Sorry, I hadn't been reading the thread after the game. I wasnt really having a go at the ball boy (or the person in the crowd who through it in)

The ball was throwing from the crowd, it was just down from me.

ConnachtCows wrote: 4. Better training for our ball boys. We had won the lineout, and would have gotten the 4th try, but there were two balls on the pitch

Enough with the ballboy - if indeed it was a ballboy, there have been suggestions on this thread that it was thrown in from the crowd.

At least the ballboy/spectator was responsible for the only straight Connacht throw of the night

theCulk wrote: A few points having spent a long tome digesting what felt like a loss.

1 - Mul is not a captain. He's a leader, but as a captain you have to trust your team mates instincts. They all wanted a scrum but he went line out instead.

2 - Heff lost all confidence on his throws, but our line out was a shambles too with jumpers not jumping too.

3 - The Jack Carty experiment needs to come to an end. He can't tackle, he's not being trusted to kick at goal. Ronaldson has to be 10 the next day

I'm sure there was one more but I can't remember it now

4. Better training for our ball boys. We had won the lineout, and would have gotten the 4th try, but there were two balls on the pitch

A few points having spent a long tome digesting what felt like a loss.

1 - Mul is not a captain. He's a leader, but as a captain you have to trust your team mates instincts. They all wanted a scrum but he went line out instead.

2 - Heff lost all confidence on his throws, but our line out was a shambles too with jumpers not jumping too.

3 - The Jack Carty experiment needs to come to an end. He can't tackle, he's not being trusted to kick at goal. Ronaldson has to be 10 the next day

I'm sure there was one more but I can't remember it now

www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/ru...4-cardiff-highlights

Agree that we need another proper 7. Not sure if its been mentioned yet but I'm seriously concerned that Faloon was only semi-fit or playing with an injury, his tackle count was 7/4, and he fell off a couple of them/didn't have the strength to complete some of the tackles he attempted. I expect Masterson or Connolly to start against Treviso.

I think we're really missing another quality backrower. Really wish Conor Gilsenan had stayed with us. We have 3 very good number eights is George, McKeown and Masterson but are looking fallow at 6 & 7. Ironically the likes of Muldowney putting on more muscle means they're less mobile making them not a great option for the no. 6 jersey. Hopefully some guys can come back from injury and step up.

I was very disappointed as to how poor we were at defending around the fringes. The Cardiff S/H's break early in the first half should have been a warming, but we were unable to defend pick and go all night. Even a few ran through the gate reminiscent of a Glasgow game in Dpirtsground a few years ago. I thought we defended comfortably out wide. But in close Cardiff could cross the gain like with ease, esp for the build up for the final two tries. This concerns me more than the decision to go for line out/ scrum/kick.

even though Lam made a few changes the previous week for the Glasgow game i thought the seeds of the Cardiff draw were sown the week before where the guys busted a gut to try a get the bonus point, we looked tired in the last 15 minutes, Cardiff upped the pace and we were unable to respond. When Muldoon called for the Lineout I was right beside the corner of the pitch and I by the look on the faces of the other players even they were suprised we didn't go for the scrum , whatever about taking the 3 points the lineout was the 3rd best\worst option. I thought Ronaldson kicked well and if he can kick like that for the corners in-play then I think He's a better option than Carty at 10. McShaz defence was sorely missed in the last 15 minutes, and not having another speedy 7 to come on for Faloon are 2 key areas where I thought we lost the game, surely we have options outside of the 1st choice the senior team.

was gutted after the match but that was tempered after i looked at the table to see we are still in a healthy position, Time to regroup after we put away Treviso, then look ahead to the games in November where hopfully we have our 3 southern hemispheres players on-board. JHW will also be back by then he's one of those players that does a lot of unseen defensive work on the pitch.

OK, can i just say say this. Would you leave the ball boy alone. gosh, he is 13 max?

Did we name the ballboy, shout abuse at him or stick his pic up? No so I don't think a little criticism isn't warranted. It was silly/sloppy so it was mentioned.

Marmion was hobbling when he came off so unless your suggesting that he should have come off earlier then it was a good call.

Locky would have been assessed by a doctor, with Buckley on the bench it would have been an easy call to sit him out if he wasnt given the all clear, given what happened to Clarke id doubt very much if the medical staff would have taken any chances.

