wp_rathead wrote:
Lam admitted such in his post match interview - don't think anyone gonna get any illusions of grandeur on the back off this win.

That being said - don't think it is fair to say we didn't deserve the match - we played better rugby than Edinburgh imo. Yes unreal amount of errors (likes of Henshaw and Kearney) no denying that.

2 wins on the trot without playing to our full potential has to give us reason to be optimistic for season ahead.
Place kicking and discipline again nearly cost us however. What Faloon (althought Henry more guilty) did was indefensible (not only dangerous but completely let team down).

I didn't think Henry rucked him intentionally IMO, on the replays he made a clear movement to the side of the player lying all over the ball.

Unreal amount of handling errors tonight from Henshaw but good to see him making an impact in defense, a couple of Kearney's drops were from poor enough passes but you could see he was livid with himself coming off.

Carty's kicking from hand was very good (not perfect but an improvement from last week IMO) but his passing from hand was too erratic. That said I hope Lam sticks with him for a run of games.

Thought the decision on our first two pens for go for posts was a little naive, when a team has such a low kicking percentage maybe we should be focusing on using the pen advantage to go for the corners.

At half time thought the game was gone so delighted with the win, Plenty to work on but a good few positives as well,

Good to read an honest assessment from Pat Lam

Speaking after the game, Pat Lam said:

"Again, we're pleased with the win but very frustrated with handling errors, dropped balls and lack of execution. It's quite a sombre dressing room. We made a lot of mistakes but thankfully we kept the pressure on to grind out the win.

"It's back to work on Monday for a massive week ahead of the game against Leinster."

ummm, wrote: That win is going to paper over far too many cracks. We didn't deserve that match, the only reason we got it was Edinburgh were just as bad.

Enjoy the result, but lets not pretend we're world beaters after that, we were favoured by a poor ref, who is going to get a slating after that performance. No inventiveness in the backs, silly yellow from Mad Willie.

Lam admitted such in his post match interview - don't think anyone gonna get any illusions of grandeur on the back off this win.

That being said - don't think it is fair to say we didn't deserve the match - we played better rugby than Edinburgh imo. Yes unreal amount of errors (likes of Henshaw and Kearney) no denying that.

2 wins on the trot without playing to our full potential has to give us reason to be optimistic for season ahead.
Place kicking and discipline again nearly cost us however. What Faloon (althought Henry more guilty) did was indefensible (not only dangerous but completely let team down).

i wouldn't be quite as negative, however there are a couple positions where currently we are in big trouble, the biggest issue is that we don't have an established kicker, it's clear also that Henshaw is not a centre and can't be made into one. Our defence was much better than last week, Buckley again was excellent. a good win away from home sets us up for Leinster

In the end its a fine away win. We were the better team for much of the match but looked like we'd leave it behind us but fair play to the lads they stuck with it and in the end for all the elaborate stuff we were trying to do the win came from the doing the simple things right.

There are still major issues, I really don't see Carty as the answer in the short term at out half. Each game will help him improve but he's a long way off for me as of yet. I think we are playing a lot of brainless rugby to be honest. You can see things almost coming together at times and then we will do something stupid. Far too many needless knock ons, some which should be held and others from passes which just aren't on. We got away with it in defence at times but to have only conceded 24 points at this stage isn't bad.

The lead up to half time was textbook on how not to see out a half, at the end the kick off was good but we've got to be more alert but we got away with it. Lots of aimless kicking unfortunately.There are dozens of examples but don't want to be too critical given that we won. Our scrum was so good it got us out of jail on a lot of occasions but that won't be the case against other sides so lots to work on.

Hoping for more from Marmion and Henshaw next week, neither were at their best but will benefit from the game. Poolman and Henry probably out of next week.

Leinster at home next week should be a good atmosphere. We will need to improve hugely but delighted to have 8 points on the board already. It took us a long time to get to that last season.

Not sure what to make of that game, but again a win is a win. If penalty count doesn't go Connacht's way they lose that game. Really need to find someone to kick for points. Henshaw looked a little rusty at times. Too many passes not going to hand and knock ons in the backline. Buckley was giving them fits. George had some strong runs when he came on. Armchair ride is up now, going to have to step it up for Leinster next week.

That win is going to paper over far too many cracks. We didn't deserve that match, the only reason we got it was Edinburgh were just as bad.

