Great to have Loughney back in the front row and some of the younger lads are going to get another chance off the bench this week. These experiences should stand to them in the future.

15 Gavin Duffy (C)

14 Fetu?u Vainikolo

13 Kyle Tonetti

12 Dave McSharry

11 Tiernan O?Halloran

10 Niall O?Connor

09 Paul O?Donohoe

01 Brett Wilkinson

02 Adrian Flavin

03 Ronan Loughney

04 Michael Swift

05 Mike McCarthy

06 John Muldoon

07 Ray Ofisa

08 George Naoupu



16 Ethienne Reynecke

17 Denis Buckley

18 Dylan Rogers

19 Mick Kearney

20 Eoin McKeon

21 Dave Moore

22 Miah Nikora

23 Henry Fa?afili

ummm, wrote: I'm in exactly the opposite boat.

My local are showing the game for me. I'll be sharing a 9pm kick off and no sound with a pub full of people who couldn't care less who'll be just getting started with their noisy weekends.

Arseholes!

ah ummm, you should know all the players and the refs calls by now without the sound.

hope the team is out in next 20mins before i hit the gym but i expect the team i writen on this thread yesterday to start

I'm in exactly the opposite boat.

My local are showing the game for me. I'll be sharing a 9pm kick off and no sound with a pub full of people who couldn't care less who'll be just getting started with their noisy weekends.

Arseholes!

really looking forward to this game even more so than any game in the last two years.
friday games just happen after the week, running around trying to get stuff done in time.
saturday games seem to drag on a bit on a friday.

Can't wait for tomorrow now but I think it will be good for the team when the H Cup distraction is over and they can focus on getting a few results in the Pro 12 before the end of the season and end on the up.

I heard that there were approximately 6000 sold yesterday. 7,000 might be the capacity without the corners full. Hope to see a big crowd tomorrow

when they say there is less than 1000 tickets left, id that based on a full capacity of 9000 attendance or is it a lower capacity for Friday, If it is a Full Capacity attendance of 9000 which means 8000 tickets are already sold that is an amazing effort by the fans...since we only had 5500 for the Gloucester game!!

Fair play to Connacht getting behind their Province!

fair enuf packie if u see them practise.

for the record i base my opinion on their conversion rate in games which is poor by anyones standard.

if they are practising as much as u say then the problem is much worse than i originally thought.

niall o connor kicks the ball too high imo for the sportsground which allows elements come into play too much. either way he misses far too much for a frontline kicker who practises regularly.

jarvis looks like he wants to sit on the ball he gets so close to it and no matter how much practise u say he does his conversion rate is below 40% which is too low for any kicker.

niikoro while his style looks ok he still misses too much.

i had hung onto the hope that extra practise would help rectify this deficiency in the team but it appears i have erred in my optimism.

it appears we really do need parks!

rossie wrote: all good kickers practise extra away from squad wit a coach. thats why they are good. maybe its why ours arent.

Its not, they practice their kicking a lot, I've seen them on many occasion, perhaps using a supporter message board to base your opinion on is not the best idea

all good kickers practise extra away from squad wit a coach. thats why they are good. maybe its why ours arent.

Do you know they train twice a day??

whatever about the session starting late(they cud have had a meeting etc) i dont think that 30/35 min kicking practice at this level. ahud be an hour plus each day wit kicking coach esp given their conversion %. hopefully they will put it in tomorrow and friday.

good to hear there wil be a good crowd, lookin forward to it!

Benji wrote: Its a tough place to go for Ulster but this Ulster team seems to have a tougher edge to those that have come before.
Clermont are a serious side. I could see Ulster losing but scoring 4 tries. It will be a tough game for Clermont as they like to play a fast running game.
Do Ulster go through if they get a point in the game? Think so

One point probably does it, but not a guarantee. If both Edinburgh and Cardiff win and 'Quins put a 5 pointer on Connacht, Ulster lose out. If any of those three lose Ulster move on without the aid of a bonus point unless the loser is Endinburgh and they somehow manage a losing and try bonus point in the process.

Finally they can top their pool with a losing bonus point provided they first prevent Clermont from earning a try bonus point and either (a)score more tries than Clermont in the game or (b)match them in tries and keep the losing margin to less than 5 points.

It's that simple really.

Connacht Rugby
Less than 1,000 tickets for Friday's game remaining and they're moving fast. Make sure you don't miss out. They are on sale via Ticketmaster or the Connacht Branch office.

great i didnt know we sold that much. happy days. hope everyone is in good voice and makes that ground hoping. quinns sold less than 200

Great preview on youtube for Friday, can't wait. Clips of the crowd last weekend are great. Reynecke nearly got smothered with a hug.