Honestly hard to remember all the errors, but they were really one-sided. Example : Wasps 3rd try was an obvious forward pass, and he didn't even asked for TMO. And what peculiarly irritated Bayonne were the reset scrums, I don't exaggerate by saying it took more than 15 minutes overall

Dare I ask what he did this time? :dry:

Deadly Dudley had another nightmare yesterday for Bayonne vs Wasps. i've never heard before a rugby attendence shouting at the ref "Phillips, Phillips" all along the last 10 minutes

Frank Murphy has never been a stand out player for Connacht, you can count in one hand the amount of games that he has played well for Connacht (out of 100).

Parks and Murphy are old school rugby players and playing like it. The current game requires a 9/10 that can hold their own in the defensive line, pass, kick and run. Thanks very much but their time is up.

Gavin is still one of the best players to catch a high ball and retain position under pressure, he has lost the pace required at the top level and it showed on Friday with the slide tackle.
Could be an option to play Gavin at 12

Jack Carty has to be given the 10 jersey for the reset of the season and more game time to Darragh Leader

Marmion playing the game is excellent but needs to learn to control the game,needs to read the game, on slow ruck ball get the forwards around the corner until he can get quick ball then go wide and repeat.

Robbie Henshaw ????????????????????????? put it down to no quality attacking ball

Pat Lam - needs to be shown that the shorts path to the try line is straight forward and not side to side, Toulouse Guy Novès tactics in the sports ground was not pass the ball past 12 and they have a world class backline

Every team that has visited the sports ground defends flat and wide, and connacht have failed to break their defence with our backs

Solution:

Simple hard yards made by the Forwards around the rucks and when we get Fionn Carr, Robbie Henshaw, Eoin Griffin, Matt Healy etc up against their front 5 go wide

Last maybe learn to score form 5 meters out

Connacht Abu

Connacht 22 - 10 Leinster

I was at the game and have also watched it on TV, on Murphy he has served us well and so has Duffy and Parks so stop kicking them to death. I don't know why Murphy was picked ahead of POD but he neither took his chance to impress nor did the coaches move quickly enough to pull him ashore. Early in the first half he got a knock to the head and he was clearly all over the shop but we treated him and left him on, why I don't know. When we were attacking them not far from the line no Munster defenders on the blindside he kept going right, this he has been doing for years and I seriously do not know what our video chap does but its not what he should be doing. Duffy is out of sorts and trying to damn hard to get back to form, Parks needs some confidence building nothing more he is still a quality player and so is Duffy. We still play to flat and we still play a hap hazard type of game we have the individuals to do well but lack the wherewithal which is weird. look what happened in the last few minutes against Munster when we had our tails up. Individuals both backs and forwards have areas to work on, from the wingers to the props. Healy is fantastic going forward but that is where its starts and stops, Fionn still has it but seems either nervous or scared to use his skills and at the moment Robbie is not an outside centre. As for Buckley and Rodney boxing Earls head off it simply did not happen they were trying to calm the little scum bucket down but he would not let it go. and the stadium announcer asking for silence was directed at the home supporters mainly kids that were on the bottom of the West stand but also some adults and they had to be asked numerous times to be quite. The big conspiracy theory about the IRFU makes me laugh.

murph13 wrote: Poor game and poor officiating no doubt but poor selection by Lam once more. You'd have thought one of the lads would have told him how important the interpros are if he doesn't know by now and that Munster side were there for the taking so why not pick your best XV to start?!

His persistence with Duffy and Murphy baffles everyone, can he not see what everyone else sees?

Still seen nothing to give any hope that Lam is the man for the job.

Fwiw I think Lam came in with a vision of creating or refining a culture around Connacht which was partly predicated on the senior players he made captains. Muldoon and Swift have been great and have tried as much as possible to increase their leadership role imo.

However Duffy and Murphy, both senior players have been sub par. In hindsight, or perhaps even based on our past knowledge of Murphy you might argue there was no reason to start him - I'd argue there's no reason to ever play him this season bar injury.

However I think Lam hasn't had much of a look at him. The combination of 100th cap and an interpro should have been more than enough to wake him up and see if he had some dog in him and I think he proved conclusively he doesn't care any more. Now if Lam starts him again ahead of a fit PoD/Blade/other then questions should be asked.

rossie wrote:
I didn't hear the booing at end as I was making my way across behind the north terrace to the bohs bar but I would imagine that it was a reaction to Rodney and Buckley ( two props) having a go at earls on the floor during build up to Connacht try. I didnt get a good viewof it as i was at opposite end of east terrace but friend of mine who left during heavy shower and saw it on TV said that Rodney boxed the head off earls.

