it was your typical O'halloran performance yesterday, i'm never sure which one will turn up the brilliant or the attrocious. He definitely looked hungry for the ball yesterday, I actually think that the competition in the backline might just be what he needed to show what he can do. Of course he wasn't really tested defensively yesterday. I wonder with this shit weather would they consider going to Donnybrook for the artificial pitch training.

not for the first time one of the forwards deserved the Man Of The Match, Muldowney was excellent in the loose and the lineout. I noticed also how he was encouraging players when maybe in the past he would have taken more of a backseat approach

Bit of a tweak in Ronaldsons hip is what ive heard nothing major but may have had an impact on the kicking from hand.

RonanL wrote:

wp_rathead wrote: Ronaldson is a leftie too though Sea_Point

And Tiernan was taking them regardless of the side of the pitch he was kicking to until he went off, at which point Carty did it. Strange one really, considering Ronaldson was belting them over from the tee. I'm not sure if it was one here or the boards Connacht thread, but someone suggested it may be related to his quad injury. I've no idea.

Yep, that is the most likely explanation.
Though you'd have to say that that would be worrying for Jack, if Ronaldson can perform that well carrying a quad injury...

wp_rathead wrote:
Some those stats are mad. Heenan made 20 tackles -that's fairly impressive considering Treviso barely touched ball in second half

Yeah Heenan's comeback is an absolute boost for the squad. You've got a single player who did 17% of the tackles among 23 players!

wp_rathead wrote: Ronaldson is a leftie too though Sea_Point

And Tiernan was taking them regardless of the side of the pitch he was kicking to until he went off, at which point Carty did it. Strange one really, considering Ronaldson was belting them over from the tee. I'm not sure if it was one here or the boards Connacht thread, but someone suggested it may be related to his quad injury. I've no idea.

Ronaldson is a leftie too though Sea_Point
But ya if TOH can get more distance I see no issue (something wish see more with Ireland using Zebo and Kearney for kicks on the right hand touchline)

Some those stats are mad. Heenan made 20 tackles -that's fairly impressive considering Treviso barely touched ball in second half

Notwithstanding the rabble that Treviso were (were the entire 23 on the piss Saturday night in town after Italy's wonderful win at the death in Murrayfield on Saturday) this was a good Connacht performance.

I agree with Sea Point on Ronaldson. He is a 10 who can play centre and must now be left to play out the remaining games of the season at 10. He's assured off the tee, and we'll forgive him those two awful efforts in the first half yesterday at finding touch from penalties. Poolman, Healy, Cooney, Muldowney, and Heenan also looked good yesterday, but Buccs would've given Connacht a better game yesterday than Treviso did.

ConnachtCows wrote: Craig was great from the kicking tee.
Had two very odd kicks from hand, from penalties. The first, it looked like it might have been planned as Danie and Niyi were in front of us, and seemed to be expecting the short kick
The second was just odd. Tiernan took over the kicking from hand then

Thought Cooney had a very good game, and agree with RonanL, Muldowney was everywhere. There was one point where he hurdled the ruck with ball in hand.
Buckley seemed to be getting patted on the back after the majority of scrums
Heenan looks to be getting back to his best
Masterson played well
The majority had good games
But....
Ah You needs to sit down and really think about where he sees himself in a few years. The lad is not learning at all. There was a penalty given against us at one stage. We couldn't see what happened, but one of the lads commented, "That must have been Rodney"
When every got up from the ground, we quickly saw that it was him.
At the moment, he is playing like someone who's not too interested in what they are doing. He has the potential to step up a good few levels, but for me, his attitude is wrong. We see him make the same errors, and give away the same type of penalties too often. He hasn't improved any parts of his game in quite a while, and looks to have taken a step back since Christmas.

Tiernan's a leftie, so he took on the penalties to the right hand side.
Makes sense especially on blustery days, and I'm surprised Ireland don't do it more with Kearney, who similarly is a leftie and has a massive boot also..

What Ronaldson offers is the ability to play the ball flat and terrify opposition defences. He's a strong carrier especially for a ten (maybe even stronger than Sexton), but also has good feet so he can vary between being direct and using his footwork to find gaps.

Really feel if he's given the backing for half a dozen or so games at ten we'll seem him flourish, he's a ten who can play centre...

Overall a great result, but they were awful in equal measure so the result/performances have to be kept in context...

Connacht Match, and Overall Stats attached...

Sol_ie wrote: Most athletic performance of the evening however was Pinky who I observed sprinting in the general direction of town/guinness post game. Robbie Henshaw couldn't have slowed him down.

Thankfully I was hauled ashore at about 8pm after the coaching staff observed a dip in performance. It's like he's gone asleep out there. Wait a second, he has gone asleep out there ...

Craig was great from the kicking tee.
Had two very odd kicks from hand, from penalties. The first, it looked like it might have been planned as Danie and Niyi were in front of us, and seemed to be expecting the short kick
The second was just odd. Tiernan took over the kicking from hand then

Thought Cooney had a very good game, and agree with RonanL, Muldowney was everywhere. There was one point where he hurdled the ruck with ball in hand.
Buckley seemed to be getting patted on the back after the majority of scrums
Heenan looks to be getting back to his best
Masterson played well
The majority had good games
But....
Ah You needs to sit down and really think about where he sees himself in a few years. The lad is not learning at all. There was a penalty given against us at one stage. We couldnt see what happened, but one of the lads commented, "That must have been Rodney"
When every got up from the ground, we quickly saw that it was him.
At the moment, he is playing like someone who's not too interested in what they are doing. He has the potential to step up a good few levels, but for me, his attitude is wrong. We see him make the same errors, and give away the same type of penalties too often. He hasn't improved any parts of his game in quite a while, and looks to have taken a step back since Christmas.

A solid team performance, Apart from the main contenders I thought that Loughney had an outstanding game when he came on. For that 20 mins he tackled everything (id say about 6-8 tackles in the 20mins) and was involved in most of the good stuff during that period.

Good to see a player who has struggled to get games through niggly injuries really put his hand up and make a claim.

Overall a good clinical performance that delivered all that we asked of them and more !

Great evening, must be a real confidence Booster for the lads. Everyone seemed to preform well, admittedly against less than stellar opposition. Tiernan had a great game, and I thought Craig had a very solid performance at 10, he's put his hand up for first choice there.

Most athletic performance of the evening however was Pinky who I observed sprinting in the general direction of town/guinness post game. Robbie Henshaw couldn't have slowed him down.

Aly was man of the match in my opinion also - he was everywhere, making big tackles, strong carries, great lineout/maul work, and he got a try.

The second half display in particular should fill the lads with confidence. If we can put in some good defensive performances, I think we can pick up a lot of points between now and the end of the season, particularly if we can keep our key players fit.

Thought Tom again was ferocious all over the park
Got to be strong contender for our Player of the Season

salmson wrote: Watched this back tonight and while most of the team stuck up a hand for man of the match, I have no idea how Muldowney didn't get it. He was absolutely phenomenal.

Agree totally, he was my M.O.M. also.

Watched this back tonight and while most of the team stuck up a hand for man of the match, I have no idea how Muldowney didn't get it. He was absolutely phenomenal.