Match highlights:

clanman wrote: forgot Robertson McCoy was still in the squad, he can cover tighthead and loosehead. I think we will need him if Buckley is injured

Think Buckley, McCabe, Cooney, and maybe O'Donnell will all play loosehead before McCoy does but you never know.

forgot Robertson McCoy was still in the squad, he can cover tighthead and loosehead. I think we will need him if Buckley is injured

Mark Mostyn wrote:

connachta wrote: Being dominated by a front-row that struggled all lasr year is very worrying. Buckley for Glasgow please

We weren't dominated to be fair it was very even with them having a slight edge, but yeah if we're struggling in the scrum it's going to be a tough season.

Even against Bristol in the scrum = dominated by 95% of the teams we'll face...
But Buckley could change it all

connachta wrote: Being dominated by a front-row that struggled all lasr year is very worrying. Buckley for Glasgow please

We weren't dominated to be fair it was very even with them having a slight edge, but yeah if we're struggling in the scrum it's going to be a tough season.

Being dominated by a front-row that struggled all last year is very, very worrying. Buckley for Glasgow please

As others have said it was a decent performance, not much more. Lineout was good, scrum struggled against their starters then dominated their subs; Line speed wasn't particularly impressive in defence. Didn't really do anything special in attack but Matt especially caused them problems all night, Craig was good too. McCabe looks to have a bit about him, Butler was one of the best players on the pitch, Marmion was sharp, and Healy was my my man of the match. Kelleher was dangerous when he got a bit of space but suspect in defence. Ultan really really struggled, but it's very understandable that he's rusty. I thought Jack was good but he still plays too deep and too passively and he's not going to progress until he starts attacking the line more.

Above all else, it's great to be back.

pinky wrote:

Rinkadink wrote: we'll be shouting from the sofa and maybe a game or two if you play near us.

Newport in three weeks time. An extra pair of lungs is always welcome ...

Yeah it's pencilled in and as some of you may have noticed we have lungs. :silly: Although just realised it's a Friday night game instead of Saturday/Sunday so will check with the boss to see if I can make it?!

Bristol are home at Ashton Gate on Sunday 17th to Richmond if any of the clan are making a weekend of it and need a rugby fix before they go.

Rinkadink wrote: we'll be shouting from the sofa and maybe a game or two if you play near us.

Newport in three weeks time. An extra pair of lungs is always welcome ...

Rinkadink wrote:

connemara man wrote: Got chatting to 3 great Bristol fans hope the season works out for ye!

Thanks and likewise.

Is this ranty blog man posting by the way? :lol: If so didn't get a chance to say goodbye as you vanished quick... maybe a good thing if you have any alcohol allergies.

That's me I disappeared before I got tempted to stay and go drinking! Glad ye enjoyed Galway

connemara man wrote: Got chatting to 3 great Bristol fans hope the season works out for ye!

Thanks and likewise.

Is this ranty blog man posting by the way? :lol: If so didn't get a chance to say goodbye as you vanished quick... maybe a good thing if you have any alcohol allergies.

Some thoughts from a Bris perspective;

Wasn't out strongest side and we had some strange combinations, guessing Pat is still experimenting with a lot. That said we named and used less players (29, was it?) than all our previous pre season matches where we had 40+ and that team had most of our big guns in it in some shape or form.

Our defense felt quite leaky at the worst times, we conceded what I felt were some soft tries yet did well in other parts of the pitch. Our broken field running/counter attacks seemed to cause you some problems yet our set piece and line out was woeful. Also gave way too many unforced turn overs/easy penalties/poor kicks. Your 11 (Healy?) gave us all sorts of problems whenever he had the ball - you need to look after him - also you were able to repeatedly win the contact area and complete offloads which we didn't seem capable of defending against.

Connacht weaknesses I noticed were slow line speed which the likes of young Prothero whom came on late exploited nicely, not sure about your scrum as Tiny seemed to go well for far too long given his age and what happened in prem last season, and your place kicking at goal. How many kickers do you have in your squad? All in all I don't feel you guys had to use all the gears to get a comfortable and deserved win.

Also want to say what an amazing welcome we've had, from the clan and staff at Murty Rabbitt's especially, and we will certainly be back again. Thank you very much. Best of luck for the coming season, we'll be shouting from the sofa and maybe a game or two if you play near us.

That was just about good enough from Connacht yesterday. We'll need to be putting 4 tries on teams week in week out to secure bonus points during the regular season. It was a much improved performance over what we saw last season but there was an alarming amount of loose play that a team faster than Bristol could have punished us with. Passing is crisp and it's nice to see players taking the initiative to kick the ball when there was nothing else on. Not once were Connacht pinned back in their own half or forced back from the gainline. Jarrad Butler was the stand out Connacht player for me. Jack had a good game, and we didn't hear a peep from Maddigan. Our centres were dangerous in attack and strong in defense. Cian Kelleher made two nice breaks, but I'd still say he's out of form compared to Healy and Scholes. Overall a strong performance and a perfect warm up for next week.

What was in the season ticket holders packs lads? Wont be able to make the season opener but assuming as usual I can pick it up at the kings game.

If I have one issue with Connacht defence it is that when opposing team gets inside our 10m line you just think for the worst. It has been my belief that we have been unable to hold teams out in the last year when they get that close to our line. And to be able to do so is fundamental to any possible success. So forgive me (Connachta) for feeling a bit of DEJA VU against Wasps.

That said I am delighted that Jack has had a couple of good games. He will be instrumental in how well Connacht will do this year.

Ah it was a grand game we won but the Bristol team weren't upto much. Like no one played badly but there are definitely work instead for the next week. From the new guys Butler played really well, McCabe was good ball in hand but was sloppy when tackled a few times. It's easy to see why Ulster fans liked Scholes. We had a decent scramble defence that was only called into action due to poor tackling or sloppy hands going forward and the ball spilled loose. Healy with Ball in hand looked good and ran some lovely lines, bit still has the getting the ball into his hands issue. Marion was his usual self and Carty was much better than last season.

I think I'm not sold on match because we really could/should have put a big enough score on them, and gave them too many opportunities.

Got chatting to 3 great Bristol fans hope the season works out for ye!