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I hope eric brings along print copy of the reports from our last visit there and sticks these up on the wall in the changing room. The lads need to know that impossible odds were overturned before, and can be again.

We can win this, and, we can lose it badly too. I think the difference in both those scenarios is solely down to the players attitude from 3pm to 5pm on Saturday. Forget MB, the branch and any negative stuff out there, if they just go out and play to their strengths and believe in themselves, the game can be won and we'll all cheer to the rooftops.

Its up to the 22 players now. I wish them the best and hope for the same!

Not only do Connacht have to take advantage of any chances presented them (this has been difficult enough most of the season), but they also must take any half chances if they are to win this game. A committed defensive effort for the full 80 will insure they can leave Franklin Garden with their heads up high.

I hope eric brings along print copy of the reports from your last visit there and sticks these up on the wall in the our changing room. The Saints lads need to know that impossible odds were overturned before but mustn't be again..

God DAMN it Rob... it's only wednesday!

where is the "Make week go faster" button when you need it.

Nice little preview but says little about your team.

Look forward to seeing you guys on Saturday.

As a supporter I don't know a lot about your team (I assume our management have the tapes !) but if you think you have the edge in the back row you may be in for a surprise. Here's to a good Craic and a great game. If any of you make it to the Malt Shovel on Friday night there will be a warm welcome waiting.


Saint til I die

Howlin...it is YOU who may be in for the surprise.

With Farley making his 150 appearance this weekend lets hope the Lock can top this wonderful achievement with a win.

Bull, does your Farley have tusks? Or just feed on rusks...

Looking forward to seeing you all at Franklin's Gardens - how many will you bring?


The Saint...

From mainsite:

Connacht have made one change to their side ahead of their European Challenge Cup quarter final against Northampton at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday (kick off: 3pm).

Frank Murphy returns to the side at scrum half in what is otherwise an unchanged line up from that which beat the Dragons at the Sportsground last Friday in the Magners League.

Connacht will be looking for a repeat of their result of 1997 when they traveled to Northampton and got the win when these two sides faced each other last.

Connacht team:
G Duffy; F Carr, N Ta'auso, K Matthews, L Bibo; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Loughney; A Browne, A Farley; J Muldoon (C), J O'Connor, R Ofisa.

Replacements:
A Flavin, B McGovern, M Swift, C Rigney, C O'Loughlin, A Dunne, T Nathan.

Not considered due to injury: Kieran Campbell (hip), Tim Donnelly (knee), John Hearty (hip), Michael McCarthy (foot), Robbie Morris (foot).

And the opposition:

15 Ben Foden
14 Paul Diggin
13 Joe Ansbro
12 James Downey
11 Bruce Reihana (capt)
10 Stephen Myler
9 Lee Dickson
1 Soane Tonga’uiha
2 Dylan Hartley
3 Euan Murray
4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe
5 Juandre Kruger
6 Neil Best
7 Scott Gray
8 Roger Wilson

Replacements
16 Brett Sharman
17 Tom Smith
18 Courtney Lawes
19 Mark Easter
20 Alan Dickens
21 Barry Everitt
22 Chris Mayor

Northampton 12 - Connacht 6

Commentary on GBfm is very good. Sounds like Duffy is doing excellent in defence, but overall Connacht need to up their intensity.

TRY CONNACHT!!!
Keatley Conversion!!!

Northampton 12 - Connacht 13.
That's upped intensity for ya! WOOO!

Northampton 15 - Connacht 13
A dodgy hometown decision gives Northampton the lead.

Down 5 now. It's within their grasp still, but they need to clean things up and take their chances.

Down to 13 men, looks like the jig is up for sure.

First O'Connor and now Duffy in the bin. The ref puts Connacht's best defender in the bin. and now Northampton in for a try.
Game over. Thanks for nothing Ref.

So 2 more tries for Northampton. Anyone know the score?
37-13 is it?

I need a pint!

Another try for Northampton. Blow it up ref for f's sake!

Unfortunately, Connacht taking the lead really woke up Northampton immediately. Last 25 minutes were awful.

Obviously I can't tell from not being at the match but everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong for Connacht.In the end the scoreline completely flatters Northampton it seems but once they got more than a score ahead they were always going to pull clear with the fresher legs in the last 10.Connacht have given a good account of themselves but you get no favours in knock out games away from home.What this also shows once again is of course the lack of depth in the Connacht squad in particular in the backline and of course at prop.

