Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Squidgy Black

gally74 wrote: »

lots of ranting here,

Leicester are a good team,

Lots of players are progressing well, the loss of the coaches is probalby budget related,

yes were not the finsihed article, but in lots of ways were doing good,

biggest moan from me is that we arent progressing the devlopment with the 20M that was recieved, with the sportground empty, it was an ideal time to get the pitch over to 4G, I can onyl assume that the IRFU stalled it, but its unfair,

It's the same thing with the RDS development, IRFU and the government have stalled all the funding because of the current situation.

ktex2

Pro 14 is poor hence connacht are poor. They get away with this week in week out in the pro 14 where there is no competition yet when they come to europe they fail against the bigger english and french teams. Just look at this weeks results. Most if not all pro 14 teams beaten.

OldRio

Have a look at how well the Irish teams generally do in Europe over the last 10 years and get back to me.

Bazzo

Wegians89 wrote: »

Think the coaching change up could be a great thing. Some of the players have been working with Carolan and Duffy from underage to now and the games of voices could be very important. The likes of Buckley and Bealham seem to have started to regress and having to prove yourself to a new coaching ticket might spark their form again

The problem is there's nobody coming in from the outside to be a new voice. The two new coaching appointments we've heard about are internal.

molloyjh

ktex2 wrote: »

Pro 14 is poor hence connacht are poor. They get away with this week in week out in the pro 14 where there is no competition yet when they come to europe they fail against the bigger english and french teams. Just look at this weeks results. Most if not all pro 14 teams beaten.

But Connacht haven't gotten away with it week in, week out. Remember the Scarlets game, the Edinburgh game and the Munster game? How about the Ospreys game a couple of months ago?

This has been the story of at least a suitable chunk of Connachts season across all competitions. Where the league has let them off the hook is the other results have allowed them to retain 2nd place. Remember Connacht lost 50% of their games in the league this season. In previous seasons this would mean a 4th or 5th place finish in their conference.

ClanofLams

molloyjh wrote: »

But Connacht haven't gotten away with it week in, week out. Remember the Scarlets game, the Edinburgh game and the Munster game? How about the Ospreys game a couple of months ago?

This has been the story of at least a suitable chunk of Connachts season across all competitions. Where the league has let them off the hook is the other results have allowed them to retain 2nd place. Remember Connacht lost 50% of their games in the league this season. In previous seasons this would mean a 4th or 5th place finish in their conference.

In the last normally completed pro14 season (18/19) 11 and 12 wins out of 21 were enough for third and European qualification. Think it’s probably fairer to view the record as 8/13 also given sides selected in last two games would have been pretty different if games were of consequence.

I think 2nd this season is fortunate but there’s no way they are a 5th place side.

ClanofLams

Bazzo wrote: »

The problem is there's nobody coming in from the outside to be a new voice. The two new coaching appointments we've heard about are internal.

Yeah, also Carolan is the only one whose aspect of the game is running consistently well so losing him not good

Find it difficult to see happening but could really do with a top tier forwards coach. Seem to get turned over far too often, maybe that’s a fault of resources committed to ruck rather than forwards themselves but need a couple of back row additions too.

realhorrorshow

One big plus from this season has been the emergence of a good crop of young/fringe players. Jordan Duggan, Jack Aungier, Niall Murray, Oisin Dowling, Cian Prendergast , Sean Masterson , Colm Reilly, Sean O'Brien, and Peter Sullivan have all showed encouraging signs. While guys in their mid-20s like Shane Delahunt, Gavin Thornbury, Conor Oliver, Paul Boyle, Tom Daly, and Alex Wootton have all kicked on nicely.

Our glaring technical issues have been well covered by others here, but we are re-shuffling the entire coaching team so I'm not too concerned about them at this point. I am much more concerned about the attitude and culture within the squad. The amount of times that we failed to show up to or completely switched off during a game this season was very concerning. Ultan Dillane did an interview on the Craggy Rugby podcast before the Ospreys home game (I think) where he said we aren't as motivated for games against "smaller" teams and that need to bring the same intensity to those games that we do to interpros. It suggested to me that the squad are a small bit deluded about their ability. We are not Leinster, Ospreys are not some minnows we can expect to beat easily. They are one of our closest competitors!

