salmson wrote:

ConnachtCows wrote: They had plans set by the coaches, and they followed them, and it worked.

Like constantly going wide to run the arses off the Toulouse fatties? Like not going for touch with clearance kicks so said fatties couldn't draw breadth? Like repeatedly and mercilessly targeting Hosea Gear's defence off setpiece?

Lam, Dan, and co. got it spot on. Even to the extent that Picamoles and Johnson were taackled high, yards conceded but offload prevented, while the other forwards were hit low.

Anyway, don't take my word for it, ask Dusatoir what he thnks.

Im not sure if there is some sarcasm in your post or not, but I spoke with Dave McSharry for a few minutes in the airport, and he said that one of their main aims was to spread the ball fast. They know that they are fitter than Toulouse, and wanted to use that to their advantage.

One other thing I picked up from the players, is that there were no serious knocks from the game. Swifty got a nice black eye, but that came from, as he said himself, tackling with his face. I think it was Mick Kearney who picked up a slight dead leg, and Marmion went off with cramp near the end.
They're all ready to go for next weekend again

murph13 wrote: I've no doubt I'll get shot down in flames for this, especially after our best win ever, but we have to keep realistic. We have always been capable of pulling out amazing backs to the wall one off performances when everything is against us, Quins, Biarritz in the last two years prove that.
[...]

Back to earth people, this was down to traditional Connacht spirit and guts not Pat Lam.

When they lose its the coaches fault but when they win he had nothing to do with it? Begrudgery and can't admit you were wrong. This Conn team have been building to this performance all year.

This win is nothing like the squeaky win against Quins in the torrential rain or the admittedly great win over a limited and past it Biarritz. This was Toulouse in France, get some perspective - Ulster only won their first game in France THIS YEAR.

And not only did Connacht win but they did it using all of the skills and gameplay elements that we have seen Lam instilling in this team and by dominating Toulouse of all teams for the majority of the game.

If you want to compare it to previous games compare it to the three inter-pros where Conn were nilled last year, or the Quins and Biarritz and Toulouse away games of the last couple of years and if you can't see or admit that this was a big step forward then that's your problem.

mareegoo wrote: great win but i might get jaws dropping for saying this and i hope the connacht players are reading this - but it should be expected.

Noone expects to win in Toulouse - no one.

A lot of people are praising Elwood's influence on the team and that's fine and shouldn't be forgotten but people also have to be honest with themselves and admit that even with the new additions to the team like Clarke and Heenan Connacht were unlikely to ever play the way they did yesterday under Elwood. Lam has a different vision for the province and is having a positive impact on the team.

Ladies - today is not about the haters

No one believes that this result says 'everything fine now in the universe ' . We all know our position in the Rabo & some of the performances we have been subjected to recently. But what yesterday says, is that great ability (which they have) combined with a little luck (which they rarely have) and some good planning by the coaches (sometimes I wonder myself ) proves that we should be at the top table of European Rugby. It beholds all of us - supporters , players , management and business developers - to ensure that a top quality performance is given each & every time Connacht step out onto the pitch. The 'poor little us' syndrome should be obliterated and Connacht must use the confidence generated from yesterday as a platform for strategic growth on & off the pitch.

Front up Rise up - it actually DOES mean something to all of us & I cannot wait from Saturday !!! C'mon , lets be having you...............

ConnachtCows wrote: They had plans set by the coaches, and they followed them, and it worked.

Like constantly going wide to run the arses off the Toulouse fatties? Like not going for touch with clearance kicks so said fatties couldn't draw breadth? Like repeatedly and mercilessly targeting Hosea Gear's defence off setpiece?

Lam, Dan, and co. got it spot on. Even to the extent that Picamoles and Johnson were taackled high, yards conceded but offload prevented, while the other forwards were hit low.

Anyway, don't take my word for it, ask Dusatoir what he thnks.

Fantastic performance by Connacht. Congratulations to all concerned. Set-piece-both scrum & lineout- immense and it shows what our backs are capable of with quality possession.
Roll on next Saturday- and let's do the double!!

murph13 wrote: So now all is right in the world? Like I said when we win 5 or 6 out of 7/8 games I'll start to believe. Great that we got it right yesterday, need to see it week in week out which we haven't yet - that's why we are bottom of the table. If yesterday's win is down to him then so are all the miserable losses we've had so far, you can't have it both ways

Nobody said that. But we've been kicking them down especially the last two weeks after two poor performances. It is only right you praise them, as you criticise when they play badly, when they pull off as remarkable a result and get it spot on tactically.

