green13 wrote:

Evil_g wrote: The Pro12 site has the attendance on Friday down as 3,433. I thought it was announced as over 4,000?

It was announced on Friday as over 4300 (can't remember exact figure) and it felt it too. Both stands looked well packed. Match was about 10mins on when I got there and it was difficult to get a decent spot, I usually stand behind Connacht bench but not a hope of squeezing in there! Also car park at Moneenaguisha was full. There were cars parked on footpaths on both sides of road towards Samhire and Cluain Mhuire.
3433 is definitely wrong. Anyone know if there is anyway of notifying them of their mistake?

The announced attendance was 4334 (I was oddly amused by the number being palindromic :pinch: ).

Looked nice and full too.

Thank you

Tg4 had them last night. So they should be on the player. It's just footage from the camera on the main stand.

connemara man wrote: So I'm after seeing the highlights. A few things I picked up. We were carved open for 2 of their tries. Our defensive structures really let us down some big gaps exploited. I'd say there will be serious words had.
Ronaldsons boot was solid
Healy took his try well a proper wingers try.
McCartneys try was well worked I like a training ground move like that. Hopefully the injury isn't too serious.
Henshaw looked well.
Cooney should have held on I know he was being tackled but that his momentum would have got him over.
The end try was a shambles bealhams pass hit of Browne to pop into the Treviso players hands. And then so many missed tackles.

It's nice winning with things to work on but better teams will have a field day

Where did you find the highlights?

green13 wrote:

Evil_g wrote: The Pro12 site has the attendance on Friday down as 3,433. I thought it was announced as over 4,000?

It was announced on Friday as over 4300 (can't remember exact figure) and it felt it too. Both stands looked well packed. Match was about 10mins on when I got there and it was difficult to get a decent spot, I usually stand behind Connacht bench but not a hope of squeezing in there! Also car park at Moneenaguisha was full. There were cars parked on footpaths on both sides of road towards Samhire and Cluain Mhuire.
3433 is definitely wrong. Anyone know if there is anyway of notifying them of their mistake?

I thought so. I always judge the crowd by the number of people behind the goals and there were quite a few there on Friday.

I won't update my spreadsheet just yet so.

Evil_g wrote: The Pro12 site has the attendance on Friday down as 3,433. I thought it was announced as over 4,000?

It was announced on Friday as over 4300 (can't remember exact figure) and it felt it too. Both stands looked well packed. Match was about 10mins on when I got there and it was difficult to get a decent spot, I usually stand behind Connacht bench but not a hope of squeezing in there! Also car park at Moneenaguisha was full. There were cars parked on footpaths on both sides of road towards Samhire and Cluain Mhuire.
3433 is definitely wrong. Anyone know if there is anyway of notifying them of their mistake?

The Pro12 site has the attendance on Friday down as 3,433. I thought it was announced as over 4,000?

One point on the game or more accurately after the game. I thought the interview with Eoin mckeown was very good . I always felt because of his demeanour on the pitch that he would be a hard interview but it was clear that he 1 was good craic and 2 really enjoyed the interview.

It's a great way to meet the players and have an informal chat, I remember Rodney's shortly after he was capped and the pride he had and the thanks he gave to Connacht rugby and the Connacht clan and fans was heartfelt and real.

We have had some cracking ones and long may they continue !!

So I'm after seeing the highlights. A few things I picked up. We were carved open for 2 of their tries. Our defensive structures really let us down some big gaps exploited. I'd say there will be serious words had.
Ronaldsons boot was solid
Healy took his try well a proper wingers try.
McCartneys try was well worked I like a training ground move like that. Hopefully the injury isn't too serious.
Henshaw looked well.
Cooney should have held on I know he was being tackled but that his momentum would have got him over.
The end try was a shambles bealhams pass hit of Browne to pop into the Treviso players hands. And then so many missed tackles.

It's nice winning with things to work on but better teams will have a field day

Never thought I'd be unhappy with being top of the league but that felt like a point dropped and even though Trevisio were better than I had anticipated our performance was not what we would could have hoped for.

Don't think the ref helped though, not that he got anything wrong just that he was allowing the attacking side a fair bit of leeway in not releasing the ball when tackled and that really didn't suit us as we were throwing men into the breakdowns looking for turnovers. With another ref there would have been penalties to us for them not releasing but as it was there was more space for them as we had more men than necessary in the rucks. Even allowing for that our defense was not good enough, they didn't need to work for their scores. Not too bothered about their last try, we were going for it and out on our feet and the way the turnover happened that was always a possibility and didn't affect the overall result in a meaningful way. Some of our play in that last passage was very encouraging and some of our best most fluid play of the season, doubt it's a coincidence that that corresponded with AJ playing 10. I was a bit nonplussed by the signing but first impression were good, hope he gets a proper run in Siberia.

