Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

backcamslua

No need for Captains challenge for Connacht if ref was up to it -Ulster 22 obviously played the ball on the ground.-If ref had made the right call for Blade's 'try' in the first half it wouldn't have mattered!-Great performance from Connacht -better team by 10pts plus -mistakes nearly cost dem -JC had a howler!

connachta

ClanofLams wrote: »

Captains challenge, marmion didn’t knock on, ulster player played the ball on ground after tackle, penalty Connacht, turned down three points and draw, Fitzgerald drilled it five metre line, Connacht try maul but no progress, play it and win penalty advantage, Fitzgerald chips in behind and Sullivan gets it down inches from dead ball line.


I hadn’t thought much about this captains challenge before tonight but given it changed loss into win tonight and given how many late dubious calls have gone against Connacht historically (Cardiff away in particular) happy to now declare it the greatest innovation in recent decades.

Looks like a movie scenario


I've watched the replay of the final phase. Unreal.


That's the kind of end building a team for the future, like Toulouse away win the year before pro12 title.


Especially when players not particularly in full-confidence are heavily involved in such a conclusion (Marmion, C.Fitzgerald and Sullivan)

Borders no.2

Delighted with that win. I think this competition is pretty irrelevant in the grander scheme of things but the last few weeks has left a sour taste for the season so hopefully this puts us in a position to have a reasonable run in this competition and bring something positive into next season. Ulster at Christmas was a really bad night so glad to make up for it somewhat tonight. Its always vital we win a couple of interpros every season at least.

Papalii made a huge difference. If we could get that 25-30 minutes out of him every game that would be huge. Gave Blade the ball he needed to cause damage.

Pleased with the resilience at 17-7, we had taken the game to them early but it looked like they had weathered the storm and took control after Blades disallowed try. The match could easily have run away at that point but they recovered well. Thought we'd blown it again late on.

The defence was iffy again but at least the willingness was there to get bodies up in the line. Ulster picked our pocket a couple of times with the rush defence but there was enough there to be a starting point at least.

If they took the draw it would have been a fine result but fair play to back themselves for the win. Fitzgeralds kick was huge. It gave us the platform. That goes another 2 or 3 metres out we probably don't score. We lose or blow so many games at the death, was good to snatch one.

Quite sweet to see Frank Murphy overruled for the match winning try too. I don't really care if that makes me sound bitter.

Buer

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Didn’t see any head contact at all on the Papali’i tackle to be honest. Although the way it’s gone I half expected him to still be red carded.

Will need to watch it again. Similar to the double movement, I thought it was decided far too quickly. When Bowe and Stringer both suggested it was worth a card after the match, I'm even more dubious on the call.

Zeugnis

That was a blast. High drama. Connacht deserved it on balance, not that merit is relevant.

connachta

Connacht twitter posted the Rainbow Cup table with "STOP THE COUNT"
Donald would agree:D:D

connachta

Tonight proved why IRFU was right to keep Connacht alive

there may be none in the frst XV, very few in the 23 or 30, but when injuries come in one position, you have to have 3rd and 4th choices really close to 2nd choice. This is where Connacht add to the depth chart.

Yes Dillane Roux Thornbury are better squad choice than O'Connor, Holland and compete with Cloete
Same for Boyle with Deegan and Coombes
Blade, Marmion with Cooney and Casey
Carty with Burns
Heff with Tracy
etc.

And then Murray, Pendergast, Reilly, Hansen, Aungier and Duggan will bring themselves to Ireland, new talented player between n°20 and n°35 at worse, those players that makes us a better team than Scotland, Argentina, and Wales on the long term

freyners

There could have been a argument made for yellow on papa I though looking at the replay initially. If Murphy was ref given his form for them in other games he has reffer undoubtedly it would have been his third but for me both players dip in, Ulster player noticeable so and it's an awkward collision. For me contact was to his shoulder chest but I can see why an Ulster fan would have wanted a closer look

Unsung heros tonight are O'Donnell and Oliver . Some very good defence on the wing by bod and Oliver had three turnovers and aggressively went after the ball all night. Masterson too had some big carries in close

connachta

All-Australian running back-3 beside 200+kg centre pairing Daly/Aki with experience looks tasty next season!!!

