Connacht Team Talk Thread V - The Friend Zone

FACECUTTR

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Any update when we will see these lads?
& What position does BOD play?

Has played fullback in union before so more than likely there or wing.

ionadnapokot

Thanks. I see he got a rake load of try's for Aus in the 7's.
He's tall but not esp fast. I was thinking FB myself.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Any update when we will see these lads?
& What position does BOD play?

Think there was suggestions papalii involved next week, bod is out injured until September/October time I believe

realhorrorshow

Only just got to watch the match in full tonight. Really enjoyable watch, better than I was expecting.
I thought that by selecting Thornbury and Dillane in the row our lineout would dominate at the expense of our scrum. Thankfully both set pieces were really solid, Thornbury has obviously added a bit of bulk which seems to have made him more of a live option at tighthead lock. Likewise, I was delighted to see the scrum hold up so well with two debutants on at prop and Murray and Dillane in the engine, the prospect of which would have terrified me before kick off.
Our attacking shape was simple but very effective due to some lovely interplay between forwards and backs, as well as lovely running lines and sharp decision making. Always pleasant to see such a clinical performance from a Connacht team. Defence held up well, although we did tend at times to get caught quite narrow as we often do, better teams can and have punished us. Discipline will also be a work-on, the penalty count went against us 12-6.
While watching, I thought Dillane was definitely my man of the match. He smashed absolutely everything that moved in a huge shift, which included scrummaging at tighthead for 37 minutes. However, according to ESPN he conceded 4 penalties, which is pretty poor if correct. Niall Murray put in a really good shift after Thornbury's unfortunate injury, he has added some weight while maintaining his impressive engine. Jarrad Butler was absolutely everywhere on his return to the 7 jersey, and Paul Boyle was another who showed the benefit of 5 months of bulking in a powerful performance.
Kieran Marmion must be among the best defensive scrumhalves in the world, he held up Adam McBurney twice and made several other key interventions. His support running was also excellent. Bundee has somehow gotten even stronger, and displayed ridiculous power on a number of occasions. The back 3 looked extremely sharp, Porch being the standout. Alex Wootton was very lively, but might want to relax a bit with the speculative offloads. Peter Sullivan was the quietest of the trio but showed plenty of promise.
All in all, a great return to rugby. Ulster weren't good but to win with a bonus point with 5 debutants in the team is extremely promising, very excited for next week now.

Bazzo

Mul, it's over

realhorrorshow wrote: »

Bundee has somehow gotten even stronger, and displayed ridiculous power on a number of occasions.

https://twitter.com/Brownetown87/status/1297911947183165441?s=19

My personal favourite

Mul, it's over

As well as I thought Henshaw went on Saturday, it's hard to look passed Bundee for the started 12 shirt for Ireland. That wasn't the only occasion on Sunday where he overpowered forwards in contact.

Aki / Farrell could be another way for us to setup in mid field also.

typhoony

JohnniDrama wrote: »

Have heard from a good source that they very impressed with Papali’i and his conditioning is impressive and close to the standard. So no concerns there. He doing extras too. Meant to be huge. They very excited about his potential.

He's 27 so in reality he should have reached his potential by now or be close to it

ionadnapokot

realhorrorshow wrote: »

Only just got to watch the match in full tonight. Really enjoyable watch, better than I was expecting.
I thought that by selecting Thornbury and Dillane in the row our lineout would dominate at the expense of our scrum. Thankfully both set pieces were really solid, Thornbury has obviously added a bit of bulk which seems to have made him more of a live option at tighthead lock. Likewise, I was delighted to see the scrum hold up so well with two debutants on at prop and Murray and Dillane in the engine, the prospect of which would have terrified me before kick off.
Our attacking shape was simple but very effective due to some lovely interplay between forwards and backs, as well as lovely running lines and sharp decision making. Always pleasant to see such a clinical performance from a Connacht team. Defence held up well, although we did tend at times to get caught quite narrow as we often do, better teams can and have punished us. Discipline will also be a work-on, the penalty count went against us 12-6.
While watching, I thought Dillane was definitely my man of the match. He smashed absolutely everything that moved in a huge shift, which included scrummaging at tighthead for 37 minutes. However, according to ESPN he conceded 4 penalties, which is pretty poor if correct. Niall Murray put in a really good shift after Thornbury's unfortunate injury, he has added some weight while maintaining his impressive engine. Jarrad Butler was absolutely everywhere on his return to the 7 jersey, and Paul Boyle was another who showed the benefit of 5 months of bulking in a powerful performance.
Kieran Marmion must be among the best defensive scrumhalves in the world, he held up Adam McBurney twice and made several other key interventions. His support running was also excellent. Bundee has somehow gotten even stronger, and displayed ridiculous power on a number of occasions. The back 3 looked extremely sharp, Porch being the standout. Alex Wootton was very lively, but might want to relax a bit with the speculative offloads. Peter Sullivan was the quietest of the trio but showed plenty of promise.
All in all, a great return to rugby. Ulster weren't good but to win with a bonus point with 5 debutants in the team is extremely promising, very excited for next week now.