I think it's quite important that our new forwards coach comes from outside the province. I also think we're in dire need of a Scott Fardy to come in and help drive standards on the pitch and in training.

ClanofLams

If the forwards coach is going to be a current provincial coach which seems relatively likely, I would like it to be Denis Leamy.

Don’t know anything about his coaching abilities but he’s been there and done it as a player. Also recall O’Gara and Lancaster doing an off the ball thing and O’Gara was asked something a lone the lines of who the key leaders were in dressing room aside from the obvious like O’Connell etc - he picked Leamy out, few months later Leinster hired him.

Need someone to give the team a rough edge anyway.

its_phil

ClanofLams wrote: »

If the forwards coach is going to be a current provincial coach which seems relatively likely, I would like it to be Denis Leamy.

Don’t know anything about his coaching abilities but he’s been there and done it as a player. Also recall O’Gara and Lancaster doing an off the ball thing and O’Gara was asked something a lone the lines of who the key leaders were in dressing room aside from the obvious like O’Connell etc - he picked Leamy out, few months later Leinster hired him.

Need someone to give the team a rough edge anyway.

We’ve got two novices joining the coaching staff. I’d like someone with experience coming in for the forwards.

We really need a big signing in the pack. Losing Colby was a killer last year. I’m reasonably alright with our backs if we can get Farrell back.

We’ve had some great moneyball signings the past few seasons but a big name is needed.

Wegians89

its_phil wrote: »

We’ve got two novices joining the coaching staff. I’d like someone with experience coming in for the forwards.

We really need a big signing in the pack. Losing Colby was a killer last year. I’m reasonably alright with our backs if we can get Farrell back.

We’ve had some great moneyball signings the past few seasons but a big name is needed.

A forwards coach with experience from the outside and an experienced winner of a back row would do a lot for the pack. A Ruddock type player would do a lot but that’s never happen

Richie_Rich89

The Ireland U20s improved quite a lot when Tucker came on board as forwards coach.

FACECUTTR

I'd love if we could sign the likes of Jerry Flannery for forwards coach. Not sure how long he signed for Quins though.

ClanofLams

its_phil wrote: »

We’ve got two novices joining the coaching staff. I’d like someone with experience coming in for the forwards.

We really need a big signing in the pack. Losing Colby was a killer last year. I’m reasonably alright with our backs if we can get Farrell back.

We’ve had some great moneyball signings the past few seasons but a big name is needed.

Agree with you on pack signing. Would agree in theory on coach too but in reality if it is an established coach it will probably be someone like Wilkins, hard to see budget being there for someone sought after. So if it’s someone like that or taking a punt on someone like Leamy, would prefer the latter.

Dubinusa

Connacht have done real well with regards to developing young players. Some of them look like they will be good players. Prendergast in particular looks to be a prospect. Niall Murray has great experience for such a young player and Aungier will be the starting tight head within 2 years, imo.
Losing Carolan is a major blow. I really thought he would be the next head coach. I assume he's going to coach in England fairly soon.

Wegians89

Dubinusa wrote: »

Connacht have done real well with regards to developing young players. Some of them look like they will be good players. Prendergast in particular looks to be a prospect. Niall Murray has great experience for such a young player and Aungier will be the starting tight head within 2 years, imo.
Losing Carolan is a major blow. I really thought he would be the next head coach. I assume he's going to coach in England fairly soon.

If anything I think carolan leaving is a way for him to gain more experience as a head coach before returning as head coach

Dubinusa

Very possible.

connachta

https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/sa-franchises-qualify-rainbow-cup/

It will happen in 2022 IMO not now.

But now anti-Celtic push from French and English will go further, if PRO16 is unable to force them to stay in 24-club-competition on the long term.

If not it's the relagation of Connacht Ospreys and Edinburgh as 2nd tier club never playing ChampionsCup again
It'd be 3 Irish 3 Saffers every year

ElisaAtWar

AJ was amazing today. Connachts loss is Sales gain

thomond2006

Ah, have we reached anti-Connacht conspiracy season again?

connachta

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ah, have we reached anti-Connacht conspiracy season again?

