Shane Layden broke his hand against Munster so he's going to be for another two months

i think we might have got a gem in Peter Reily and with injuries and players rested he looks like getting some gametime this season which can only do well for Connacht and Ireland.

Reilly came in early enough for rodney and scrum remined strong. O bryne did fine imo but it was a difficult game to judge players on as intensity drifted out of it for long periods in 2nd half. conneely while i saw him on field i dont recall anything of significance from him but thats again the way the game went.

How did the academy lads Reilly, O Byrne and Conneely??

Henshaw was standing in front of me with his dad for the game. No sign of any injury and person beside me who knows father said he was in with good shout for squad next saturday.

From what i saw Rodney took a big frontal hit and was taken off as a precaution.He and Rob Penney were having a very Jovial and friendly chat after game. Did he play for Penney before?

The game itself was a real game of 2 halves. The first was a tight messy affair dominated by forward play and mistakes and was very stop start in nature. The Jarvis sinbinning was for slapping the ball out of the munster players hands at penalty time. I didnt see what reynecke did even though it was right in front of me but ref had no doubts and went for card immediately.

The second half was a very open affair and Munster broke the connacht line at least 8 times. They knocked on twice, were penalised for forward pass 3 times and connachts scramble defence saved them on another 3 occasions which was good to see.

The connacht scrum was solid until last 10 min when it was largely acadamy but the lineout options were often extravagant to say the least and cost some ball particularly in first half.

Dara and Tadgh leader had good 2nd halves and Heffernan, kearney and Qualter(defence here particularly) were impressive for connacht. Jarvis had a decent 2nd half both with boot and general play and imo connacht have to find a role for him this season.

It was an interesting game rather than a good game and it was great to see all the 1st teamers in the Clan terrace, many with their families, supporting the team. In fact there was quiet a decent crowd at this game.

From Munsters perspective i think some of their backs performed well but ultimately failed to score mainly for the reasons above but also some terrible decisions at scrum half when playing 13 men particularly but also throughout the game.

From a people watching perspective it was great to see Rob Penny and Simon Mannix in the flesh in their munster gear.Both look like serious individuals and Mannix is a big boy. He chose to watch most of the match from the far corner of the Bohermore Terrace and will not have been happy with munsters butchering of chances in last 10 of 1st half particulary.

connachtexile wrote:

Anyone know why Henshaw didn't make the team? Was it tactical or is he injured?

he played vs quins 5days ago and scored a try.
my guess he was given a rest, no point killing the guy in pre season

Connacht’s 2nd row Mick Kearney has built on the promise he showed last season by the evidence of this monstrous display.

Methinks this bodes well for the future. If Nolan can't make it with injuries we have a star in Kearney (if we can keep Leinster away from him).

Other pluses are that Shane Layden is back from injury and are younger guys are putting there hands up to be picked. I really think we're gonna surprise a few people in the B&I Cup.

Anyone know why Henshaw didn't make the team? Was it tactical or is he injured?

knockon. ie

Winning Start For Connacht Eagles
August 23rd, 2012 admin

Connacht Eagles 13
Munster A 6

Alan Deegan continues his pre-season rambles with a report from Thursday’s challenge at the Sportsground.

Summary

Connacht Eagles got their season off to a winning start with an excellent win over a callow Munster A side.

Game in a nutshell

A rumbling forwards try from Rodney Ah You, converted by Matthew Jarvis, after nine minutes set the home side on their way. However, Munster fought back with two JJ Hanrahan penalties to keep the margin down to a single point.

Munster were putting untold pressure on Connacht at ruck time. This pressure led to two Connacht players going into the sin bin for offences at the ruck, Jarvis and Ethienne Reyecke, just before half time.

Connacht defended heroically either side of half time and weathered the storm without conceding a point while down numbers.

A slew of replacements on both teams disrupted the flow of the match while they got up to speed. Once they settled in both sides produced entertaining, flowing rugby. But neither team could find the killer touch to score a try.

Late pressure from the home side garnered them two kickable penalties, which Jarvis slotted expertly in the cross breeze.

Five Things we Learned from the Game.