So now all is right in the world? Like I said when we win 5 or 6 out of 7/8 games I'll start to believe. Great that we got it right yesterday, need to see it week in week out which we haven't yet - that's why we are bottom of the table. If yesterday's win is down to him then so are all the miserable losses we've had so far, you can't have it both ways

Darragh507 wrote:
but for me the way they celebrated with him at full time told a lot.

Just watched the last few minutes there on my coffee break. Robbie and (I think) Marmion were straight over to Pat after the whistle went. Says a lot.

Edit:ye of little faith
t.co/QLdPudrvBs

its_phil wrote:

murph13 wrote: Back to earth people, this was down to traditional Connacht spirit and guts not Pat Lam.

Incredibly disingenuous to the team and Lam. Yesterdays result certainly had an element of guts to it but if your going into the home ground of the best European club team of all time, you need that and a hell of a lot more. The tactics were spot on by Lam and based on how well our set-piece was combined with the best display of a Connacht backline going forward in our history. I've never seen so many patterns. Tactics were spot on yesterday with targeting the wide channel by always leaving 2-3 players out there and while we needed guts to get anything out of Toulouse it wasn't the reason why we won. We were better than them in most facets of the game yesterday and got what we deserved.

You take the good days with the bad days, and Connacht had an awful day last Friday and so many of us verbally kicked the shite out of Lam here. He got it right yesterday, give him the credit when it is due.

I talked to loads of the players in the airport last night. Every single one of them paid credit to the tactics. Nothing to do with the lads pulling a performance out of their backsides.
They had plans set by the coaches, and they followed them, and it worked.

murph13 wrote: Back to earth people, this was down to traditional Connacht spirit and guts not Pat Lam.

Incredibly disingenuous to the team and Lam. Yesterdays result certainly had an element of guts to it but if your going into the home ground of the best European club team of all time, you need that and a hell of a lot more. The tactics were spot on by Lam and based on how well our set-piece was combined with the best display of a Connacht backline going forward in our history. I've never seen so many patterns. Tactics were spot on yesterday with targeting the wide channel by always leaving 2-3 players out there and while we needed guts to get anything out of Toulouse it wasn't the reason why we won. We were better than them in most facets of the game yesterday and got what we deserved.

You take the good days with the bad days, and Connacht had an awful day last Friday and so many of us verbally kicked the shite out of Lam here. He got it right yesterday, give him the credit when it is due.

I am not embarrassed to say that I am in tears watching this Sol!!

haha fair enough

Darragh - what do you expect, Griff to say in the press that they hate the way Lam is coaching them?!

Happy to disagree with you all but like I said, have a look at the table. It was a great win and I'm delighted for the lads and of course Lam is going to celebrate, it will take more than one performance for me to be convinced though. If we win 4 out of the next 6 then we'll be getting somewhere, maybe this will be the turning point for the lads, I hope so but like I've said I've not seen much this year to convince me Lam is the man for us and for all those that have said the same on here are you now completely convinced he is?

Haven't got a sister Menace and as far as I know he's left my mother alone

Full match here:



(might not be there for too long)

sorry murph13 dont agree and incredibly unfair on lam.

eoin griffin did a piece in the media before the game saying all the players bye into the way the coaches want to go. they are all behind each other, etc.

it aint any coaches fucking fault to ship 3 tries in 5 mins of any game for example. that can only be the players fault.

fast forward this week and he made the right bench calls at the right times. the half time talk seemed to work as our kicking improved.

but for me the way they celebrated with him at full time told a lot.

give him a break eh.

murph13 wrote: I've no doubt I'll get shot down in flames for this, especially after our best win ever, but we have to keep realistic. We have always been capable of pulling out amazing backs to the wall one off performances when everything is against us, Quins, Biarritz in the last two years prove that.

The win unless it is backed up with regular wins in the Rabo means nothing and I still don't think Lam is the man to take us to where we need to be. Connacht have always had the heart and the grit to put in the occasional huge performance, this is the best ever, but are we any closer to doing it week in week out? I don't think so after seeing what the first half of the season has given us.

Back to earth people, this was down to traditional Connacht spirit and guts not Pat Lam.

Did Pat Lam dump your sister or something? That was the greatest victory in our history and your first comments are that it means nothing and Lam had nothing to do with it. Sad.