I'm way more annoyed that we only have four home Pro 12 games in 2014.
Going to be lots of trips home between now and Christmas

I do like how every home game before Christmas is on a Saturday. Much easier to get home for, and much more acceptable to go drinking after a feed, rather than after jumping off the bus with an empty belly

What jumps out at me is the five game Rabo Module leading up to the H Cup.
Of our first four games (all in September) three are at home – Zebre, Ulster and Ospreys. Balanced by Cardiff and Treviso on the road.
So early wins would yield points on board, momentum and maybe TV interest could follow?
Needless to say the payback comes in March/April with three successive away matches at Dragons, Scarlets and Ulster followed directly by Munster at home.

galway_gas wrote: Thomond Park dec. 27
The list of televised games was updated several times last year

That's true, but they were rarely Connacht matches. I find the original schedule is a better indication of the contempt the league and TV channels have for various teams.

72 matches, 28 won't be televised. Every match that won't be shown is either a Connacht, Dragons, Treviso or Zebre match.

We're not even the worst off, unusually. Zebre will be televised once in the 12 weeks, Treviso twice. For the sakeof the Italian teams I hope there are some discussions with Sky Italia, because right now not a single Italian team's game will be on local television in Italy.

I like the idea of the Saturday games and the kickoff times as it will make it easier to get west.
Yes I'd prefer more television coverage but the more people that can make the games the better.

Thomond Park dec. 27
The list of televised games was updated several times last year

Fixtures are out, I don't have time to type them up, but first thing that stands out is 5 games out of 12 will be televised. That's appalling. TG4 have usually been good to us, but will only pick up two games - v Munster & Leinster.

In fact take out interpros and only one game is scheduled to be televised.

exact dates and times to be announced "early next week" according to rabo tweet

Just having a look back over the last 3 seasons to see how we did in the first 5 rounds of the league. Don't know how much you can read into stats like but it gives us a flavour of what we can expect.

I have put the 'ALT Total' underneath as the number of points we have accumulated against the same opposition we play this season in rounds 1 - 5 over the last 3 years.

10/11

"Sat 4 Sep 17:30 Connacht Rugby 40 - 17 Newport Gwent Dragons Sportsground 1,371" 5
"Sat 11 Sep 15:00 Scarlets 35 - 33 Connacht Rugby Parc y Scarlets 6,436" 1
"Fri 17 Sep 19:30 Glasgow Warriors 17 - 19 Connacht Rugby Firhill Stadium 3,049" 4
"Sat 25 Sep 19:30 Connacht Rugby 15 - 15 Ulster Rugby Sportsground 3,761" 2
"Thu 30 Sep 19:05 Cardiff Blues 22 - 6 Connacht Rugby Cardiff City Stadium 11,058" 0

Total = 12
Alt Total = 8
11/12* (*RWC Yr)

"Sat 3 Sep 15:00 Benetton Treviso 9 - 11 Connacht Rugby Stadio di Monigo 3,100 " 4
"Sat 10 Sep 15:15 Connacht Rugby 13 - 11 Scarlets Sportsground 3,408" 4
"Fri 16 Sep 19:30 Edinburgh Rugby 19 - 14 Connacht Rugby Murrayfield 2,364" 1
"Fri 23 Sep 19:30 Connacht Rugby 17 - 13 Newport Gwent Dragons Sportsground 3,706 " 4
"Fri 30 Sep 19:30 Ospreys 26 - 21 Connacht Rugby Liberty Stadium 5,726" 1

Total = 14
Alt Total = 13
12/13

"Sat 1 Sep 17:00 Connacht Rugby 9 - 13 Cardiff Blues Sportsground 3,869" 1
"Fri 7 Sep 19:05 Zebre 17 - 30 Connacht Rugby Stadio XXV Aprile 2,025" 4
"Sat 15 Sep 15:00 Connacht Rugby 11 - 24 Scarlets Sportsground 4,074" 0
"Fri 21 Sep 19:35 Glasgow Warriors 27 - 17 Connacht Rugby Scotstoun 3,646" 0
"Fri 28 Sep 20:00 Connacht Rugby 34 - 6 Leinster Rugby Sportsground 5,813" 5

Total = 10
Alt Total = 14

If we can hit the ground running first up against Zebre, we beat Cardiff away last season and then 2 from 2 anything could happen against Ulster and Ospreys at home and I'd always back us if we show up. Heading to Treviso I think that late draw we got last year will serve us well but then it's always the hope that kills you I guess.

clanman wrote: I think the 2 or 3 wins out of the first 5 is a realistic target and apart from the itialian games it's not going to be an easy start, then we have Ulster at home and Cardiff away and Ospreys at home. 2 of those 3 we'll probably lose. So I'd rather use those games as preparation for the Heineken Cup Game with player rotation and also in all 3 of those games use the bench early in the 2nd half.

