pinky wrote: Not sure how I feel about the Ospreys win in Parc y Scarlets. Ospreys creeping up that table ominously.
On the upside, a win today puts Connacht top again.

Yep.
A win tonight will have us see out 2015 at the top of the league irrespective of what happens in any of the other games.
Great position to be in going to the RDS next week.

Not sure how I feel about the Ospreys win in Parc y Scarlets. Ospreys creeping up that table ominously.
On the upside, a win today puts Connacht top again.

will be interesting see how we cope with McCloskey in midfield, i think our backrow will get the upperhand on theirs and if they revert to forward power i think they will have underestimated are own powerful pack. lineouts and scrums hopefully we can win our own at least, would have preferred Delahunt to Heff. don't know which wing Trimble is on but we need to make sure our wings are'nt isolated against him.

i'm going with a 6 point win for us

Pretty much the strongest teams either side can field, which is good to see- games in the past where provinces have fielded second string teams for interpros in front of big crowds have been lacking in bite.

Could have done with going a bit longer without see McCloskey in the flesh (looks a SERIOUS player to me) but I'm really happy with the strength of the front row to come on

Should be a good game if the weather decides to play ball.

So much for Ulster having a weakened side. Only loss is Rory Best who is replaced with a good player in Herring. Will take a huge effort to win. Happy enough with our team. I would have gone with Delahunt to start but for the first time in a while there is options on the bench. Should be a good one. Hopefully we can edge them out and keep our season going strong.

Diom wrote: but surprised that Dave is only on the bench.

He gave away one of the stupidest penalties i've ever seen against Newcastle (piling into a maul from the side, right in front of the ref and right in front of the posts, he was hauled off a few minutes later) so maybe he's on the naughty step.

Our midfield played a few games together, but McCloskey/Marshall is still a worry
Marmion/Carty vs Pienaar/Jackson should be a tie, I'm confident about it
For winger, if it's rainning, they'll overpower us, if it's dry Adeolokun/Healy will outflank them

Happy with White, experience to cope with Warwick
Heff is busier in open play but might cost us a few lineouts lost...
Entirely satisfied with our 2nd/back-row, fresh and talented, should have the upper hand.

Ronaldson's defense to be tested by the Ulster mid-field. I think his positioning will be fine (always is) but whether he can check their runs is another question. The opposite is true for Bundee, he'll smash but if he's too eager gaps will be exploited. So happy that TOH is back as his defense this season has been epic.
All in all I think one of the best teams we have out in a long while but surprised that Dave is only on the bench.

"Mad" Willie is playing mostly for the 'A' team up in Ulster these days. Has been captain in the last few B&I Cup games.

2 very strong teams, should be great game. Slightly off topic but I haven't heard much from Willie Faloon since he went back North. Anyone know how he's getting on?

CONNACHT v Ulster (15-9): T O'Halloran, N Adeolokun, B Aki, C Ronaldson, M Healy, J Carty, K Marmion
CONNACHT v Ulster (1-8 ): F Bealham, D Heffernan, N White, U Dillane, A Muldowney, J Muldoon (c), J Connolly, E Masterson
CONNACHT v Ulster (subs, 16-23): S Delahunt, R Loughney, R Ah You, A Browne, S O'Brien, I Porter, AJ MacGinty, R Parata

Best pack we could have expected! Will be a pure cracker!!!!!

Wow I felt Ulster was tricking us with "rotations rumours"

Connacht v ULSTER (1-8 ): A Warwick, R Herring (c), W Herbst, A O'Connor, F van der Merwe, R Diack, S Reidy, N Williams
Connacht v ULSTER (15-9): L Ludik, A Trimble, L Marshall, S McCloskey, R Scholes, P Jackson, R Pienaar
Connacht v ULSTER (subs, 16-23): J Andrew, C Black, R Lutton, S Mulholland, R Wilson, P Marshall, I Humphreys, S Arnold

Only "good point" is Henry left at home
Will be tough guys...
Front up rise up!

pinky wrote:

Borders no.2 wrote:

salmson wrote:

Borders no.2 wrote:
However, Connacht head coach Lam is hopeful of welcoming Ronan Loughney, John Muldoon, James Connolly, Kieran Marmion, AJ MacGinty, Bundee Aki, Matt Healy and Tiernan O’Halloran back from injury this weekend.

Any update on White and Dillane? They were listed as unavailable in the Newcastle team announcement but there was no mention of them as being injured in last week's injury update.

Sorry I don't know. Only picked that information up from this article. I'm sure there'll be an official press release later in the week. Nathan White may have been unavailable due to IRFU restrictions. If he is pulled into the training camp it shows the nonsense of the system in place as he's is a players who has had far too few games at this stage of the season. Not sure on Dillane.

www.the42.ie/connacht-injuries-pat-lam-m...oon-2516097-Dec2015/

Dillane wasn't listed as injured, he was missing from the announcement.

Yeah I've got the insane feeling he may join White in the Irish trainning camp...!!!

Borders no.2 wrote:

salmson wrote:

Borders no.2 wrote:
However, Connacht head coach Lam is hopeful of welcoming Ronan Loughney, John Muldoon, James Connolly, Kieran Marmion, AJ MacGinty, Bundee Aki, Matt Healy and Tiernan O’Halloran back from injury this weekend.

Any update on White and Dillane? They were listed as unavailable in the Newcastle team announcement but there was no mention of them as being injured in last week's injury update.

Sorry I don't know. Only picked that information up from this article. I'm sure there'll be an official press release later in the week. Nathan White may have been unavailable due to IRFU restrictions. If he is pulled into the training camp it shows the nonsense of the system in place as he's is a players who has had far too few games at this stage of the season. Not sure on Dillane.

www.the42.ie/connacht-injuries-pat-lam-m...oon-2516097-Dec2015/

Dillane wasn't listed as injured, he was missing from the announcement.

nathan white is not injured from what i've heard however isn't mike ross injured so out of all the players we could lose to the Ireland training camp it would be him, it's a must win match or else we're in danger of dropping down into the 6th place dogfight come the end of the season

Ulster will probably send their A side to us and keep the frontliners for the home fixture against Munster. That's been standard operating procedure for them for the last few years, and I don't expect it to change, especially since they have 3 European games in a row immediately after Munster. They have only won one of the last 7 away and the bookies already have us as favourites even before the team announcements.

Could be the making or breaking of the season for us - win it and we're heading for top 4, never mind top 6, lose it and we're 3 losses from 4.