Fixtures for 2012-2013

RogueXV wrote: Have to say as far as putting in a strong performance in the HEC this is as good of a fixture list as Connacht could have hoped for, best chance for an away win followed by Quins at home. There is actually an outside chance they could be top of the table when Biarritz come to the Sportsground. Can you imagine the place if that were the case?

Of course they could just as easily be at the other end of the table, but preseason is not the time to dwell on such thoughts. Going to keep it positive as I start to get back into it with the season's start in sight.

First game against Cardiff will be on Saturday 1st September according to E-Mail from Connacht Rugby this morning. Looks like the Saturday games are going to continue unless otherwise dictated by TV which imo is good news as proven by attendances last year:

Dear Season Ticket Holder,

Connacht Rugby would like to inform all our season ticket holders that we will be issuing our season tickets in August. The date has yet to be finalised but we would hope to have these deleivered in either the second or third week in August.

Rest assured you will have your ticket well in advance of the opening fixture against the Cardiff Blues on Saturday September 1st.

Let us take this opportunity to thank you again for your continued support of Connacht Rugby. We hope that 2012/13 will see us build on last year's momentum and you enjoy Heineken Cup, RaboDirect PRO12 and British & Irish Cup action at the Sportsground.

Days and TV coverage are out

Mostly Saturday games, but the home game against Leinster is a Friday. Bit unfair that on visiting fans and fans from outside Galway.

Munster Leinster and Ulster will have 100% of their games televised, Connacht 53%. That's total, as for televised on Irish TV it's Munster 70%, Leinster and Ulster 53%, Connacht 28%.

Poor form as always from the TV execs. TG4 doing their bit for us, showing all 4 of the matches that will be televised nationally, RTE haven't picked up a single Connacht match.

We do a lot of complaining round here, but as a season ticket holder with young kids living across the border in Mayo, can I just give a big "Well done" to Connacht on the fixture list for the first half of the season? Only one Friday night game (TV rules), and all 4 non-televised games at 17:00 on Saturday.

Full Home Fixture List (as best we know):

Sat 01 Sep 17:00 Pro12 v Blues
Sat 15 Sep 15:00 Pro12 v Scarlets
Fri 28 Sep 20:00 Pro12 v Leinster

19/20/21 Oct Eagles v Newcastle
Sat 20 Oct 18:00 HEC v Harlequins

Sat 03 Nov 17:00 Pro12 v Treviso

Sat 01 Dec 17:00 Pro12 v Edinburgh
Fri 07 Dec 20:00 HEC v Biarritz
14/15/16 Dec Eagles v Cross Keys
Sat 22 Dec 17:15 Pro12 v Munster

Sat 05 Jan 17:00 Pro12 v Dragons
18/19/20 Jan HEC v Zebre
Sat 19 Jan TBA Eagles v Newport

15/16/17 Feb Pro12 v Ospreys

01/02/03 Mar Pro12 v Zebre

19/20/21 Apr Pro12 v Ulster

03/04/05 May Pro12 v Warriors

Must say I'm happy enough with that. Friday games are on late which gives people outside town the chance to get in to town for those games which should be close to sell outs anyway, certainly makes sense.

Wouldn't mind seeing the Saturday games a bit later but still its family friendly and the dogs are on later so suppose can't have it every way.

Dissapointing lack of coverage for Connacht TV wise, hopefully TG4 can pick up secondary coverage of the away games on Sport Italia, BBC Alba, S4C etc. but there's too many blanks for TV coverage there for my liking. On the flip side, for the home games hopefully that may help get more off their couches on cold / wet evenings.

I'm getting angrier the more I look at the tv schedule.

Of the 4 games that will be shown on national tv, three are against Irish provinces. Are those games being shown because we're playing, or because of who we play?

Of the home games against non Irish opposition, our national broadcasters have seen fit to show a single game, compared to every Munster, Leinster and Ulster home game.

Of the 77 matches scheduled, 12 will not be broadcast. Of those 12, 6 are Connacht matches.

It's probably good from a ST perspective, or even just walk ins, but it still boils my pash!

And I notice, yet again, the Welsh channels still avoid us when we visit. All 4 of our games in Wales last year went untelevised. At the least the away games need to be on the box for the Connacht fans to get their dose.

Still, with any luck Rob and GBFM will be sponsored by RaboDirect again this year. More nights in with the radio await.

ummm, wrote:
And I notice, yet again, the Welsh channels still avoid us when we visit.

TG4 have been named secondary broadcasters for 2 away games: Zebra (SportItalia) and Glasgow (BBC Alba) so that's 2 fewer games we'll miss...

Any idea if Sky Sports are going to red button the Zebre game in the HEC, or how we might twist their arm to do so?