Also don't forget but for atrocious conditions in Biarritz we may have qaulified for the Amlin last year. Also the group we are in this year is arguably marginally easier and add to that what i percieve to be a slightly better sqaud overall I think we can do better this year in the Heianken and Amlin.

I don't know clanman I see this year's group as at least equally as hard as last year:
Harlequins are probably a shade better than Toulouse alright but Saracens are certainly stronger than Biarritz and I'd expect Zebre will improve a bit also.

Also I have heard a few people say about the Biarritz game last year but that for the atrocious conditions we may have won out there. The conditions were dire and the game should never have been played but when it was they adapted to the conditions better and even though they were down to 13 at one stage of the match we were on the backfoot for the majority of the match. Its the middle of December so you are not going to expect fine weather. Even in fine weather the likes of Biarritz have a proud European tradition and really were never going to lose to us at home and imo would probably have beaten us by more.

A good run in the Heineken would be massive for Connacht but at this stage I'm not sure how realistic it is. Having said that if we can shock Saracens it changes things but Saracens are a battle hardened team who I think will grind us into submission, it'll take a top effort to beat them probably coupled with them having a bit of an off day.

I think the 2 or 3 wins out of the first 5 is a realistic target and apart from the itialian games it's not going to be an easy start, then we have Ulster at home and Cardiff away and Ospreys at home. 2 of those 3 we'll probably lose. So I'd rather use those games as preparation for the Heineken Cup Game with player rotation and also in all 3 of those games use the bench early in the 2nd half.

Also don't forget but for atrocious conditions in Biarritz we may have qaulified for the Amlin last year. Also the group we are in this year is arguably marginally easier and add to that what i percieve to be a slightly better sqaud overall I think we can do better this year in the Heianken and Amlin.

I'd disagree I think the start of the season is where Connacht need to profit, especially a game like Ospreys, can't imagine they'll be anywhere near to full strength. Much easier to try and get points on the board in the early games than chasing points later in the season when teams are more focused on what they need to do to reach their various goals. We won't be qualifying from the Heineken Group even for the Amlin so while a good start to the Heineken would be great, imo our primary focus has to be the getting league points on the board and try to take that into the Saracens game rather than placing all our eggs in a surprise win over Saracens basket.

apart from the first game the early season looks difficult enough, we might be able to catch Leinster napping again as they've been slow to get fully wound up the last few seasons. So out of the first five games before the first Heineken Cup Game I'd like to see us with 2 or 3 wins. I'd prefer to save our guys for that Heineken Cup game and by that I mean not busting a gut to win every game. There will be enough Rabodirect Games for us to target through the season where we will have a full strenght squad and other teams will have players away on International duty.

The first month will say a lot about what Lam can achieve at Connacht. Connacht need to improve their home record and with 3 of the first 4 games at home, even though a couple are challenging, it will be a good test to see if he has instilled that home as a fortress attitude in the squad. 3 wins from the 4 September games with 14 points would be a dream start, though 2 wins with 10 points might be more realistic.

As usual we will need to try to take advantage of autumn/6 nations internationals when our opposition are usually missing more players than us. We will likely be missing James So’Oialo for Autumn and Marmion/Henshaw possibly involved in extended squad.
Weekend 1/2/3 November home to Glasgow 1 week before Scotland/Japan
Weekend 22/23/24 November home to Scarlets. Same weekend as Wales/Tonga
Weekend 7/8/9 February away to Glasgow . Scot V England same weekend
Weekend 21/22/23 Feb away to Zebre. Italy V Scotland same weekend
Weekend 28 Feb home to Treviso. No game but Italy V Ireland following weekend

Happy with that. Zebre at home is a good chance to kick off with a win and try and take it from there. Should hopefully have a decent start made by the time the Heineken Cup kicks off.

Its a rough enough end to the season but hopefully that's a long way down the road.

I'd actually have preferred Cardiff up first instead of Zebre they'll be aiming for this game and we could trip up. Still good to see that the season is up on us!