Borders no.2 wrote: My main target for the rest of the season would be finding out about where we stand ahead of next season and getting our squad into some sort of shape and playing with more purpose than the dross we witnessed last Saturday.

I see that I said 39 points earlier in the season which looks unlikely now,

It never goes as you expect but 2 home wins is the minimum acceptable target, I'd like to think we could target Ulster and maybe a bonus against Munster, Dragons away is important, wouldn't take us to get much at Scarlets but Glasgow on the final day is a game we should be looking to get something from.

If we could get ahead of Dragons and Edinburgh it'd be great. Treviso have some tough games ahead so we could still have a chance to get close to them but given our form its a lot of points to make up. Friday has to be viewed like Harlequins as a cup final of sorts, a win is essential and if possible deny Edinburgh a bp but any win will do.

In reality I think 11th with a low 30's points total but hope to be proven wrong.

Actual position we end up is irrelevant, our target every year is to secure one of three automatic HEC places ahead of one of the other provinces. We can pretty much write it off for this season.

If Eric already has the nucleus of his squad decided in his head and know the players he's cutting, to my mind if the nucleus are fit he should run with them (and a few of the promising academy/development lads) until season end....

For the remainder of the season we should be solely focused on expanding our style of play and maximizing our offensive threat....

My main target for the rest of the season would be finding out about where we stand ahead of next season and getting our squad into some sort of shape and playing with more purpose than the dross we witnessed last Saturday.

I see that I said 39 points earlier in the season which looks unlikely now,

It never goes as you expect but 2 home wins is the minimum acceptable target, I'd like to think we could target Ulster and maybe a bonus against Munster, Dragons away is important, wouldn't take us to get much at Scarlets but Glasgow on the final day is a game we should be looking to get something from.

If we could get ahead of Dragons and Edinburgh it'd be great. Treviso have some tough games ahead so we could still have a chance to get close to them but given our form its a lot of points to make up. Friday has to be viewed like Harlequins as a cup final of sorts, a win is essential and if possible deny Edinburgh a bp but any win will do.

In reality I think 11th with a low 30's points total but hope to be proven wrong.

rossie wrote: found this in the archives and was wondering what people thought now.

I think that finishing 8th is achievable but 9th more likely.

Good spot !

I'd take 9th now but I reckon we'll finish 10th.

If confidence is up and should be with word of new signings i agree with the 8th place.
BUT it could be 11th if things dong go so well.

found this in the archives and was wondering what people thought now.

I think that finishing 8th is achievable but 9th more likely.

Targets eh?? Kind of a dirty word after the Bradley era though!

The impact that participating in the HEC will have on the squad both mentally and phsically needs to be factored in also. I really hope we do ok in our early games and injuries are kind to us. We do not have the depth in squad to lose two or three forntliners in this competition, and if the worst happens in the HEC then the fallout in the Pro12 could be damaging.

We will need an inordinate amount of luck on our side to maintain decent form in both competitions I feel..

taht's ana verage of 51/52 points from the 6 posts which would have seen us in 7th last season.
The most pessimistic predictions (low/mid 40s) would see us finishing 8th, while even the 60 point totals from the optimists put us up just to 6th (due to the huge split between top and bottom half last year).

So we all expect to do better than last year's 9th placing.

These things never work out as you'd expect. I always thing 2 pts average per game is a good season for us which would be 44.

39 last year I think, i'd say something similar again this year. Home wins obviously essential against the likes of the Italians and Scots and we need to turn over 1 or 2 of the bigger guns at home. Cardiff should be an opportunity. Every points on the road is vital, can't chuck away any more like against Leinster.

I think it's going to be alot tougher to get points this year. The likes of the Dragons and Scarlets away which in the past would have looked like a chance of an away win doesn't look as much now with the emergence of all their young players with the Welsh national team. We need to make a much bigger impact in the interpros. We should be targetting 2 wins out of the remaining 5 games. We got no wins last year in these games.