Getting to like Dave even more. :lol:

ConnachtBOB wrote: I was down there last night and everyone was saying how bad Dudley was - both Connacht & Munster fans.

2 things really disappointed me though and not sure if they were picked up on TV. Firstly, the Munster fans booed the Connacht team off the pitch. Connacht applauded the Munster players at the tunnel entrance and the Munster fans joined in, however when Munster were applauding the Connacht players, the crowed started booing.

Secondly, during the 2nd half, the stadium announcer felt the need to come on the PA and "politely request that visiting fans respect the kicker with silence. It is a long standing tradition in Thomond Park and is world renowned". Which is fair enough - great tradition and matched in the Sportsground. I didn't really notice any disrespect last night but maybe there was somewhere else in the grounds. However for our conversion at the end to get the BP, large pockets of Munster fans jeered Parks

Not exactly what you'd expect from the so called best club rugby fans in the world

The stadium announcer does that 3 or 4 times a game normally regardless as to whether its needed or not. Its a huge bone of contention amongst Munster fans who feel he is over the top. He's doing that job years though
I didn't hear the booing at end as I was making my way across behind the north terrace to the bohs bar but I would imagine that it was a reaction to Rodney and Buckley ( two props) having a go at earls on the floor during build up to Connacht try. I didnt get a good viewof it as i was at opposite end of east terrace but friend of mine who left during heavy shower and saw it on TV said that Rodney boxed the head off earls.

Poor game and poor officiating no doubt but poor selection by Lam once more. You'd have thought one of the lads would have told him how important the interpros are if he doesn't know by now and that Munster side were there for the taking so why not pick your best XV to start?!

His persistence with Duffy and Murphy baffles everyone, can he not see what everyone else sees?

Still seen nothing to give any hope that Lam is the man for the job.

salmson wrote: Couple thoughts on this:

Criticism of the coaching for resting Marmion is unjustified. This was the least important and least winnable of the sequence of Christmas/HEC games Dragons/Munster/Leinster/Zebre/Saracens' and he certainly needed a rest (his performance level against Dragons was good rather than excellent).
I don't think anyone could have foreseen Murphy being played off the park by Scissorhands Williams.

Deadly Dudley had one instance of gross incompetence )he non-existant knock-on when White was charging for line) and 2 instances where he chickened out of going upstairs to check for foul play for fear of having to red card a Munster player. The first of these (Cronin vs. Duffy) it looked from the ref's and main camera angle like a Munster player was stamping, but the replay showed this wasn't actually the case, while at the very end he didn't go to the video ref to check on Earls punches, which worked out in our favour as there was then no way ourtry could be chalked off.
So - Dudley was less than usually inept and rode us less than the likes of Rolland or Fitzgibbon. The penalty count was even.

The TMO was very kind when called upon, Cronin got binned for a sarcastic ruffle of the hair, and how Muldowney didn't get a yellow I don't know.

My thinking on this is that with Loughney fit and Swift due back, Murphy, White and Muldowney should be dropped from the 23 for the Leinster match to stamp down on indiscipline.

Let's be clear, the issue wasn't not starting Marmion it was why Marmion wasn't sprung earlier. Murphy was a disaster in the first half and proceeded to get worse until the last of his turnovers and yellow card. The other issue is that there is no way on earth that Murphy we have seen (when not injured) is a better option in a battle that last night was always going to be. He wasn't exactly played off the park by Williams though either even allowing for his incompetence, he just undid all the good work by our pack.

Munster's performance last night was no different than we have come to expect over the years in these meetings, as they always look to instigate shennanigans to get opponents off their game and better sides than ours and better refs than Phillips have fallen for it....

Duffy reacted to Cronin (unnecessarily) putting his hand in his face at the bottom of the ruck, if it was a French player in the ERC against the other provinces they would be screaming bloody murder for a ban, but as per usual this Weill be swept under the carpet by the IRFU....

salmson wrote: Couple thoughts on this:

Criticism of the coaching for resting Marmion is unjustified. This was the least important and least winnable of the sequence of Christmas/HEC games Dragons/Munster/Leinster/Zebre/Saracens' and he certainly needed a rest (his performance level against Dragons was good rather than excellent).
I don't think anyone could have foreseen Murphy being played off the park by Scissorhands Williams.

I'm sorry but whatever about anything else management have to take the hit for that one. Not for resting Marmion as there may have been some IRFU interference but for picking Murphy ahead of POD. Also, if Marmion was being rested leave him at home (like we should have done with Mike McCarthy last year also). What happened was no-use to player or team.

