sea_point wrote: Forwards:

Ronan Loughney, Stewart Maguire, Denis Buckley, Rodney Ah You, Ethienne Reynecke, Dermot Murphy, Adrian Flavin, Michael Swift, Mike McCarthy, Mick Kearney, Eoin McKeon, John Muldoon, Johnny O’Connor, Ray Ofisa, George Naoupu

Backs:

Frank Murphy, Paul O’Donohoe, Miah Nikora, Matthew Jarvis, Eoin Griffin, Henry Fa’afili, Kyle Tonetti, Tiernan O’Halloran, Fetu’u Vainikolo, James Loxton, Gavin Duffy (C)

Good to see Maguire in the squad again, but does this mean Ah You and Locks are starting? Bit strange if he puts two TH's on the bench. Suprised Rogers isnt in there

Razor good to go, woo-hoooo...!!! :woohoo:

Connacht squad to face Aironi
Thursday, 19 April 2012 10:57


Connacht Rugby have announced an extended squad to face Aironi this weekend (The Sportsground – Saturday 21st April – kick-off 17.00)

There is only one omission from last week’s squad with Brett Wilkinson sidelined after picking up a calf injury in the victory over Ulster last weekend. Ray Ofisa has recovered from the knock that saw him replaced early on in that match and Adrian Flavin will face a late fitness test to assess his availability after missing out last weekend.

Connacht are looking to finish the season on a high and after recent victories over the Dragons and Ulster Eric Elwood’s men are well placed to climb the RaboDirect PRO12 table. Just two points separate Connacht from the Dragons and Treviso and a best ever eighth place finish is certainly within reach.

Connacht Rugby will throw open it’s doors for a family fun day this Saturday. From 2.30pm the Sportsground will be transformed with bouncy castles, obstacle courses, rugby skills, meet the players and much more. Further details can be found on www.connachtrugby.ie

Connacht squad to face Aironi:

Forwards:

Ronan Loughney, Stewart Maguire, Denis Buckley, Rodney Ah You, Ethienne Reynecke, Dermot Murphy, Adrian Flavin, Michael Swift, Mike McCarthy, Mick Kearney, Eoin McKeon, John Muldoon, Johnny O’Connor, Ray Ofisa, George Naoupu

Backs:

Frank Murphy, Paul O’Donohoe, Miah Nikora, Matthew Jarvis, Eoin Griffin, Henry Fa’afili, Kyle Tonetti, Tiernan O’Halloran, Fetu’u Vainikolo, James Loxton, Gavin Duffy (C)

Great news for saturday Linley says Ray is expected to have recovered to make the line up for his final home game.

www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/51302/c...sportsground-fixture

She doesn't mention the composition of the front row but confirms Wilko is out, hoping Buckley gets the start but will be interesting to see what way Dan wants to play it.

Nice to see the Clan awards getting a mention at the end there as well (if we are giving out a award to Best Journalist of the season - Linley gets my vote).

That's the live one on after the last game? Will be Ray be attending? Does anyone know about Keith Matthews?

I'm in Oz at the mo so won't be there. Would dearly love to be as well.

Anyone who wants to give Ray a send off, please make sure to come along to the Player's Forum.

That's a shame about Ray and Bret both nice guys and great players. Really hope we do something for Ray to give him a proper send off!

ummm, wrote: Wilko's injury from Saturday has ruled him out for the rest of the season, harse.

NOC also confirmed out for the final two games. The way Miah is playing he would have been hard done by to lose his place, though.

I'd say Miah emergence of late probably will give the management something to think about over the summer. It really looked like they were giving NOC every chance to succeed as the #1 outhalf and in truth he was starting to reward their patience, but now they can't ignore Nikora so it will be an interesting battle for the #1 and #2 spots when Parks comes to town.

rossir, wrote: With wilko out eric may be tempted to push ronan loughney to loose head and start Rodney.

After the 70 minutes that Buckley put in against Ulster they would be crazy to start Rodney. Put him on the bench and if things go really well for Connacht bring him on for 15-20 minutes because he does need time, but do not start him.

connachtexile wrote:

I think loughney has to be left at tight head and Buckley given the start at loosehead. Rodgers should be given the bench spot to back him up.

+1

Buckley deserves it on form and he's only gonna get better with more gametime. Does anyone know about Ray and Bret's injuries? Are they gonna be out for long?

Brett's out for the rest of the season with calf knack. I don't think we'll see Ray either so I hope we get a chance to give him a proper send off.

I'll just have to invent a transporter so...

fifthcolumn wrote: Probably can't make it to Galway this weekend Is this match being televised?

Nope, not on TV..

Probably can't make it to Galway this weekend Is this match being televised?

I think loughney has to be left at tight head and Buckley given the start at loosehead. Rodgers should be given the bench spot to back him up.

+1

Buckley deserves it on form and he's only gonna get better with more gametime. Does anyone know about Ray and Bret's injuries? Are they gonna be out for long?

None I'm afraid, but we lead the league in Losing Bonuses

With wilko out eric may be tempted to push ronan loughney to loose head and start Rodney. That would be a mistake imo as rodney will be exposed in scrum and scrum is a key part of what has turned around connachts season. I think loughney has to be left at tight head and Buckley given the start at loosehead. Rodgers should be given the bench spot to back him up. Buckley has shown a lot of promise in the scrum and in general and should be capable of giving team 60min of good scrummaging which will be key in this game.
As others have said Miah needs to continue to reward the team with regular 3 pointers and that will give platform for everything else. He had a bit of a blip in 2nd qtr v ulster and that coincided with them coming back into game(granted humph lites blip? gave connacht lead in first place).
I expect a good win here and hopefully a bonus point, but they cant get caught up in the pary atmosphere that will be around sportsground from early and need to be professional about it.

Have connacht had a bonus point win this season? i dont remember one.

ummm, wrote: Aironi are getting tougher and tougher, but we'll be out for revenge. They narrowly lost to Scarlets, and I wouldn't like to be playing them away from home again.

But final home game, with a big send off, should make for an emotional night

Lads need to foucs on getting the job done, it'll be a real war as Aironi will be desperate to win the first ever away fixture in their last ever away game. If we go into this still backslapping ourselves after the Ulster game we will come a cropper. With Wilko out they'll come after our scrum and try to neuter us through the pack. We will need to play an expansive game and move them around the pitch, our rucking game will be key. Most of all we need to start well, get on the board early and make them play some rugby. Our discipline needs to be a lot better than last week also, we canot afford to keep them in the game with free points...

Wilko's injury from Saturday has ruled him out for the rest of the season, harse.

NOC also confirmed out for the final two games. The way Miah is playing he would have been hard done by to lose his place, though.