Yep, only a bonus point win was any real use to us.
A win wouldn't have been much better to us than an LBP. Only difference is we now can't draw on Saturday.
There have been 64 LBPs in the league so far and only 1 draw, so the benefit of getting the fourth try far outweighed the risk of losing. The decision to attack on the last play rather than kick the ball out was more than justified.

Decadence wrote: Still reeling from this result despite the long weekend, we were a yard away from having a guaranteed home semi final, avoiding a rematch with Glasgow and a free shot at finishing top of the table. Even just the win would have meant a losing bonus on Saturday would have guaranteed a home semi. We already missed a golden opportunity for a home semi against Grenoble, we need to get the job done on Saturday.

Not quite.
A win would have put us on 72, losing bonus against Glasgow at 73.
Glasgow would finish on 75 or 76 with a win against us.
Leinster BPW at home to Treviso next sat would put them on 73 and ahead of us on boht points difference and games won.

Still reeling from this result despite the long weekend, we were a yard away from having a guaranteed home semi final, avoiding a rematch with Glasgow and a free shot at finishing top of the table. Even just the win would have meant a losing bonus on Saturday would have guaranteed a home semi. We already missed a golden opportunity for a home semi against Grenoble, we need to get the job done on Saturday.

Psycho work to do too. Leinster scrum is scary. But Glasgow isn't reputed for that area. Not like we'll be facing the best scrum in europe. Treviso has a good one, and it was Finlay's first apperence as LH since the Ireland cameo. With White we should handle it

I think it has to be Finlay. He needs to be on the field. Hopefully Nathan is back or we are doomed with Rodney. Glasgow, Leinster, Ulster and Scarlets/Munster will be targeting us in the set piece come semi finals.

Lads, ease up. It was a huge disappointment to us all. No need for the niggles. As teams go that was the worst team we put out this season. So we got a right kick in the knuts. It does not take away from our season. And that's where its at. We have had the best season on record. The only people to blame for that are our team. Because they are feckin great and a joy to watch

eezipc wrote:

menacethedenis wrote:

eezipc wrote:

menacethedenis wrote: Oh and fitzgibbon is the worst ref in the league. He is utterly incompetent, come back Leighton all is forgiven

Again idiotic.
FitzGibbon is not the reason Connacht lost that game.

I never said he was, genius

Stay classy.

Great contribution. Stay on boards.ie if you're only here to call people idiotic.

menacethedenis wrote:

eezipc wrote:

menacethedenis wrote: Oh and fitzgibbon is the worst ref in the league. He is utterly incompetent, come back Leighton all is forgiven

Again idiotic.
FitzGibbon is not the reason Connacht lost that game.

I never said he was, genius

Stay classy.

Would try Finlay as LH again, just needed time to switch from TH, could be better next week.... Add Dillane Muldowney and Muldoon pushing behind, and it could be a more cohesive unit. But all depends on Nathan recovery...

FACECUTTR wrote: I agree. Really thought he would have improved but he hasn't. We need the academy guys stepping up and or the likes of Bent coming in.

Problem is who do we line out in the front row. Every other position is nailed down (do hope McGinty starts) but who will our front 3 be next week. God but Connacht really suffer with the loss of Denis. Hear tom has played at loose head. Could possibly be tom, Shane and Finlay? Its a huge headache.

Pat has talked all season about a process. And I don't disagree with what he says. However that process requires a significant amount of skill over simple physical prowess. On that count the team that was fielded yesterday simply didn't have the skill levels to execute the process. And I think that was the biggest failing last night.

connachta wrote: This team doesn't kick enough, a strategy of running the baall doesn't mean we have to do it all the time. One clearance only by McGinty yesterday, straight to touch from outside the 22. Lam has 5 days to work and insist on that + the scrum without Buckley

but what I wanna say is : the win even with TBP wasn't that important

1) a Lbp next week wouldn't have been enough if the Leinster strong selection is able to get LBP in Ravenhill
2) a Lbp is not an easy thing to control against Glasgow, and we're not build for that
3) a Lbp is a defeat, just 1 week before the similar game against the same team, it's not all good for confidence
4) we're officially in the semi-final and didn't see any severe injuries after treviso
5) that's why I'm rather ok with the "win or die" situation, especially because with Aki Marmion Dillane Muldowney Muldoon etc back, it's a completely different team, and I claim we'll be favorite against Glasgow if White is back (White is White , Dillane is Dillane )

Ya look yesterday was a massive disappointment and I was livid at the time that we threw away 3 points at the end in search of 1. That might have been an option if we were 20 or 30 yards further up the pitch but we put ourselves in the only position that we could lose that game (i.e. leading by less than 3 and a scrum to Treviso with the final play). However, while 5 may have given us a chance of finishing above Leinster, 4 wouldn't really. To me once the dust settled to me yesterday wasn't overly important unless we drew next week. We needed to beat Glasgow anyway.

This was the game to take a bit of a risk with selection and the team that was there should have been good enough but regardless of what team is out there, its been a recurring problem all season that we have these brainfarts of 10-15 minutes after building a lead.

We created more than enough chances in the 2nd half to kill it off and a bit like the Brive game, it was one of those nights where we seemed to butcher everything.

We need to improve massively to compete against a Glasgow side slap bang in form at the moment but despite the disappointment we still secured Top 4 last night which for a long time I never thought I'd see us achieve. Last night shows another example of how we still have a distance to travel and of how important it is that Bundee and Dennis Buckley are available for the run in.

On a side note the TG4 player was a joke last night. Fair play to them for picking up the games but if they are showing them, it has to be more professional than that.

I agree. Really thought he would have improved but he hasn't. We need the academy guys stepping up and or the likes of Bent coming in.

Darragh wrote: How did Rodney play?

I assume no better than the previous muck?

Admittedly didn't see the first half hour but thought he was poor in the time I did see of him. Having said that Loughney was hooked first for Bealham and the scrum never seemed close to parity for the majority of the match, even after the subs came on.

I think Loughney's really gone backwards in the last couple of years, would have thought that he could potentially have been exactly the sort of player Lam would have liked but he has regressed, don't think he will get kept on after this contract if something doesn't change.

Darragh wrote: How did Rodney play?

I assume no better than the previous muck?

Rodney did ok, scrum issue was mainly on the other side, he made his carries and tackles and there were no brain fart penalties.

How did Rodney play?

I assume no better than the previous muck?