From a Munster perspective, their traditional, disruptive forward strength continues to be their biggest weapon.
From a Connacht perspective, these young players don’t fear playing their southern neighbours.
Connacht’s 2nd row Mick Kearney has built on the promise he showed last season by the evidence of this monstrous display.
Munster’s 2nd row Darren O’Shea shows huge potential and is a real lineout threat.
The new “Crouch, Touch, Set” is a HUGE improvement, allowing for more full on scrummaging.
Teams
Connacht: 15 Shane Layden; 14 Steve Macauley, 13 Tadhg Leader, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Conor Finn; 10 Matthew Jarvis. 9 Marcus Walsh; 1 Finlay Bealham, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 3 Rodney Ah You; 4 Mick Kearney, 5 Danny Qualter; 6 TJ Anderson, 7 Eoghan Grace, 8 Jonathan Gardiner

Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Peter Reilly, 18 Jamie Dever, 19 Dave Heffernan, 20 Aaron Conneely, 21 Barry Digby, 22 Darragh Leader, 23 Finn Gormley, 24 Alex O’Meara, 25 Jacob Walshe

Munster: 15 Luke O’Dea; 14 Ronan O’Mahoney, 13 Ivan Dineen, 12 Sean Scanlon, 11 Danny Barnes; 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Neil Cronin; 1 David Kilcoyne
2 Duncan Casey, 3 John Ryan; 4 Philip Donnellan, 5 Darren O’Shea; 6 Barry Hayes, 7 Barry O’Mahony, 8 Sean Rennison

Replacements: 16 Jerry Cronin, 17 Ger Slattery, 18 Christy Condon, 19 Ed Kelly, 20 Shane Buckley, 21 John Ryan, 22 James Murphy, 23 Johnny Holland, 24 Cory Hircock 25 Cian Bohane, 26 Richie Mullane.

Munster Rugby wrote: www.munsterrugby.ie/rugby/10706.php

Connacht Eagles Edge It At The Sportsground
23 August 2012, 5:03 pm ::Match Report By The Editor


Two second half Matt Jarvis penalties, both in the closing stages, were enough to give Connacht Eagles a 13-6 win over Munster A today in Galway.


Connacht led 7-6 at the break and although they came under early second half pressure, managed to retain their shape and enjoy most of the territorial advantge in that period.
The home side enjoyed almost all the territory in the opening quarter and had their just reward in the 15th minute when, from a scrum after JJ Hanrahan had knocked-on, prop Rodney Ah You crashed over close to the uprights to leave the conversion a formality for Matt Jarvis.

Hanrahan made amends for his earlier error when he landed a penalty into the wind minutes later and he further cut the deficit with a 25th minute penalty as his side began to enjoy their share of possession and position.

Jarvis had the opportunity before half time to kick his side in front but pushed his penalty wide and the out-half ended the half watching from the bench after been yellow carded for preventing release.

A further penalty allowed Hanrahan to kick Munster to five metres from Connacht's line but the lineout throw was over-cooked and the chance went a-begging.

Connacht were further reduced when Ethienne Reynecke saw yellow but from the subsequent scrum Munster were unable to gain advantage and the sides went into the break with the home side leading by a solitary point.

With the wind at their backs Munster opened the second half brightly, Ronan O'Mahony making good headway down the left wing supported by Hanrahan, Connacht conceded the penalty but Hanrahan's effort tailed left and just wide.

Although playing into a stiffening wind Connacht took the game to the visitors who needed to be alert to deal with the lively wing Steve Macauley and the probing drives of TJ Anderson and Mick Kearney with Anderson just failing to send Kearney clear after his clean break on half way in the 54th minute.

Anderson and Kearney were again prominent as Connacht forced the pace that saw them held up over the line, Munster shredded the subsequent scrum but handed back possession, and a foot in touch denied the home side their second try.

Having been confined to the environs of the 22 for the best part of half an hour, Munster eventually lifted the siege but their sojourn in Connacht territory was brief and they found themselves back inside their 22 after being penalised at a scrum just inside their half for Jarvis to find touch five metres out.

Jarvis kicked Connacht four points clear just before the end of normal time, then left Munster requiring a converted try to draw when he landed another in added time.

To their credit Munster ended the game laying siege to the Connacht line but the home side held on for a deserved victory.