Wegians89

ClanofLams wrote: »

Great to get the win. That footwork from
Murray was absolutely exceptional for a second row and crucial to keeping play alive. More impressed ever time I see him, what a prospect.

Some great depth in second row both at Connacht and at Ireland but Murray is quickly becoming one of the hottest prospects around

connachta

Watched the full action I missed, TG4, thank you.

Except the forward pass all good. SOB 2.0 played a key role, right after the maul. He was in the mix of unseen heroes, same for Daly, throughout the game

Tommybojangles

Missed the game tonight, first time in years. I decided to follow the updates rather than wait for the deferred, and was annoyed with myself when we snatched it, thinking I'd missed an unreal game/moment ��

Made no difference, watched it deferred and it was as good as if I didn't know the score. Last 2 minutes unreal

Dubinusa

connachta wrote: »

All-Australian running back-3 beside 200+kg centre pairing Daly/Aki with experience looks tasty next season!!!

That's a problem imo! There has to be some Irish lads playing.

Burkie1203

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Didn’t see any head contact at all on the Papali’i tackle to be honest. Although the way it’s gone I half expected him to still be red carded.

Think there was some sort of contact but Papaili went low, stayed low and was wrapping his arms

Bazzo

Dubinusa wrote: »

That's a problem imo! There has to be some Irish lads playing.

Hansen is IQ and I'd imagine joint league top try scorer Wootton will have something to say about being dropped.

All My Stars Aligned

That was such an entertaining game of rugby. Connachts first try was breathtaking. The continuity and speed of ball with runners taking the ball at pace was lovely to watch, as good as any try I've seen this season.

connemara man

Dubinusa wrote: »

That's a problem imo! There has to be some Irish lads playing.

Aki, Daly Irish
Hansen IQ
Sullivan, Healy TOH all Irish.

There are literally only 4 player's In Connacht who can't play for Ireland.
Of those 2 that never will be able to

Wegians89

connemara man wrote: »

Aki, Daly Irish
Hansen IQ
Sullivan, Healy TOH all Irish.

There are literally only 4 player's In Connacht who can't play for Ireland.
Of those 2 that never will be able to

Who is the fourth? Porch, abe and bod?

Wegians89

As mentioned before LH and back row are probably to areas needing reinforcements. But I can’t for the life of me think of decent Irish qualified options available in either positions. Possibly croinin from Munster at LH?

Zeugnis

Wegians89 wrote: »

Who is the fourth? Porch, abe and bod?

Maybe thinking of Butler, but he's now Ireland eligible. Dom R-Mc is IQ through his grandmother.

RonnieL

Really enjoyed the game last night. Listened to the Paul Boyle interview on the master of none podcast in the afternoon, and he spoke about how Andy Friend had given the leadership group two full pages of detailed notes around the use of the captains challenge - well they certainly paid off. Hindsight is 20:20, but I felt it was the right call not to challenge the Blade try decision, because technically it was probably correct (even though I think it was harsh, as he wasn't held and it was a quick momentous movement IMO).

I agree with some previous posters that Brace seemed to dismiss the Papa challenge a bit hastily. We've seen yellows at least for those contacts since they've clamped down on head contact. Still, Papa has clearly come on a lot - I just hope he stays, and continues to improve his tackle technique.

At the end, I was torn between taking the draw, and going for the jugular. Fair f*$ks to them for pulling it off. The kick to the corner from the penalty was tremendous (I was slightly worried by the look on Conor's face as he kicked it, because it seemed to go a bit closer than perhaps he'd planned!). When the maul stalled I thought we'd struggle out wide because Daly had joined it, but with penalty advantage the grubber worked out lovely.

Finally, how did neither the TMO or the ref spot the high shot on Dillane as he was going for the line to score? Could/Should have been a penalty try and probably a yellow.

Am I right in saying it's two week to Leinster at home? The lads will be right up for that, and on a dry track it could be another cracker.

I wonder what the rainbow cup trophy will look like? :-)

PS: Robson referring to Peter O'Sullivan for the entire game was pretty annoying!

connachta

Wegians89 wrote: »

As mentioned before LH and back row are probably to areas needing reinforcements. But I can’t for the life of me think of decent Irish qualified options available in either positions. Possibly croinin from Munster at LH?

