Guys

Was at the game on Friday night and can not add anything new to the topic so will comment on the set up in Glasgow.

• No access into Stadium until 18:00.
• Stadium in residential area and nearest supporter friendly bar is 15-20 min walk
• Only 1 bar inside stadium. (not open till 18:00) Bottle's available from stalls.
• Security (G4S) unfriendly and have no understanding of "Rugby supporters".

Generally, a place you will go to once but never go back to.

Considering our injury situation, inexperience in certain positions, players playing out of position and untried combinations this didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would to be honest. We were well in it up to their last killer try. Not so long ago we would have shipped 40-odd points or more from a similar situation. Some of our stuff was shocking bad though. Glasgow were terrible and there for the taking, but the amount of unforced errors, missed tackles and stupid penalties from us was depressing. Duffy was woeful, I hate to say it but he's been poor so far this season. Jarvis is lucky he has that boot on him cos his general play was dire, he looked lost for most of the game. I'd like to see him get a run at full-back if Duffy is out for a while now, out-half does not appear to suit him. And as for Rodney.... that penalty for coming in around the ruck was unforgivable. Complete and utter stupidity. When will he learn? In the backs McSharry, Loxton, Carty, Fifita and McCrea all showed decent flashes, and Moore looked sharp when he came on. The pack acquitted themselves quite well overall, Faloon excellent again. Certainly some positives to take from this.

Do we have to wait for the Quins at home before the Connacht players stand up and fight without Mul on the pitch there is no leader Coaches have to work on the basics and players need to meet the supporters to see exactly Connacht Rugby means to us And The Clan need to ask relevant questions in the players interviews The questions we post here
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don’t do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”

rossie wrote: afaik both bretts and loughs contracts are up at end of season

Wilko is out of contract in the summer. Loughs is contracted for this season and next. I give us next to no chance of retaining Brett - Munster would be out of their box not to sign a quality IQ loosehead - but with Buckely to take over it's not the loss it would have been. Question is who they get in to replace him.

this is just a guess as ive no knowledge of specific workings of player management system but as hes not centrally contracted to irfu he was prob re.sted by connacht. possibly recomended by irfu but with leinster and heineken games coming probaby a good thing.
on a different but related issue something which hasnt raised its head yet but shud be a concern is that afaik both bretts and loughs contracts are up at end of season and will be in demand. our form or inability to push on from end of last season will not be lost on them or the other provinces.

cant imagine both, muldoon and locks were to injured if they were able to get on a bike and cycle for charity.

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Slightly off topic, but was Loughs actually injured last night? Or rested? At whose instigation? The Irish management team that dropped him the same day?

I only saw bits of first half and all of 2nd but there were significant parts of our play up to the 65th or so minute which were different to the other 3 games and i liked. The pack appeared to tire around this time and returned to the going tru the motions type of rugby of the previous three games.

The positives i saw was a genuine willingness to pick and go with intent from the floor at ruck time. This was used time and time againn and we made significant gains from it both directly, tru our centres as defence was pulled in and in kicking behind their wingers who had to pull into the defenceive line as numbers were drawn into fringe defence. Unfortunately we occasionally ren out of numbers which shouldnt happen and hopefully its a work in progress and also we knocked on at vital times particularly in their 22( what is it with our forwards and knocking on in opp 22). During this period we played high tempo rugby supported each other well and scored 2 tries and a peno.The first try wasnt opportunist but great vision from a talented debutant.

However as per the last three games(i wont go into last season) our defence is terrible. teams are getting around the fringes of our defencive line far too easily and there is no secondary line of defence. Why this is happeniing so easily is baffling me apart from when there is the obvious missed tackle but teams appear to be able to get around the back of us by simply passing the ball out the line and going past our winger on the tramline. Even zebre did it but for a knock on at the try line. We employ a defence coach in Mike Forshaw who is apparantly well regarded but there is serious issues withthis teams defensive set up and it doesnt matter who the personel on the field are the problems are the same. His message is clearly being lost on this group of players and that is an untenable situation.

