Aironi v Connacht - 07/01/12

From the Galway Advertiser http: //www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/48031/return-of-swift-and-ofisa-will-boost-connacht-for-italian-fixture

Massively need Swifty & Ray back if we are to have any chance out there of picking up a win. Sounds like McSharry is fit which is great news with him and Kyle in the middle. Intresting to read EE's comments about consistency of kicking and to see the %'s thus far. Some people on here may not believe that they actually practise kicking but there you have it in black and white.

Front row is a major concern, how many 80 mins can Wilko keep putting in, god knows what we'll do if he gets injured. No Concrete and no Loughney has got me fearing the worst but hopefully the boys will pull another big performance out of the bag and that bit of luck which we are way overdue could well see us over the line.

im suprised to see that o connor is on 65% for goalkicking. Read somewhere recently tho that O Gara is on 70% for career in goalkicking yet i dont ever remember him missing a vital one. I suppose thats the difference really.

Jarvis at 40% doesnt auger well for his chances on saturday tho.

Noc needs to improve ratio by 10-15% quickly and consistantly if he is to convince anyone here.

should have posted with above but you would imagine that kicking practise sessions should be every day given their importance in determining the outcome of games.

I think u may have identified the problem Eric?

Personally I think it should be Jarvis starting at 10 Early in the season he was trying long range kicks which should have been put to the corners that is a captains call. NOC has missed kicks in front of the post which has cost us games and his first option it to kick. Murphy seems to be getting the hunger back into his game and has played ok in the last few games McSharry and Henry at centre Tonetti on the wing The rest of the team the same and what fit forwards we have

To be fair to Jarvis, his first kick was from the touchline (basically), and just didnt catch the wind like he would have wanted to bring the ball through - left touchline - wind blowing towards goal - aimed for right post, and to be fair to him the line of the ball wasn't too far off the right post, but just wasnt taken in by the wind [not blaming the wind, and neither is Tim Howard after last night].

Was at the game with a guy who is a kicking coach for one of the top rugby sides in Scotland, he's a Galway native but not from a rugby background, and he was saying that ~40% of rugby (not sure is that international or club or whatever, just a figure) scores are statistically from kicks, and thus highly essential (its not as if im telling any of ye anything that ye don't know about how essential it is to be nailing these kicks).

As -_-ton put it when he was out of favour with the tee, its a pity that outhalfs only get judged by their kicking ratio, especially where other parts of their game are much more impressive. If we put Jarvis into the -_-ton bracket, show me the O'Gara in our squad who can put their hand up to deserve the 10 shirt ahead of him. Looking at kicking ratios though, look back at Chris Patterson a few years back when he hadnt missed a kick in 36 consecutive attempts, everyone knows that although he is a remarkable kicker, that he handed over alot of the "out of range / preferred angle"

Now with that out of the way, bring on Aironi. Ray, McSharry and Swiftys comebacks couldnt have happened at a better time. Also, I think legend is an understatement for Johnny O'Concrete:

O'Connor's injury came early in the Leinster game, but Elwood said he continued to play for the entire 80 minutes "like a true warrior".

"It is one thing surviving the game, but Johnny didn't survive the game, he put himself through the mill for the 80 minutes and played like Johnny O'Connor always does. That is a testament to him and his commitment to the cause - brave man is an understatement."

rossie wrote: Read somewhere recently tho that O Gara is on 70% for career in goalkicking yet i dont ever remember him missing a vital one

Munster losing in their first HEC final springs to mind. Gutting result that day

If Eric is basing his decision on kicking success rate than Nikora would be starting, he's at about 73% I believe. That is based on only 11 kicks though.

From what I was getting from Eric in the GA article it sounds like we can expect less running rugby and more kicking. NOC has been his man for that style. I expect to see him start.

Connacht Replacements v Aironi: Reynecke, Buckley, Maguire, McKeon, Ofisa, O'Donohoe, O'Connor, Fa'afili

no team news yet

Glad to see Buckley and Maguire on the bench. The only way there going to develop is if they get some gametime. A few grizzled Italian props will def. give them a good test if they should get on.

O'Connor on the bench is presumably Niall O'Connor since Jonny is out injured. That means that Jarvis must be starting.

McKeon and Ofisa on the bench shows how tight we are for second rows. IM happy with that team, overall. Nice to have swiftly back and to see George back at eight where he can cause more havoc.

Duff, fets, ton, mcshazza, toh, Jarvis, murph

Wilco, flava flav, Dylan, swifty, macca, Kearns, mul, George

Duffy,
Vainikolo,
Tonetti,
McSharry,
TOH,
Jarvis,
Murphy,
Wilkinson,
Flavin,
Rogers,
Swift,
McCarthy,
Kearney,
Muldoon,
Naoupu.

Great to have Swift back, badly needed in the scrum. Not a bad line up given the injuries we have.

Not a bad side given the injuries, Id love to see Mcguire get some decent game time.

Just watched a replay of the leinster game, that backline will score tries with Jarvis at OH. He was brilliant running the ball, but he needs to change his goalkicking style to get consistent.

Swifty is a major boost to have back, hopefully he can offset the loss of JOC

Would be a fan of Jarvis and really hope he can make his mark.Along with penalties/conversions,really think its important for an outhalf to have the ability to woof downfield for touch .Takes a huge amount of pressure off the rest when camped in your own 22 or going nowhere in your own half.

Gav has improved in this area and O'Halloran seems to have a good Troy Nathanesque boot on him.

Play in there half would be my eternal game plan.Don't mean to be too simplistic but what i'm getting at ,is that i would kick to the corners more than we do .Would run from our own half sparingly to keep the opposition on their toes.

Box Kicks should be outta the question when you consider the sucess rate.

C'MON CONNACHT !!!!!!!!!!