clanman wrote: you can imagine the scenario this week that the best player from sunday Marmion is dropped in favor of Cooney and the worst player Carty retains his position

He was not Connachts worst player on Sunday

Agreed he's a good player whose penalty kicking lets him down, while missed penalties definitely help the game this week was lost by the team. Maybe 12 is a good idea for him with Ronaldson/Boshoff/O'Leary at 10

He wasn't the worst player just the worst kicker. I'm finding it hard to be a fan of Jack the last while but if it's anything to do with ball in hand he is fine. Maybe a move to 12 would suit him.

you can imagine the scenario this week that the best player from sunday Marmion is dropped in favor of Cooney and the worst player Carty retains his position

Agreed, it was a bit of a shambles really.
Absolutely nothing to be afraid of if they can sort their heads out by next weekend but that's a big ask with all the injuries. Didn't thinks Wasps were world beaters at all. Beale was immense, back row strong, Launchbury was excellent too, but had Connacht turned up with any sort of set on their lineout they'd have won that game.
After the Leicester and Northampton defeats to Irish opposition and this game there is nothing to fear from Premiership teams - apart from Sarries!
It was interesting listening to Pat Lam's interview before the game when he said it was a relief that it was an 8 day turnaround and that he could give the players Monday off to digest the news. Just goes to prove how bad the timing was - would they not have been better off working on their lineout?
Over all there was a lot of hesitancy in their play in my opinion, like against Leinster the in your face defence of Wasps cause confusion in midfield, and the signs aint good for Saturday either. Bundee will do well to be fit with a dead leg, Ili is a big doubt, Craig is out, Griff is out, Shane O'L has a concussion, Robb was pulled out at the weekend, so we could be looking at Danie and Rory P starting centre?
Tiernan and Kelleher doubts too, so Matt Healy at f-b?
Cormac Brenna is registered and might have to play. Expect a few additions to the squad this week.
Worst case on the injuries back line could be:
M Healy, N Adeolokun, D Poolman, R Parata, C Brennan, J Carty, K Marmion,

We could have won at the weekend but even with being at home on Saturday its going to be tough. I'd expect we will be missing a few with injuries and they will have a few coming
back . Its going to be tough.
We need something out of the game to have any hopes. Its a big ask for the lads to win again in Toulouse.
Days like Sunday really shows the loss of leadership of Aly and Robbie.
If we get two points from Toulouse and Wasps with 5 from Zebre it might get us through.

Betty Swallocks wrote: Well Benji they had better have their game heads screwed on next week as anything less than a win and we're out.

Don't buy into that. We'll get 5 points at home to Zebre and still be in with a shout going to Toulouse even if we lose on Saturday

Well Benji they had better have their game heads screwed on next week as anything less than a win and we're out.

Well, That was a performance that showed we hadnt mentally prepared properly for the game. From Carty's poor kicking from hand and for the posts, A lineout that looked like they met on the bus, Muldoon looked at sea and wasnt able to lead them on the day.
Was it the news during the week that disrupted things ?
Much of what went wrong was our own fault. The first try opportunity for them came off our error. And so the day continued like that.

Why didnt Pat bring on Eoin McKeon, Heffernan and Sob earlier . Heenan had a poor game and must regret not passing the ball for the chance of a try.
Connacht were on top during that period and a Try was badly needed.

Carty's miss in the first half and at 17-20 was to be expected from him. He cant be trusted to kick for the posts. His kicking from hand for the penalties was also very short.
Even with all of the above going wrong we still could have got something from the game.

Positives,, Marmion , Parata , The scrum, Rampaging Carey
Big game needed next week.

Ili had a nightmare game it has to be said even for the little time he was on the pitch. Gave the intercept away when he were close to scoring. Then gave away the penalty that set up their attack in our 22, then got beat by Beale for the try. All in the space of about 3 mins.

Wasps were good but nothing special. We had chance after chance to pick up points but individual mistakes, bad decisions, a woeful lineout and an outhalf who can't kick cost us the win here.

Heenan probably was affected by the Pat leaving thing a bit more than the others. He brought him here and kept him here this after other clubs were sniffing around.
Niyi probably suffered a bit like Marmion has in the past with adjusting from Joe ball.
Marmion had confidence today as he probably got a bit more gametime in the AIs and played super saint Australia.

Fox and Marmion were both brilliant today along with our front row

Launchbry is different class

WillieMason wrote: Jack Carty should be no more then third choice outhalf. Connacht need to invest in back up to Boshoff.

Ah Jack actually had a good game, some of his tackles are really impressive - just he is simply not a place good kicker unfortunately.. When thers is no place kicking alternative it is a problem but if Ronaldson or Cooney available id have no issue with Carty at all

Niyi and Heenan had two of their most disappointing performances I can think off, surely they will be better next week (if Heenan fit)

Were the line-out problems down to communication or execution? There was one where the jumpers didn't seem to know the call. I was expecting the line-outs to be difficult, Launchbury is an international lock for a reason, but Connacht misfiring gave Wasps a lot of comfort, they would have known Carty's kicking issues before the match, after the first few line-outs there was very little threat to them from conceding penalties.

Lovely scrums to watch.

I just hope the injuries aren't serious.

Wasp in peace here.

I feel a little guilty that we walked away with 5 points and you got none. I don't think that was a fair reflection on what was one of the best games I've seen in a long time. Plenty of errors on both sides as well as some interesting decisions from the ref, but all that aside two teams looking to play positive rugby and doing it well.

Marmion was a revelation to me, I'd not really come across him before and he was astonishingly good. Can we have him?

Anyway, I'm really looking forwards to next week now. Your intensity and commitment was a joy to watch, and the way you took Johnson out of the equation for the try off the back of the scrum was brilliant. I hope our guys were taking notes.

Lots of positives to come out of today but ultimately feels a bit deflating having left with a 5-0 score against. Crucial moments were obviously Carty's kick to bring it to 20-20. If he'd got that we had the momentum and I think we'd have at a minimum left with a bonus point.

Jake getting stripped of the ball when there were options out wide to score was tough to take too and we were one offload away on a couple of occasions. To be fair Wasps were good defensively and when they attacked that showed their quality. The lineout while it got better as the game went on it struggled to give us the platform we needed. Another issue for me was the difference in quality in kicking up the line that Gopperth offered. What made it tougher to take was a lot of the penalties we conceded were needless. The field positions he got from their penalties was outstanding. Carty looked like he was improving in that department last season but looks to have gone back again this year.

Scrum was massive. Couple of calls we might have been fortunate to get but all in all it was an area we dominated.

Basically next week is a cup final in my mind. If we win we'll be in pole position for a best 2nd place, if we don't can't see us making it being honest.

Agree on both points. Carey is a gem.