Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Wegians89 · 23-12-2023 12:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121528332#Comment_121528332

Agree that Mack is far better on the wing. Hope to see him back there next week. Disappointed Jennings didn’t get more game time too

ElisaAtWar · 23-12-2023 2:28am

In general, and recently, just a total lack of desire. From 1 to 15 that was just rubbish. it's really hard to be honest about a performance that is not an honest performance.

What's more bothersome there is not one player on that team that is holding his hand up and saying how unacceptable that performance was. Which goes to show there is no leader in this team. God be with the days of Muldoon.

kita99 · 23-12-2023 6:01am

A few good thing. To see effective Bolton and SOB. I hope his injury is not so heavy. And Thornebury' fulltime attendance.

2016Edinburgh · 23-12-2023 8:32am

Ah don't know where to start from lastnights game. We are poor at the moment.

From picking the wrong players, to no game plan, simple errors and can't do the basics.

We've 1 win from the last 7 games. Edinburgh, Leinster and Ulster were all there for the taking.

Rested players in Edinburgh after only 3 games. If they need a rest that early in the season they aren't much of a professional.

For the Leinster game, we left out our best player so far this season Joe Joyce, he's a leader, experienced and a hard man to stop.

Kilgannon might be injured tonight? But he was on the bench at Saracens. I believe he's started 5 games this season and scored 5 trys. With Joyce, he's our best player. Play him.

Half of us here weren't to keen on Pete Wilkins getting the head coach job when Andy Friend stepped down a year early. Pete was the next man in line and the easy decision to make.

With Pete, there is no game plan, no imagination. Catching the ball, running towards the try line and knocking it On is as exciting as it gets. We need a head coach who eats, sleeps and drinks rugby. Someone like Pat Lam when he came here, who can direct his coaches and players in one direction. If our goal is to finish higher than 8th and better than last in champions cup we need an experienced coach. Not a rookie.

Blade is easily our best SH but God he needs to get on with it, speed things up and stop trying to milk a penalty everytime. Refs are smarter than that and only hurting the team.

Jack and JJ. Neither will bring us to the next step. If we had a good attacking coach, id play Forde at 10, pass and run everything.

Joyce needs to start every game he's fit, no arguments. Kilgannon and Hansen are our best wingers and also need to play when fit. ToH or JP fullback.

Stop experimenting with 7s players, it's not working at the expense of much better players.

Bit of a rant but another write off season.

AccidentallyOnside · 23-12-2023 9:46am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121528499#Comment_121528499

I'm all for honest criticism but this is nonsense of the highest order. People can, rightly, criticise some of our application but not or effort or desire.

We always view the game from one side, but there's 23 guys the other side of the ball that have spent a week targeting 80mins of play and the reaction of the ulster players and fans would leave you in no doubt how pleased they were with that result.

Ulster at home are a difficult beast and we went toe to toe and, arguably, bettered their first team. Not the result we wanted but the days of seeing ravenhill as a graveyard are gone.

And in an unrelated rant: how a player can take the field in the shape marty Moore was in is beyond me. As a professional player you, surely, have a duty to stay in reasonable condition. I know props often carry extra weight as bulk is a plus but he looked like a junior player who was called out of retirement to fill a spot on the bench.

Wegians89 · 23-12-2023 10:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121528499#Comment_121528499

Bar the line out, which is ironically muldoons responsibility and a Few stupid knock ons, that was a pretty decent performance. Particularly in comparison to the last 5 or 6 weeks.

Rafabio DaSilva · 23-12-2023 12:05pm

Was there for the taking, Lineout was terrible and has been at fault for two losses against Leinster and Ulster now. Massive games in the context of the league.

It's a hectic schedule of games and while the squad is better it is not nearly as deep as the othe provinces which is hard to overcome.

Losing O'Brien early and Joyce before the the game also impacted the game plan.

We have been competitive in nearly every game this season, have mostly played top 8 teans in the league and two juggernauts in Europe.

Borders no.2 · 23-12-2023 12:10pm

I dont think there was a lack of desire from too many players to be fair. Defensively we worked hard in the main I thought and a lot of things looked OK. I thought Carty took a step in the right direction. The restarts are always our killer but we seemed to take a common sense approach most of the time which is rare for us.

