I've heard from someone that Carty put a lot of work into his kicking game over the summer and not just placed kicks but also getting more distance and accuracy from ball in hand kicks, this was definitely evident from the dragons game. was pleasantly surprised with Browne/s performance but still think Muldowney and Roux are ahead of him in the second row.

GTTC wrote: Any word on marmion injury?

Bruising to the hip, may play the w/e according to the injury update.

www.connachtrugby.ie/squad-update-ahead-...game-5/#ConnachtNews

Healy also a doubt for Glasgow, McKeon out for 3 weeks.

Dave Mc is back.

I'm sure the two games in Croke Park had a lot to do with it, but the official attendance on friday night of 3,624 was the lowest for a home league game since Treviso in December 2011.

Connacht v.	2015-16		2014-15	2013-14	2012-13	2011-12	2010-11	2009-10
Newport Gwent Dragons	3,624		4,123	4,033	4,958	3,706	1,371	1,485
Cardiff Blues			5,247	5,168	3,869	3,996	1,856	1,425
Zebre			5486	4,084	4,856
Edinburgh Rugby			5267	4,038	4,930	4,324	1,586	1,460
Benetton Treviso			3880	3,850	4,112	3,614	1,563
Ulster Rugby			5921	5,485	6,463	5,017	3,761	2,435
Scarlets			5,631	4,172	4,074	3,408	1,135	1,756
Ospreys			5226	3,888	4,680	4,107	2,035	1,412
Leinster Rugby			5,917	7,210	5,813	6,582	4,582	3,250
Munster Rugby			7745	6,227	7,789	7,022	4,795	4,125
Glasgow Warriors			4430	4,185	6,081	4,189	1,268	1,982
Average			5,352	4,758	5,239	4,597	2,395	2,148

Any word on marmion injury?

Thought Brown @ 5 ; Aki @ 12 ; TOH @ 15 all had super games. Great to see.

With our possession levels in the first half, we really shouldn't have been biting nails with 5 to go until Carr went over. But we were

Wonder how bad Healy's injury is? He looked to be struggling a lot as he came off.

It was an annoying match to be honest. Mixing the bad with the good across the park.

Our game management in the second half was terrible. Cooneys kicks kept us in trouble when they weren't making touch and just kept inviting dragons onto us. We really needed to play the corners more kill the game a bit.
It's great to get the win and have a competitive match under the belt.

It'll be a bigger test next week we'll need to step up.
I hope the injury list isn't too bad

menacethedenis wrote: What happened at the end there? The ball didn't go 10 from the kick off yet somehow they got a penalty to earn a bonus point.

The kick off went short but we went to play the ball and knocked it on meaning we lost the advantage of the ball not going 10 and it was overturned to a scrum advantage for them. They then won a penalty off the scrum. We probably would have been better served leaving it off and having a scrum in the middle of the park with options both sides but it was there to be gone at so wouldn't be overly critical as the game was in the bag by that point anyway.

What happened at the end there? The ball didn't go 10 from the kick off yet somehow they got a penalty to earn a bonus point.

Up and running with a win to maintain our good home record against Dragons

First game of the season is always going to be difficult to get everything the way you would like. First half was generally ok. Could have added another try possibly but built a score and defended when we needed to. 2nd half we gave away a very sloppy try after half time and from there on the 2nd half was edgy. We were always on top but Dragons were hanging in there and we couldn't quite shake them off. Some of our decision making in defence and in terms of clearing our lines was very questionable and for me we stood off too much in defence and at ruck time whereas Dragons defence pushed up on us putting us on the back foot.

Pleasing aspected was Tiernan O'Halloran did well at full back, gathered anything thrown at him with ease and looks like a player in a good frame of mind at the moment. Will be a healthy battle for the starting full back spot. Bundee made some good contributions tonight and got us over the gain line at key times and did major damage for the crucial final try. Carty looks to be playing with more confidence now thought he had a good evening. Parata did ok and will have learned from this evening. It was good to see Fionn Carr still has the gas to finish when he got his chance.

Quinn Roux in the pack did well I thought. Rodney made some big carries and did well at scrum time but was tired coming off. Masterson is a player who will do well for us during the season.

The defence in the 2nd half would worry me and how we struggled to deal with Dragons blitz defence. The scrum started out fine but as the game wore on struggled a bit. I'd worry a bit about or depth at prop coming late into games.

Being overly critical its the 3rd time in a row against Dragons where we've allowed them escape with a bonus point. I appreciate we were trying to play the ball at the end to try and get the 4th try but frustrating all the same. Dragons probably deserved their point overall but more ruthlessness will be needed if we are hoping to get a result away in Glasgow and in the weeks ahead.

connemara man wrote:

clanman wrote: anyone doing a periscope of the match? turns out I cant go this eveving

I'll try and periscope what I can through the Clan periscope channel

Hi!

quickscope website was closed, could you put the Clan stream on meerkatviewer.com , please?

Thanks a million

Hope enjoys the new season!

clanman wrote: great even if it's just to see the players coming onto the pitch

Drink and craic may influence the quality as the game goes on

great even if it's just to see the players coming onto the pitch

clanman wrote: anyone doing a periscope of the match? turns out I cant go this eveving

I'll try and periscope what I can through the Clan periscope channel

clanman wrote: anyone doing a periscope of the match? turns out I cant go this eveving

Good idea but submarine parking in Lough Atalia these days is a rip-off.

anyone doing a periscope of the match? turns out I cant go this eveving