Mostly happy with that, bit worried about Duffy on the wing, not sure he has the gas for it.

Very happy to see Mick Kearney get a start.

Duffy returns as Elwood makes three changes
Thursday, 22 November 2012 11:15
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Duffy returns as Elwood makes three changes



The Connacht team to face Newport Gwent Dragons in Friday evening’s RaboDirect PRO12 clash at Rodney Parade (KO: 7pm) has been named. There are just three changes to the team that beat Benetton Treviso 18-3 in round eight.

Gavin Duffy, captain, makes a welcome return to the Connacht line-up this week, starting on the wing. The skipper who was unavailable for a number of weeks due to injury made an appearance at the 73rd minute in the last round against Italian side Treviso and touched down for a try after just a minute on the pitch.

There are no further changes to the backline. Danie Poolman, on his third outing for the province, joins Dave McSharry in the centre while Tiernan O’Halloran is named at right-wing.

Meanwhile, up front there are two changes to the pack with Mick Kearney replacing Mike McCarthy who remains on international duty this week. Kearney is joined in the second row by Michael Swift, who makes his 229th appearance for the Westerners.

On the bench, hooker Ethienne Reynecke is named among the front row replacements following his return to training this week. Flying winger Matt Healy could earn his first cap for the province tomorrow evening. The 23 year old joined the club this season from Lansdowne RFC and has made a notable impression with the Connacht Eagles.

Connacht recognise tomorrow’s game as a ‘must-win’ while also pursuing their first back-to-back win of the 2012/13 season. It’s always been a tight battle between the two clubs but Connacht will be looking to match last season’s double over the Men from Gwent.

Connacht XV

15. Robbie Henshaw

14. Tiernan O’Halloran

13. Danie Poolman

12. Dave McSharry

11. Gavin Duffy (captain)

10. Dan Parks

9. Kieran Marmion

1. Denis Buckley

2. Jason Harris-Wright

3. Nathan White

4. Michael Swift

5. Mick Kearney

6. Andrew Browne

7. Willie Faloon

8. Eoin McKeon



Replacements (from):

16. Ethienne Reynecke

17. Rodney Ah You

18. Ronan Loughney

19. Dave Gannon

20. Johnny O’Connor

21. David Moore

22. Miah Nikora

23. Matt Healy


At Rodney Parade, 7pm
Referee: Giuseppe Vivarini (FIR, 4th competition game)
Assistant Referees: James Jones, Kevin Shorte (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner: Ray Walton (WRU)

ummm, wrote: Confirmed by Rob, GBFM will not be covering the game.

I saw that alright. It will have to be the Connacht Facebook and Twitter pages so

Confirmed by Rob, GBFM will not be covering the game.

rossie wrote:

Borders no.2 wrote: Ya huge couple of games coming up in the context of our season. 2 wins from the next 2 weekends and we will give ourselves a bit of an advantage over Treviso, Edinburgh and Dragons which will provide a good springboard for the Biarritz games and the remainder of the Rabo season.

I'd love a victory over Biarritz but for me two wins out of two from the upcoming league games is just as important.

more important imo.

Agreed, the Rabo is really our Bread & Butter while we're playing catch-up with the other teams in terms of squad strength, facilities and ultimately attendances. The HEC is just a nice distraction at the moment which has the added bonus in enabling us to recruit a couple of decent players. We've been pretty lucky in terms of draws thus far in terms of helping to get punters through the doors to feed our development needs. But I'd rather see us finsih in the top half of the Pro12 and be in with a real shout of winning the Amlin, than the odd chance of winning a HEC game or maybe two each year....

Borders no.2 wrote: Ya huge couple of games coming up in the context of our season. 2 wins from the next 2 weekends and we will give ourselves a bit of an advantage over Treviso, Edinburgh and Dragons which will provide a good springboard for the Biarritz games and the remainder of the Rabo season.

I'd love a victory over Biarritz but for me two wins out of two from the upcoming league games is just as important.

more important imo.

Ya huge couple of games coming up in the context of our season. 2 wins from the next 2 weekends and we will give ourselves a bit of an advantage over Treviso, Edinburgh and Dragons which will provide a good springboard for the Biarritz games and the remainder of the Rabo season.

I'd love a victory over Biarritz but for me two wins out of two from the upcoming league games is just as important.

RogueXV wrote: The win is the first order of business, grabbing a try bonus point or denying the Dragons of a losing bonus point are secondary. Certainly do not want to be the team that allows the Dragons to end their losing streak. Initially on hearing that Fetu'u, Muldoon, George and Macca would be out for this game I thought there would be a huge disruption, but Connacht could actually get away with making only two changes to the side that started against Treviso.

