Dear Matthew,

I have put all my faith in you. You get a second star in a row from Eric. I was impressed with handling last week, kicking let you down. I have full faith in you, please do not let all the supporters down. we want you to nail that jersey.

yours sincerely,

the one who is perfect

I have been calling on Elwood to cop himself on a bit and pick Jarvis ahead of O'Connor for ages now. With what I saw the other night, I feel am completely justified in my thinking.
Jarvis has absolutely brilliant hands and he gets our back row - O'Hallaran / Griffin - flying in a way that I haven't seen O'Connor do all year. His passing and rugby brain make him the ONLY option at No.10 from now on if common sense prevails in the club.
As for his kicking, you can change/work-on technique. We have a former Irish No. 10 as head coach and if he can't sort out Jarvis's kicking style then I wonder what is going on at Connacht!! However, you cannot train to have a natural rugby brain and that's what Jarvis has in abundance. I was delighted to hear that he was starting (hence the rather loud roar out of me as it was announced during the warm-up).

While not wanting to wish ill to a Connacht player, maybe it was a blessing in disquise that O'Coonor was forced off as this may have been only way Elwood would have started him. I , for one, am most happy with what I saw and so should everyone else.....for Connacht's sake!!

jarvis played well and looks like our best available option at 10 now wit nikora on bench. He isnt a goal kicker tho and mite never be able to produce (even given time) the conversion rate a team like connacht need to be competitive and win games. Cud be a case of using him like madigan is used wit goalkicking someone elses responsibility.

With that in mind does anyone rate tadgh leader as a 12. especially wit mcsharry injured? i read regularly that he lands the kicks consistantly at galwegians. if we cud fit him or someone like him into the team jarvis wud be perfect at 10.

Murph has done well in the HEC games. It's as if he's a big game player. Our problem is we can't afford the luxury of that kind of player on the books!

Agree re Murphy. Myself and alot others in the clan stand were roaring at him to speed it up between phases to get to the rucks quicker. Very casual. Passing was good though. We really need a good scrum half to come in next year

I thought Jarvis did well in general with the obvious exception of the place kicking. He takes the ball fairly flat inviting 12 & 13 to run on to it and get overbthe gain line. He varies the game well. Certainly an improvement on O Connor. Pity he didn't have better service in the first half. O Donohoe had a nightmare, easily the poorest game from him this season. Murphy quickened thing up when he came on but he's not the player he used to be or could be. He appears to do the minimum required, passes the ball then jogs to the next phase. He's lost his hunger for the game as far as I can see.
It'll be interesting to see the half back selection for the Aironi game.

I'd say he's a step up from NOC, but not a massive one at this point. He's young, so hopefully he will improve...especially on the kicking. We're not a good enough squad to leave nine, twelve, or however many points out there on missed but make-able kicks.

very good passer of the ball and looks huge when standing next to nikora. from the first 3 games he did kick well and we won them games but he completely changed his kicking style. only one step back. i didnt notice anyone else using this before. maybe he needs that changed but very good in open play.
starter from now on

We have been calling for it for a long time and finally got it last night. He got a good run. What are peoples feelings? I saw on boards some people say he didnt cut it?

I think our backline ran from depth onto the ball at speed. He did not run out of ideas as quick as NOC who resorts to the high kick.

Goalkicking was the obvious let down. If we could make him a kicker I could see him owning the jersey.

I personally feel he needs to start from now on. Huge difference between him and NOC. Any other opinions?

If we're talking about all the stuff O'Connor can't do then this would be a lot longer message...

Off one of our rucks, Jarvis was able to pass it to Vainikolo in a way that Fetu looked like an offensive weapon and made some tidy yards. O'Connor cannot do that.

Sorry lads, too much anger there. I apologise but for another week this is embarrassing