They may well be just back from a rest but this is the 3rd game of 10 in a row so we need to be sensible and I don't think we have been sensible in picking this team.

My main concern is that we'll put out our strongest team here and then send a weakened team to Bayonne which may kill our chances in the Challenge Cup and make this game pointless.

Ok playing our strongest team is a chance to bed the new players in, get used to systems etc. but its unlikely to tell us a lot about ourselves. An away game in France will.

So are you proposing not to play mccartney until the xmas games? where do you expect him to build a relationship with his props ? his lineout jumpers and the various moves off lineouts.

They have only played a few games, they are just back from a break, i would imagine that Buckley goes better in games rather than training, the more games players play with each other the better the knit.

You cant turn form on or off, you cant legislate for injuries, The Claw once injured his back feeding the child while sitting down, injuries can just as easily happen training as in a match.

Im sure Pat and his team know what they are doing.

many of you guys, always talk about players as a whole.. I see the individual cases according to various factors like age, matches played, depth squad.

Is mcCartney your last experienced hooker : yes absolute protection
Did Muldoon played a lot : yes so slight rest would have been good espacially for weakened Bayonne at home
Is Buckley the 3rd best LH in Ireland : Yes, but Loughney is ok, so just a little rest sometimes
Is McKeon indispensable for now? No, Faloon and Naoupu have the same level, so you can and must play him

I just have the impression a lot of you like to reson with "sentimental" variables. Don't misunderstand me, they have a part of truth. Like for economics "confidence" is a base, just saying it's not all we have to focus on

Only player Id have liked to see rested really was Muldoon- Browne is a much more effective 6 for me, and Swifty coulda captained the side.. no biggie though and really looking forward to the game..

Its the right selection.

We have played 11 games thats 11 games not 31 games. they are just back after a two week break, few players if any have played in all games, at this stage we are beginning to gel, now is not the time to be messing around with team selections and making wholesale changes.

resting players and wrapping them in cotton wool will only imo lead to injuries, playing on a regular basis makes you battle hardened

Yes players need to be rotated but not in a wholesale way, its done with a player here a player there so that the team cohesion isnt lost.

Its a good plan to make the Sportsgrounds a place to fear coming, to put down a marker and keep Connacht Rugby in the news in a good way.

You simply cant wrap players in cotton wool and then expect them to perform at a high level.

thescore.thejournal.ie/bernard-jackman-g...ble-1817545-Dec2014/

Yeah, I was going to try and defend Pat on his selection but I'm finding it difficult when I consider the team is in the early stages of a 10 week stretch of games and this game is the best option to rest a couple of players while still coming up with a result. If you have designs on winning the pool in the challenge cup then you really can't make too many changes next week when Bayonne is liable to name a much improved team. Maybe he plans on doing a little rotating over the next 3 away games with an eye towards coming back with his best team for Munster at the Sportsground but it seems like an opportunity missed.

Borders no.2 wrote: Obviously the home games are being targeted but for me the sledge hammer to crack a nut analogy posted earlier is correct. With such a busy schedule ahead we could have made a few changes to ever present personnel here and still won quite comfortably, preserving our best side for next week and the busy schedule ahead.

Personally I'd have made 7 or 8 changes, kept a strong bench in reserve and gone from there. We got it wrong the last time we did this with La Rochelle followed by Exeter and Ospreys. We may not have got anything from the last two games anyway but we didn't give ourselves much chance with the teams we fielded. I hope we haven't shot ourselves in the foot again. Said it earlier but nobody wants to remember

Even if we win by 50 points tomorrow it'll be a different ball game next week, Bayonne have no interest in qualifying but will defend their home patch with a full blooded performance so thinking we can go and win there with 9 or 10 changes next week would be extremely naive.

If we do go with 9 or 10 changes next week I'd seriously question what the thinking is. Either we are taking the competition seriously or we aren't. Couldn't agree more
Anyway now that we've gone with this team lets make sure we get the 5 points to keep us in contention to qualify. Even if it is their reserve side we need to respect them early on, get the basics and set-pieces right, build a bit of a gap and I'd say they'll lose any interest they might have fairly quickly.

I think we will qualify as a best loser from this group but this approach may cost us a shot at a home quarter-final.

Some think that winning the competition is useless (I don't), so an away quarter-final :whistle:

Obviously the home games are being targeted but for me the sledge hammer to crack a nut analogy posted earlier is correct. With such a busy schedule ahead we could have made a few changes to ever present personnel here and still won quite comfortably, preserving our best side for next week and the busy schedule ahead.

Personally I'd have made 7 or 8 changes, kept a strong bench in reserve and gone from there. We got it wrong the last time we did this with La Rochelle followed by Exeter and Ospreys. We may not have got anything from the last two games anyway but we didn't give ourselves much chance with the teams we fielded. I hope we haven't shot ourselves in the foot again.