Delighted to hear Dillane put in a good shift. I was more watching the backs.
I thought Carty was was good & was really helped along by the excellent Marmion.
Still feel that Murray is the best defensive option & kicking option for Ireland.

ionadnapokot

Deleted User wrote: »

As well as I thought Henshaw went on Saturday, it's hard to look passed Bundee for the started 12 shirt for Ireland. That wasn't the only occasion on Sunday where he overpowered forwards in contact.

Aki / Farrell could be another way for us to setup in mid field also.

I've always championed Aki's virtues over Henshaw.

However, if both are available and fit (second or third time in three years) i think Ireland will have to go with Henshaw.
To finally see him put an intelligent attacking kick just behind the defense was a significant game changer.

IF Ireland finally try to also implement an attacking kicking strategy the Leinster 10,12 & 13 are prob best placed.
Although, its only been 1 game and 1 kick!
https://www.the42.ie/leinster-attacking-kicks-munster-5184122-Aug2020/

realhorrorshow

typhoony wrote: »

He's 27 so in reality he should have reached his potential by now or be close to it

At 27 neither Scott Fardy nor Aly Muldowney had played a professional game of rugby. Not all players follow the same linear career path.

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

realhorrorshow wrote: »

At 27 neither Scott Fardy nor Aly Muldowney had played a professional game of rugby. Not all players follow the same linear career path.

Add in that he’s only recently converted to union too

Wegians89

The Friend Zone

ionadnapokot wrote: »

I've always championed Aki's virtues over Henshaw.

However, if both are available and fit (second or third time in three years) i think Ireland will have to go with Henshaw.
To finally see him put an intelligent attacking kick just behind the defense was a significant game changer.

IF Ireland finally try to also implement an attacking kicking strategy the Leinster 10,12 & 13 are prob best placed.
Although, its only been 1 game and 1 kick!
https://www.the42.ie/leinster-attacking-kicks-munster-5184122-Aug2020/

See niyi’s try vs Glasgow in pro12 winning year, can’t remember if it was the semi or last game of regular season, but Bundee has the ability to play a similar ball

b.gud

Wegians89 wrote: »

See niyi’s try vs Glasgow in pro12 winning year, can’t remember if it was the semi or last game of regular season, but Bundee has the ability to play a similar ball

It was the play off. Play starts at about 1:10 mark here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJYHbhGOcYc

FACECUTTR

b.gud wrote: »

It was the play off. Play starts at about 1:10 mark here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJYHbhGOcYc

Lovely grubber and a great finish.

JohnniDrama

typhoony wrote: »

He's 27 so in reality he should have reached his potential by now or be close to it

Not sure it’s as easy as just looking at someone’s age. But yes, he is right in the sweet spot age wise.

I think it gives a good insight into the homework Connacht try to do on players. They can’t afford anywhere near top money and don’t seem to have access to sugar daddies like a Munster, but it’s not long ago they had signed an unknown Sevu Reece too. Shame about that debacle.

So I think they will have done their homework on Abraham and as I said, from what I have heard they are happy.

Connacht do have genuine world class technical coaches and s&c so this man has every resource. I think Jimmy Duffy will be really good for him.

We will have to wait and see!

FACECUTTR

JohnniDrama wrote: »

Not sure it’s as easy as just looking at someone’s age. But yes, he is right in the sweet spot age wise.

I think it gives a good insight into the homework Connacht try to do on players. They can’t afford anywhere near top money and don’t seem to have access to sugar daddies like a Munster, but it’s not long ago they had signed an unknown Sevu Reece too. Shame about that debacle.

So I think they will have done their homework on Abraham and as I said, from what I have heard they are happy.

Connacht do have genuine world class technical coaches and s&c so this man has every resource. I think Jimmy Duffy will be really good for him.

We will have to wait and see!

Would be great to get a look at him this weekend !

ionadnapokot

Wegians89 wrote: »

See niyi’s try vs Glasgow in pro12 winning year, can’t remember if it was the semi or last game of regular season, but Bundee has the ability to play a similar ball

I wonder why we see so little of it from him?

