the front row is very evenly match but id stick to buckley flavin white.
second row is fine, as i said muldoon at 6, 50-50 between joc and faloon but joc getting the nod.
8,9,10,11,12,13,14 tonight is the best we have until poolman comes in and show us what he has.
henshaw deserve to keep his spot, made great tackles unlike duffy plus duffy out would mean white staying on as captain

I agree swift4prez. White to Captain and Parks the leader in the backline.

not much really to say about the game apart from we were fantastic.

everything we did came of, just watched the game again and as far as i remember we didnt even have 1 knockon. we didnt have any forward passes and i cant remember any line outs lost either.

im so happy for fetuu for getting that try and in general having a good game. he is better then he has played in the first 4 games and i think others here jump on his back to quick (apart from catching the ball)

the drop kick parks had on the 60th min WAS over even if the ref didnt think so, paused and rewind many many times and 100% about it.

henshaw had a cracker so he deserve his spot next week.


from the team tonight id say thats the best team we have apart from john muldoon coming in for mckeon.

the front row is very evenly match but id stick to buckley flavin white.
second row is fine, as i said muldoon at 6, 50-50 between joc and faloon but joc getting the nod.
8,9,10,11,12,13,14 tonight is the best we have until poolman comes in and show us what he has.
henshaw deserve to keep his spot, made great tackles unlike duffy plus duffy out would mean white staying on as captain

WoW, did not see that coming! 1 man really can make a difference.

I agree with borders, with all he said, but especially the zebre game being very important. Big calls for Eric during the week to make. Ravenhill is never an easy venue to go to but will be doubley difficult next week. It might be wise to rest a few key players,esp the injury prone ones like Mcsharry and griffin and some of the pack to be ready for an apparently improving Zebre team away the week after. We dont want to be their first scalps and especially in the Heineken cup. Ulster would do the same in our position and might do it anyway although they normally field as close to full strength as possible at home( can be adifferent story on the road).
Parks, Faloon and white have all been excellent signings. JHW made a bags of one lineout but hopefully will also prove a hit. Bring on Danie Poolman and lets see his stuff!!!

Boy am i glad that i changed my mind and went to this game

Wonderful performance from the lads with Parks giving a virtuoso performance in how to run a game from 10. You could see the onfidence coursing through the backs with Marmion having his best game for the season, and Vainikolo having his best EVER game for Connacht. McSharry, Griffin, and TOH were much improved too, but for me Henshaw was a revelation at full back. This guy is potentially the best of the lot, and how're we going to fit Gavin Duffy in the team when he's fit.

Up front Nathan White led from the front with a wonderfully committed performance. The usual excellent performances and commitment from Macca, Swifty, Flav, McKeon, and JOC, but special mention needs to be given to George for one of his best performances in an green jersey and Denis Buckley who was phenomenal tonight. He must now be seen as our starting LH.

Excellent lads. Onwards and upwards.

Just seen this on twitter

'Fair play #Connacht. Rough night for Joe Schmidt & Leinster lads with crowd chanting "Bring a full team next time". #WestAwake'

Quality chanting lads, well played.

fully agree with Borders- this can't be another one of wonder from Connacht and we go back to stupid mistakes over next few weeks

The difference decent half backs (Marimon and Parks) make to team is astonishing
how we managed a whole season with NOC and FM/POD is beyond me
could tell Parks was loving every second of that game aswell

Great night, absolutely everything fell right but after the first 4 games we'll take it. Nothing went right for Leinster tonight, even at the end for Healy but Connacht put them on the backfoot and they couldn't muster a response.

Parks made a major difference. Maybe he can't run a backline at international level but at this level he certainly can, pulled the strings from the off, had one poor kick that failed to find touch and put us under pressure but a top class performance. He certainly dragged up all those around him.

Even allowing for Parks this result really highlights how we let ourselves down in the majority of the first 4 games. Crucially we varied the play, there was a few up and unders but Parks brought much more structure and clarity to the play. You could actually see what we were trying to do rather than the hit and hope approach. Great not to be looking up to the sky all night for the ball. Vainikolo was out to prove a point this evening and used his head well at time with some nice kicks through, hopefully we can see more of that from him.

Superb from George again also. some fine defensive play from McSharry.

A few concerns that Leinster made ground a bit too easily at times and on another night we might have paid, also we let a couple of up and unders bounce, it went our way tonight but won't on other occasions.

A much needed win, the bonus point was almost beyond belief. It was a good performance but it must not be a one off. Connacht has (or at least should have) moved on from one big win making a season approach so hopefully this is the start of an upturn. I've said it many times but you get the same 4 (or in tonights case 5) points for playing the Welsh, Scots and Italians as you do for the interpros. Same goes for Zebre and Harlequins in the HC. The game in Italy is the more important one and its how we fare against these type of teams that will determine the success/failure of our season.

We'll be meeting a seriously pumped up Ulster side in 8 days which will test out whether this is a turning point or not.

I see Zebre missed a late penalty to draw at Glasgow which was a hell of a lot better than we fared so hopefully that will make the lads fully aware that the sloppy stuff of the last few weeks won't do in 2 weeks time.

For tonight though this is a good one and hopefully the start of a good weekend for the West.

Please please please tell me someone is going to put this game on the internet.

Loved Dan's leadership on the pitch, even if he had shanked every kick tonight, we actually looked like we had a coherent back line tonight.

Buzzing.

I dig our new quarterback. Just a pity he can't kick though! :whistle:

What a game goes to show u what one experienced head can make..would love to see fifita play along side parks the powerhouse will shine then..connacht are on fire this season a few adjustments and boom we will rise!

Body cant function without a brain, see what a difference one at 10 can make..all the boys put in a great nights work well done! fair play to all the lads..keep it going now. get mata and carty and a few more in the mix aswell and its looking good. yehhaa..and lets take back fields of athenry so those clowns in mumha stop singing about a field in GALWAY! theres lots of in cork etc

4th Try by George

27-6 to Connacht

22-6 to Connacht! What a half, full of running, defense going well. Maybe Parks is a miracle worker. Still 40 minutes to go, fully expect a backlash from Leinster, but this is certainly more like it.

22-6 to Connacht at half time

Against the Wind

I'm sure he thought he'd be bundled into touch if he continued on. Wonderful run from McSharry and Henshaw timed his pass to Vainikolo well.

3 Leinster Subs used by 31st Minute

14-6