Connacht 2021/22

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Contrast between the two backlines, with and without the ball, couldn't be greater. Connacht playing some nice rugby but the Ospreys 10-12-13 have been awful in defence. They're slower than a wet weekend in Holyhead.

A few of the Ospreys backs look very heavy to me, and considering they’re wearing black as well…

[dropkick]

Contrast between the two backlines, with and without the ball, couldn't be greater. Connacht playing some nice rugby but the Ospreys 10-12-13 have been awful in defence. They're slower than a wet weekend in Holyhead.

A few of the Ospreys backs look very heavy to me, and considering they’re wearing black as well…

They're a big team. They shut munster down comfortably the last round. Big but not very athletic as Connacht showed tonight.


Everything Hansen does is done to a high standard. His preferred position is fullback and IMO he looks like the type of player Keenan is. Very good all rounder who makes few mistakes but is threatening on attack.

[Fan with smartphone]

Contrast between the two backlines, with and without the ball, couldn't be greater. Connacht playing some nice rugby but the Ospreys 10-12-13 have been awful in defence. They're slower than a wet weekend in Holyhead.

A few of the Ospreys backs look very heavy to me, and considering they’re wearing black as well…

They're a big team. They shut munster down comfortably the last round. Big but not very athletic as Connacht showed tonight.


Everything Hansen does is done to a high standard. His preferred position is fullback and IMO he looks like the type of player Keenan is. Very good all rounder who makes few mistakes but is threatening on attack.

Interesting.

Peter Robb must be the most winningest player in Connacht rugby history. Looked like he was enjoying himself out there too.

[riocard911]

Connacht's line out has improved, barring the odd hiccup. Glad to see that, as it had been their Achilles heel for a while.

[Ruckedtobits]

Bearing in mind the weather conditions and the confidence and recent record of the Ospreys team, this was a sensational display of rugby by Connacht.

The coaching of the players in hard straight running, combined with the quality of the passing, speaks volumes for the expertise of all involved in Connacht Rugby. Including Leinster, I doubt whether any Provincial team could execute their passing with more expertise in those gale force, driven rain squalls.

There's no doubt that a number of Connacht players are exhibiting the type of rugby that Faz wants Ireland to play and a number of them are worthy of inclusion for the 6N camp.

Certainly, some of the enthusiasm was a little misplaced in moving bad ball which caused costly mistakes but their use of inside and outside passes within the pods was superb and amazing in the conditions.

They won't beat everybody but I would really like to see them obtain a European slot for next year and bring that quality to the bigger stage in better conditions.

The manner in which the new imports have been introduced and the skills that they have shown also indicate they have an excellent recruitment and selection policy.

Well done Connacht.

[JohnB]

The quality of Connacht’s performances against Ulster and against Ospreys in those horrendous conditions last night mean that our squad will have to be properly focused and face them with the highest degree of respect when we meet shortly.

[berliner]

Blade/Carty v JGP/Harry next week? I can dream.

[dropkick]

Blade/Carty v JGP/Harry next week? I can dream.

I think Farrell made the right choice with his 10s. Do you go with the solid, experienced player or the raw player who could be very good. I'd go with the latter. It's what NZ have always done.


If the world Cup was starting Carty but its 2 years away by which time Harry should be well used to top flight rugby.

[riocard911]

Blade/Carty v JGP/Harry next week? I can dream.

I think Farrell made the right choice with his 10s. Do you go with the solid, experienced player or the raw player who could be very good. I'd go with the latter. It's what NZ have always done.


If the world Cup was starting Carty but its 2 years away by which time Harry should be well used to top flight rugby.

+1

[Oldschool]

Blade/Carty v JGP/Harry next week? I can dream.

I think Farrell made the right choice with his 10s. Do you go with the solid, experienced player or the raw player who could be very good. I'd go with the latter. It's what NZ have always done.


If the world Cup was starting Carty but its 2 years away by which time Harry should be well used to top flight rugby.