Carty looks poor under the high ball but he is a 10 playing 15 so prob hasnt much experience dealing with it. He kicks the ball from hand better than any connacht player we have seen so far this season.Faloon,white and Mckeon are showing an attitude and desire for the battle that to be frank is missing from our senior players with the exception of Jonnie. Hopefully Harris Wright delivers in a similar way at hooker because we baly need more quality and energy in this department. Ditto for Parks at 10 who hopefully will be ready for next week.

The result was about right on the night imo. we put a lot into the game on he night but that defence deserves nothing from a game.

There are definate issues with all the coaches performances atm as we have ongoing and deteriorating problems in attack, defence, lineout, a deficiency in catching and kicking skills and too often(exclude tonight) attitude and workrate.

McCrea and Loxton didn't offer much threat.

Like I said our backline was a shambles and the trys we scored were opportunist by McCrea and White. Would like to see McCrea and Loxton given another game though. The ball was a bar of soap for alot of it and they didn't exactly get sterling service out wide.

Glasgow were terrible and their for the taking. Their tries were off our mistakes, shitty errors.

In fairness, our forwards got alot of success out of the pick and go but in the end when the ball was spun wide the big long looping passes allowed the defence to shoot up and we ended up under pressure. The only success we got in the backs was when McSharry or Fafita took it up the middle. Our passing again underminded us, absloutely terrible.

Duffy looks like he'll be out for while, if we can train jarvis under the high ball then I'd like to see him at 15, he has a massive boot and a good brain. Looked lost under the high ball at times though.

Carty went well to be fair, but he lost 2 high balls, one led to a try and dilly dallied in possession 3 times and got pinged 3 times for holding on. He'll learn from it, the lad has talent, some of his tactical kicking and grubber for McCrea's try was out of the top drawer.

Naoupu excellent, Johnny O Connor was as well, Flavin got through alot of work as did Gannon, McKeon did well again, Swift had alot of impact when he came and would like to see him in that position again. McSharry impressed, as did Fafifta off the bench.

Rodney once again had a poor cameo, how long are we going to persist with him? Marmion will have better days, McCrea and Loxton didn't offer much threat.

salmson wrote:

Borders no.2 wrote:

1) Performance was fine. The pack murdered an excellent Glasgow pack and we saw some good performances from young lads. Control behind the pack is the problem.

2) As for the tries, the first and third were down to individual errors. The other two though were truly shocking, G;asgow ran both of them home from somewhere beyond Edinburgh.

3) Bit harsh on Dan though, he's still churning out competitive packs.

1)
Ah come on performance was far from fine, we carried the ball through phases well at stages but even up front there was little control for most of the game, far too many basic errors in the pack also, control behind the pack is as usual the main issue but we shouldn't ignore issues like lineout (which has been poor since the start of the season and back into last season with both with thrower and receivers), even when we win our own ball its messy and not delivered at the tempo thats needed to deliver good ball out. Defensive lineout which imo is a strength not used at any stage even in Glasgow 22, our play at the breakdown isn't good enough, we don't protect the ball anywhere near well enough, under Eric we have never committed huge numbers to the breakdown but its time for a change in that regard, as poor as the play is at half back and out the backline its not easy work with poor ball and passes made out of desperation of a turnover. Every defence in the league pushes up in defence on us because they know we are unable to recycle quick ball at ruck time. Rolling maul is rarely used and when it was tonight we had the hard part done and should have been a certain try just after half time which would have at least put us level after being totally out of the game for most of the first half.

2)
1st and 3rd stemmed from individual errors but were also systems failures, no cover out wide for the first try, 3rd try you have to be assuming the worst in those situations (especially with a rookie being targetted at full back) and have some cover in place.

3)
Fair enough but as I mentioned above while a lot of good work is being done by the pack, not everything is perfect there and there is good raw materials to work with in the pack.

I can't see this team progressing any further under Eric even with a full deck to chose from, Parks and one or two others may have helped there tonight but the same basic mistakes are happening week in week out regardless of personnel. I have heard some people saying the game has passed Eric by and his gameplan is moving in the opposite direction to modern rugby and really I have to agree

I have to agree he can't hide behind excuses like money or funding etc. We're never gonna be the most cash rich club but compared to where we were before we're alot better off. I think new eyes are needed.

Thoughts on the game as follows.

One on one tackling leaves us down again this is basic first day stuff but we've shipped 3 try's in 2 games from a one on one situation. 4 if you wanna add the hand off on Hemshaw.