Enjoy the result, but lets not pretend we're world beaters after that, we were favoured by a poor ref, who is going to get a slating after that performance. No inventiveness in the backs, silly yellow from Mad Willie.

I didn't see the first half but thought we were the better team in the second. We had the territory and the attacks.
We got into a few good positions to launch serious attacks, but conceded penalties with the ball. Fallon was particularly guilty here.

They had one opportunity near the end, which we were lucky to survive.

But our pack were fantastic. Their scum was in all sorts of trouble, and the lads thoroughly deserved that push over try at the end.

2 out of 2 - happy days

Nice of Robbie to get all his errors for the season out the way in one full 80.

Bring on Leinster

That is such a huge win. This is exactly the game we used to lost last season - totally dominated but pegged back by stupid mistakes and bad kicking.

Hope Henry is okay, he looked like he was in some serious pain. We'll need him.

No proper kicker, shooting ourselves in the foot constantly , we should be winning handily enough instead we are 7 points down at half time. Its pull your hair out stuff .
Also there was a blatant knock on missed before the Edinburgh try.

Couldnt even watch the last few minutes delighted we pulled it out of the fire :woohoo:
We have to improve big time! but that's for another day. Well done lads two in a row!. Buckley had a stormer in scrum for most of the match.

That half in a nutshell sums up being a Connacht supporter, give up an early 6 point lead carelessly, grind our way back to 6-6 despite butchering numerous good positions and kicks at goal, then f*ck it all up again on the stroke of half time.

Absolutely soul destoying as I really don't believe there is a lot to beat in that Edinburgh team but our gift before half time will probably give them the momentum to go on and win.

Leader is not d answer to the kicking problem. Fair enough for long distance kicks as he has a big boot but not for closer ones as he belts them rather than stroke it over. Lam mustn't fancy carty

feck won't be able make The Dail I'm afraid lads

connachta wrote:

ConnachtCows wrote:

Borders no.2 wrote: I'm quite happy with our side for this one. That backline has huge potential if we can get them some decent ball. I think the pack is competitive, Heenan is a huge loss no matter how you dress it up. Faloon is a very good player but the ball carrying of Heenan is so significant to us. Others will have to try and step it up.

Hoping for a big performance from Jack Carty, how he does in general play and our kicking stats will be hugely significant.

Having Ronaldson and Muldowney back on the bench is welcome. We will need big seasons from both.

Interesting to see Finlay Bealham ahead of Ronan Loughney who isn't on the injured list (was using the I-Pad for the scrums the last day). Also is JP Cooney still around, thought he was a player of potential but hasn't seemed to push on or hasn't been given the chance. Either way Bealham has yet to convince me from what I've seen of him. He has plenty of time on his side but would have thought the others offered better options and the ability to switch sides.

I was talking to Loughney briefly last week. He was visibly limping, but said he was ok. I imagine it's precautionary more than anything else

For me, the squad has more depth than ever. The main area we must be concerned about is definitly hooker for the moment.

7 we've Masterson and McKeon to cover Faloon
5 Muldowney Swift Qualter...
but for n°2, until october, one injury and the substitute will be a 20 y old converted hooker (Delahunt or Dineen)

After this case, and the other case, theres only one case left!

ConnachtCows wrote:

Borders no.2 wrote: I'm quite happy with our side for this one. That backline has huge potential if we can get them some decent ball. I think the pack is competitive, Heenan is a huge loss no matter how you dress it up. Faloon is a very good player but the ball carrying of Heenan is so significant to us. Others will have to try and step it up.

Hoping for a big performance from Jack Carty, how he does in general play and our kicking stats will be hugely significant.

Having Ronaldson and Muldowney back on the bench is welcome. We will need big seasons from both.

Interesting to see Finlay Bealham ahead of Ronan Loughney who isn't on the injured list (was using the I-Pad for the scrums the last day). Also is JP Cooney still around, thought he was a player of potential but hasn't seemed to push on or hasn't been given the chance. Either way Bealham has yet to convince me from what I've seen of him. He has plenty of time on his side but would have thought the others offered better options and the ability to switch sides.

I was talking to Loughney briefly last week. He was visibly limping, but said he was ok. I imagine it's precautionary more than anything else

For me, the squad has more depth than ever. The main area we must be concerned about is definitly hooker for the moment.

7 we've Masterson and McKeon to cover Faloon
5 Muldowney Swift Qualter...
but for n°2, until october, one injury and the substitute will be a 20 y old converted hooker (Delahunt or Dineen)