Maybe its the same reason as Henshaw at Ireland i.e. gain line only

JohnniDrama

I can’t seem to post the link to the article but there is an interesting article re Papali’i and the approach Connacht took in the Belfast Telegraph. It”s on their site.

FACECUTTR

https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/connacht-took-a-moneyball-approach-to-papalii-friend-39475277.html
Here it is.

connachta

Bazzo wrote: »

So Friend said he'd hoped to use about 30 players duruing the 2 interpros. Assuming the only new injury is Thornbury what team would people guess at for next week? Did I hear that Matt Healy was also injured somewhere? Though it's not in the squad update.

McAllister
Delahunt
Robertson-McCoy
Dillane
Murray
Gallagher
Oliver
Butler

Blade
Fitzgerald
Wootton
Farrell
Arnold
Porch
O'Halloran

Heffernan
Buckley
Bealham
Masterson
Boyle
Marmion/Kerins
Carty/Dean
Robb

I've gone a bit over with 9 personnel changes rather than 7 but I think most of them would benefit from game time, and I'm starting a lot of fresh faces with the assumption Friend will want to get as much game time spread through the squad as possible to get everyone up to match fitness.

Not sure if the half backs will get a rest after playing the full 80. Robb was supposed to be back in training in "mid August" so I assume will be available but I suppose there's question marks over him. Already looking light on 2nd rows with just 1 injury, but luckily Dowling and Roux should be back after the break. Masterson or Gallagher to cover there for now.

I assume they'll want the extra 5 weeks to work with Papali'i and O'Donnell(if he's fit) before blooding them.

Agree, we could go further in rotations





McAllister
Delahunt
Robertson-McCoy
Roux
Murray
Gallagher
Oliver
S.Masterson

Blade
Fitzgerald
De Buitlear
Robb
Arnold
Healy (if fit, if not Wootton)
O'Halloran

Murphy (played very little with his yellow card)
M.Burke
Kenny
Dowling (if fit, if not Dillane)
Papali'i (if fit, if not Butler/Boyle)
Kerins (did not play)
Dean (did not play)
Daly (played 7 minutes)

connachta

It's been a long time I've seen Connacht missing so few tacles
Stats confirmed it, 93% success rate.
Ulster were ill at ease also because our defense was great (thought we don't trust the wingers for one-to-one, it's obvious our line rolls back a lot to protect them out wide)
The forwards put so many dominant tackles, being 45 kg lighter is yet to be noticed in the packs confrontation.
Dillane and Boyle may be "surprise picks" for Andy with Ireland
Butler faces too much competition for 7 but deserves praises of course

I'm really surprised how good we were.
Gosh Sullivan, Aungier, Duggan never played pro and didn't look out of place at all!
Porsh unexpectedly lined up as FB went incredibly well!

What a pleasant game, was worth a 5-month wait
Only regret is missing Papali'i vs. Coetzee contact. Without crowd, we would have heard the choc in Connacht and in Ulster
Could happen next vs. CJ !

Bazzo

Mul, it's over

connachta wrote: »

The forwards put so many dominant tackles, being 45 kg lighter is yet to be noticed in the packs confrontation.

Yeah but Moore and McGrath went off at half time :pac:

connachta

Bazzo wrote: »

Yeah but Moore and McGrath went off at half time :pac:

But scrum and contact areas were even, even in 1st half

connachta

connachta wrote: »

But scrum and contact areas were even, even in 1st half

I think you're missing the joke. Moore, in particular looked like he could have been carrying that extra 45kg in his belly

connachta

Deleted User wrote: »

I think you're missing the joke. Moore, in particular looked like he could have been carrying that extra 45kg in his belly

Yeah I got it, but I was serious too, Bealham/Buckley, without Roux/Papali'i behind, held vs ex-international 2nd pairing McGrath/Moore at scrumtime (where an overweight is not much of a disconfort, to say the least)

JohnniDrama

I hope to see a bit more of Conor Kenny. He is a big big powerful man.

Just have a feeling about him.

connachta

JohnniDrama wrote: »

I hope to see a bit more of Conor Kenny. He is a big big powerful man.

Just have a feeling about him.

I've put him on the bench behind McCoy in my selection


We'll see him anyway I guess, as Bealham proved yesterday he's Irish 3rd choice at worse, above Moore, so more caps coming

Adeolokun signed with Bristol on a short term deal. Could potentially end up with a Premiership winners medal too

theVersatile

McCabe also gone to Bristol.

connachta

theVersatile wrote: »

McCabe also gone to Bristol.

So Pat Lam again is just doing Connacht with more money:D