I may be wrong on this, but are there never ball girls? Maybe Connacht could catch up with the Catholic church with some gender balance on our altar!
Women's rugby is on the up and we should do everything to encourage it, and having mixed "ballkids" would certainly help and maybe encourage more girls to get involved.

Agreed. I'd say if someone mentioned this to the branch they'd probably do it. Good idea by the way!

Cardiff Blues:
15 Dan Fish,
14 Alex Cuthbert,
13 Cory Allen,
12 Dafydd Hewitt,
11 Harry Robinson,
10 Gareth Davies,
9 Lloyd Williams;

1 Gethin Jenkins,
2 Matthew Rees (c),
3 Taufa'ao Filise,
4 Bradley Davies,
5 Filo Paulo,
6 Macauley Cook,
7 Josh Navidi,
8 Ellis Jenkins

Replacements:
16 Kristian Dacey,
17 Thomas Davies,
18 Scott Andrews,
19 Chris Dicomidis,
20 Luke Hamilton,
21 Lewis Jones,
22 Simon Humberstone,
23 Isaia Tuifua

Muldowney in makes sense, I didn't think Browne had a great game in second row the last time.
I was worried Lam would give Murphy and/or Parks a start but glad he didn't tbh, didn't realise duffy was fit to play, happy that as many departing players as possible will get to play though.
A little odd to go with Griffin at 12 rather than McSharry/Griff/Henshaw 12/13/15.

Cardiff will be without Copeland but their 13 is a bit of a wrecking ball.

Connacht team to face Cardiff Blues
02nd May 2014

Connacht Head Coach Pat Lam has made just one change to his team to take on Cardiff Blues in the last home game of the season this Saturday. The in-form Welsh side sit just three points ahead of Connacht in eighth place on the league table.

Up front, Andrew Browne makes way for Aly Muldowney who slots into the second row alongside Mick Kearney.

Connacht Players’ Player and Back of the Year Kieran Marmion will wear the number 9 jersey for his 25th start this season, partnering Miah Nikora at half back.

Robbie Henshaw is named at outside centre and links up with Galway-born Eoin Griffin, who will play his final game at the Sportsground before departing for London Irish next season.

After missing out on the previous round, substitute hooker Dave Heffernan has recovered from injury to take his place on the bench.

Attention will undoubtedly be directed towards named replacements Frank Murphy, Dan Parks and Gavin Duffy who will all be finishing with Connacht at the end of the season.

Commenting on the team selection and the upcoming game, Pat Lam said:
“This is a massive game for us. Cardiff are confident coming off the back of three good wins and in contrast we’re after three straight losses. We’re both fighting for strong finishes to the season and I’ve no doubt it will be a hard-fought game.

“There is of course a lot of emotion attached to this game and it’s the last time a lot of guys will get the chance to play in front of the home crowd. It’s a great opportunity for us all to acknowledge the contribution of these true Connacht servants.

“As a team, we’ve spoken a lot this week about channelling all that emotion into doing our jobs well and putting ourselves in a position to finish where no Connacht team has finished before. “

Connacht line-up v Cardiff Blues

15. Darragh Leader
14. Danie Poolman
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Eoin Griffin
11. Matt Healy
10. Miah Nikora
9. Kieran Marmion

1. Ronan Loughney
2. Jason Harris-Wright
3. Rodney Ah You
4. Aly Muldowney
5. Mick Kearney
6. John Muldoon (captain)
7. Willie Faloon
8. Eoin McKeon

Replacements:

16. Dave Heffernan
17. Denis Buckley
18. Finlay Bealham
19. Michael Swift
20. Andrew Browne
21. Frank Murphy
22. Dan Parks
23. Gavin Duffy

Unavailable/Injured: Nathan White, Sean Henry, James Rael, Craig Clarke, Jake Heenan, Tiernan O’Halloran, and Paul O’Donohoe.

Connacht v Cardiff Blues
At the Sportsground, 5pm
Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU, 60th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Dudley Phillips, Olly Hodges (both IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Wayne Sheridan (IRFU)

Tickets for Saturday’s game v Cardiff Blues are available online from tickets.ie, the Connacht Rugby office and selected Centra and SuperValu stores province-wide.

To celebrate our final home game of the 2013/14 season all kids aged 0-17 will be allowed free entry to this Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 game against the Cardiff Blues.

Enjoy the family atmosphere this Saturday with:

Bouncing castles
Free face painting
Kids games
Free Ice Creams
Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Please contact Eoin Hegarty – eoin@cbirfu.com or 091 561 568 for any queries on match tickets.

Nice piece from Connacht Rugby sent out on FB on ballboys.
One of our Ballboys, Patrick, received a knee injury during the warm up prior to the Munster match. We would like to let all the supporters know that he seems to have made a full recovery and should be available for selection on Saturday.

Swifty thanked all the Ballboys by handing out Easter Eggs at the last game.

We'd like to say a big thank you to the entire Ballboy squad for their hard work over the season. This Saturday, the Ballboys will be running out with the team as they take to the pitch for their final home game of the season.


They should get a round of applause at the match on Saturday for all their good work. It is always a sign they are doing a good job when you hardly notice them.


I may be wrong on this, but are there never ball girls? Maybe Connacht could catch up with the Catholic church with some gender balance on our altar!
Women's rugby is on the up and we should do everything to encourage it, and having mixed "ballkids" would certainly help and maybe encourage more girls to get involved.

Gonna hijack this, to remind people that we'll be presenting Kieran Marmion with his Player and Young Player of the Year awards.

See ye there.