CONNACHT A SCORERS
R Ah You 1 Try
M Jarvis 1 Conversion; 2 Penalties

MUNSTER A SCORERS
JJ Hanrahan 2 Penalties

Connacht Eagles: S Layden; S MacAuley, T Leader, D McSharry, C Finn; M Jarvis, M Walsh; F Bealham, E Reynecke, R Ah You; M Kearney, D Qualter; TJ Anderson. E Grace, J Gardiner. Replacements: K O'Byrne, P Reilly, J Walshe, D Heffernan, A Conneely, B Digby, D Leader, F Gormley, A O'Meara.

Munster A: L O'Dea; R O'Mahony, I Dineen, S Scanlon, D Barnes; JJ Hanrahan, N Cronin; D Kilcoyne, D Casey, J Ryan; P Donnellan, D O'Shea; S Buckley, B O'Mahony, S Rennison. Replacements: J Cronin, G Slattery, C Condon, Ed Kelly, J Murphy, J Ryan, J Holland, C Hircock, C Bohane, R Mullane.

All very well saying the young lads are good and will make the breakthrough, but the real question is will Penney be given the scope to test these young lads in important games even if it means they might lose. I fear not, losing is not the Munster (fans) way, but they've got to take short term pain to let these young lads develop...

I think Penney will have enough force and influence to get that across I know a minority of the fans will be against it but there always be a minority against anything that happens down there.

As for the Connacht Eagles that's a pretty good result against a strong Munster A team. Good that Jarvis had his kicking boots on as well as well as getting a game at 10.

EDIT: Any standout performers?

Connacht Rugby ‏@connachtrugby
Munster caught offside just outside their 22,Jarvis nails the kick to put 4 points between the sides

Connacht Rugby ‏@connachtrugby
Munsters James Murphy penalised for dragging down the line out and Matthew Jarvis steps up for the kick into the wind...

KnockOn.ie ‏@KnockOnRugby
80 mins Connacht 13 Munster 6. Pen Jarvis
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36s Connacht Rugby ‏@connachtrugby
He nails it, Connacht Eagles 13 Munster A 6

edit...... full time

connachtexile wrote: Thank

Imo Kilcoyne will share LH with Wian for most of the coming campaign and he is a very decent scrummmager. Ryan, Condon and another TH Cotter are going to push Archer out of the way this season as all are significantly better scrummagers at this point in time(unless archer has improved).

Really can't see Archer improving to a level that he needs to be at. Another case of hype over substance.

If Penney lives up to rep for giving youth a chance JJ, Scanlon and o dea could feature in big games.

A Munster manager giving youth a deserved chance?! Dear God...

P.S. Thanks for the up-dates guys!

All very well saying the young lads are good and will make the breakthrough, but the real question is will Penney be given the scope to test these young lads in important games even if it means they might lose. I fear not, losing is not the Munster (fans) way, but they've got to take short term pain to let these young lads develop...

Thank

Imo Kilcoyne will share LH with Wian for most of the coming campaign and he is a very decent scrummmager. Ryan, Condon and another TH Cotter are going to push Archer out of the way this season as all are significantly better scrummagers at this point in time(unless archer has improved).

Really can't see Archer improving to a level that he needs to be at. Another case of hype over substance.

If Penney lives up to rep for giving youth a chance JJ, Scanlon and o dea could feature in big games.

A Munster manager giving youth a deserved chance?! Dear God...

P.S. Thanks for the up-dates guys!

Connacht Rugby ‏@connachtrugby
The Eagles held up over the line after an incredible period of play, 16 phases of relentless attack and they've earned a 5m scrum

ConnachtCows wrote: Ah You gone off injured. Replaced by Peter Reilly

Well if the Irish Times article is to be believed, he went into the game nursing a hamstring injury...

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0822/1224322659584.html

Very frustrating, especially as he was our try scorer....

Connacht Rugby ‏@connachtrugby
Half-time at the Sportsground and it's Connacht Eagles 7 Munster A 6. Munster looked dangerous in broken play but Connacht deserve the lead

2 yellows also. ER (32) and jarvis (27mins).

edit. sin bin times unsure