Even if we win by 50 points tomorrow it'll be a different ball game next week, Bayonne have no interest in qualifying but will defend their home patch with a full blooded performance so thinking we can go and win there with 9 or 10 changes next week would be extremely naive.

If we do go with 9 or 10 changes next week I'd seriously question what the thinking is. Either we are taking the competition seriously or we aren't.

Anyway now that we've gone with this team lets make sure we get the 5 points to keep us in contention to qualify. Even if it is their reserve side we need to respect them early on, get the basics and set-pieces right, build a bit of a gap and I'd say they'll lose any interest they might have fairly quickly.

I think we will qualify as a best loser from this group but this approach may cost us a shot at a home quarter-final.

connachta wrote:

phatguerilla wrote:

connachta wrote: inflicting 50 points to La Rochelle Zebre and Bayonne 2nd strings is simply not enough to build on... My opinion...

A few early season wins and I think we're getting ahead of ourselves ... have we ever had a bonus point win against Zebre? I don't think so. And considering how many complaints there have been about the lack of bonus points, I think one against Zebre at home was easily the right decision. Connacht aren't suddenly so good that they can put out a B team in Europe and remain competitive, and a C team in the B&I would definitely get creamed regularly considering how much the Eagles struggle at times in that competition as it is.

Zebre team was probably the weakest ever coming to the Sportsground. Lots of International players selected, for once nearly more than Treviso.
And my point wasn't about Zebre per se, just sayin that we can't build a "fortress" based on these references

You "Build a Fortress" by beating any team that comes to town, regardless of quality. If a visiting side brings a weakened side then they should be soundly thrashed for their troubles, not given the benefit/opportunity of facing an equally weakened side. If they want to pull that crack at home then that's their choice but coming to our house, then any side should expect a thrashing...

Yes Pat could have sent our a changed side +/- a couple of payers, but we can all see what he's doing and at the end of the day time will tell if he's right. But his philosophy is very Kiwi, we've seen it before at World Cups where team's in NZ's group hoisted the white flag before a ball's kicked to focus on the other group games. So NZ thank them by sending out a strong side and run in ten or more tries

You're right that Zebre were a poor team, however I still think it makes sense to get a professional win without fuss, rather than an edgy close fought win against opposition you never want to be close to. The former is going to give the team a better feel good factor than the latter. And I also think that after the Cardiff draw the team has had to be more clinical and not give up opportunities however they present themselves.

phatguerilla wrote:

connachta wrote: inflicting 50 points to La Rochelle Zebre and Bayonne 2nd strings is simply not enough to build on... My opinion...

A few early season wins and I think we're getting ahead of ourselves ... have we ever had a bonus point win against Zebre? I don't think so. And considering how many complaints there have been about the lack of bonus points, I think one against Zebre at home was easily the right decision. Connacht aren't suddenly so good that they can put out a B team in Europe and remain competitive, and a C team in the B&I would definitely get creamed regularly considering how much the Eagles struggle at times in that competition as it is.

Zebre team was probably the weakest ever coming to the Sportsground. Lots of International players selected, for once nearly more than Treviso.
And my point wasn't about Zebre per se, just sayin that we can't build a "fortress" based on these references

phatguerilla wrote: A few early season wins and I think we're getting ahead of ourselves ... have we ever had a bonus point win against Zebre? I don't think so. And considering how many complaints there have been about the lack of bonus points, I think one against Zebre at home was easily the right decision. Connacht aren't suddenly so good that they can put out a B team in Europe and remain competitive, and a C team in the B&I would definitely get creamed regularly considering how much the Eagles struggle at times in that competition as it is.

did'nt think we had enough players to make a 'C' team, maybe I'll come out ot retirement.
Pontyprid would destroy the 2 french teams we have had to face so far. I see Johnny O'Connor almost go as far as to suggest we don't go any further in the Challenge Cup.

clanman wrote: did'nt think we had enough players to make a 'C' team, maybe I'll come out ot retirement.
Pontyprid would destroy the 2 french teams we have had to face so far. I see Johnny O'Connor almost go as far as to suggest we don't go any further in the Challenge Cup.

Exactly and it's insane to build the main team thinking about Eagles

mary hinge wrote: These guys are professional rugby players on a winning run and want to play

No doubt they want. Every "normal" players want, that's not the point. It's about global management.

connachta wrote: inflicting 50 points to La Rochelle Zebre and Bayonne 2nd strings is simply not enough to build on... My opinion...

A few early season wins and I think we're getting ahead of ourselves ... have we ever had a bonus point win against Zebre? I don't think so. And considering how many complaints there have been about the lack of bonus points, I think one against Zebre at home was easily the right decision. Connacht aren't suddenly so good that they can put out a B team in Europe and remain competitive, and a C team in the B&I would definitely get creamed regularly considering how much the Eagles struggle at times in that competition as it is.