Not sure Robbie worked at FB. He seemed keen to be involved in everything and that's tough to do from fullback so when he did get the ball there were times when he was looking to do too much, he was still very good and only player on the park that could have scored the try he did.

Hope the injuries aren't bad......Cooney looked in pain so that's not great.

First off sympathies to Rodney on the death of his father. Tough time for him.

On the match tonight, mixed feelings. Great to go top of the league but longer term I think Scarlets will be happier. I hope we don't regret not taking all 5 points tonight. The Treviso try at the end pretty much summed up a somewhat frustrating evening.

First half was scrappy, lots of scrums, resets, needless errors and Treviso were giving us plenty of it. Treviso try was very sloppy, came off slow ruck ball and we weren't able to hold what should have been a straightforward defensive line. Very disappointing. We looked like we had a try just before the break but we must have lost it over the line even if none of the officials looked well placed to make the call.

Again in the 2nd half Robbie did well for the try and it looked like we were getting a grip but they effectively went the length of the pitch again to score.

Tom McCartney did well to finish the quick lineout despite his injury but it wasn't until Matt Healy's try we shook them off. Again we should have had the 3rd try earlier, dominant scrum under the posts on 60 minutes and we couldn't finish. 3rd try at that stage would have given us lots of time for the 4th.

At the end we did a lot well but it just didn't happen and there is always a likelihood of a try in the other direction in cases like that.

Ronaldson proved tonight he should be left with the kicking at goal duties, missed one but 2 delightfully judged conversions and got a couple of important ones in the first half when we were struggling. Crowd was back up a bit again tonight. Hopefully we'll keep the crowds coming back for the rest of the season.

Being honest at the start of the season I was targetting 23 or 24 points from this batch of games and it was imperative that we won our first 5 home games. We've bettered that and 28 is a strong foundation for us to build on once the league resumes. Top of the league and plenty to work on which is good.

I don't underestimate the challenge Enesei will pose next week but between injuries and tiredness we'll have to look at some significant changes. We've put in a big effort the last few weeks. There is no point going there without a strong experienced spine or we'll be in trouble but Pat will have plenty of thinking to do to strike the right balance.

As far as I know Connacht have never won 6 consecutive games in a row (we won 7 in a row in the Challenge Cup in Bradley's last year but they weren't consecutive games). A chance for the lads who go to Russia to make history next week.

Healy, Cooney and McCartney injuries aren't a big issue if they are short-term ones. Heffernan/JHW + Porter/Blade + Poolman/Leader can do the job, and well, for a few weeks.. White is a concern with AhYou probably back to N-Z, and tormanted for quite a while of course...

Scoreline flatters Connacht some and could turnout to be costly with injuries to White, McCartney, Healy and Cooney. Defense still a problem for Connacht even discounting the final Treviso try. But you cannot complain about taking 6 of the first 7 games and standing at the top of the table.

Doesn't sound like the greatest half of rugby this season, but they have the lead and have rectified the scrum so will hope for better n the 2nd half.

No help from Leinster so far but they're still in touch, so hopefully being at home will see them through.

RogueXV wrote:

Accidentally Onside wrote: I know it's not a good idea to talk down the opposition but that is an incredibly weak Treviso team :blush:

We should win fairly comfortably, but it's not good for the league to have a team so far off the pace.

Let's hope it is a comfortable win. Still needs to be played smart. Secure the win then go hunting for the bonus point, but keep your shape in doing so. No throwing the ball around wildly trying to score or giving up soft tries figuring it doesn't matter since the game is in the bag. The defense still needs work on for the tougher league games ahead.

Thought the games against the Italians last year were pretty dull but played out exactly like you say above, which is how it should be to an extent. No point going all out with top shelf or complicated moves, or going harlem globetrotters against opposition of that level, far better to extinguish any resistance and slowly but surely build up 5 points.

Haven't seen any comments on Henshaw at 15, is it a misprint? Is it a Joe selection? or even an anti-joe selection??? Conspiracy theories ahoy!

Accidentally Onside wrote: I know it's not a good idea to talk down the opposition but that is an incredibly weak Treviso team :blush:

We should win fairly comfortably, but it's not good for the league to have a team so far off the pace.

Let's hope it is a comfortable win. Still needs to be played smart. Secure the win then go hunting for the bonus point, but keep your shape in doing so. No throwing the ball around wildly trying to score or giving up soft tries figuring it doesn't matter since the game is in the bag. The defense still needs work on for the tougher league games ahead.