You are right Connachta but there is very little to be positive about I'm afraid.

Quinn Roux looked very good coming into the team and the scrum looked a lot more solid add to this the excellent work rate when protecting rucks and there was definitely improvement on what we have seen so far.

Carty was horrendous again though and not just his place kicking, some of his kicking from hand both for touch and for field position was atrocious. His decision making was awful too. Unless we get 10 sorted we're goosed.

connachta wrote: Too much negativity here. I was clear before the season kicks off. The main objective for me this season has always been competing in ChampionsCup.
For now the bench is weak but Pat WILL have the team (fingers crossed) he needs for that achievement.

Roux and Heenan already makes us look better for their 1st appearence. They can only be better
Add, by order of importance
Ronaldson/Robb at 12 for extra physicality against agressive defences
Boshoff to kick
Cooney as 21, instead of Blade unable to get quick balls from the rucks
Browne/Marshall at 19
SOB/Masterson/Nepia to give competition to our current backrow
White/McCoy/Carey at 18
IMO those 6/7 comebacks can boost us from a team playing 40-60 minutes of average rugby to a team playing well the entire game

I hope you're right. My concerns though are the players starting already are not delivering.

Too much negativity here. I was clear before the season kicks off. The main objective for me this season has always been competing in ChampionsCup.
For now the bench is weak but Pat WILL have the team (fingers crossed) he needs for that achievement.

Roux and Heenan already makes us look better for their 1st appearence. They can only be better
Add, by order of importance
Ronaldson/Robb at 12 for extra physicality against agressive defences
Boshoff to kick
Cooney as 21, instead of Blade unable to get quick balls from the rucks
Browne/Marshall at 19
SOB/Masterson/Nepia to give competition to our current backrow
White/McCoy/Carey at 18
IMO those 6/7 comebacks can boost us from a team playing 40-60 minutes of average rugby to a team playing well the entire game

Amsterdamage wrote: 1 Free State Cheetahs 34
2 Blue Bulls 30
3 Sharks 25
4 Western Province 23
5 Griquas 20
6 Golden Lions 17

Top 4 go through to playoffs, Lions still to play in this round vs bottom team and final game vs Sharks. Hard to see them progress from here.
Marnitz to be in Galway next weekend???

1 Free State Cheetahs 33
2 Blue Bulls 30
3 Sharks 25
4 Western Province 23
5 Golden Lions 22
6 Griquas 20

latest standings, and it's still unlikely the Lions will qualify, Western Province have an easier final game.

1 Free State Cheetahs 34
2 Blue Bulls 30
3 Sharks 25
4 Western Province 23
5 Griquas 20
6 Golden Lions 17

Top 4 go through to playoffs, Lions still to play in this round vs bottom team and final game vs Sharks. Hard to see them progress from here.
Marnitz to be in Galway next weekend???

I agree fully tlocke, I don't know what game others were watching but to say Carty had been anything but awful is just plain wrong.
Obviously their are mitigating circumstances with him and he will get better with games but I don't think it was any coincidence that our best form last season came worth him out of the team. He has a long long way to go to become an international class 10, the potential is there but unless Boschoff hits the ground running I think we should be playing ronaldson at 10 when available or our season could be over by Christmas.

Let's be honest, no player has covered themselves in glory in the first couple of games , but i do think Jack was particularly poor in the first couple of games (I didn't see the Zebre first half so I don't know about that).

I could list examples to backup my claims but I think that would be quite a negative thing to do.
Jack's back from a long layoff , he'll get better with every game along with the rest of the team.

Due to the recent form of the team Connacht will be underdogs again against the Scarlets.
The pressure is really on them, I can see Connacht getting a few quick tries on the counter.

Lets hope it's enough.

biffo77 wrote:

sligsup wrote:

biffo77 wrote: I know the team isn't performing, but from the 2 matches I've seen this year, number 10 is not the problem that's impacting the team. Neither Jack nor Shane have been given the kind of platform to play well, as a fl half, the pack hasn't been performing as a unit, and we've been defending like mini's.
I hope the new guy can cure everything, but I fear he'l just get the same bad ball that Jack has been getting in the first matches.

when your forwards work hard to win a penalty in an extremely kickable position and your OH misses it , that is a problem for me especially the position we were in against glasgow - it would have given us that bit of extra confidence - and if Marnitz can bring that reliability from the tee that is enough for - ironically SOL accuracy from the tee is really high in the few games he has played.

How many nailed-on kicks did we miss? How many stupid penalties have we given away to give away 3 points, and more?

