Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Connacht will get a few token penalties now that the game is over.

I have been a constant in the fact that Carty is AIL at best and tonight was another example of how out of his league he is. When will this stop. I did say prior to the game that the Connacht 9 and 10 were better than the Munster 9 and 10. But this was only to point out how rubbish the Munster 9 and 10 are

Who is Connacht's goalkicking coach.

I'm not sure if I should believe the URC website but it lists the kicking success of 12 goalkickers in the league in the stats section. Jack Carty is one of the 12 and is in 12th place with a goal kicking percentage of 33%.

Wilkins has gone from attack to defence I think.

I've wondered about him I the past but the players really seem to rate him and the defence has really improved this year, Munster had us in the maul yesterday where we've really improved but in open play were going nowhere.

McPhillips back from Bristol as head coach?

Was considering putting a bet on Connacht yesterday but didn't in the end. But it did get me thinking as to how the likes of Paddy Power provides betting odds that are normally not far off the mark.

So first thoughts is that team selection is irrelevant as the odds are generated prior to the team selections. So as a fan this is alien as many discussions prior to a match tend to relate to team selections.

So therefore what statistical data is used to generate the odds. So it all clearly comes down to historical results. It is completely dispassionate of playing styles as results identify if the style is likely to be more successful in a specific game.

So clearly home advantage has a loading weight into the algorithm. And then after that it's a simple matter of weighting historical results (this includes historical results against the different teams within the league) to generate the odds.

And I guess if you approach the game with such a dispassionate viewpoint you get a more realistic vision of what is to be expected.

So then from a passionate perspective you would say that our results begs questions of our ability to compete against certain teams and these concerns would need to be addressed if we are to improve our results

I would like to see a Hawkshaw Bundee combo tomorrow. Any idea what time the team is out today ?

Scratch that Hawkshaw not in the team at all. I wonder is he injured.

Strong team named.

With Europe coming up I'd expect fringe players to be given loads of time there to stake a claim. Would like to see more of:

Hawkshaw at 10

Illo starting

Jennings at fb (this is our main problem position atm)

Mullins at fb or wing

Darragh Murray in the row

Forde anywhere from 10-13.

A few of the above could be in contention for big first team games given a proper run.

Brive in particular will be sending the reserves, may not see Arnold or Big Abe as they'll be looking to get their jiff numbers up.

I agree. Its very unlikely to be surpassed.

You need a player who is good enough to break through early but not good enough to establish himself at international level.

Players who have had more professional games (like Cian Healy, Donnacha O'Callaghan, or Peter Stringer) have 90+ international caps.

Six changes. No major issue with any of them but seems like almost every game (bar a couple before the international game I think) since the start of last season has had five or six changes to the team. Can’t be the best way to build.

Im quite happy to see Killgannen in the team. Any time hes been on the pitch I've liked his aggression with ball in hand, Stade and Ulster games come to mind

Apparently bealham needs to bring his national form back to Connacht🙄 according to RTE. The laziness of it is annoying, he's played out of his skin for every second he's been on the pitch for Connacht this season.

Think We need to be on our game today Treviso are going well. This one could determine the season imo

Peter Wilkins but RTE are idiots.

Red card