Not that it matters now but Furlong stepped in front of Roux and pushed him into another Connacht player resulting in them hitting the deck. It definitely created the space from him to step through.
On that note I think that is missing from our game. Roux is the only 1 I regularly see doing it. The leg hold from VDF too was excellent in terms of gaining an advantage. We simply don't do the niggle things well or enough.

You might be onto something there with Heffernan, a more experienced captain might have been able to put pressure on Lacey for the tip tackle, or used it as a reference after subsequent offences at least. Imo if one player had done it, it would have been a yellow but the ref chickened out of putting a team down to 13, despite the increasing focus on head injuries.

I was really impressed with portions of Connacht's game; rucking, passing and retention were all very good, the team is not the finished article by a long shot but they're putting the building blocks together much quicker than I thought they might have under a new coach.

Reality is we didn't look like challenging them on the scoreboard but most of the game they didn't either - the difference is they only need 10 minutes in 3rd gear to make it count. I didn't see how Ringrose got through our defence so easily and the maul for Cronin might not have been entirely legal but that's a minor quibble, they easily bossed our maul on that occasion, though the rest of the game our pack held up admirably. Glad we didn't concede when down two men I thought the team showed a lot of heart and determination at that point.

Probably Heffernan needed to be in Lacey’s ear all match putting our case to him. Should have repeatedly called for Tmo on Ringrose try just to keep pressure on ref. I realize there was loads to talk about on the scrums but most Captains will motormouth on at every opportunity. Keeping Leinster to 2 tries all match and 0 when down to 13 men was a small achievement to take from a disappointing second half. McCoy would have been smarter to play act that his leg was being held. He will have a few months on the sideline to smarten up after that unforgivable stamp.

Completely outclassed by Leinster. Found some of their breakdown highly cynical/illegal but they(and Ireland to be honest in international rugby) seem to be very good at getting away with it. As an example: on what I thought was our last gasp chance to begin closing the gap the forwards were making good ground around their 22, winning collisions. Leinster rushed up(probably a little offside) and someone tackles Bealham completely off the ball and beyond the ruck which in turn resulted in no clear out and a penalty for holding on. This may sound like bitter grapes but it's really not meant to, just wish we were a bit better/more lucky getting away with it.

Still no excuse for the actions of Robertson-McCoy by the way, a very very poor way to carry on.

That Leinster team was brilliant yesterday, so well drilled in defense and attack. Think considering how little of possession and territory we had throughout the full match to only let in the 2 tries shows our defense is improving massively compared to last few seasons (outside of some poor non-tackles for Ringrose try). Thought Leinsters maul from lineouts very strong and forced us to give away penalties tp stop it getting going. We won't see another team that good in SG this season.

[quote="if we have a similar team out against ulster we can beat them. it would be a big scalp but we have played well against them up there the last few seasons.[/quote]
We were outclassed by probably one of the best team lineups to visit the sportsground in a very long time, but still happy with a lot of our display, our enthusiasm and effort is in stark contrast to many of our games last season.
Ulster game will be a tough one, I’d imagine Ulster will have targeted this home game as one to win. Didn’t see the game with Munster, but I think they didn’t have near a full squad out?

Just a by the by but Luke McGrath was at best the 3rd best half back on the pitch yesterday.

disappointing result but didnt play too bad overall,just outclassed, our pack did ok esp. roux o brien and copeland, boyle and blade did well when they came on, i think blade is pushing marmion now for a starting place, if we have a similar team out against ulster we can beat them. it would be a big scalp but we have played well against them up there the last few seasons.

Watching the second interpro you have to think that Connacht 2nd out of 4. And that's ok

Disappointed with final result but that was a very strong Leinster team, nothing for anyone to be ashamed of (except Robertson-McCoy but that's a different story).

They just squeezed the life out of us. As someone near me said "jaysus they've some big bastards", whole team played well for them (bar Tomane who looked really ordinary) and they are incredibly well drilled.

For is Blade looked good when he came on, and Quinn Roux stood up to their physicality as did Dillane and Farrell was the pick of our players. We needed to make more of the first half where we had territory and possession and a few passes more on the button and we might have been more threatening.

The upside is that Leinster are the standout team in the league so we don't have to face that every week, downside is no one else will either as that Leinster team won't see an away ground, bar possibly one of the other interpros.

Completely outclassed being honest. First half we did well I felt but we never truly threatened the leinster line.

