pinky wrote: If Connacht win it (assuming they are already qualified), the next best team get in, potentially Munster - that would be a nice thing to keep bringing up for the entirety of next season.

I think you meant to say "forever".

If the Champions Cup winner doesn't qualify through their league, they go into the Challenge Cup.
Kinda bizarre, but the Anglo-French axis were keen to ensure that qualification and ranking for European tournaments had as little as possible to do with performance in European tournaments.
I think the qualification spot for the Challenge Cup was only included to give the tournament a bit more relevance.

If Dragons win the Challenge Cup, they will qualify.
If Connacht win it (assuming they are already qualified), the next best team get in, potentially Munster - that would be a nice thing to keep bringing up for the entirety of next season.

Needlessly complicating matters to hide the fact he got befuddled on d'radio.

The only circumstance in which a sixth placed team would not qualify is if there is no Italian team AND no Scots team in the top 6.

Edit: No mention of Jimmy Duffy either in Thornley's article. He's not of fordehn or Dublin origin so hardly surprising.

Two questions on qualification - what happens if the Challenge Cup winners (e.g. us, or one of Quins, Gloucs, Sale, Montpellier) also qualify through the league? And what happens if the Champions Cup winners don't qualify through their league (Leicester, Wasps, N'hampton far from guaranteed, Stade Francais don't have a chance of finishing top 6)?

Next edit: Gerry's answered my first question (assuming he's right), the next best team in the Challenge Cup winner's league get's the 20th position. No idea what happens if Champions Cup winner fails to qualify through their league.

Yep, talking out his hoop.
Challenge Cup winner qualifies automatically.
Top team from each country qualifies automatically.
Then it's the next best 3 excluding those.
So if those next best 3 are all Irish, there are 4 Irish teams.

EDIT: He's got it right in the article alright.

gerry has kindof corrected his mistake in todays Irish Times article, he's given a long winded explanation of the qualification permutations he's starts off well but then he's loses me after that...

www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/gerry-tho...e-sceptics-1.2564575

Can anyone confirm if he's got it right this time?

gerry was right about one thing the sportsground has a better atmosphere than thomond park

Yeah he obviously hadn't brushed up on the qualification rules, which you would expect him to know, but in fairness the system has been changing constantly over the last few years. In my view he made up for it with the following statement about the improvements to the sportsground, and the introduction of the clan stand in particular: "It's a better atmosphere now than Thomand Park, let's be honest about it, it really is". THat'll stick in craw a little for a few of our neighbours down the road.

was just listening to Gerry there now and he got it wrong, he said it was impossible for all 4 teams to qualify only 3, we know that if the irish teams finish 1st-4th and then a welsh and scottish team finish 5th and 6th then all these teams go into the champions league with the 7th and final spot going to an italian team

ConnachtCows wrote: Anyone listen to Second Captains today?
I really like Gerry Thornley usually, and maybe he's right, and I'm wrong, but he said that only 6 teams will qualify from the Pro 12 this season, which have to include 1 from each country, so if the Irish teams filled the top 4 places, only the top 3 would qualify, and the fourth will need to go through the play-off.

Seems to go against what we've been thinking all season.
Pretty embarrassing, if the main rugby journalist for the Irish Times doesn't know how the league that the Irish teams take part in works

Maybe Gerry is simply excluding the 7th qualifications spot because it goes to one of the Itallian teams and they "technically" don't have to qualify.

Nope- he's wrong:
www.epcrugby.com/europeanrugbychampionsc...lification/index.php

Nineteen clubs will qualify automatically for the 2016/17 European Rugby Champions Cup in the following ways :.

• PRO12: The seven highest-ranked clubs based on their finishing positions in the league. The seven qualifiers must include at least one club from each of Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

• Top 14: The six highest-ranked clubs based on their finishing positions in the league.

• Aviva Premiership: The six highest-ranked clubs based on their finishing positions in the league.

To facilitate Rugby World Cup 2015 and to avoid fixture congestion, there will be no play-offs for the 2016/17 Champions Cup with the 20th place in the tournament going to the winner of the 2016 Challenge Cup.

If the winner of the 2016 Challenge Cup is already qualified, that club will earn a place in the 2016/17 Champions Cup for the highest-ranked club from its league which has not already qualified.

Anyone listen to Second Captains today?
I really like Gerry Thornley usually, and maybe he's right, and I'm wrong, but he said that only 6 teams will qualify from the Pro 12 this season, which have to include 1 from each country, so if the Irish teams filled the top 4 places, only the top 3 would qualify, and the fourth will need to go through the play-off.

Seems to go against what we've been thinking all season.
Pretty embarrassing, if the main rugby journalist for the Irish Times doesn't know how the league that the Irish teams take part in works

Ray or JOC? Or would you play Ray at 6, Mul at 8?
John O'Driscoll was a bit before my time...

Sure all they had to do was look in the Clan Hall of Fame
www.connachtclan.com/awards/hall-of-fame

Would agree 100% about Bruce and Ray. I also had a soft spot for James Downey and Mark McHugh but not sure I'd have them in there.

As for Buckley, there are at least two tightheads in the current squad who are better.

sea_point wrote: I had failed to spot this on the Pro12 site at the weekend, don't know whether to laugh or cry when whoever put this together put Tony Buckley in the Tight Head slot for greatest Pro12 Connacht side of all time...

*1* (substitute) cap for Connacht according to the Pro12 and EPCR websites.