There will likely be more though. I imagine they'll want Duffy on the pitch to help fill some of the leadership void. I personally would put him in the centre and move Poolman out to the wing keeping Henshaw at fullback. Not likely to happen, but I think Henshaw is more of a threat from FB and Gavin has usually proven an able stand-in centre. Maybe McCrea is an option to replace Vainikolo with Duffy starting at 15 and Henshaw on the bench considering his versatility. Imagine Reynecke will be involved probably from the bench. Any chance they'll put Browne in the 2nd row? Is Faloon available I didn't see him mentioned amongst the injured?

Personally would have thought Browner is too small for the engine room, but then there's not much size wise between himself, Gannon and Micke Kearney which are our only other fit options... :blink:

PG - definitely not on TV, GBFM possibly but TBC....

Creedence wrote:

phatguerilla wrote: Connacht should be targetting a bonus point here as a statement of intent, we bet them both times last season and the squad is surely better than it was last year even allowing for injuries. Pity we will be missing McCarthy, Muldoon and Naopou their combined ability and experience would give the team a big boost, but time for the younger players to show what they're made of.

Bonus point sounds a bit ambitious to me given who we are going to be missing and given that we've only beaten Zebre on the road this season. Any kind of win will do me.

I like ambition. Like I said connacht bet dragons away last season, we're better this season, they're the same or worse, conn's been playing some lovely rugby, lets see some tries!
Is this on tv?

The win is the first order of business, grabbing a try bonus point or denying the Dragons of a losing bonus point are secondary. Certainly do not want to be the team that allows the Dragons to end their losing streak. Initially on hearing that Fetu'u, Muldoon, George and Macca would be out for this game I thought there would be a huge disruption, but Connacht could actually get away with making only two changes to the side that started against Treviso.

There will likely be more though. I imagine they'll want Duffy on the pitch to help fill some of the leadership void. I personally would put him in the centre and move Poolman out to the wing keeping Henshaw at fullback. Not likely to happen, but I think Henshaw is more of a threat from FB and Gavin has usually proven an able stand-in centre. Maybe McCrea is an option to replace Vainikolo with Duffy starting at 15 and Henshaw on the bench considering his versatility. Imagine Reynecke will be involved probably from the bench. Any chance they'll put Browne in the 2nd row? Is Faloon available I didn't see him mentioned amongst the injured?

theCulk wrote:

ConnachtCows wrote: We dont score enough tries to target bonus points at home or away.
If we believe that we're going to win, we should target stopping The Dragons from getting a losing bonus point

Damn you cows and your wisdom. I was gonna say this.

From what I've seen of the dragons they've been pure pony this season. We have to win this game

They haven't been great but, like us, their home performances are usually much better than their given credit for. I wouldn't read anything into their win loss ratio, just the home matches. So far they've beaten Zebre & Edinburgh and lost to Blues & Ulster. To be honest, many would expect the same set of results for Connacht.

This match will be a big statement in terms of where we are and where we are going. We can beat them, but they will be up for this in a big way.

Creedence wrote:

phatguerilla wrote: Connacht should be targetting a bonus point here as a statement of intent, we bet them both times last season and the squad is surely better than it was last year even allowing for injuries. Pity we will be missing McCarthy, Muldoon and Naopou their combined ability and experience would give the team a big boost, but time for the younger players to show what they're made of.

Bonus point sounds a bit ambitious to me given who we are going to be missing and given that we've only beaten Zebre on the road this season. Any kind of win will do me.

Yep need to entirely focused on getting the win (by any means possible) rather than a bonus point. Dragons have been kept playing courtesy of the LV Cup so they won't be ring rusty like us. Still I think we should have too much for them, especially up front and at half-backs. If the pack deliver even close to even possession we will win comfortably...

Think Parks will look to stretch us out early kicking any penalty in their own half, they're a team with low confidence so if we can stretch out ahead the pressure will rack up pretty quickly and five pointer opportunities may occur. Forecast is wet and cold so controlling the pill will be critical...

ConnachtCows wrote: We dont score enough tries to target bonus points at home or away.
If we believe that we're going to win, we should target stopping The Dragons from getting a losing bonus point

Damn you cows and your wisdom. I was gonna say this.

From what I've seen of the dragons they've been pure pony this season. We have to win this game

We dont score enough tries to target bonus points at home or away.
If we believe that we're going to win, we should target stopping The Dragons from getting a losing bonus point

ummm, wrote: Not sure who would be the best pick for Fet's spot, maybe Poolman with Henshaw moving to 13?

Duffy straight in at 11 and leave McSharry-Poolman-TOH-Henshaw as were?

phatguerilla wrote: Connacht should be targetting a bonus point here as a statement of intent, we bet them both times last season and the squad is surely better than it was last year even allowing for injuries. Pity we will be missing McCarthy, Muldoon and Naopou their combined ability and experience would give the team a big boost, but time for the younger players to show what they're made of.

Bonus point sounds a bit ambitious to me given who we are going to be missing and given that we've only beaten Zebre on the road this season. Any kind of win will do me.