Connacht v Cardiff Blues – Galway Sportsground Rabo Direct Pro 12 Round 21
Saturday 3rd May 2014 Kick Off 17:00

This Saturday, Connacht play their final home game of the season against the Cardiff Blues. Both sides have had mixed seasons, mixing some good results in Europe with some indifferent domestic form. Neither side will be in the new European Cup next season but both will look to finish as high up the table as possible as it may be relevant for seeding for the Challenge Cup. Cardiff have picked up some decent results following the departure of head coach Phil Davies in early March and will be anxious to finish the season on a high.

Cardiff Blues Stats
Website: www.cardiffblues.com
Founded: 2003 (Setup as a Regional Side)
Ground: Cardiff Arms Park
Capacity: 13,000
Captain: Matthew Rees
Coaches: Dale McIntosh / Paul John

Rabo Direct Pro 12 League Position 2013/14: 8th Played 20 Points 37
Rabo Direct Pro 12 League Position 2012/13: 9th Played 22 Points 38
Heineken Cup 2013/14: 2nd in Pool 2 Points 14
Heineken Cup 2012/13: 3rd in Pool 6 Points 6
Anglo-Welsh Cup 2013/14: 3rd in Pool 2 Points 10
Anglo-Welsh Cup 2012/13: 3rd in Pool 2 Points 9

Previous League Fixtures
Cardiff Blues 17-13 Llanelli Scarlets
Edinburgh 22-29 Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues 28-23 Ulster

Next League Fixture:
Saturday 10th May 2014 18.30 Llanelli Scarlets v Cardiff Blues @ Parc Y Scarlets

Heineken Cup (Pool 2 Final Standings)
Toulon 24
Cardiff 14
Exeter 12
Glasgow 11

Achievements
Anglo-Welsh Cup Champions 2008/09
European Challenge Cup Champions 2009/10

Previous Meetings

Friday 13th September 2013 Rabo Direct Pro 12
Cardiff Blues 21-10 Connacht
www.rabodirectpro12.com/matchcentre/12796.php

Saturday 1st September 2012 Rabo Direct Pro 12
Connacht 9 – 13 Cardiff Blues
www.rabodirectpro12.com/matchcentre/2467.php

Friday 22nd February 2013 Rabo Direct Pro 12
Cardiff Blues 22 – 26 Connacht
www.rabodirectpro12.com/matchcentre/12331.php

To celebrate our final home game of the 2013/14 season we are allowing all kids aged 0-17 free entry to this Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 game against the Cardiff Blues.

To claim your free kids ticket please collect it from the Connacht Rugby office between 9am and 5pm on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday this week. Kids tickets will also be available from 10am on Saturday at the Connacht Rugby box office.

Enjoy the family atmosphere this Saturday with:

Free face painting

Kids games

100 Free Ice Creams

and more…

Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

All children must be ticketed to enter the stadium

Please contact Eoin Hegarty – eoin@cbirfu.com or 091 561 568 if you have already bought an individual kids match ticket.

Credit where it's due. I love the last line, taking into account people who already bought a ticket. Not many businesses can take money out of accounts so I'd expect it would be some voucher etc

It's great idea, but wouldn't it be better to have this first game of the season so kids would want to go to Next game etc
I know that connacht are giving a free trial this week and expect people will be hooked and buy a season ticket. It's a long wait till September. Hope to have big numbers. Always do in last game in fairness due to people using the free tickets from season tickets.

I've gone to most the home games the last few seasons but i really look forward to the atmosphere of the last home game. Now i just have to work on the wife and make an overnighter of it.

Hope to make it also. Haven't being to a game since the Ireland A V England A. Too long.

Welcome !! Going to the game myself !!

Welcome donnellypb, good to have you on board!

Just booked tickets for the Connacht v Cardiff game. Long time fan, but first visit to the Sportsground - really looking forward to shouting with the rest of the Clan!

salmson wrote:

The IMF wrote:
Does anyone have an idea has this been confirmed and I've missed it or if anyone knows when it is going to be confirmed?

Round 20 (Munster) has just been confirmed and round 22 was set ages ago as all games have to kick off simultaneously. I imagine the Cardiff game/round 21 won't be confirmed for quite a while til the TV people see how the table is panning out, but seeing as neither team are likely to be pushing for 3rd best from their country (old HEC qualification format) or 6th overall (new) I would expect no TV coverage and a Saturday 1700 kickoff.

spot on. 5pm saturday, no tv

Connacht Rugby ‏@connachtrugby 40m
Connacht''s @RaboDirectPRO12 round 21 game against @cardiff_blues has been confirmed for Saturday, May 3rd, KO 5pm at the Sportsground.

The IMF wrote:

swift4prez wrote: i always thought when someone started a match thread on a monday it was a little early for a saturday game so i used to smile, but you the imf, well done, im on the floor here laughing, started a thread for a match 8 and a half weeks away :lol: :lol:

good to see your coming over, im sure i'll see you around for a pint

Haha, I'm sorry s4p, what can i say? I can't wait to get over, hopefully the Main Stand Choir will be able to accommodate me again and i'll be able to catch up with you guys for a beer or three.

Or four or five

swift4prez wrote: i always thought when someone started a match thread on a monday it was a little early for a saturday game so i used to smile, but you the imf, well done, im on the floor here laughing, started a thread for a match 8 and a half weeks away :lol: :lol:

good to see your coming over, im sure i'll see you around for a pint

Haha, I'm sorry s4p, what can i say? I can't wait to get over, hopefully the Main Stand Choir will be able to accommodate me again and i'll be able to catch up with you guys for a beer or three.