decent prospect who's gotten decent game time so far.

I'd see McElroy having a higher potential than McBurney. He could be the reserve to Herring while developing.

MarinersBlues

Mul, it's over

kingofthekong wrote: »

Delahunt is a fairly average player

I think most Connacht fans would disagree with that.

kingofthekong

MarinersBlues wrote: »

I think most Connacht fans would disagree with that.

Maybe Connacht fans would be slightly precious of him then if your ranking hookers in the country it would be:

1. Best
2. Cronin
3. Scannell
4. Herring
5.Tracy
6. Heffernan
7. Rhys Marshall
8. Delahunt....maybe


Wont be long before Ronan Kelleher and others are on that list also

To be ranked 8th in a country as small as Ireland as a hooker would make him a fairly average pro player in the grand scheme of things if your not biased

Sure hes had good moments but if Connacht want to be consistently challenging for trophies they need better players across the board and fierce competition for players,

So to say you dont need Tadhg or others because your stacked at hooker will leave connacht trophy less for the next 10+years

Connacht dont have the finances or success to attract waves of top class talent but they do have the lure of playing for ireland for IQ overseas players who would like to play International rugby, this should be there focus - ulster are doing this with the likes of Treadwell, Allison, Mcphillips, Curtis brothers etc

Players currently known to be IQ:
O.Jager - Crusaders
Brennan - Toulouse (I think)
H.Hyde - harlequins (massive talent and just realised Ulster have already snapped him up)
Piers o'conor - bristol
Tadhg Mcilroy
Mcguihgan - Hooker Newcastle
Conor gilsenan - london irish
Niall saunders - harlequinns
Fergus Mulchrone - London irish


^^ thats just off the top of my head

And of course Connacht are already doing this and also snapping up guys like Paul Boyle who wasnt getting a chance at Leinster

Mr Tickle

kingofthekong wrote: »

Maybe Connacht fans would be slightly precious of him then if your ranking hookers in the country it would be:

1. Best
2. Cronin
3. Scannell
4. Herring
5.Tracy
6. Heffernan
7. Rhys Marshall
8. Delahunt....maybe

Again, most Connacht fans would dispute that ranking.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

I think if one of delahunt or heffernan could absolutely nail down first choice with Connacht you’d see them climb up that hooker depth chart. I really don’t think there’s much between any of the hookers in any of the provinces. For example I don’t rate Tracy at all personally.

Adding another hooker to Connacht current stock wouldn’t be a good resource of funds. More depth at 1,3,10 and back three would be much more beneficial

kingofthekong

Mr Tickle wrote: »

Again, most Connacht fans would dispute that ranking.

well that is how Joe schmidt would rank them so I'll take that over what a connacht fan has to say about their own player