You tell this as a coincidence as I thought about it after this game, and ended to the conclusion we shouldn't waste money there




For me Duggan is the most insane progression since Henshaw.
Covid time was a bless for him.
He came from 0 senior caps and basically no Eagles starts,
to being on a par with Irish international 4th choice yesterday
in 9 months




So he and Buckley fighting for starts, Burke decent 3rd choice, McCoy versatile improved solution, and Ward to play 1 or 2 games off the bench if needed





Do not need a back-row either if Big Papa stays


That mean we can put money on Murphy replacement (low money, competing with DTM)
And high-money on a 10, lets fix Hansen to the back-3 with Healy/TOH ageing
Dean released, and Fitz 3rd choice (even decisive last night, he's not a safe pacemaking option higher in the list...)

connachta

Dillane, O'Donnell and Thornbury had a bad night. Missed 1 tackle, only making 49

I wonder what we ever did to Frank Murphy.....


Im deligted for the Squad, management and wider support team and members. What a dog of a year,

As Eric once famiously said, there's something bubbling here...

ShineyShiney

Great win!!

We badly needed that.

Frank Murphy I am lost for words, up to last night I thought he was just subconsciously biased based on being worried about being pro Connacht but seriously all he had to do was say check the grounding.

Zzippy

What did Murphy do? I was distracted a bit by kids but didn't notice anything while I was watching.

connachta

Zzippy wrote: »

What did Murphy do? I was distracted a bit by kids but didn't notice anything while I was watching.

Said no try, deal ball, when it was not in the end.
Ref overruled

connachta

40 days ago, I was right about back-3
Just need a hooker and outhalf now:p

connachta wrote: »

Based on announcement
4 options by position (with some covering 2 spots)


Position |1st | 2nd |3rd |4th
LH Prop |Buckley |Duggan| M.Burke| McCoy/Ward
Hooker |Heffernan |Delahunt| Tierney-Martin OR Murphy OR New guy | Adamson/E.deBuitlear
TH Prop |Bealham | Aungier | McCoy | Kenny
n°4 2nd Row |Dillane |Roux (TBC) |Dowling | Masterson
n°5 2nd Row |Thornbury| Murray| Prendergast | Murray 2.0
Blindside Flanker |SOB |E.Masterson |Prendergast | Boyle
Openside Flanker |Butler |Oliver |S.Masterson | McCormark/Booth
n°8 | Boyle | Butler |Papali'i (TBC)| D.Byrne
SH | Marmion | Blade |Reilly | Academy newcomer/Kerrins if back
OH |Carty |NEW |Fitzgerald | Hansen/C.Forde
11| Wootton |Healy| McNulty| Kilgallen
Inside Centre |Aki |Daly |Robb| Jennings
Outside Centre |Farrell |Arnold | SOB 2.0/New (TBC) | Aki
14 | O'Donnell |Sullivan|NEW : ANNOUNCED : Hansen| Porch
15 | Porch |TOH|McNulty| Wootton
Stretched to minimum, especially for back-row (where we could hope D.Byrne/McCormavk/Booth to cover a few games as 20)

42 Senior, 23 forwads, 19 backs

TRC10

Conor Fitzgerald was absolutely mega when he came on yesterday. I've always been impressed by his pace and eye for a gap when I've seen him. He did brilliantly to get the 5 yard lineout with the penalty kick. I can see him usurping Carty next season.

freyners

TRC10 wrote: »

Conor Fitzgerald was absolutely mega when he came on yesterday. I've always been impressed by his pace and eye for a gap when I've seen him. He did brilliantly to get the 5 yard lineout with the penalty kick. I can see him usurping Carty next season.

Has a good journey to go to usurp carty, who admittedly has gone off the ball since his display in the RDS. Friend has often gone without him on the bench using Daly as cover which isn't a ringing endorsement.

A poster mentioned it before that he is a player who usually plays better from start than off the bench, which I agree with, so was delighted to see his impact last night. His break was a lovely bit of deception with O'Brien but he held on to it a little too long and put it behind Marmion who did very well to get it. Still worked out but needs that extra ten % imo, also his kicking game needs more work, his kicking for territory on penalties and free kicks is excellent but in play he has a lot to learn from Jack (notwithstanding his kick for Sullivan's try)

My own thought from that game is that SOB 3.0 has played himself into a contract. Combative with ball in hand, good eye for a break and aggressive defense. Liking what I'm seeing. BOD and papa are worth trying down for a second year too