Firstly I think Marmion handled the conditions a hell of a lot better than Slade so for next week I hope Slade starts.
As for our RWC OHs it's easy to imagine Carberry and Carty being two of them, HB looks like FAZ's next preferred choice but A N.Other isn't out of the running yet.

[Fan with smartphone]

Bearing in mind the weather conditions and the confidence and recent record of the Ospreys team, this was a sensational display of rugby by Connacht.

The coaching of the players in hard straight running, combined with the quality of the passing, speaks volumes for the expertise of all involved in Connacht Rugby. Including Leinster, I doubt whether any Provincial team could execute their passing with more expertise in those gale force, driven rain squalls.

There's no doubt that a number of Connacht players are exhibiting the type of rugby that Faz wants Ireland to play and a number of them are worthy of inclusion for the 6N camp.

Certainly, some of the enthusiasm was a little misplaced in moving bad ball which caused costly mistakes but their use of inside and outside passes within the pods was superb and amazing in the conditions.

They won't beat everybody but I would really like to see them obtain a European slot for next year and bring that quality to the bigger stage in better conditions.

The manner in which the new imports have been introduced and the skills that they have shown also indicate they have an excellent recruitment and selection policy.

Well done Connacht.

Marmion anyone? Played this structure brilliantly before under Lam, is currently playing very well, and just has a knack of winning in situations you think he can’t. We’ve never had it so good with scrum halves though I gotta say.

[sunshiner1]

by Fan with smartphone

Marmion anyone? Played this structure brilliantly before under Lam, is currently playing very well, and just has a knack of winning in situations you think he can’t. We’ve never had it so good with scrum halves though I gotta say.

Marmion would suit Ireland's play down to a tee, Blade also but for whatever reason Farrell doesn't seem to rate them. Blade might get another chance, but regarding Marmion it seems his face doesn't fit.

[sunshiner1]

Apparently a South African prop called Roydon Swift is joining the Connacht academy next season. He was affiliated with the Sharks but is joining Connacht straight from school. No idea if he is IQ. He is meant to be highly thought of.

[jezzer]

Bearing in mind the weather conditions and the confidence and recent record of the Ospreys team, this was a sensational display of rugby by Connacht.

The coaching of the players in hard straight running, combined with the quality of the passing, speaks volumes for the expertise of all involved in Connacht Rugby. Including Leinster, I doubt whether any Provincial team could execute their passing with more expertise in those gale force, driven rain squalls.

There's no doubt that a number of Connacht players are exhibiting the type of rugby that Faz wants Ireland to play and a number of them are worthy of inclusion for the 6N camp.

Certainly, some of the enthusiasm was a little misplaced in moving bad ball which caused costly mistakes but their use of inside and outside passes within the pods was superb and amazing in the conditions.

They won't beat everybody but I would really like to see them obtain a European slot for next year and bring that quality to the bigger stage in better conditions.

The manner in which the new imports have been introduced and the skills that they have shown also indicate they have an excellent recruitment and selection policy.

Well done Connacht.

Totally agree, esp the bolded bit. I said somewhere else that the Ireland gameplan is prob more similar to Connacht's than Leinster's and you could see the same general pod shape during the game

You also saw Marmion and Carty executing it brilliantly. I don't understand why they're not in the setup. You would need a plan B for Cartys place kicking (Ringer?) but he's so far ahead of the others as a 10 it's worth it, imo.

Tom Farrell is another I'd like to see get some squad involvement when he gets back. Frawley and Farrell and Hume are all knocking on the door.

Heffernan impressed me. He's a leader out there. Bealham is always at the forefront. Butler is an absolute workhorse. One of the hardest working players on the island. Oliver, like Timoney, is putting his hand up for consideration. He gives you a jackal threat as well as the link play and tackling.

[dropkick]

Apparently a South African prop called Roydon Swift is joining the Connacht academy next season. He was affiliated with the Sharks but is joining Connacht straight from school. No idea if he is IQ. He is meant to be highly thought of.

Interrsting. They have been recruiting very well. Hansen is a great signing and Bolton and McNulty looked very good on their first starts.


