Spot on Lads on the above. We are where we are and the odd time we punch high above our weight.
We need better Rabo performances.

Spot on!

I avoided the forum until this morning because I knew there would be the usual knee jerk reaction. People need to remember that we were routinely getting hammered in the rabo only a couple of years ago. Saturday was unacceptable, but it happens in rugby from time to time. And we're not the first team to be hammered by Sarries this season - Leicester, Newcastle, Zebre, Scarlets all took serious beatings along the way.

So chin up lads!

PS: It was great being in Toulouse, wasn't it?

Right, I imagine we're all on a major downer after what can only be described as an embarrassment on Saturday, but I am going to try and bring a little cheer back to our hearts, as only a stupidly optimistic person can.

Lets look at our Heineken Cup as a whole.

When the draw was made, most people were disappointed. We drew Toulouse, which, on paper looks good for drawing a crowd. The only problem is that we had them only two years ago. Then we drew Saracens. Top English team. Not very well liked in the rugby world. Not an enticing away game for most people. The main problem with drawing Saracens, is that they are not much of a draw for the fair weather rugby fans. People with a passing interest in rugby would recognise teams such as Leicester, and perhaps Northampton. Saracens aren't in the same category yet.
Then we drew Zebre. The worst team, from a marketing perspective we could have asked for.

From a rugby perspective, Zebre should guarantee us two wins, based on paper. Unfortunately, we had struggled against Zebre and Aironi in previous years. We may have always picked up the win against them, but the games were never pretty, and they were never a game to pull in the crowds.

From a fans point of view, I think the majority believed we would pick up two wins this season, and perhaps sneak a home win against one of the big boys.

So looking back, we had a poor draw for the marketing team. We had a poor draw for the fans (2 teams we've played recently, and a Saracens team, that are based in Barnet). We had a tough draw for the players. European power houses Toulouse, and the top English team, Saracens.

All in all, not a great European season to look forward to, and definitely not a year, where we could hope to push on.

Onto the matches themselves.

Things started dreadfully. Down 14-3 at home to Saracens after only 10 minutes. A big crowd had shown up for the game, and it looked to everyone, that we were in for a very long night.
Something changed after those first ten minutes though. Clarke took control of the team behind the posts, and the players woke up.
Kieran Marmion started to add tries to his repertoire, and Connacht started to hurt their English opponents. A strong showing from Connacht, brought the game to 17-17 at half time. A week after getting destroyed at home to Ulster, the fans had something to cheer. A team to get behind, and belief to hold on to.
Sarries re-took the lead in the second half, and despite an onslaught in the last ten minutes, Connacht weren't able to get the try that would have won the game for us. We lost at home. A result most expected before kick off. We got a losing bonus point. Something that after ten minutes, looked as realistic, as a Mayo All Ireland victory. Most importantly though, the players gave the fans hope. Something to cheer. A team to get behind.

The following week, a few hundred fans travelled to Parma to see us take on the most unattractive team in the Heineken Cup. We'd seen this before. Connacht entered a game as favourites, and didnt perform. Not on this trip though. Connacht controlled most of the game, and kept the scoreboard ticking over. Some people complained that we didnt go for the bonus point. But some people are never happy. As we saw in the reverse fixture, when going for the bonus point, you sometimes end up with nothing from the opposition 22. Fans got to enjoy themselves, and we saw a Connacht team, who could live with the billing of being favourites. We saw a team, who were able to exert their style of play on a weaker team, and bring home a professional victory.
After 2 games, we were probably a point better off than people had expected.

The next match for Connacht, saw them to return to Toulouse, 2 years after putting in a good effort against the European heavyweights. We all know how this one ended, but one of the most impressive things we saw that day, was a Connacht team keep to a game plan. This wasnt a plucky victory, where we scrapped an intercept try and won 5-3. No this was a game where we took on Toulouse in France, played better rugby than them, and beat them in their own back yard. Everyone played their part, and no one, not the French Press, not the English press, could argue that we deserved the victory.
Sky Sports gave us try of the week, team of the week, and performance of the week. Again Kieran Marmion stood out, showing the world his promise.

The next week, we welcomed an angry Toulouse to Galway. Unfortunately, the team were struck down with a virus in the lead up to this game. We had one scrum half available to us, and he was on a drip, 48hours before kick off. Toulouse had learnt their lesson from the previous week. They changed their game plan. The positives from this game were few and far between. A bumper crowd showed up. Interest in Connacht rugby was raised, and again Kieran Marmion showed us all, what a trooper he is.
Considering how badly effected we were by the flu. How injuries impacted us (Ronaldson, for example), and how fired up Toulouse were, I think we must remember this as a good performance from the team. No one expected much from this game, when the draw was made.

Our second last game, was at home to Zebre. A decent crowd turned out for a Saturday afternoon kick off. Jack Carty, and Darragh Leader made their full Heineken starts. The game wasnt very memorable, but again, we pretty much showed that we know how to beat teams worse than ourselves. A few bad choices, and individual mistakes stopped us from getting the bonus point, but we won comfortable, and for the first time in our history, we were going into the last round of Heineken Cup matchs, with a chance to reach the 1/4 finals.

Finally, round 6. The excitement was building. A huge crowd were going to the game. Fans who had never even considered an away game before, were suddenly booking flights. People allowed ourselves to believe. We allowed ourselves to dream about the future. What a victory could mean to Connacht rugby. For the first time in the PGB era of Connacht rugby, we were thinking of April, in January. What happened next, was an embarrassment. Something we all want to forget as soon as we can. Maybe this one hurt so much, not just because of the score, but because we allowed ourselves to dream. Let's not dwell on it. The only positive we can take, is the fans performance.

We conceeded too many tries, even before last Saturday. We scored too few tries. We didnt take bonus points when they were in front of us. We didnt cross the line, when a victory was only feet away in Galway in Round 1.

We did get to dream though. We got to see our team. Our little ginger province beat Toulouse. We got to see ourselves in the Worlds Press. We got to see Kieran Marmion, and Robbie Henshaw push on. We got to see glimpses of the future, with Mick Kearney, Andrew Browne, Eoin McKeon, Jake Heenan, Jack Carty, Healy, Griffin, Darragh Leader, all get experience of both winning and losing.

Things need to be done. A defensive coach needs to come on board. Players need to move on. Players need to take more responsbility. Coaches, need to stand up, and be accounted for.

The Heineken Cup is over for us for another year, and quite possible a long time to come. Look back at this season in a couple of years time. Games like Saracens will be forgotten. The game in Toulouse never will. This was the year, that we were able to dream. We might have only been able to dream for a week, but we still dreamt. Go back two years ago. We had lost 14 games in a row, and our only dream, was that we might scrap one win in the Heineken Cup

I dont what the whole point of this was, but I'm going to remember the positives from this seasons Heineken Cup. We might get another chance for a very long time