I think every Connacht fan knew in their heart of hearts that this was always going to be the outcome. Pat normally departs in this type of fashion normally. Our midfield, good lads though they are, are miles off what Henshaw & Aki did last year. We just didn't have the juice this year. Re-group, re-assess, new strategy and Sign SOME PLAYERS Connacht asap.

Thanks for 2016 Pat and safe travels. A new Connacht must be created over the summer..............

Ya I think with Bundee or even Griffin there we could have won, it seemed fairly evident that Poolman was out of place, obviously it was tough on him being thrown in out of position, a hugely improved effort from the lads, and maybe on a different day with a bit more luck we could have taken it. But roll on the Challenge cup, what are the odds of us playing Gloucester in the final, because it's nearly guaranteed they'll be in the final or else it wouldn't be the Challenge cup

I'm going to try and put a positive spin on it and say that with the qualification rules changing next season might be our last chance to win the Challenge Cup

Much better performance than what we've seen recently, but you can't help but wonder what might have been if Bundee had been there...

Devastated with the result. So gutted. And then I think back to the hard times Connacht has come through. And then I think next season is next season. We will continue. Life is not over. There is always next year. The guys did their best today and that is all any supporter wants to see.So while I am upset I just am so proud of these guys. Year in year out they work their backsides off to entertain us, and they always fight. And that is Connacht. They fight. Who cant be proud of that. And kudos to the fans who made it to the game. The Fields of Athenry was clearly heard throughout the game. So with the best team and the best fans how can you lose. Only in result and I always thought the result is overrated

Better performance but didn't do enough. Ronaldson needed to get that final kick within 7 or 8 metres out to give us a real chance to attack them. Very disappointing but ultimately Stade would probably have beaten us next weekend even if we had managed to get over at the end. While it's disappointing to miss out on Champions Cup we'd have been bottom seeds and would have struggled badly against the top sides especially if we were missing a few players.

Hopefully we'll get some positive news on signings in the next couple of weeks and we can build towards next season.

not a fair end to the game at all with them just piling in to kill the ball, the lads can be happier with that but we still left it behind ourselves

in fairness I have to say that yellow is harsh considering we didn't get one

Need a try now, under the posts at 79 mins

ha at least he didn't do a Henshaw in the 6 nations

Matt Healy in a Maul, not sure how much weight he added, but it went over

get in, come on Connacht

Great bit of continuity there we need to make this count

I know he had a tough task coming into the side at such short notice but Poolman has been so so bad. Ronaldson on the other hand has been the best player on the pitch by far

Edit: Northampton have obviously realised Poolman is incapable of making a tackle and have ran straight over him for a try

Ya but that penalty there Northampton players in on top of the ball and they get the penalty

No idea how we didn't get a yellow there, seriously got out of jail with that penalty.

green13 wrote: Don't know what happened either and I missed it if commentators mentioned it. Just saw on/off caption for Healy and Kelleher after maybe 2mins played. Missed Browne altogether, did he start?

Browne pulled out before kickoff, calf injury. Not sure what happened to Kelleher, Healy's doing well though.