Connacht V Leinster Pro12 Final - Murrayfield

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh teams announced its real now people. Nerves have gone through the roof

connemara man wrote: Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh teams announced its real now people. Nerves have gone through the roof

My nerves have eased. That's a good Connacht team.

pinky wrote:

ConnachtCows wrote: No Toner is the big thing in that Leinster team

Personal reasons they say.

That's never nice to hear.. Hopefully everything okay for him, he is meant to be an absolute gent

From rugby POV though, as exciting Moloney is it's gotta be advantage Connacht in second row battle now

pinky wrote: So that's Pat's first unchanged team since ... when was it again Evil_g?
But an unchanged 23 - that must be unprecedented.

Ulster, in April 2014.... which is bananas.

I'm in The Three Sisters. Looks like a great spot for tomorrow, if the sun comes out. It was raining all morning but it looks like it could be clearing now.

As Pat said 23 fortunate guys to have the chance got me thinking of who we have left behind through injury or non selection.

1. Denis B.
2. JHW
3 Nathan W.
4 Quin R.
5 George N.
6 James C.
7 Nepia F.
8 Eoghan M.
9 Caolin B.
10. Jack C.
11. Fionn C.
12. Dave McS.
13 Rory P.
14. Danie .
15 Darragh L.

I believe that 15 would have a good chance of winning #And i forgot Craig R

Because I've nothing better to do only obsess about tomorrow...

Finlay Bealham's played in all 31 Connacht games this season, as the Connacht release points out.

I've worked out that, as the crow flies, he's traveled 19596 miles to do so (not counting the victorious journey home on Sunday from Edinburgh).

Considering Siberia etc. it must be a record for any pro rugby player in the Northern Hemisphere.

Teams are named, and fans have started their journey.
I'm allowing myself to get hyped now.

Last season finished on such a low.
The Gloucester play-off. A game we had won, but the refs took from us. Our players dead on their feet. Not one bad word could be said about them. The effort all season was epitomized by that game, and at the end we had nothing to show for it.
Our target had been Champions Cup Rugby, and we missed out by the slightest of margins. So close, but not enough.

This season started without any big new names coming in.
Pat told us what he wanted from the season. He wanted the Sportsground to become a fortress. But most importantly, he wanted us to reach the top 6.
The World Cup caused disruption for all the teams. Connacht had two representatives in Robbie Henshaw and Nathan White. This was good for us. Players could see what they could achieve in Galway
Fox-Matamua started in the place of oft injured Jake Heenan, and quickly won over the fans with his try scoring performances.
Eoghan Masterson stood up, and got himself a starting place in the team
Finlay Bealham started getting more game time.
Ultan Dillane began showing his promise
Youngsters Peter Robb and Rory Parata filled in admirably in the center

A loss in Glasgow in our second game of the season, may have been expected, but the two bonus points picked up over there seemed to indicate something special.
The win against the Ospreys in Swansea caused more people to stand up and take notice.
The only problem with these results, was the fact that they were happening during the World Cup, when our opposition were missing key players.
Slowly but surely, Connacht kept recording wins though.
The team spirit was growing, and becoming more apparent. No more so, than when the team were stuck in airports travelling home from Russia
Then came our historic moment. Away to Munster, in our super hero jerseys, the Connacht men kept their heads when needed. A maul try conceeded didnt faze them. The harsh yellow card/penalty try combo awarded, didnt faze them. The pressure on being just ahead with minutes to go, didnt faze them, and this fact was punctuated by Bundee's superb try right at the death to confirm victory
There were bad days aswell. Losing away to Cardiff being a perfect example.
Then came Christmas. A defeat on St. Stephens Day, in front of a packed out Sportsground to Ulster hurt, but it would be our only home defeat all season. 15 homes games this season. 14 wins. 1 loss.
Our away date with Leinster on New Years Day was a wash out. Conditions were horrific. Almost as bad as the refs call to award Josh Van Der Fliers try. This was followed by defeats away to the Scarlets and Brive.
Then a knife to the heart. Our hero, Robbie Henshaw had agreed a deal to move to Leinster at the start of next season.
We've been there before. It didnt make things any easier

By now Connacht were up near the top of the table, and expected to fall off. We had too many reasons to fall apart
But this didnt happen. Home victories over Scarlets and Ospreys soon followed.
5 Connacht players were on the pitch at the same time in the 6Nations match against Italy. It was unprecedented.
Sold Out signs appeared on a regular basis on the Sportsground. Leinster came to town. Bye bye, we are keeping the points.
Munster came to town. Hello there Limerick lads, mind if we run over 4 tries? Thank you
A blip. We went to Treviso and lost? Not sure how, but it happened. But just like every other obstacle we have faced in the past 12 months, we welcomed it. We learnt from it, and we improved.

Last game of the season was at home to the Champions Glasgow. A team on fire. The Clan quenched those flames, and now, for the very first time in their history, we had not only qualified for the Champions Cup on our back. We had not only finished ahead or not one, but two other Irish temas. We had not only reached the Pro 12 Play-offs, we had finished joint top of the league, guaranteeing ourselves a home semi final against the defending Champions.
The first home game against Glasgow might have been played in wet conditions, but the semi final was played in perfect rugby playing conditions. It didnt matter to us.
This Connacht team doesn't dwell on the past. Doesn't worry about excuses. Doesn't get overrun by the occasion.
We showed up. The Rugby world was watching, and we didn't buckle. In the end we deservedly beat the defending champions and favorites. Odds dont matter one bit to us.

There were so many positives to take from this season. The outstanding performances from our academy players.
The victory in Thomand Park. The victory in the Sportsground against Munster. We didnt scrape a victory. We dismantled a team who needed to win.

We've had so many blows in the last 12months. None of them have stopped us.
Tomorrow, we play our first ever Final. Our first chance of Silverware. We're playing the Big Brother. The Evil Empire. The Favorites. The team with the history. The team who take our best players, and want us to be grateful for it.
But we're not going to worry about any of that. Tomorrow we'll follow our processes. We'll play our game. We'll play our style. We'll trust our players. We will win. We will be Pro 12 Champions, and we'll move forward.

COME ON CONNACHT

wp_rathead wrote:

pinky wrote:

ConnachtCows wrote: No Toner is the big thing in that Leinster team

Personal reasons they say.

That's never nice to hear.. Hopefully everything okay for him, he is meant to be an absolute gent

From rugby POV though, as exciting Moloney is it's gotta be advantage Connacht in second row battle now

Bereavement I think!

I believe.

Very nice! Oh lord i'm up for this didn't sleep last night don't think i'll be sleeping for the next two either!

No Toner and no Nacewa is huge!!! Have to think that Dillane and Muldowney will trump Kearney and Maloney in the lineout, maybe negating Sexton's territory kicking tactics. Kearney has looked a shadow of his 4-years-ago-self and is only back from injury. We will dominate the set piece and the weather will hand us the advantage in the open field. Connacht to win by two scores!!!

This has all the feeling of some movie.

American High School football team from readneckville go up against all the odds!!!!!

I love it!!!

I honestly feel there is no reason why we can't win this game. It will come down to only one thing in my mind.

Who wants it more will find a way to win it no matter the odds, no matter what unfolds.

I know half of you are down in the Three Sisters but for those looking for something to read on the bus or at the train station, here's my preview: phatguerilla.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/i-believe/

Light on insight, heavy on emotion.

What's the atmosphere like in Edinburgh? Is there much green or blue around the place?

The pro12 Q&A at Stramash was 90% Connacht.