connachtexile wrote:

Gavin Duffy, Shane Layden, Fionn Carr, Steve Macauley, Eoin Griffin, Danie Poolman, Conor Finn, Brian Murphy, Matt Healy, Tiernan O’Halloran, Dan Parks, Miah Nikora, Craig Ronaldson, <strong>Frank Murphy, Marcus Walsh, Kieran Marmion, Paul O’Donohoe</strong>

He's bringing 4 scrumhalves? One has to ask why. I'd rather see Tadgh Leader going with McSharry and Tonetti out and Fifita a forward now. We could do with some of the lads getting experience at 12 as Murphy seems to prefer 13.

Anyone know if Nolan is sick/injured/doing exams etc?

i guess the reason he's bringing 4 scrum halfs is like us, we have no idea who is backup to KM. i wont be surprised that when we have our double header vs toulouse that both our number 9s could be under 22. Walsh impress me so far.

something that kinda bugs me is how a player is paid and he fails his exam in May/june and is not able to be with the team for pre-season game.

would it be unfair on the player only be aloud do his exam in may/june and not be distracted from training during pre-season

Gavin Duffy, Shane Layden, Fionn Carr, Steve Macauley, Eoin Griffin, Danie Poolman, Conor Finn, Brian Murphy, Matt Healy, Tiernan O’Halloran, Dan Parks, Miah Nikora, Craig Ronaldson, Frank Murphy, Marcus Walsh, Kieran Marmion, Paul O’Donohoe

He's bringing 4 scrumhalves? One has to ask why. I'd rather see Tadgh Leader going with McSharry and Tonetti out and Fifita a forward now. We could do with some of the lads getting experience at 12 as Murphy seems to prefer 13.

Anyone know if Nolan is sick/injured/doing exams etc?

The game is a week away and still no sign of a jersey launch and no mention of Connacht on the blk site, someone needs to get the finger out???

From the Connacht Site - Great to see Layden, Macauley, Finn and Walsh involved in the backs.

Connacht Rugby Head Coach Pat Lam has announced the 36 man squad traveling to France for the first preseason game of the year. Squad


The visitors will take on Castres Olympique at the Stadium Lacuna in France on Friday 6th of August with kick off at 6:00pm local time.

The squad will depart for France on Tuesday morning where they will spend the week in camp ahead of their game on Friday evening.

Castres Olympique is starting the new season as Top 14 Champions after defeating Heineken Cup Champions Toulon at the Stade de France on the 1st June.



Connacht Rugby Head Coach Pat Lam commenting on the squad travelling to France

“I’m very pleased with the preparation and conditioning that has been done to date. As we head into a critical phase in our preseason, the squad will get some valuable game time and the opportunity to test out our new systems and structures against the French Champions and in our other preseason games against London Wasps and Newcastle Falcons.”

“Bringing such a large squad to France allows us to give every player some valuable game time and a chance to perform ahead of the new season”



37 Man Squad

Backs

Gavin Duffy, Shane Layden, Fionn Carr, Steve Macauley, Eoin Griffin, Danie Poolman, Conor Finn, Brian Murphy, Matt Healy, Tiernan O’Halloran, Dan Parks, Miah Nikora, Craig Ronaldson, Frank Murphy, Marcus Walsh, Kieran Marmion, Paul O’Donohoe

Forwards

George Naoupu, John Muldoon, Willie Faloon, Jake Heenan, Mara Fifita, Andrew Browne, Danny Qualter, Conor Kindregan, Aly Muldowney, Mick Kearney, Nathan White, Rodney Ah You, Ronan Loughney, Jason Harris-Wright, Sean Henry, James Rael, Finlay Bealham, Brett Wilkinson, JP Cooney, Michael Swift



Players on stand-by - Peter Reilly, Tadgh Leader

Unavailable/Injury/ College exams

Denis Buckley

Craig Clarke

Dave Nolan

Dave Heffernan

Eoin Mckeon

Aaron Conneely

Jack Carty

Dave McSharry

Kyle Tonetti

Darragh Leader

James So’oialo

Robbie Henshaw

- See more at: www.connachtrugby.ie/2013080283379/37-ma...sthash.VznOQmog.dpuf

Castres Olympique v Connacht

Ok with the pre-season games due to start next weekend, here's some of the low down on our opponents Castres Olympique. If there is interest in this I am happy to put together a lowdown on some of our other opponents during the season. (A lot of this is shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia!)