They have done us proud in this campaign London Irish away being the exception.Form like we showed for 70 mins today needs to be shown away from home in the ML.Northampton are better than the likes of Llanelli,Edinburgh etc. who we have capitulated to away in the ML.

It offers hope for the rest of the season.We should probably just write off next Saturday and put all our focus into getting the win away to Dragons.

Right, I have to rant as I’ve been very calm over the last few months and put up with some hopeless displays from this team, if today had gone differently I would’ve continued to stay quite however………... I have never witnessed such a game that Connacht could’ve and should’ve won but for naivety and stupidity from both management and players.

I was concerned watching Northampton warm up. There was aggression, vocal noise, and intensity to their preparation which wasn’t happening at the other end; in fact, it was particularly sombre and pedestrian.

Saints were aggressive, however they offered nothing that should worry a decent defence, the usual 50:50 decisions went to the home side but that’s to be expected from a French referee and a partisan home crowd.

I was buoyed by Connacht’s 2nd quarter display in which they hit wave after wave of attack and made some decent ground; only to kick ball away when they ran out of ideas! Indeed, both sides were poor in wet weather which is astonishing when you consider Connacht play almost exclusively in the rain on a Friday night.

Connacht’s set piece work was taken apart. The lineout didn’t function, and Cronin was missing men left right and centre including anything thrown further then the first jumper. I counted 3 times he threw the ball straight into opposition hands. He was clearly injured in the second half (maybe cramp?) and should’ve been replaced a lot earlier although, the sin binning didn’t help this situation.

I hope the Connacht branch will recruit some decent front row options for next season. Wilkinson & Morris are the only viable options for propping. McGovern was abysmal and should never wear a Connacht jersey again. His inability to shore up a scrum was embarrassing; his best contribution was getting injured after his sin binning as the uncontested scrums suited the beaten Connacht pack better.

Loughney must be put out on loan down in south Africa over the summer so he can get game time, it’s the only way he will learn anything, he picks up injuries easily but has never (given all his early promise) really dominated any of his opposition the displays I’ve seen. I believe this is down to him not getting game time at loose head; he is no tight head; either technically or physically. There were many reasons why Connacht lost this game but fundamentally it was the quality at prop (and cover)

There’s been talk on this message board regarding the inclusion of Muldoon and O’Connor in the Ireland squads of recent months. They were both played off the park by the “Ulster / Ireland rejects” of Best and Wilson. I personally think Muldoon should step down as Captain, his fire and brimstone game doesn’t suit being a leader, his first behaviour is to complain to the referee (arms waving) instead of smashing into counter rucks. His communication with the officials and team mates is poor.

Maybe this Bernie Upton will bring something. O’Connor’s sin bin was stupid! Whilst he didn’t give away his usual high quota of penalties, his particular infringement was at a crucial time, an international capped flanker should know when and when not to slow the ball down. The only forward to really face up to Saints was Ray Ofisa which really says it all when an open side flanker playing at No8 is the best forward!!!!!!

Our backs suffered through injuries but I do have a few points on this.

Could the message board please tell me why the Connacht branch has given Keith Matthews a three year contract? He’s no pace, rubbish ball skills (in contact & distribution) and picks up far too many injuries to be given a three year deal, he can (allegedly) tackle but did precious little of that today and (surprise surprise) left the field injured. Despite his limitations, Mel Dean would’ve been better suited to the wet weather close contact work required. Ta'auso was well marshalled at centre I counted one clean break. Bibo and Carr were industrious but had dross to work with so to criticize would be harsh.

Gavin Duffy was our best player today, he caught everything kicked at him and caught a few of Connacht’s attacking Garryowen’s. His sin binning was the only blot on his copy book again, a capped international should know better.



I know there have been numerous threads on this message board regarding the management, the lack of leadership and decisions from the touchline. The Connacht Branch board i.e.; Mick Grealish, Steve Cunningham, Gerry Kelly et al need to either give Michael Bradley his cards or resign themselves! In no other sporting environment can an organisation exist or develop on such abysmal and embarrassing results. This all stems from the top guys on the board. Neither Bradley nor any of his coaching team appears to have the decency to resign so they MUST be pushed for the greater good of professional rugby in Connacht.

I can’t see any results coming from the remaining fixtures and I don’t even think the political spinning skills of Alistair Campbell cold drag a positive note to motivate me to part with my hard earned euro at the Sports ground until changes have been made from the top down.