The new condensed season will benefit Connacht greatly I think. They don't have a big squad so less games will make a big difference to them. Other teams will be stronger too but that's not the main area where Connacht will benefit.


As has been pointed out, less games means less game time for players in in all provinces. Less games for fringe players and less for youngsters. It puts a squeeze on squad size and also puts a squeeze on academy places. While many players will leave the country, Connacht should find it easier to sign Irish talent.

[dropkick]

Bearing in mind the weather conditions and the confidence and recent record of the Ospreys team, this was a sensational display of rugby by Connacht.

The coaching of the players in hard straight running, combined with the quality of the passing, speaks volumes for the expertise of all involved in Connacht Rugby. Including Leinster, I doubt whether any Provincial team could execute their passing with more expertise in those gale force, driven rain squalls.

There's no doubt that a number of Connacht players are exhibiting the type of rugby that Faz wants Ireland to play and a number of them are worthy of inclusion for the 6N camp.

Certainly, some of the enthusiasm was a little misplaced in moving bad ball which caused costly mistakes but their use of inside and outside passes within the pods was superb and amazing in the conditions.

They won't beat everybody but I would really like to see them obtain a European slot for next year and bring that quality to the bigger stage in better conditions.

The manner in which the new imports have been introduced and the skills that they have shown also indicate they have an excellent recruitment and selection policy.

Well done Connacht.

Totally agree, esp the bolded bit. I said somewhere else that the Ireland gameplan is prob more similar to Connacht's than Leinster's and you could see the same general pod shape during the game

You also saw Marmion and Carty executing it brilliantly. I don't understand why they're not in the setup. You would need a plan B for Cartys place kicking (Ringer?) but he's so far ahead of the others as a 10 it's worth it, imo.

Tom Farrell is another I'd like to see get some squad involvement when he gets back. Frawley and Farrell and Hume are all knocking on the door.

Heffernan impressed me. He's a leader out there. Bealham is always at the forefront. Butler is an absolute workhorse. One of the hardest working players on the island. Oliver, like Timoney, is putting his hand up for consideration. He gives you a jackal threat as well as the link play and tackling.

I agree. Connacht play closest to ireland. Leinster are a bit conservative which they can afford to be.


Glad to see Oliver doing well. He was getting game time under Rassie but JVG didn't rate him it seems. He suits Connachts style better anyway.

[sunshiner1]

by dropkick

Interesting. They have been recruiting very well. Hansen is a great signing and Bolton and McNulty looked very good on their first starts.

Agreed. Add in the Ozzie Prop coming to Leinster and the exile system has been doing well the last year or two.

[OTT]

We critique players much harder who play for Munster and Leinster than we do for Connacht or Ulster imo.

We go on about Ross Byrne or Harry or Joey or Healy or Murray or JGP or McGrath or Casey and remember their bad games, we tend to blanket their good games into being because the packs they are playing with are better and give them a good platform but Carty and Marmion/Blade we tend to remember only their good games and patronise Connacht and write off any loss as being because they don’t have the players. You can’t have it both ways, Carty has played in both the bad losses against Cardiff and Dragons this season and he was rubbish in that Dragons match, also it gets pushed around that Carty was made the scapegoat for Ireland’s World Cup game against Japan and has been punished since with Ireland, Carty showed no control in that game when he came on and that has always been his Achilles heel and it still is when Connacht are under the pump,if he was playing regularly for Munster or Leinster he would be described as flaky. Ross Byrne was the guy who missed out on the World Cup in 2019 he was the unlucky one at that time.

The year Connacht won the league people might remember (but probably would choose not to) that it was AJ McGinty who came in during the season and took the 10 shirt and gave Connacht the consistency and control that matched the Lamb model (not surprising he’s signing him again for Bristol).

Carty is 29 now, fair play when he plays well we should give him his dues, he’s clearly a really talented player but it’s ridiculous to forget the games where he isn’t on it, they are not that hard to find there’s been loads of them through the years. That’s why he hasn’t got more Ireland caps, Bundee and Robbie before him are proof that you will get picked for Ireland regularly if the coach thinks you are god enough to it doesn’t matter who you play for.