Nope, on the other thread :P

ElisaAtWar

It's been a very worrying season. We finish in the top two in the conference and yet we are bleeding trys. Last night was another eye opener as to defensively frail Connacht is. It's not that Connacht is a shabby team. We have decent players but our structure is all over the shop. There is no visible methodology. It's just all over the place. And that is simply all about coaching. I like Andy Friend but this may not be where he should be. He seems to be out of his depth

siltirocker

ElisaAtWar wrote: »

I like Andy Friend but this may not be where he should be. He seems to be out of his depth

As has been pointed out to you before, when you claimed Friend was only a 7s coach, he has plenty of experience being a head coach of teams superior to Connacht.

He pretty much is a god in Harlequins for bringing them up from the second tier and into Premiership contenders. Mortland and Giteau speak highly of him from when he was the head of Super Rugby team the Brumbies. Etc.

GillLebowski

In fairness, as bad as our defence has been, it's been a relatively good year for finding players to step up to the plate. Surprised we had so many contracts signed especially with Andy Farrell completely snubbing some guys. I would say I've enjoyed watching us play this year but that would be a lie. I've enjoyed watching us play nearly all the time but we must be the most frustrating team to follow ever, even worse than Liverpool.

Sad to lose Nige and Jimmy but hopefully like has been mentioned they go, get some more experience and bring it back with them.

I'd like if we got a good winger during the summer. I've been saying all season that Wootton is Matt Healy 2.0, electric in attack but poor positioning in the back field and even worse defence than Healy. Imo, at least 2/3 of the tries were due to him the last day. Sullivan is very quick in a straight line, ok defence wise, but doesn't have the attacking capabilities really for this level, coupled with the fact he has a turning circle comparable with a Scania. O'Donnell looked promising and hopefully gains a bit more confidence so we can see what he's really like next year. Does Fitzgerald's contract run out or are they keeping him on? If keeping him on they obviously see something in him so maybe he could be the answer. At this stage I'd prefer TOH on the wing for games like last week's.

My major question about the entire season is, and maybe I've completely missed everything he's done... But what does Conor Oliver bring to the team at all? All I've seen him do all season is give away penalties or break too slowly from a scrum. I hate slating players but I don't see him as close to our top back rows and can't understand his inclusion most of the time.

ShineyShiney

GillLebowski wrote: »

In fairness, as bad as our defence has been, it's been a relatively good year for finding players to step up to the plate. Surprised we had so many contracts signed especially with Andy Farrell completely snubbing some guys. I would say I've enjoyed watching us play this year but that would be a lie. I've enjoyed watching us play nearly all the time but we must be the most frustrating team to follow ever, even worse than Liverpool.

Sad to lose Nige and Jimmy but hopefully like has been mentioned they go, get some more experience and bring it back with them.

I'd like if we got a good winger during the summer. I've been saying all season that Wootton is Matt Healy 2.0, electric in attack but poor positioning in the back field and even worse defence than Healy. Imo, at least 2/3 of the tries were due to him the last day. Sullivan is very quick in a straight line, ok defence wise, but doesn't have the attacking capabilities really for this level, coupled with the fact he has a turning circle comparable with a Scania. O'Donnell looked promising and hopefully gains a bit more confidence so we can see what he's really like next year. Does Fitzgerald's contract run out or are they keeping him on? If keeping him on they obviously see something in him so maybe he could be the answer. At this stage I'd prefer TOH on the wing for games like last week's.

My major question about the entire season is, and maybe I've completely missed everything he's done... But what does Conor Oliver bring to the team at all? All I've seen him do all season is give away penalties or break too slowly from a scrum. I hate slating players but I don't see him as close to our top back rows and can't understand his inclusion most of the time.

I'm not sad to see Jimmy and Nigel go, I wish them well but we clearly need some new direction in strategy.

On Conor Oliver, he works his socks off I'll give him that but he is ineffective. Unfortunately it coincides with a period where one of our best players of the last few seasons, Butler, is also going through a period of not really Having his workrate impact the outcomes. His stats are good but no turn over threat and not really a carry threat either.

