I read somewhere (probably here) that Pat expected to know by last night which of our 5 (!) internationals would be available on Friday.

Anyone want to swing by training to see who's wearing bibs?

The Welsh are always giving out about Irish referees officiating in their games at home to the Irish sides. I don't have any stats but the times we have had an Irish ref against the Welsh compared to Munster or Leinster would make an interesting stat.

i'm going to say we get 4 out 5 back from the ireland camp, i think there are 7 scarlets players involved in their camp, as well as that i read that they had 16 players on the injury list, i rate their no.7 Davies i hope he is still injured

Mannion wrote: is ronaldson fit? if he is lam should go with marion ronaldson aki henshaw healy pooleman and tiernan....it will be interesting to see if lam brings in a flyhallf nxt year one that can kick pressure kicks!!

Mannion, you must have missed menacethedenis's post, Ronaldson, McKeon & Delahunt have all returned from injury and will be available for selection. Question marks on the availability of the 5 Connacht players in the Irish 6N squad remain, though I have to imagine Joe would like to see Henshaw get more gametime before the Wales match. Connacht probably can get by without Marmion but being without Dillane and both White and Bealham would be a bit of a hardship. Hope Ultan and Finlay are released along with Robbie.

I've never understood the Irish obsession with number 10 being the place kicker, and only the 10.

Let Ronaldson take the place kicks (or Leader, if playing, the longer kicks), and let Jack or AJ concentrate on playing the main fly half's role, of getting the team attacking, and maybe the kicks from hand.
Jack or AJ, missing the kicks is also ruining their confidence for the rest of their jobs on the field. We're playing good, go forward rugby when they are on their passing game.

The French (and Ulster) teams, let who ever is the best kicker take the kicks, and maybe it's something we should try out.

We need a reliable place kicker, and if he's a hooker or number 15, so be it, they take the kicks.

is ronaldson fit? if he is lam should go with marion ronaldson aki henshaw healy pooleman and tiernan....it will be interesting to see if lam brings in a flyhallf nxt year one that can kick pressure kicks!!

really looking forward to this one, I've read that quite a few scarlets fans are travelling over. massive game for us

Pen Tryhouse
The man who has scored more tries against Connacht than anyone else this season.

menacethedenis wrote: Whitehouse again...... I predict 2 penalty tries

5th time in 19 games this season, and serious question marks over his officiating in 2 of the previous 4 - does this lad have a caravan at Dog's Bay or do Munster have a Juventus-style say over who officiates for their rivals? Answers on a postcard...

Whitehouse again...... I predict 2 penalty tries

Squad Update ahead of Scarlets game
26th January 2016

As attention returns to the Guinness PRO12 and the visit of league leaders Scarlets to the Sportsground on Saturday, the Connacht medical team provided the following update.

Post Enisei game

There were no new injury concerns following the 47 – 5 bonus point win over Enisei-STM at the weekend.

Others

Craig Ronaldson (shoulder), Shane Delahunt (concussion), and Eoin McKeon (hip) have all recovered from their respective injuries to return to full training this week. All three are available to the coaching team for selection.

Ireland players

Finlay Bealham, Nathan White, Ultan Dillane, Kieran Marmion and Robbie Henshaw continue to train with Ireland. An update on their availability for Connacht this weekend will be provided to Pat Lam and the coaching team during the week.

Connacht v Scarlets
Saturday January 30th
The Sportsground
Kick off 3pm

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Accidentally Onside wrote:

greyingbeard wrote: Will any of our 5 internationals (yes 5!) be released back to us for this game?

God I hope so or we'll be without O'Donell, White and Bealhan at TH :dry:

Henshaw needs the game time so lets get the roseary beads out he's allowed to play

fairly sure we can call back O'Donnell from u20 6 Nations if needs be - its the JWC that we not allowed block players

greyingbeard wrote: Will any of our 5 internationals (yes 5!) be released back to us for this game?

God I hope so or we'll be without O'Donell, White and Bealhan at TH :dry:

Henshaw needs the game time so lets get the roseary beads out he's allowed to play

Will any of our 5 internationals (yes 5!) be released back to us for this game?

If we resolve our kicking issues then we're in with a shot against Scarlets, if not then I worry

Yes we have turned a corner. Our recent form has been poor/unfortunate, we didn't suddenly become a bad team, no one has thrashed us, or given us a major reality check( or have they????), we could feasibly have won a good few of them. So we have to believe. I cant believe how tense these leagues become once you become immersed in it. There is going to be some noise from the clan terrace...