[Dave Cahill]

In fairness to Carty (I don't disagree with the thrust of your point) didn't he rupture his spleen or something on a waterslide and missed a huge amount of games that season?

[jezzer]

We critique players much harder who play for Munster and Leinster than we do for Connacht or Ulster imo.

We go on about Ross Byrne or Harry or Joey or Healy or Murray or JGP or McGrath or Casey and remember their bad games, we tend to blanket their good games into being because the packs they are playing with are better and give them a good platform but Carty and Marmion/Blade we tend to remember only their good games and patronise Connacht and write off any loss as being because they don’t have the players. You can’t have it both ways, Carty has played in both the bad losses against Cardiff and Dragons this season and he was rubbish in that Dragons match, also it gets pushed around that Carty was made the scapegoat for Ireland’s World Cup game against Japan and has been punished since with Ireland, Carty showed no control in that game when he came on and that has always been his Achilles heel and it still is when Connacht are under the pump,if he was playing regularly for Munster or Leinster he would be described as flaky. Ross Byrne was the guy who missed out on the World Cup in 2019 he was the unlucky one at that time.

The year Connacht won the league people might remember (but probably would choose not to) that it was AJ McGinty who came in during the season and took the 10 shirt and gave Connacht the consistency and control that matched the Lamb model (not surprising he’s signing him again for Bristol).

Carty is 29 now, fair play when he plays well we should give him his dues, he’s clearly a really talented player but it’s ridiculous to forget the games where he isn’t on it, they are not that hard to find there’s been loads of them through the years. That’s why he hasn’t got more Ireland caps, Bundee and Robbie before him are proof that you will get picked for Ireland regularly if the coach thinks you are god enough to it doesn’t matter who you play for.

Aahhhh, c'mon now. I don't disagree with the factual part of the post, but this idea Connacht players get the soft soap and Leinster/Munster ones get kicked is a bit weird.

I mean, we're talking about who should be no.s 2 and 3 OH for Ireland here. The list of options is extremely short. Nobody has the luxury of going "he's great, he's in" or "he's shite, he's out", because the reality is they may ALL be needed at some stage.

What we can opine is in what order they should be placed when it comes to big games. Anyone who's watched Connacht will have seen Cartys bad games. He's a bit of a flat track bully in some respects - in that he needs the team to generate the momentum first and then he picks up the reins. If the team is flat, he's not great at lifting him and the others out of the mire.

But he's playing behind a pack that delivers parity at best in most games so it's not like he's getting it on a platter. The team shape is very like the Ireland shape and he functions well within that, prob would do even better with some of the playmaking pressure deferred to others and behind a dominant pack.

Should he be behind Carbery in the pecking order? I'd have him ahead if we had a high% kicker somewhere else in the team. As it is, I'd put them about level, Joey could overtake based on more Munster game time.

Should Ross Byrne be behind or ahead of Carty? That's the big one. As (for me) the higher risk - higher return option, I'd probably side with Carty but I'm never unhappy seeing Ross in any team sheet.

Burns? I really don't see it. Burns is blanketed by two big talents and presences - inside him at 9 and outside at 12, that ameliorate a lot of his deficiencies. I'm not a big fan.

Harry? Let me be as frank as possible here. I don't think Harry Byrne has ever done anything in a Leinster or Ireland jersey that I've seen which has made me feel he deserves, at his current development stage, one single second of test rugby participation. I'd have him bottom of the list, below Burns, Healy and Frawley in that order.

Based on the above, am i slating Leinster/Munster players and glorifying Connacht ones? Don't think so. Just stating preferences between a small pool of candidates. Connacht are doing well enough now that their players can be judged on pure merit and they wouldn't be getting the results if they didn't have players of merit. At halfback, they have two of them. Not without their flaws, but who is?

12 months ago, the talking heads were putting Johnny in the knackers yard...