Castres Area

The name of the town comes from Latin castrum, and means "fortified place".

Region: Midi-Pyrénées
Mayor: Pascal Bugis(2008–2014)
Elevation 151–367 m
Population: 43,010 (2008)

Attractions:

Castres is intersected from north to south by the Agout River. The river is fringed by old houses the upper stories of which project over its waters.

Church of Saint Benoît in Castres
The church of Saint Benoît, once the cathedral of Castres, and the most important of the churches of Castres today, dates only from the 17th and 18th centuries. The city hall occupies the former bishop's palace, designed in the 17th century by Jules Hardouin-Mansart (the architect of Versailles), and with gardens designed by André Le Nôtre (the designer of the gardens in Versailles). The Romanesque tower beside it (Tour Saint Benoît) is the only survival of the old Benedictine abbey. The town possesses some old mansions from the 16th and 17th century, including the Hôtel de Nayrac, of the Renaissance.

Castres possesses the renowned Goya Museum, created in 1840, which contains the largest collection of Spanish paintings in France. A Jaurès Museum was also opened in 1954 in the house where Jean Jaurès was born in 1859.

The Jardin botanique Pierre Fabre "La Michonne" is a private botanical garden and conservatory that can be visited.


Previous Meetings

Aug 28th 2007 Connacht 3-17 Castres
Connacht continued their preparations for the new season with a good workout
against Castres Olympique in the first of two friendlies between the sides
this week.

The two sides will meet again on Saturday at the Sportsground (4pm) as the
countdown to the new season continues.

Connacht coach Michael Bradley and his assistant Eric Elwood learnt a lot
from an experimental side at the Sportsground on Tuesday evening.

"Pre-season games are all about getting as many players on the field and
getting a glimpse of where we are at so from that point of view it was a
good workout," said Connacht coach Michael Bradley.

"We would hope that Saturday's game would also be beneficial in this
regard," he added.

Johnny O'Connor was superb in his first start since rejoining Connacht but
it was not enough to prevent Castres from securing victory.

Castres, with former Irish international Jeremy Davidson now in charge,
grabbed the only two tries of the match.

Castres led 7-3 at the interval after Uruguay international Rodrigo Cap
Ortega crossed for the opening try which was converted by Anthony Lagardere.

Connacht used the fixture to tryout some members of their extended
non-contracted squad such as former USA 'A' international winger Alipate
Yuilevuka and former London Welsh scrum half Rob Shaw.

Peter Durcan reduced the deficit before the break with a penalty but
Connacht did not turn possession into scores after the restart and the
French sealed the issue when Luc Ducalcon crossed for their second try.

Romain Teulet added the points, having extended Castres¹ lead with a penalty
after the restart.

SCORERS:
Connacht:

Pens: Durcan

Castres Olympique:

Tries: Ortega, Ducalcon

Cons: Lagardere, Teulet

Pens: Teulet

Connacht:

D Riordan; A Tulevuka, J Hearty, M Deane, D Yapp; P Durcan, R Shaw; J Lyne,
J Merrigan, B Wilkinson; M Swift, A Browne; R Ofisa, J O'Connor, J Muldoon.

Replacements: T Donnelly for Durcan, 11mins; D Gannon for Ofisa, 14mins;
Durcan for Donnelly, 16mins; B McGovern for Wilkinson, half time; Donnelly
for Durcan, half time; A Wynne for Deane, half time; C Muldoon for Merrigan
48mins; C McPhillips for Shaw, 48mins; O Treviranus for Yapp, 55mins; A
Farley for Browne, 60mins; Durcan for Riordan, 60mins; B Wilkinson for Lyne,
63mins; M Swift for Browne, 74mins.

Castres Olympique: M Bourret; B Fleming, O Benassis, L Marticorena, P
Christophers; A Lagardere, S Tillous Bordes; K Meeuws, M Bonello, D Saayman;
R Capo Ortega, G Amadou; L Tomiki, P Tabacco, F Faure.