We have to play 13 weeks in a row, 6 of these HC games which are a level up from what we're used to. Factoring in injuries and fatigue our squad will be fairly decimated come the end of this period. It's going to be an uphill struggle, with a squad that isn't as strong as last year

Opponent              likely/pessimistic          possible              best case/fantasy

Cardiff (home)      win NO BP                    win NO BP          win BP
Ulster (away)        loss NO BP                    loss LBP              loss LBP
Ospreys (home)    loss NO BP                    loss LBP              win NO BP
Treviso (home)      win NO BP                    win NO BP          win BP
Munster (away)      loss NO BP                    loss NO BP          loss LBP
Leinster (home)      loss NO BP                    loss LBP              win NO BP
Aironi (away)          loss LPB                        win NO BP          win TBP
Cardiff (away)        loss NO BP                    loss NO BP          loss LBP
Glagow (home)      win NO BP                    win TBP              win TBP
Edinburgh (home)  win NO BP                    win NO BP          win TBP
Scarlets (away)      loss NO BP                  loss LBP              win NO BP
Munster (home)      loss NO BP                  loss LBP              draw
Dragons (away)      loss LBP                      loss LBP            win NO BP 
Ulster (home)          loss LBP                      win NO BP          win NO BP
Aironi (home)          win NO BP                    win TBP              win TBP
Glasgow (away)      loss LBP                      win NO PB          win NO BP

Point Total              38                                  54                      73

My guess is, barring a catastrophic injury situation, Connacht will finish on 45 points +/- 2 points.  The schedule actually looks pretty good especially after the new year.  After the Leinster game on New Year's Day, and maybe even including it, they should manage to take something from each game.  ummm mentioned the 6N period, Connacht have home fixtures against the Scottish sides sandwiched by away games against the Blues and Scarlets.  Handy enough if Connacht can take advantage, which they haven't necessarily proved over the past 6 weeks.

45 points will be an improvement over last season and might get them to 7/8 in the table, but it won't get them into the HEC on their own steam.  They probably will need an additional 12/15 points to even get Ulster's nerves started for the April game at the Sportsground.  It will be a minor miracle if the game has any meaning.

First 4 sets of predictions give us an average of 6th place and 55 points. Keep 'em coming.

Need to win against Ulster in ravenhill to have any hope, also need to be winning one of munster Leinster in the sportsground.

53 54 pts for 6th place and pip ulster on a countback.

If I was going to do this properly I'd have to factor in which games were before and after HC weekends, 6N periods and all that good stuff.

I'm far too lazy. So lets just say 60 points and we'll call it even!

Cardiff (home)      win NO BP
Ulster (away)        loss L BP
Ospreys (home)    loss L BP
Treviso (home)      win NO BP
Munster (away)      loss NO BP
Leinster (home)      loss L BP
Aironi (away)          win T BP
Cardiff (away)        loss NO BP
Glagow (home)      win T BP
Edinburgh (home)  win NO BP
Scarlets (away)      win NO BP
Munster (home)      Loss L BP
Dragons (away)      win NO BP
Ulster (home)          win NO BP
Aironi (home)          win T BP
Glasgow (away)      win NO BP

That gives 47 points that we'll pick up from here on in

Hi all, there's been some discussion on the Connacht - Leinster topic about whether we're doing well enough this season. Of course the question that springs to mind is: what's doing "well enough"? What results hould we expect?

Maybe wou can post you own predictions/targets and we can come to a consensus around where we want Connacht to be next April/May....

I think we should win one of the Cardiff and Ospreys matches, so it doesn't really matter which I mark as the win, just looking for a points total to aim at. You get the idea (I hope).

Cardiff (home)      win
Ulster (away)        loss
Ospreys (home)    bonus
Treviso (home)      win
Munster (away)      loss
Leinster (home)      bonus
Aironi (away)          win
Cardiff (away)        loss
Glagow (home)      win
Edinburgh (home)  win
Scarlets (away)      loss
Munster (home)      bonus
Dragons (away)      win
Ulster (home)          bonus
Aironi (home)          win
Glasgow (away)      loss

I make that 46 points for the season, 7th or 8th position based on last year's table.