I saw this on TV like i said so didn't see Marmion hobble. If he was then obviously take him off. As for Locky I'm sure he was checked by a doctor and most likely wasn't concussed but that still doesn't mean he didn't have his bell rung. If a player is still blinking and shaking his head after a 5 min concussion bin then I don't think bringing him back on is smart especially going straight into a scrum.

I thought the ball was thrown from the crowd.

Marmion was hobbling when he came off so unless your suggesting that he should have come off earlier then it was a good call.

Locky would have been assessed by a doctor, with Buckley on the bench it would have been an easy call to sit him out if he wasnt given the all clear, given what happened to Clarke id doubt very much if the medical staff would have taken any chances.

Ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, OK, can i just say say this. Would you leave the ball boy alone.
gosh, he is 13 max?

I did not even see the incident but still, they are there doing us all a favour.

My pros and cons from the Cardiff game:

Pros:

- Craig Ronaldson's kicking.
- The scrum beating a pretty grizzled Cardiff pack.
- The phenom that is Danie Poolman.
- Niyi Adelokun's defending.
- George collecting a throw one-handed in the line-out.

Cons:
- The ballboy ruining a dangerous set-play by throwing the ball back onto the pitch.
- Bringing Ronan Loughney on after him taking a shot to the head. They did a close-up off him after he came back on and he was still shaking his head and blinking. He then went straight into a scrum and gave away a penalty. Madness.
- Whoever called a line-out to Mike Kearny when he wasn't in the lineout. Kearney was down receiving treatment and hadn't joined it. They then fired it to the back were it went over everyone's head where it was collected by a Cardiff player who raced down the pitch with the ball.
- Jack Carty's defending. Cardiff targeted him in a set-piece move and if it wasn't for some desperate defending by Niyi it would have being a certain try. Carty is going to be targeted from now on so either he needs to improve or we need to cover him better.
- Decision making. Nuff said.
- Pat bringing off the likes of Marmion when he did.

* That we're disappointed for holding a team full of Welsh internationals to a draw shows how far we've come. Hopefully we can regain momentum next week against Treviso and start gaining more points again.

wp_rathead wrote: The people around me in the Clan were in two mindsets when we won the pen off the 5m scrum: The Go For 3 Points camp (on which I was a member) and The Go For Scrum camp (of which I understood where they were coming from, we had just had a strong scrum). We then all formed at coalition of "Dafuq?" camp when opted for lineout. Not ALL the blame can be given to Heff as seemed be a complete collapse of communication. For one throw in first half, Roux did a fake jump in middle- Heff threw to the back of the lineout but no one went up or ran onto it from tail end..

The exact same scenario played out around me in the clan. We really did look to be on top at that point, so I was happy enough with the decision not to go for 3. Hindsight is 20/20, and I'm sure the next time the scenario presents itself (next week hopefully), they'll try to extend the lead to 3 scores before going for tries.

On the positive front, Joe Schmidt is really going to find it hard to ignore Marmion for a starting place in the autumn, or at least a bench spot behind Murray.

I thought Robbie did so many things really well - his try was O'Driscollesque, and he made some excellent decisions again to come out of the defensive line when they looked to have numbers wide. I wonder could he have done more for their last try, but in fairness, they'd gone through 30 odd phases so I'm sure tiredness was a factor there.

This was my first Friday evening game of the season and I thought the atmosphere was excellent. I know it doesn't suit a lot of people, but I really thing Friday's are the way to go.

As I saw someone point out on twitter, we're +8 so far when you compare results from last season, so let's just learn from yesterday and move on (to hammer Treviso).

swift4prez wrote: Looks like others here said it was a try so I'll stand corrected

Some say shouldn't of gone for try bonus till the game was won, being 14 points up is game over for me. Remember when we played Zebre in Heineken cup in parma, going for points when game was over rather than trys.

The drop kick in the end wasn't on. When jack got the ball, he went for it noo matter what when he should of checked and passed as he was blocked down fairly quickly.

Btw when we won the penalty of the scrum early second half and went for lineout, the connacht bench made a sign to go for another scrum but wasn't listened to

Agree, If we're trying to be competitive and looking to be a different team them 14points up should be game over and push on for BP. Couldn't believe went for line out after getting at their scrum on the line. After listening to Mul on his reasoning RE ref I get it but don't necessarily agree. Frustrating as fook and was very dejected last night. Not as bad today but hopefully we won't rue this one.

Glad to hear how disgusted Lam was aswell in interviews