IMHO, it's the ease of which GLA and OSP walked through for tries that's the problem, going by the bits I know about the Zebre game, it was same problem there.

First time tackles not even slowing down the opposition is killing us, the lack of support for tacklers. Against Ospreys, Matt Healy was being dragged along the ground as he was holding onto the one of their players, and not a single Connacht player went in to help him, and that was in Ospreys 22, a perfect place to get a turn over, or even one of those penalties, that Boshoff is going to nail 100% of the time. Similarly, not enough fast support for a tackled player. Muldown et al, can whinge at the ref when pinged for holding on, but not enough support and backup is being given, at least 3 times v Opsreys, our scrum half got over run at a ruck.

It looks to me like we're badly missing Andre's coaching. Last year you knew watching that guys were't going to be left isolated, in a ruck or in tackling. This year, it's been a certainty.

I don't dispute a lot of your points. My point is we need a reliable kicker to get us territory and convert a high percentage of kicks when the opportunity arises. Missing straight forward touches and kick able penalties is not down to quality of ball presented to the OH but the mental strength focus and ability him and I believe and hope Marnitz will be a significant step up on our current options.

sligsup wrote:

biffo77 wrote: I know the team isn't performing, but from the 2 matches I've seen this year, number 10 is not the problem that's impacting the team. Neither Jack nor Shane have been given the kind of platform to play well, as a fl half, the pack hasn't been performing as a unit, and we've been defending like mini's.
I hope the new guy can cure everything, but I fear he'l just get the same bad ball that Jack has been getting in the first matches.

when your forwards work hard to win a penalty in an extremely kickable position and your OH misses it , that is a problem for me especially the position we were in against glasgow - it would have given us that bit of extra confidence - and if Marnitz can bring that reliability from the tee that is enough for - ironically SOL accuracy from the tee is really high in the few games he has played.

How many nailed-on kicks did we miss? How many stupid penalties have we given away to give away 3 points, and more?

IMHO, it's the ease of which GLA and OSP walked through for tries that's the problem, going by the bits I know about the Zebre game, it was same problem there.

First time tackles not even slowing down the opposition is killing us, the lack of support for tacklers. Against Ospreys, Matt Healy was being dragged along the ground as he was holding onto the one of their players, and not a single Connacht player went in to help him, and that was in Ospreys 22, a perfect place to get a turn over, or even one of those penalties, that Boshoff is going to nail 100% of the time. Similarly, not enough fast support for a tackled player. Muldown et al, can whinge at the ref when pinged for holding on, but not enough support and backup is being given, at least 3 times v Opsreys, our scrum half got over run at a ruck.

It looks to me like we're badly missing Andre's coaching. Last year you knew watching that guys were't going to be left isolated, in a ruck or in tackling. This year, it's been a certainty.

biffo77 wrote: I know the team isn't performing, but from the 2 matches I've seen this year, number 10 is not the problem that's impacting the team. Neither Jack nor Shane have been given the kind of platform to play well, as a fl half, the pack hasn't been performing as a unit, and we've been defending like mini's.
I hope the new guy can cure everything, but I fear he'l just get the same bad ball that Jack has been getting in the first matches.

when your forwards work hard to win a penalty in an extremely kickable position and your OH misses it , that is a problem for me especially the position we were in against glasgow - it would have given us that bit of extra confidence - and if Marnitz can bring that reliability from the tee that is enough for - ironically SOL accuracy from the tee is really high in the few games he has played.

I know the team isn't performing, but from the 2 matches I've seen this year, number 10 is not the problem that's impacting the team. Neither Jack nor Shane have been given the kind of platform to play well, as a fl half, the pack hasn't been performing as a unit, and we've been defending like mini's.
I hope the new guy can cure everything, but I fear he'l just get the same bad ball that Jack has been getting in the first matches.

Evil_g wrote: Just noticed the team was announced yesterday. He's not even benching for the third week in a row.

Selfishly I'm nearly happy hes not playing less chance of getting injured and although lacking match practise should be fresh when he gets here as we need to integrate him into the first 15 asap.

Just noticed the team was announced yesterday. He's not even benching for the third week in a row.

pinky wrote: I'd rather wait a couple of weeks and take delivery of a guy who's won something.

He has 2 starts and 2 sub appearances from the first 4 games and has been dropped altogether for the last 2 in favour of developing players who are staying. It appears he's only being kept in case of emergency so I'd question how (the quite unlikely prospect of) getting a winner's medal for sitting in the stands will improve him in any way.

I'd rather have him asap.

I'd like him to make his debut in the RDS.

I'd rather wait a couple of weeks and take delivery of a guy who's won something.