Connacht v Edinburgh Saturday 1st December 17.00

Last home game before the return of the Heineken Cup and its fair to say we badly need a win. For all the talk we have won 4 games from 11 this year (2 against the hapless Zebre, 1 against Treviso A and the memorable bp win over Leinster). We have yet to see many performances of substance this season. Leinster and Harlequins (most of the game) are the only performances we could genuinely be happy with.

My target for this season was 44 pts. I'm resigned to us failing to reach that target but last season we finished on 37. To even keep up with that target we need 5 points from the next two home games against Edinburgh and Munster.

Edinburgh for all their failings beat Ospreys last time out and another win here and they can start to look towards mid-table and the pressure will lift from Bradley.

I know we'll get a performance against Biarritz on 7th December but its these type of games (and last Friday) we should be measuring ourselves on. I have no interest in a glorious win over Biarritz if it comes on the back of a bad defeat in this one. Time for some of our lads to get the finger out and show to any potential new coach that this can be a good Connacht side.

i agree totally. this game falls into the must win category. imo eric announcing his imminent departure so early in the season has spared his management team a lot of critisism which they would normally be getting based on these results and performances.

i expect some players to fall on the sword this week but the problem is that the eagles performance sounds like it was worse which is very worrying.
edinburgh are a better team than results to date have shown so the team will need a big performance to get a result.

Agree with you Rossie, and there might be merit in Eric standing down immediately on selection of the new Coach rather than at the end of the season as initially indicated.

I have been concerned about this fixture for a few weeks now, at first I thought Edinburgh would be targeting it to break their losing streak but after beating Ospreys and Conn's poor performance against Dragons they will be full of confidence coming to Galway imo.

All depends on what sort of side we put out. We went to Wales with a weak pack. You can't take Mike McCarthy, Muldoon and George out and not suffer consequences. Put Reynecke in at hooker, and get George and McCarty back in harness and it is a much more solid unit. Muldoon is still a huge loss.

Backline - Duffy back to fullback, I'd like to see TOH dropped at this stage (assuming Fetu'u is back), Poolman to 13 and Henshaw on the wing.

I felt all along that people were over estimating the quality of our squad this year versus last. Sure we've added, but a few more have another year on the clock. We don't have the depth of quality in many positions, particularly in the pack and half backs. It is going to be a rough winter.

Macca probably won't play due to the player management scheme.

Well that's a balls.

sea_point wrote:

ummm, wrote: Macca probably won't play due to the player management scheme.

He's carrying a knock to the knee also according to yesterdays press conference...

www.mixcloud.com/CountFurlo/connacht-pre...d-of-edinburgh-game/

And George even more unlikely to play by the sound if it. We're in rag order for a relegation six-pointer.

I agree, this match is a big one for morale. The lads need a confidence boost before HC action restarts.

We've beaten Edinburgh before, it's not impossible, we just have to hope that the lads come together and play on Saturday!

As for benching TOH, he's a crucial player. Having been up at Irish camp the past few weeks, he has something to offer Connacht. Henshaw's doing great at fullback so far, might be time to think about keeping Duffy at wing. Macca and Muldoon are great players, albeit the latter will be out for the foreseeable future. Rest Macca this week, if it means he can be back fit and ready for HC action.

It's been great to see the 3 lads be called up for Irish camp, let's hope it's a sign of what's to come & that they'll put what they've learnt into action at home!

Creedence wrote: All depends on what sort of side we put out. We went to Wales with a weak pack. You can't take Mike McCarthy, Muldoon and George out and not suffer consequences. Put Reynecke in at hooker, and get George and McCarty back in harness and it is a much more solid unit. Muldoon is still a huge loss.

Backline - Duffy back to fullback, I'd like to see TOH dropped at this stage (assuming Fetu'u is back), Poolman to 13 and Henshaw on the wing.

I felt all along that people were over estimating the quality of our squad this year versus last. Sure we've added, but a few more have another year on the clock. We don't have the depth of quality in many positions, particularly in the pack and half backs. It is going to be a rough winter.

Is Henshaw not a 13 originally, and poolman has proven he can play wing in the past, personally I'd prefer to put to keep Henshaw in a position he has experience (fb or 13) rather than move him about too much, he's been playing great rugby it would be a shame if he started getting moved around and finding himself unsure of what's going on. As for TOH a lot of people seem to be saying he is getting too big for his boots, maybe he is maybe not but dropping/benching someone in that mindset might not improve their attitude. Its a difficult call for eric.

phatguerilla wrote:

Creedence wrote: All depends on what sort of side we put out. We went to Wales with a weak pack. You can't take Mike McCarthy, Muldoon and George out and not suffer consequences. Put Reynecke in at hooker, and get George and McCarty back in harness and it is a much more solid unit. Muldoon is still a huge loss.

Backline - Duffy back to fullback, I'd like to see TOH dropped at this stage (assuming Fetu'u is back), Poolman to 13 and Henshaw on the wing.

