Faloon is a major lose. The only hope is Heenan/Fifita/Coneelly can step up. Buckley and McSharry are back in training which is something.

Faloon - Really bad news for us . Something we could really have done without....

I'd be very happy to see that team line out although probably go with Browne or Muldoon at 6 and McKeon at 8 when he's back.

Strongest back three guys? Would like to see 15 Solialo 14 Pooleman 11 Healy 13 Henshaw 12 McSharry 10 Ronaldson 9 Marmiom 8 George 7 Heenan 6 Swifty(who has played 6) 4 Clarke 5 Muldowney 1 Wilkinson 2 Henry 3 White

Faloon is a big loss. Will give Heenan a run in 7 jersey though and willie may not get it back similar to Duffy at 15. Coneely will get a chance now too so hopefully he makes the step up.

Ronaldson getting a start soon?! Don't know enough about him to comment but its a big ask. Hopefully he makes it easily but the pack selection and performance will be crucial to him.

You will! ..........and (very) soon!

Big loss

Would love to see Craig Ronaldson get a start I think this guy could offer us something different!

Willie out for up to six months. F**kety F*ck.

www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/connacht-...roken-foot-1.1538861

pinky wrote: Can we tempt you into publishing on connachtclan.com? Whatever honconnacht are paying you, the Clan will double it :whistle:

Copy and paste away, I gratefully accept your offer of TWO zeros.

salmson wrote: Rossie's right about (lack of) go-forward being a bigger problem than the breakdown difficulties, and about Swift and Duffy not being starters anymore, but wrong about Brett Wilkinson.

Did up some figures on how we protected possession (or didn't) in the first half, here:

honconnacht.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/bea...-myths-deconstructed

Nice bit of analysis Salmson, a step up from my efforts, which are more vague and non-committal than ever this week.
Can we tempt you into publishing on connachtclan.com? Whatever honconnacht are paying you, the Clan will double it :whistle:

John Muldoon is an Irish international backrow. He would have more caps than he does if it weren't for injuries at unlucky times. He is 30 years old. I agree with picking our best players, he is one of them. He also adds experience and leadership which does make him a definite starter in my opinion.

As regards Henshaw I hope, like everyone else, that he becomes a star for Connacht and Ireland. I am not putting him down but he has scored 1 try and he doesn't break tackles yet. His defense is excellent and he is good in contact. Building him up beyond what he is so far is no good for anybody.

Porterbelly, I fully agree with you on McSharry. He makes serious yards on the crash ball and makes breaks. His try against Harlequins last year being a prime example. When he was fit last year, I was awfully annoyed to see him overlooked for Ireland. Henshaw has more raw talent but McSharry has done a lot more in my opinion.

Finally, I think often when new young exciting players arrive on the scene, their limitations are overlooked while older players' weaknesses get highlighted. Duffy has limitations but I still think he's a definite starter for us. Great boot and great in the air. If Lam ignores those qualities he's making a mistake I think.

Every time Henshaw gets on the ball and makes a run he sucks in 2,3,4 defenders, there's been times when he's been grabbed by the jersey and keeps on trucking. Yes he's not elusive right now at least and definitely needs to work on his hands. But hopefully the new skills coach can improve the whole squad in that regard? And if we could recycle the ball quickly as marmion did for healy's try in cardiff then there might be something useful there?

tomsauce2000 wrote:

Porterbelly wrote:

tomsauce2000 wrote:

mareegoo wrote: tomsauce you have to leave loyalties aside!!


swifty and muls give us no go forward etc far far too predictable they are easy video analysis for the opposing team - if we pick and go and maul etc with them then we can grind out a few results but no way do they suit a fast running game....horses for courses etc

duffy cannot line break... simple as.... compare him to henshaw runnig from deep again he's better playing the tight game with muls and swifty

its heartbreaking but we have to have forwards who can adapt they can't

Give me an example from a game in which Henshaw made a line break.

He made at least 3 against Zebre

He made the initial incision against Cardiff that led to Healy's try

"Initial incision"? He took a ball on and was tackled by the ankle by his opposite man. Marmion made the break. I'm sure he made a few runs against Zebre but he did not make three line breaks.

I'm not trying to have a go at Henshaw by the way. I just think there's a lot of hype about guys like him and we're forgetting our real top experienced players

He did make 3 line breaks

His power to get over the gainline was key in letting Marmion snipe at the fringes. The Cardiff defence weren't able to reorganise in time.

I completely agree that Henshaw has loads of work to do. His hands are nowhere near good enough yet for a centre. But he along with McSharry are our only 2 backs who have the power to break tackles up the middle in tight spaces and get over the gainline. Our forwards can't do this either. This used to be George's forte but he's gone so far off the boil it's disappointing

tomsauce2000 wrote: I find the idea of getting rid of our best players nonsensical. Everyone on here, as far as I can see, what rid of Swift, Muldoon and Duffy from the starting 15. The idea is farcical. Firstly they ARE OUR CAPTAINS! The idea of dropping our main leaders is ridiculous. Muldoon and Swift were both good the last night. Duffy is still our best back. Henshaw has loads of potential and I hope he becomes a star but he has scored 1 try and I don't think I've ever seen him make a clean line break. I don't know what he was doing beside Heaslip and O'Connell at the Irish press conference today. Duffy may not have the ability Henshaw will show soon but he has been our most consistent player for years.

Muldoon has been very unlucky with the timing if injuries in his career. He should have more Ireland caps. The man is still class and not that old. McKeon, Heenan, Browne etc have done well but class, leadership and Muldoon's talent should not be so easily dismissed.

Ultimately regardless of what anyone says on here, the 3 of them won't be dropped anyway because THEY ARE OUR CLUB CAPTAINS

Personally i would question the logic behind choosing 3 captains all of whom are not guaranteed starters anymore. Nathan White did a fine job and is the only person right now that is a nailed on starter which is criteria no.1 in my book, I believe clarke will emerge as the de facto captain after a good number of games under his belt.

Its about what is best for Connacht Rugby and its supporters and the teams future, ala alex ferguson or even gatland there is no room in professional sport for sentiment, the players mentioned can still contribute heavily this season but if they can do that best from the bench then so be it, they should be delighted to be able to play for their province regardless of whether its for 80mins or 5mins.

Right now outside connacht Henshaw is seen as the only player with the potential to actually make it into the Ireland squad (I think JHW is better than sherry personally), you should be congratulating him not knocking him. I wouldnt say that henshaw is way ahead of his competition at connacht but joe schmidt clearly thinks he has the potential to progress a lot further on top of where he is right now.

Porterbelly wrote:

tomsauce2000 wrote:

mareegoo wrote: tomsauce you have to leave loyalties aside!!


swifty and muls give us no go forward etc far far too predictable they are easy video analysis for the opposing team - if we pick and go and maul etc with them then we can grind out a few results but no way do they suit a fast running game....horses for courses etc

duffy cannot line break... simple as.... compare him to henshaw runnig from deep again he's better playing the tight game with muls and swifty

its heartbreaking but we have to have forwards who can adapt they can't

Give me an example from a game in which Henshaw made a line break.

He made at least 3 against Zebre

He made the initial incision against Cardiff that led to Healy's try

"Initial incision"? He took a ball on and was tackled by the ankle by his opposite man. Marmion made the break. I'm sure he made a few runs against Zebre but he did not make three line breaks.

I'm not trying to have a go at Henshaw by the way. I just think there's a lot of hype about guys like him and we're forgetting our real top experienced players