Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

GUYS let's see what's happening.

A single BP next week and we're through play-off

+ It's home and away

+ table has bigger teams low, so we may escape Clermont, Montpellier or Exeter

So if we finish 8th it does not really matters

This is just magnificent

I think after 10 minutes of that game, you'd have taken 2 points. Obviously going 18 clear, we should be able to hang on, but the scrum was our undoing, along with some poor kicking. Our back 3 had a poor game both collectively and individually. Tiernan in particular has some very poor moments.

Question - when Aungier went off, could we have gone to uncontested scrums somehow?

I'm not for booing either or there were people jeering Burns when he was lining up the last couple of conversions. No need for it.

What I will say on the final try is from where I was down towards the college road end of the clan, looking down to the big screen it really did look like the foot was in touch. I suspect this might also be something to do with bundee and a few more protesting after the game.

I've still not seen it but heard from friends who watched on tv that it was tight but try was scored

Stade playing now and if they lose and tomorrow we are all but qualified. Can't see castre bothering next week. If stade loses tonight I reckon we will be 5 points next week

Yep 100pc looked obv no try on big screen.

Great atmosphere in the ground today. Thought we might get an early cancellation with the fire alarm!

Lads ran out of steam and once Finlay left we struggled in the front row. I remember thinking at 28.10 we'll hardly let them back in to it. As someone else said above we just needed to camp in their half a while or get a few penalties and put some pressure on.

The constant kicking game obviously was the game plan but I'm not sure why they kept going with it.

Thought Oliver was fantastic again.

BTW can't be Bristol, can it? We've got to draw a team from the other pool I think. It's gonna be La Rochelle, Sale, or Racing IMO

nothing more difficult than what we faced and proved we're able to equate

+ It will be an (even) better Connacht team with Farrell, Aki, Boyle, Porch reaching their peak, and Thornbury, Daly, Buckley, Hansen back!!!

or he actually feels bad and has cooled off. In fairness he's not one for normally acting like that. We all make mistakes in life. It takes a courageous person to admit it.

There was a similar one in front of the clan a minute or 2 before where blade got in a great position over the ball, Raynal put the whistle in his mouth after a good few seconds and then blade was eventually blown off the ball and the whistle wasn't blown. 99% of the time for me he was on the ball more than long enough for a penalty to be given but even then was probably less time than Boyle

I thought his apology was spot on, no if I offended anyone shite just straight up I was wrong, there was kids watching and no need for it in sport.

FWIW, I'm of the believe he issued the apology off his own bat rather than some one telling him to do it trying to diffuse the issue.

Am I alone in thinking I wouldt take much satisfaction in making the last 16 of a 24 team competition... the aim was always a Heineken Cup quarter final and I don't think that should change because there's an extra round of knockouts

Never thought of that 😆

I'll save the champagne and d*** sucking for when we win in the next round is all I'm saying

Munster still haven't re-signed Chris Cloete. I don't think he'll be offered a renewed contract with Munster. I hope Connacht are talking to him because I think a good quality hard working 7 could add a lot to your pack and he's an Irish qualified player who I'd love to see stay in Ireland.

Conor Oliver left Munster partly because Cloete was ahead of him in the pecking order, but I think they could complement each other, especially if Oliver gets brought into the Irish squad as some are calling for

Cloete gets a bit of stick for giving away penalties, but he can be a game changer and is a good mobile 7

Cloete is a good player but I'd imagine signing an openside will be a long way down our list of priorities. We have Oliver, Butler, and Oisin McCormack is likely to graduate from the academy.

Doesn't sound from that like you're over stocked in opensides tbh. 2 senior players and an academy prospect on the depth chart for a key position means you're 1 injury/international call-up away from being forced to play players out of position to plug a gap

Munster currently have Cloete, POM, Jack O Donoghue, Jack Daly, John Hodnett, Jack O Sullivan and Alex Kendellen all as capable openside flankers with a proven record in that role.

Lots of these players also cover 6, but there's redundancy there