The scrum engagement was a mess all night mainly due to a ref who couldnt get a handle on it. Not sure I'd read anything good or bad into that. The lineout I've had my say but I think we need to focus on this area and try and get some cohesion in our setup. Some of the selection decisions make no sense to me. Most of the rotation by Wilkins doesn't seem to have any logic to it and the exclusion of a number of players has been very strange. Hopefully with the end of the week on week matches coming into sight he can look to try and establish a consistent team and build some minutes together for the various units within the team.

In reality though our attacking shape is very limited. Obviously the conditions prevent you being able to be too expansive but when we put a few phases together ulster folded but we were never cohesive enough to put them under the pump for an extended spell.

I'd say last night was a mixed bag but its hard to dig ourselves out of this hole and it's why the Edinburgh and Leinster matches are really killing us now.

Digifriendly · 23-12-2023 1:16pm

I'm an Ulster supporter but I thought Connacht went toe to toe with them and if they had edged it at the death it wouldn't have been an unfair result. I wonder if that had happened would some of the above posters been saying what they have.

I do think that Ulster and Connacht are pretty much on a par at present and some way off Leinster and possibly Munster (though Ulster have beaten them) but methinks some on this thread are being a bit harsh re Connacht.

ShineyShiney · 23-12-2023 3:50pm

Much improved from us, really worked hard and left nothing out there. Better of the two teams in terms of attacking opportunities created.

There were good individual performances from lots of guys, jack SHL, Bolton, Prendergast, Bealham etc.

Attack shape and lineout still need some work but a step in the right direction.

Utopia Parkway · 23-12-2023 4:35pm

No doubt they are on a bad run of results but this is also by far the toughest stretch of fixtures they will have all season.

Bulls, Leinster, Bordeaux, Saracens, Ulster & Munster.

Could easily have won both the Leinster and Ulster games but didn't. Munster the last one to come on NYD.

The schedule does ease up a bit in the 2nd half of the season as we still have a lot of the Welsh teams, the Italian teams and the other two South African teams to play at home.

kita99 · 24-12-2023 6:22am

I have a wishful thinking that Connacht may win against Lyon. Yesterday Lyon was beaten by Bouldeaux (10-46).They currently at 12th place of Top 14. Next week they 'll fight against Montpellier (13th place). Maybe it'll be harsh game, ( I think that they are worried the relagation or play-off.) After to Connacht match they'll fight against Saracens and Tourouse. Although there is a very small hope, but Connacht may find some chances at Lyon away from home. They have very heavy PRs(130kg class) and their total pack weight is 940kg. If Connacht FW can deal well to it, Connacht will find a winning chance hopefully. Paddy Jackson now at Lyon.I miss him although his own scandal.

24-12-2023 7:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121532046#Comment_121532046

Lyon were leading 11-10 before their tight head lock Romain Taofifenua got sent off.

Bordeaux put them to the sword after that.

MayoForSam · 24-12-2023 10:20am

I hear that Kilgallen did his hamstring again, bad one, he's going to be out for months. Tough luck for the lad, he had been going very well.

realhorrorshow · 24-12-2023 2:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121528985#Comment_121528985

Some of our selections this season have been really strange, it's hard to see what the logic is and sometimes feels like we're throwing **** at the wall to see what sticks. In the back three, we've rotated Kilgallen, Smith, Bolton, and now Jennings in and out to the point that each has gotten a bit of exposure but imo none have gotten enough sustained gametime thus far to develop effectively. We also picked McNamara on the bench for the first few games before banishing him to the AIL. We dropped Tom Daly and Jordan Duggan in at random for key away games with no follow up. I understand wanting to spread the gametime but one start in 9 months is not going to keep a player like Daly happy anyway. Dylan Tierney-Martin has seemed to fall out of favour out of nowhere. Niall Murray is out and Darragh is in, although in fairness Niall hasn't been at his best so I don't mind that. I think we've chosen untimely games to rotate Joyce out. He should start every game if fit, at least until Thornbury gets back to his best.

Our attacking shape is very average. The u20s played a very similar system under Sexton, which I thought made sense with underage players and limited time together, but I don't think it's suited to this level. We are often far too flat and when we do play out the back it's lethargic and easy to read. As an aside, our hyper focus on support players "tackling the tackler" has often left the ball completely exposed to a jackal.

connachta · 25-12-2023 1:54am

Merry Christmas to all of you!!

kita99 · 26-12-2023 3:53am

No one has a dought that professional rugby is not only sports but entertaiment. At last week's match, Hansen worked hard and well, but looked to have no trying-chance. Many fans disappointed him who is the best try -getter in this country to receive almost no chace ball. I want to know how do Connacht atacking coach or HC think about it. On the other hand, another exactly same player knocked-on just in front of gall line of Ulster (each 1st, and 2nd half). Both timings of mistakes was the big chances for Connacht. I think that Connacht shuld not use such a player who tend to fall in panic even his higher skill.- Next match will be must win one. I hope a good result.