Carty was impressive and did a good job. I think we need to blood him more than say flogging Nikora out again

Scrumagaing we did well and I don't think out line-out was as bad as people said.

We're a shambles in the back. It's a line of individuals rather than a team.

Borders no.2 wrote:
1) the performance level was once again poor.

2) Really all 4 tries (certainly the first 3) shouldn't be conceded by a professional side.

3) Really imo its time for a change at coaching level.
Eric and Dan were part of the original failed setup
I have heard some people saying the game has passed Eric by and his gameplan is moving in the opposite direction to modern rugby and really I have to agree.

1) Performance was fine. The pack murdered an excellent Glasgow pack and we saw some good performances from young lads. Control behind the pack is the problem.

2) As for the tries, the first and third were down to individual errors. The other two though were truly shocking, G;asgow ran both of them home from somewhere beyond Edinburgh.

3) Well I've been saying much the same about Deccie for the last few years so you may have a point. With both Eric and Deccie some of the senior players in both setups have been listening to the same stuff from the same people for donkeys, I wonder if that's the problem. Bit harsh on Dan though, he's still churning out competitive packs.

our forwards were pretty good, but the backs seemed to have no plan except box kicking or garryowens. What's disappointing is that this kicking strategy has not worked so far this season and it appears to be our only tactic.

Moore looks a better sh, he's just quicker. McSharry is great and Carthy is a breath of fresh air with his non-aimless kicking.

Ya must say that while on paper the score doesn't look terrible, the performance level was once again poor. First 25-30 minutes was as bad as any of the worst days under Bradley. Only Glasgow incompetence kept the score respectable. 2 tries were appalling. Marmion box kicking everything early on and was caught once again and the cover was deplorable to put it mildly. You could be here all night picking out the defensive faults in the 2nd try. We picked things up a bit then and kept ball in hand and Carty gave us a short term impetus. 15-10 was a minor miracle at half time.

Got a 5m lineout early in the 2nd half and made a mess knocked on and one butchered catch later were behind our own line. Glasgow seemed intent on making a match of it and handed us another try and for a long time were there to be bet but once again very poor defensively for the 4th try. Really all 4 tries (certainly the first 3) shouldn't be conceded by a professional side.

Really imo its time for a change at coaching level. I'm not advocating a soccer style sacking for Eric, he still has a big role to play for Connacht Rugby but this team needs fresh impetus.

Eric and Dan were part of the original failed setup and while I think they've done a reasonable job (in difficult circumstances) the time comes where every team needs a change in direction. There are just too many basic mistakes being made at lineout time, breakdown, defensively, Catching, attack wise we look rudderless, kicking game with no structure (while not as bad as other games was at times clueless) and most worryingly of all despite the fact an average Glasgow side were there for the taking there was really no belief that we could win and that we'd be happy to take the bonus point home kind of attitude.

I know everyone will get on my back for this and say its knee jerk and injuries are playing a part and we are not getting our best side on the field and give it time and this kind of thing but I can't see this team progressing any further under Eric even with a full deck to chose from, Parks and one or two others may have helped there tonight but the same basic mistakes are happening week in week out regardless of personnel. I have heard some people saying the game has passed Eric by and his gameplan is moving in the opposite direction to modern rugby and really I have to agree.

IMO there is enough talent in this Connacht setup to push on and we are getting to a stage with young players coming through that there will be an exciting strong homegrown core to work with in years to come. Now is the time to breath fresh impetus into the coaching setup, these are the formative years for many of what looks like a rare enough good crop of youngsters, we have to give them the same chances that the players in the other provinces are getting. It probably won't be a popular view but there you go.

theCulk wrote: 2 words: Embarrassing & shambolic.

Didn't think we were that bad. It was a horrible mess of a game alright, but when was the last time a Glasgow game against anyone wasn't?

Two tries given away by basic mistakes by young lads, can't be too hard on them.

On the downside some of the more experienced players just aren't cutting the mustard. Flav's throwing was shocking, Duffy missed simple tackles for both of the first 2 tries - his injury spares management the Hobson's choice of dropping him or refusing to do the necessary - while Gannon is just a penalty machine for the oppostion.