Whatever about Leinster at home to think we have a better chance away to Saracens than against a scratch Munster side is hard to fathom but I know what you mean about the relative importance of the games.

Murphy was always going to be miles off the pace. It was the one glaring wtf name on the teamsheet. In contrast Paul O'Donohue while not the best player in the squad has performed at a decent level with any opportunity he has got this season and crucially he is interested in playing. Why he has slipped behind Murphy in the pecking order is beyond me.

Might as well put my tuppence-ha'worth into the mix.. I'm no expert and bow to the real analysts among you- yer observations add to my learning, thanks.
Very disappointed with the lack of discipline last night- two yellows is not on. Leaving the team short for 20 minutes. Remember reading an interview with Paul O'Connell a few years back. Had his fair share of yellows and said he finally copped on that every time he was sent to the bench he was letting his team down... Parks- no way at his best but knew we were safe with his kick at the end. In form, he inspires and can dictate the game. As others have suggested, shorten his game and give gametime to others.. Marmion a gem, good to see Buckley back, Healy makes himself felt (good choice for Clan Sponsorship)..line-outs and scrums have exceeded my expectations.. Biggest frustration: Was in Toulouse - that game wasn't an aberration, we're watching what is potentially a great team- just hasn't got consistency right, yet!
It's not easy being Green (but it suits my complexion)!!
That's my piece said

I was down there last night and everyone was saying how bad Dudley was - both Connacht & Munster fans.

2 things really disappointed me though and not sure if they were picked up on TV. Firstly, the Munster fans booed the Connacht team off the pitch. Connacht applauded the Munster players at the tunnel entrance and the Munster fans joined in, however when Munster were applauding the Connacht players, the crowed started booing.

Secondly, during the 2nd half, the stadium announcer felt the need to come on the PA and "politely request that visiting fans respect the kicker with silence. It is a long standing tradition in Thomond Park and is world renowned". Which is fair enough - great tradition and matched in the Sportsground. I didn't really notice any disrespect last night but maybe there was somewhere else in the grounds. However for our conversion at the end to get the BP, large pockets of Munster fans jeered Parks

Not exactly what you'd expect from the so called best club rugby fans in the world

Loughney wasn't excellent at all this season against Leinster for example

Couple thoughts on this:

Criticism of the coaching for resting Marmion is unjustified. This was the least important and least winnable of the sequence of Christmas/HEC games Dragons/Munster/Leinster/Zebre/Saracens' and he certainly needed a rest (his performance level against Dragons was good rather than excellent).
I don't think anyone could have foreseen Murphy being played off the park by Scissorhands Williams.

Deadly Dudley had one instance of gross incompetence )he non-existant knock-on when White was charging for line) and 2 instances where he chickened out of going upstairs to check for foul play for fear of having to red card a Munster player. The first of these (Cronin vs. Duffy) it looked from the ref's and main camera angle like a Munster player was stamping, but the replay showed this wasn't actually the case, while at the very end he didn't go to the video ref to check on Earls punches, which worked out in our favour as there was then no way ourtry could be chalked off.
So - Dudley was less than usually inept and rode us less than the likes of Rolland or Fitzgibbon. The penalty count was even.

The TMO was very kind when called upon, Cronin got binned for a sarcastic ruffle of the hair, and how Muldowney didn't get a yellow I don't know.

My thinking on this is that with Loughney fit and Swift due back, Murphy, White and Muldowney should be dropped from the 23 for the Leinster match to stamp down on indiscipline.

columoc wrote: I have little to add on comments already, except I didn't think the ref was that bad, and don't agree that as an IRFU one he was biased. I also agree that we need to give the other 10s some game time.

I was surprised at how poor Henshaw was. He is a FB, he is not a 13, maybe he will become one, but he will cost Connacht a lot of points by then and he has not showed that he is learning.

On the play before the Munster try there was a 3 on 3, Murphy was Healey's man who lined him up to cut inside, all Henshaw had to do was hold the line marking the inside runner, but he was impetuous and took out Murphy who offloaded inside and the move led to the ruck and consequent try. Equally against Dragons he was a shooter and missed his tackle. Similarly against Australia he missed his man though it would be harsh to blame him solely as he was one of a few missed tackles. Tonight He also gave a soft penalty with an unnecessary high tackle. He reads a game better from FB, I don't ever see him as a 13, and he will lose confidence as a player if they persist.

A big part of the issue is 13 is a far more difficult position to play. At full back a player has time to assess what's ahead of him but at 13 you don't get time. I don't many upcoming star players at 13 in the world and those who are are big battering rams rather than the player Henshaw has the potential to be. There are loads of wings and full backs because it's easier to play those positions, in my opinion.