Wegians89 · 26-12-2023 10:54pm

Munster will be sending a fairly depleted squad up to Galway by the looks of things

ShineyShiney · 27-12-2023 5:34pm

Last game of this block of league games, 4 pts would be very welcome.

7 winnable league games after that, we are going to need a fairly good run of form.

eagle eye · 27-12-2023 5:44pm

Out-half is the biggest problem.

We have lots of issues but you have to fix 10 first to see exactly where you are at.

Wegians89 · 27-12-2023 10:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121541052#Comment_121541052

I’d argue the lineout is more concerning. Carty and JJ both looked better against Ulster but neither are long term options

ShineyShiney · 27-12-2023 11:17pm

I think Carty is our senior man, he's got a much higher ceiling than JJ imo and while he can run hot and cold he is vital to our season.

Play him every week unless injured.

connachta · 27-12-2023 11:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121542146#Comment_121542146

kicking game to the posts (and touch) inclines to JJ though, even if the latter's not perfect either

it's losing 5/7 with JJ per game as Carty creates tries more often or losing 6 with Jack as he misses kicked pens/lineouts which would have led to pens

not a huge gap overall...

Jump_In_Jack · 28-12-2023 12:20am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121542215#Comment_121542215

Would Forde be useful as a goal-kicking fullback perhaps? Hawkshaw and Aki could rotate at 12. I wouldn’t object to starting Carty for his distribution but would not let him goal-kick nor let him kick penalties to touch. There has to be someone in team that can kick penalties to touch instead of him.

Wegians89 · 28-12-2023 12:29am

Considering Munsters injury worries in the pack, I’d love to see Joyce and Thornbury start together at lock. This could give Connacht a real physical advantage. I’d go for something like:

Buckley DTM Bealham

Joyce Thornbury

Prendergast Jansen SHL

Blade Carty

Bundee Farrell

Hansen Porch Bolton

McElroy Dooley Aungier N Murray Oliver McDonald JJ Forde

SqueakyKneecap · 28-12-2023 1:16am

I think all round there's a crisis of confidence. Don't get me wrong: the lineouts are woeful, the two outhalves have hurt us in different ways, we're a turnstile when it comes to defending, restarts are an absolute disaster and finally the coaching ticket hasn't worked since the World Cup honeymoon period.

All that being said with Munster's injury crisis, which in fairness reminds me of the time when there was uproar we couldn't get Pat Lam's youngster in as a joker, if they can't win on Saturday they might as well throw their hat at the season. There's significantly easier games to come but they need 4 points minimum on Monday.

kita99 · 28-12-2023 3:02am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121542402#Comment_121542402

According to Rugby news 42, Jansen looks good for Munster match. I think that no need double fly halves. So one of then (Carty, JJ or Hawkshaw) shuld start and Forde will be the covering FH and CTB. And I wonder whether team mates can put any confidence on Oliver who knocked -on twice in the just front of opponent gall-line. So, I think if they recover from the injury, Dowling (shoulder) or Boyle(eye) are better than him. If not, put one more Lo(D.murray). We have seen oftenly both Murrys have run fast and tackle strongly. They can deal with break downs. Line out issue may be resolved by ithis (4 strong catchers). And at 23, if possible it'sJennigs as the fresh source of scoring.

connachta · 28-12-2023 12:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121542402#Comment_121542402

I wouldn't change a single name in your 23 😃

The Moist Buddha · 28-12-2023 1:12pm

perpetual motion personified

Buer · 28-12-2023 1:41pm

With the expected Munster absentees, Connacht should go hard after the set piece. They've their own issues there but Munster are likely to have Eoghan Clarke throwing in to Beirne and Coombes.

Munster will look to expose the dodgy Connacht defending though and I'd be surprised if they don't get some success there.

Big breakdown performance needed to slow things down. I'd lean towards Munster but if Butler is an enforced starter, I'd make it closer to even.

Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

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