Back row balance is miles off and we don't have the players to change it. We need a signing here

Utopia Parkway

GillLebowski wrote: »

In fairness, as bad as our defence has been, it's been a relatively good year for finding players to step up to the plate. Surprised we had so many contracts signed especially with Andy Farrell completely snubbing some guys. I would say I've enjoyed watching us play this year but that would be a lie. I've enjoyed watching us play nearly all the time but we must be the most frustrating team to follow ever, even worse than Liverpool.

Sad to lose Nige and Jimmy but hopefully like has been mentioned they go, get some more experience and bring it back with them.

I'd like if we got a good winger during the summer. I've been saying all season that Wootton is Matt Healy 2.0, electric in attack but poor positioning in the back field and even worse defence than Healy. Imo, at least 2/3 of the tries were due to him the last day. Sullivan is very quick in a straight line, ok defence wise, but doesn't have the attacking capabilities really for this level, coupled with the fact he has a turning circle comparable with a Scania. O'Donnell looked promising and hopefully gains a bit more confidence so we can see what he's really like next year. Does Fitzgerald's contract run out or are they keeping him on? If keeping him on they obviously see something in him so maybe he could be the answer. At this stage I'd prefer TOH on the wing for games like last week's.

My major question about the entire season is, and maybe I've completely missed everything he's done... But what does Conor Oliver bring to the team at all? All I've seen him do all season is give away penalties or break too slowly from a scrum. I hate slating players but I don't see him as close to our top back rows and can't understand his inclusion most of the time.

After Thornbury I think Oliver has won the most turnovers for Connacht this season but I guess you’d expect that any half decent 7 to be well up there in turnovers won. He definitely hasn’t influenced general play as much as Fainga’a did.

Don’t think its’s been a bad season over all. Any time Connacht qualify for the Champions Cup they’ve done OK. In a normal season we would have been in the playoffs. The last few games have definitely taken a bit of a shine off it though.

Absolutely blessed to beat Benetton at the death after a poor performance.

Decent performance away to Munster. Narrow loss.

Blew a home game at the death against Edinburgh that they should have wrapped up well before then.

Brilliant first half against Scarlets and then completely fell apart defensively in the second.

Played some decent rugby against Leicester but also gifted them 20+ points with some mind boggling errors.

Burkie1203

GillLebowski wrote: »

Surprised we had so many contracts signed especially with Andy Farrell completely snubbing some guys.

Who has he snubbed

typhoony

ShineyShiney wrote: »

I'm not sad to see Jimmy and Nigel go, I wish them well but we clearly need some new direction in strategy.

On Conor Oliver, he works his socks off I'll give him that but he is ineffective. Unfortunately it coincides with a period where one of our best players of the last few seasons, Butler, is also going through a period of not really Having his workrate impact the outcomes. His stats are good but no turn over threat and not really a carry threat either.

Back row balance is miles off and we don't have the players to change it. We need a signing here

Oliver reminds a bit of JVDF very busy around the pitch but not that effective especially against bigger teams, when you look at the big Saffer Leicester have it's s shame we didn't look for similar, Big Papa is not the answer he's a liability

Bazzo

typhoony wrote: »

Oliver reminds a bit of JVDF very busy around the pitch but not that effective especially against bigger teams, when you look at the big Saffer Leicester have it's s shame we didn't look for similar, Big Papa is not the answer he's a liability

We literally tried to sign that exact player. Likely were significantly outbid by Leicester.

While I agree the back row balance is maybe a little off with the current financial situation I can't see any significant new signings. The squad we have is pretty good, I'd say it's the strongest we've had. Hopefully a good forwards coach can add a lot to our game and Wilkins is a much more effective attack coach than defence.

Buer

Bazzo wrote: »

We literally tried to sign that exact player. Likely were significantly outbid by Leicester.

I wouldn't think so. Leicester were/are in dire straits financially. They had to release a huge number of players including first team regulars and bring in players who were fairly old, from lower leagues or target guys from teams that had a very uncertain future like the Cheetahs or Jaguares.

If Connacht couldn't outbid Leicester, the budget must be very grim.