I will light a candle at mass tomorrow, I pray it’ll bring something positive…….

Don't be too hard on your team. It was all pretty even for the first 60 minutes, but then the strain and effort began to tell, and your boys were dead on their feet (and suffering sinbins, probably as a result) for the last 10. For me the skills of the teams were similar. I think the difference today was fitness - there has been a lot of stamina and conditioning work in Northampton this year and it has paid off (mainly against non-GP sides). Next year we will need to be better still.

Thanks for coming though. It was great to see your supporters and we hope they enjoyed the Flatley Wannabees (the local Irish Dance Troupe) performing!

How's the BP Mayo Man?

Quote:

St Francis
For me the skills of the teams were similar. I think the difference today was fitness - there has been a lot of stamina and conditioning work in Northampton this year and it has paid off (mainly against non-GP sides). Next year we will need to be better still.

We had Les Kiss for 3 days and we put 5 tries on the dragons.
I have often thought that we have wilted in the last 10 mins in most matches.
According to the Indo today reading between the lines Mike Mc Gurn is looking for a job in Ireland. He even mentioned signing on the dole!!!
We need someone like this to come in and get our guys sorted.
We have full time professional rugby players who do not have as much 'stamina and conditioning' as the opposition. That must be improved upon and definitely questions have to be asked about this.

Joe Healy in the radio commentary more or less said that he gave up on the referee, but unfortunately we are used to that.

Green Devils forever.

I can't properly comment on today's game not being there.Its easy talk.Over the course of the season so far the lineout has been a strong point for Connacht,Muldoon has been immense this season and joc is only coming back from injury.Matthews has also been among our best performers this season although I agree a 3 year deal is a bit long.

Best and Wilson are far from Ulster rejects.I'm sure they would have given their right arm to hang onto those two players but the GP money turned their heads.

We have a lack of experience in the side and in knockout cup competitions you need the bit of nous to see you through the sticky patches.As you point out all too often good work is ruined by the wrong option being taken,a lack of composure or a failure to spot an opportunity.

Also the lack of quality replacements has become more obvious than ever this season with the number of late scores conceded although considering Connacht in recent seasons have started back training about 2 weeks ahead of everyone else you'd imagine that fitness should be a strong point.Either way in high intensity games the 22 man squad becomes crucial and for Connacht its more like 18 man squad.

What drives me mad is that is was obvious in pre-season that we needed more depth in the prop position and yet we go into the season carrying 4 hookers and 4 out halfs when for 95% of the time its been the same players starting at 2 and 10.

Similar story re:scrum half in 07/08 cost us hc rugby.

I'm really hoping the next few weeks will bring good news.A lot of players leaving but who will replace them will give a strong indication of our future.The names doing the rounds wouldn't exactly encourage you but so many rumours float around we'll have to see how it all shapes up.

Bottom line is this can't go on.We have a fair number of decent players not achieving their potential.We have players being screwed by management,we have players who aren't good enoguh but are honestly trying their best and we have a number of freeloaders.

Its not all negative.Some of what we have produced particularly at home this year has been very good but ultimatley we haven't closed the deal.The potential is there to build something from but a fresh approach is needed and an injection of som good hungry players into the squad mixed with a bit of experience.

Quote:

Borders no.2
I'm really hoping the next few weeks will bring good news.A lot of players leaving but who will replace them will give a strong indication of our future.The names doing the rounds wouldn't exactly encourage you but so many rumours float around we'll have to see how it all shapes up.

Bottom line is this can't go on. We have a fair number of decent players not achieving their potential.We have players being screwed by management,we have players who aren't good enoguh but are honestly trying their best and we have a number of freeloaders.

Its not all negative.Some of what we have produced particularly at home this year has been very good but ultimatley we haven't closed the deal.The potential is there to build something from but a fresh approach is needed and an injection of som good hungry players into the squad mixed with a bit of experience.

Agree with all your points Borders, it isn't all doom an gloom for us. We have talented players that are as good as any anywhere. But they are not being given the opportunity to perform to their abilities through poor management, and obvious weaknesses in our squad due to lack of resource.

Maybe we need to carry a smaller squad with better quality players moving forward, and use the academy players for backup (what are they there for if not to progress to Pro rugby, and Academy players in Wales & England always get their chance before they get a full contract).

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I see the future, and it's Green again...