Replacements: C Hoeft for Meeuws, 52mins; L Ducalcon for Saayman, 52mins; L
Mazars for Benassis, 53mins; R Teulet for Bourret, 53mins; R Terrain for
Bonello, 59mins; V Jacca for Bordes, 66mins; C McIntyre for Amadou, 72mins;
R Carballo for Lagardere, 72mins. - See more at:

Sept 1st 2007 Connacht 17-24 Castres

Flanker Johnny O'Connor scored two tries but it was not enough to oust Castres in a well-contested pre-season friendly at the Sportsground.

O'Connor struck early and late to cross the French line but Castres, 17-3 winners when the sides met on Tuesday, scored four tries in the second-half.

O'Connor's opening try after five minutes helped Connacht to a 10-0 lead with Tim Donnelly adding the conversion and a penalty.

But Castres hit back after the break and scored two tries in as many minutes from Uruguay international Rodrigo Cao Ortega and flanker Alex Bias to go 14-10 in front after 53 minutes.

They added further tries in the final quarter from Florian Faure and Luc Ducalcon before O'Connor finished a move which started inside their own 22 by Ofisa Treviranus and Conor McPhillips at the end of a good workout.

Connacht:

Tries: O'Connor (2)

Cons: Donnelly, Durcan

Pen: Donnelly

Castres Olympique:

Tries: Capo Ortega, Bias, Faure, Ducalcon

Cons: Teulet (2)

Connacht: D Riordan; O Treviranus, M Deane, K Matthews, J Hearty; T Donnelly, C McPhillips; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, B McGovern; D Gannon, A Farley; J Muldoon, J O'Connor, C Rigney.

Replacements: R Morris for McGovern, 20 mins; J Lyne for Wilkinson, 23 mins; Wilkinson for Lyne, 38 mins; D Yapp for Treviranus, 39 mins; M Swift for Muldoon, half-time; K Moran for Morris, half-time; Lyne for Wilkinson, 50 mins; T Tierney for McPhillips, 61 mins; P Durcan for Donnelly, 61 mins; J Fogarty for Flavin, 61 mins; Morris for Matthews, 61 mins; A Wynne for Deane, 63 mins; A Browne for Gannon, 64 mins; McPhillips for Riordan, 66 mins; Treviranus for Hearty, 78 mins;

Castres Olympique: R Teulet; L Milford, L Mazars, O Benassis, R Carballo; C McIntyre, S Tilous Bordes; C Hoeft, R Terrain, K Meeuws; R Capo Ortega, C Gaston; L Tomiki, A Bias, F Faure.

Replacements: J Forrestier for Hoeft, 22 mins; M Bonello for Mazars, 43 mins; L Ducalon for Meeuws, 50 mins; A Lagardiere for Carballo, 59 mins; A Pradaille for Terrain, 66 mins; V Jacca for Benassis, 66 mins;

Castres Stats

Founded: 1898, took current name in 1906

Ground: Stade Pierre Antoine

Capacity: 10,000

Owner: Pierre Fabre, founder and president of Pierre Fabre Group.

Titles Won
French championship: Champions (4): 1949, 1950, 1993, 2013

Coupe de France: Champions (1): 1948

European Shield: Champions (1): 2003

Transfers In and Out 2013/14

Players In
Richie Gray (Sale Sharks)
Rémy Grosso (Lyon OU)
George Marich (RC Narbonne)
France Geoffrey Palis (SC Albi)
Cédric Garcia (Aviron Bayonnais)
Julien Tomas(Montpellier HR)
Santiago Fernandez(Montpellier HR)

Players Out
Joe Tekori(Stade Toulousain)
Wessel Jooste(SU Agen)
Marc Andreu (Racing Metro)
Pierre Bernard (Union Bordeaux-Bègles)
Thierry Lacrampe (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
Thomas Sanchou (CA Brive)
Matthias Rolland (retired)

First League Fixture:
Saturday 17th August 2013 Perpignan v Castres Olympique

Heineken Cup Pool
Castres Olympique
Leinster Rugby
Northampton Saints
Ospreys

ERC European Ranking 25 (5 pts)

Wins 23

Draws 1

Losses 34

Biggest Win 58 - 13 (v Harlequins 2005)

Heaviest Defeat 0 - 45 (v Northampton Saints 2011)

Most Appearances Romain Teulet (30)

Top Points Scorer Romain Teulet (235)

Top Try Scorer Ugo Mola (