I felt all along that people were over estimating the quality of our squad this year versus last. Sure we've added, but a few more have another year on the clock. We don't have the depth of quality in many positions, particularly in the pack and half backs. It is going to be a rough winter.

Is Henshaw not a 13 originally, and poolman has proven he can play wing in the past, personally I'd prefer to put to keep Henshaw in a position he has experience (fb or 13) rather than move him about too much, he's been playing great rugby it would be a shame if he started getting moved around and finding himself unsure of what's going on. As for TOH a lot of people seem to be saying he is getting too big for his boots, maybe he is maybe not but dropping/benching someone in that mindset might not improve their attitude. Its a difficult call for eric.

Why would we move him out of FB when he has been playing so well there. Isnt this what people here have been critisising Kidney for?

rossie wrote:
Why would we move him out of FB when he has been playing so well there. Isnt this what people here have been critisising Kidney for?

I pretty much agree but if we assume that Duffy is to form part of the starting team then someone has to be moved from their favoured/natural position, and I'm not convinced Conn will get the most out of him by putting him on the wing. Meanwhile at least Henshaw has experience at 13 and for all I know he might even prefer that position medium-long term, so moving him to 13, poolman to wing and duffy to fb makes more sense to me than duffy to wing or henshaw to wing.

phatguerilla wrote:

rossie wrote:
Why would we move him out of FB when he has been playing so well there. Isnt this what people here have been critisising Kidney for?

I pretty much agree but if we assume that Duffy is to form part of the starting team then someone has to be moved from their favoured/natural position, and I'm not convinced Conn will get the most out of him by putting him on the wing. Meanwhile at least Henshaw has experience at 13 and for all I know he might even prefer that position medium-long term, so moving him to 13, poolman to wing and duffy to fb makes more sense to me than duffy to wing or henshaw to wing.

Same as that. Duffy had a less than inspiring start to the season by his own standards. But those standards are pretty high, and I'd expect a return to form. Henshaw has been good, but from what I've seen in the home games, not as good as Duffy was last season. And Duffy's definitely not a winger, so either he plays at fullback or he doesn't play IMO.

Creedence wrote:

phatguerilla wrote:

rossie wrote:
Why would we move him out of FB when he has been playing so well there. Isnt this what people here have been critisising Kidney for?

I pretty much agree but if we assume that Duffy is to form part of the starting team then someone has to be moved from their favoured/natural position, and I'm not convinced Conn will get the most out of him by putting him on the wing. Meanwhile at least Henshaw has experience at 13 and for all I know he might even prefer that position medium-long term, so moving him to 13, poolman to wing and duffy to fb makes more sense to me than duffy to wing or henshaw to wing.

Same as that. Duffy had a less than inspiring start to the season by his own standards. But those standards are pretty high, and I'd expect a return to form. Henshaw has been good, but from what I've seen in the home games, not as good as Duffy was last season. And Duffy's definitely not a winger, so either he plays at fullback or he doesn't play IMO.

Ok fair enough but Henshaw is a 18/19 yr old kid fresh out of school and Duffy is a senior pro. 13 recieves a lot more traffic down its channel and we dont want another talented but injury prone kid on our hands like griffin. I say leave Henshaw at FB, play Duffy at 13(people have been saying he can play here since pre season) and move Poolman to the wing. Mc sharry at 12 and TOH on other wing and its as strong as we can be.

rossie wrote:

Creedence wrote:

phatguerilla wrote:

rossie wrote:
Why would we move him out of FB when he has been playing so well there. Isnt this what people here have been critisising Kidney for?

I pretty much agree but if we assume that Duffy is to form part of the starting team then someone has to be moved from their favoured/natural position, and I'm not convinced Conn will get the most out of him by putting him on the wing. Meanwhile at least Henshaw has experience at 13 and for all I know he might even prefer that position medium-long term, so moving him to 13, poolman to wing and duffy to fb makes more sense to me than duffy to wing or henshaw to wing.

Same as that. Duffy had a less than inspiring start to the season by his own standards. But those standards are pretty high, and I'd expect a return to form. Henshaw has been good, but from what I've seen in the home games, not as good as Duffy was last season. And Duffy's definitely not a winger, so either he plays at fullback or he doesn't play IMO.

Ok fair enough but Henshaw is a 18/19 yr old kid fresh out of school and Duffy is a senior pro. 13 recieves a lot more traffic down its channel and we dont want another talented but injury prone kid on our hands like griffin. I say leave Henshaw at FB, play Duffy at 13(people have been saying he can play here since pre season) and move Poolman to the wing. Mc sharry at 12 and TOH on other wing and its as strong as we can be.

Duffy is not a center like Muldoon is not an 8. It is an emergency situation move. Move Henshaw to 13 if anyone, it is the position he was reared in and has recent experience there unlike Duffy.

Griffins problems have been with his hamstring, it has nothing to do with the physicality of center.

9.Marmion
10. Parks
11. TOH (I really just think it's second season syndrome)/ Poolman
12. McSharry
13. Henshaw
14. Vainikolo
15. Duffy.