The restart after half time was a series of cock ups and it was all over at that stage really once leinster weathered our next attack.

I did feel Lacey was only reffing one side but given the pressure Leinster were putting us under that was always going to be the case. Leinster are so well drilled in terms of slowing down the ball you can only give them credit in fairness.

On the sending off I understand McCoy's frustration with him being held in but he let himself down badly. I'd like to see the spear tackle incident in the first half again to me it looked like at least a yellow was warranted but missing touch from that penalty was a killer against a team like Leinster.

Only thing you can say is we don't play leinster every week. We need to pick up the pieces and go again next week to try and make sure Cardiff and Ospreys don't get too far ahead of us.

Leinster is a very attritional team so the result wasn't surprising. They simply wear you down and they did it expertly again today. Thought Sean O'Bien and Tiernan O'Halloran were the best of us today. But its so hard when you simply have a brick wall in front of you. So kudos to Leinster. but kudos to Connacht also. They came up against the absolute might of Leinster and they competed admirably. The Robertson McCoy incident is probably the biggest talking point. What a stupid action by a Connacht player which in no way reflects how Connacht play. I hope he gets appropriately diciplined

superconnacht7 wrote: What an opportunity for Connacht players to get noticed by Joe before Japan 2019. Amazing team coming from the east!! I would go so far as to say that if we win tomorrow then it will be the greatest ever win by any Connacht team in our glorious history (even the famous win away ot Toulouse in 2013!). I will be very hoarse by the end of the match tomorrow. Connacht Abu!!!!!!!!!!!

Love the enthusiasm but we did win the league one time, I don't think beating Leinster today would be better than that even though they are a better team now than the team we faced in Edinburgh.

Have to say I am very very excited about the selected team, with the exception of 7 all players can be said to be playing for a chance to upset their Irish rival and get Joe to notice them.

Leinster team is very very strong, surprised Sexton is travelling. Some of our guys might be able to rile Healy into making a silly mistake, he's been talking about this game for a few weeks I think.

I have ended up with a spare free main stand ticket for the game .PM me if you are interested.

superconnacht7 wrote: What an opportunity for Connacht players to get noticed by Joe before Japan 2019. !!!

Reality check no matter the result

What an opportunity for Connacht players to get noticed by Joe before Japan 2019. Amazing team coming from the east!! I would go so far as to say that if we win tomorrow then it will be the greatest ever win by any Connacht team in our glorious history (even the famous win away ot Toulouse in 2013!). I will be very hoarse by the end of the match tomorrow. Connacht Abu!!!!!!!!!!!

What a sad story with Mike Ross on the Late Late Show tonight. Brings things into perspective

Leinster here to take the points and be in a good Pro 14 position before European games start.
Strong team, let’s face it they’re the best team in Europe with talent all over. As an Irishman, Leinster’s sucess last year has to be acknowledged and is great for Irish rugby.
Looking forward to the game, and if we play to intensity of last week, we can unsettle them, and can get a result. Have seen some great Leinster teams downed in the Sportsground.
No if’s or but’s would it will be tough, but if we play like last week it’ll be a hell of a tussle.
Looking forward to it!!

As Tomas Bjorn said about the Ryder cup, you have a chance to go out thee and do stuff, so Connacht go you

You might consider Leinster's team selection as a show of respect or you might consider it as an opportunity for Connacht to relive 2016. In my view Connacht is up for this. Indeed it's been many years since Leinster came to our ground with the likes of the team they have announced. So it's happy times in every way for Connacht. They won't lose if they lose. And if they win. Well....

2 Tickets Bothar Mór End. €20 Each.

Sexton's ready for Bundee I hear...

pinky wrote: Bookies had Connacht -1 for this earlier in the week (I hate being slight favourites) but now they're at a more typical +3 for some reason, so I can relax a bit in the slightly longer grass.

Connacht +6 now. Nice long grass, Savannah-like. Good practice for the Africa trip.

(15-9) Tiernan O’Halloran, Cian Kelleher, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Matt Healy, Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion, (1-8)Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan (C), Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, Quinn Roux, Sean O’Brien, Colby Fainga’a, Robin Copeland.

Replacements (16-23): Tom McCartney, Peter McCabe, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, James Cannon, Paul Boyle, Caolin Blade, Craig Ronaldson, Niyi Adeolokun.

How wrong was I? Henshaw the only first XV guy missing (you could debate lock and 7 but he's the only unquestioned starter left out). First appearance at the Sportsground for Sexton in 8 years.