I don’t like being negative towards Connacht players but if I think there’s better options I’ll say it. Mitchell is 75% through his two year contract and hasn’t really impressed under two different managers. The changes in coaching set up might be a reason for this. I’d love to see him show he is good enough for the rest of the season but do other players deserve the chance to show what they can do instead?

On Horwitz he was playing at 12 in the Southern Hemisphere so obviously the change to a 10 in the northern hemisphere will take time. But would it be better to see him at 12 where depth will be needed and the Australians thought he was best suited?

Think people are turning their back on some of our players a bit quickly.
Neither Mitchell or Horwitz had games they'll think back fondly on, but anyone who listened to the Craggy podcast will know they targeted the two lads for extra pressure, add in the frankly awful weather and it was a very difficult game for any half backs to do well in.
Granted the lads who came on did a bit better but they had the advantage of being able to watch the game from the sideline so they would have been better prepped coming on.
Writing off a player after a handful of games seems a bit shortsighted to me.

Don’t think the irfu would go for it and not sure if Horwitz is contracted for next season but what about bringing in a back up ten (Irish qualified if possible) and keeping Horwitz as a 12.

If henshaw moves to 15 for Ireland Tom Farrell should be in Irish camps regularly. So you’d have a first choice for Connacht of 12 bundee 13 Farrell and when they’re away 12 Horwitz 13 godwin. Horwitz looks like he’s a talented player just don’t know if he has what it takes to be the back up ten we need.

We've really signed badly in terms of 10's since Dan Parks, obviously AJ worked well for us but having brought him in we had to let him go nearly as quick which was obviously a mistake given what happened with Boshoff, Fitzgerald did look good when he came on though so there may be hope there yet, that he's the answer as I'd say We'll see less and less of Jack over the next number of years

RonanL wrote: ...John Mulvihill gave a great insight into opposition perceptions of Connacht, going as far as calling out the fact that they targetted Horwitz because they don't think he's a 10.

Yeah Mulvihill was refreshingly straight-talking, called out Horwitz as "a 12 not a 10", which also goes for Ronaldson if he were fit (picked 8 times at 10 from 60ish starts for us). Also said he felt Connacht "under-kicked", which certainly wouldn't have happened if Carty was playing. All in all it suggests our biggest need for next year, even with Fitzgerald in the mix, is flyhalf backup for Jack.

The craggy rugby post cardiff pod is well worth a listen for the interviews with Andy Friend, Cillian Gallagher and John Mulvihill. Friend was clearly annoyed, but spoke really well as he always does. Cillian Gallagher came across brilliantly in defeat - wouldn't accept any excuses about conditions etc. And then John Mulvihill gave a great insight into opposition perceptions of Connacht, going as far as calling out the fact that they targetted Horwitz because they don't think he's a 10.

Based on the posts I haven't read, it sounds like my decision not to visit this thread until two days after the game was thoroughly vindicated

McNamara wrote: Games like this one and the Ospreys one have highlighted a mental fragility in the team, when we have a important game, not knock out, but important as part of a body of work across the season , we fail to focus, we freeze and our game unravels like an old woolly jumper.

There were some terrible individual performances and some decent ones, particularly from the young lads, but they failed as a unit, at a key time, again.

If we do get in the HCC next season that may well be a pyrrhic victory as we could striggle to fight on 2 fronts. We have more depth than before but that doesn't mean we have enough, I hope we do qualify but we've had two moments of clarity this season, one is normally enough

When you hear the welsh commentators saying an 8 point lead will not be good enough at half time to win for Cardiff.... you know it has being a bad performance!

Games like this one and the Ospreys one have highlighted a mental fragility in the team, when we have a important game, not knock out, but important as part of a body of work across the season , we fail to focus, we freeze and our game unravels like an old woolly jumper.

There were some terrible individual performances and some decent ones, particularly from the young lads, but they failed as a unit, at a key time, again.

If we do get in the HCC next season that may well be a pyrrhic victory as we could striggle to fight on 2 fronts. We have more depth than before but that doesn't mean we have enough, I hope we do qualify but we've had two moments of clarity this season, one is normally enough

Decadence wrote: Reminder - criticism of a performance is one thing, but there’s no need for personal attacks on players (or other posters for that matter).

To add to this: Flaming is not acceptable. Physical threats of violence are not acceptable.

I thought our big issue tonight was at half back - both very poor. The good news is Friend will have seen Conor Fitzgerald as a superior alternative going forward. Also it was informative that Maksymiw came on for Cannon not Gallagher - another indication Mr.Friend knows his stuff. So a losing bp and the emergence of academy players like Gallagher (superb tonight) Fitzgerald and Burke are all very positive. I think 5 wins from 7 will see us through- very doable

While we are full of praise for the subs tonight it's probably too much to say they turned around that match. Conor Fitzgerald's kicks to touch we're good ( with the wind) but he played very deep and left those outside him struggling to get over the gain line. Lloyd seems quick from the breakdown but his flung passes can be a little wild at times and he was culpable for the knock-on when the maul finally got a 15m+ run towards the Cardiff line. Stephen Fitzgerald was stripped of the ball inside our 22 but his kick along the side line to earn the 5m scrum was a highlight. Paul O'Boyle showed his class in getting the try and has benefitted from the run of games he earned this season. The scrum stopped threatening once Bealham and Buckley went off. Terrible weather to play in but the experienced players needed to calm down and get the basics right not be forcing things. TO'H was really only guilty of Forcing things and the wingers were not much better either. Centres were mainly starting on the back foot. Back row had their hands full all night, second rotw and hookers also struggled with a fussy ref at the lineout. We didn't capitalise on the 2 yellow cards and deservedly lost. Hope we can take the (many) learnings.Not criticising individuals here but critical of the performance. Could improve a lot going into the next block of games.

Reminder - criticism of a performance is one thing, but there’s no need for personal attacks on players (or other posters for that matter).

Our young lads Gallagher, Boyle, and Lloyd and Fitzgerald when they came on played well. I thought our line out was decent in the conditions and unlike Salmson I thought Cannon played reasonably well. O'Halloran needs to be dropped for his own good I think. Very poor tonight and confidence seems to be shot. Leader or Kelleher deserve a shot at 15. Mitchell and Horwitz very poor too and our performance levels upped when Lloyd and Fitzgerald came on.

Appaling comment from a so-called Connacht supporter. To suggest that Tiernan has a terrible attitude and is self-obsessed and only plays for himself are the comments of an ignoramus. He has been one of our top performers for 10 years now and is a model pro. He didn’t play well tonight but wasn’t the only one. I’d suggest you speak with somebody who was at the match and who might explain how difficult the conditions were. See comment by Prof. William Joyce on The42.