Edit: Home loss to Llanelli 2004/05 season. Unused substitute on 2 other occasions.

I had failed to spot this on the Pro12 site at the weekend, don't know whether to laugh or cry when whoever put this together put Tony Buckley in the Tight Head slot for greatest Pro12 Connacht side of all time...(no really, Mushy himself. One assumes the Mush part was a reference to his scrummaging)..

No place for Bruce Farley, IMO the best (and most under-rated by Ireland and other Provinces) second row we have had in the pro era.

No Place for Ray Ofisa either... :ohmy:

All-time Connacht XV:
www.pro12rugby.com/news/19261.php#wk4030JucOIJzZOm.97

15. Gavin Duffy
In two spells in Galway, Duffy notched up 174 appearances for Connacht and was named captain for the 2011/12 season when Connacht finished eighth. Despite a successful stint at English side Harlequins, Duffy will best be remembered at the Sportsground and also represented Ireland at both XVs and Sevens level.

14. Matt Healy
Perhaps not yet a legend but should Connacht go on to claim an unlikely GUINNESS PRO12 triumph this season, he almost certainly will be. Five tries in his last three matches have taken his tally up to nine this season, and many are now calling for the 26-year-old to be called into the Ireland squad as a result. He currently has 21 tries in 53 Connacht appearances.

13. Robbie Henshaw
Still only 22 years old, Henshaw is undeniably one of the most talented players to come through Connacht's ranks and is set to be one of the greats for Ireland. But for injury he could have managed even more than his 65 appearances, and nine tries, for the province. A big part of Connacht's resurgence over the past two seasons, Henshaw's loss will be felt when he moves on to Leinster in the summer.

12. Paul Warwick
We're cheating a little bit by sticking him at No.12 as he mainly played at fly-half for Connacht, but the versatile Warwick was an instant hit after jetting in from Australia in 2004.
He left three years later for Munster but not before making his mark in Galway - topping 100 Celtic League points in his first season and going onto score nine tries in total in domestic competition.

11. Fionn Carr
Carr is another man in his second stint at the club, but was electric between 2008 and 2011 when he was the fastest winger in the GUINNESS PRO12 and scored 34 tries in just 73 appearances. He may not have hit the same heights since returning to the province in 2013 but has still managed another seven scores.

10. Eric Elwood
While playing for Connacht, Elwood made over 150 appearances and scored a record 318 points. His number of appearances for Connacht was the record until November 2009, when Michael Swift overtook him, but he is still number four on the all-time list of points scorers for Ireland with 296 from his 35 caps.

9. Kieran Marmion
Connacht's current first-choice No.9, Marmion is another man who could hit legendary status in Galway this season. He has missed just one of Connacht's GUINNESS PRO12 matches so far this term, and at just 24 years old has a bright future with the province. An ever-present since joining the club in 2012, Marmion has also played four times so far for Ireland, but could be the long-term challenger to Conor Murray.

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1. Ray McLoughlin
The first former British and Irish Lion in our line-up, McLoughlin toured in 1966 and 1971, and played 40 times for Ireland. Sports columnist Bill Bridge named him as 'Ireland's best openside prop of the last 40 years' in 2008, and in his playing days he also turned out for the Barbarians.

2. Ciaran Fitzgerald
An Ireland legend, County Galway-born Fitzgerald cut his teeth at the province before captaining Ireland to the Triple Crown in 1982 and 1985, as well as the Five Nations Championship in 1983. He also also captained the British and Irish Lions on their 1983 tour to New Zealand, and coached Ireland for two years after he retired.

3. Tony Buckley
A genuine man-mountain, Buckley began his career at Connacht back in 2004. Despite moving on to Munster and Sale Sharks, Buckley will always be remembered at the Sportsground for his size. He was one of the heaviest men playing professional rugby, weighing in at 21st 10lbs, and wore size 16 boots which had to be custom made for him in Germany.

4. Mike McCarthy
Two spells brought McCarthy - who is still doing the business for Leinster at the age of 34 - 160 appearances for Connacht. McCarthy played every game in the club's run to the European Challenge Cup semi-finals, and in their first ever Champions Cup victory over Harlequins in 2011/12.

5. Michael Swift
The most capped Connacht player of all time, Swift holds the record for appearances in the GUINNESS PRO12 despite being an Englishman. He originally played both as a flanker and a lock, but Swift played almost exclusively in the second row towards the end of his career.

6. John O'Driscoll
While most would now associate the O'Driscoll name with Leinster, it was Brian's uncle John who really put the family on the map. He represented Ireland 26 times and was a member of the touring British and Irish Lions side in 1980 and 1983. His brothers, Frank (Brian's father) and Barry, also managed two and four caps for Ireland respectively, and both also played for Connacht.

7. Johnny O'Connor
In two spells at the Sportsground, O'Connor made 137 appearances scoring 11 tries. He made 12 appearances for Ireland, and was part of the 2006 team that won the Triple Crown. Upon calling time on his playing career, O'Connor completed a degree in strength and conditioning and currently works as an academy coach at Arsenal FC.

8. John Muldoon
With over 250 Connacht appearances to his name and two spells as club captain, Muldoon is arguably the first name on the teamsheet in a who's who of Connacht legends. Currently Connacht's longest-serving and most-capped player, lifting the GUINNESS PRO12 title this season would be a well-deserved reward for years of dedicated service.