Connacht v Leinster Sat 7:35pm 15.04.17 - TG4

[erskinechilders]

My Irish is fairly limited, but did the older of th two TG4 analysts say before the game that we had picked our B&I Cup team?

Yeah he said it was more or less or B&I cup team, that we'd be hammered and that Connacht would get a BP no bother. The TG4 commentators are completely clueless however, the only people who can speak Irish and know one or two things about rugby. Horan is also a terrible analyst. Get Fitzgerald on there ffs! Or me!

[ronk]

Our defensive system caused them a lot of problems. They were fired up but they kept making mistakes under pressure.

There were a few good moves they did that got absolutely nowhere because we held our line perfectly and switched assignments as necessary.

Really intelligent defence and something that Connacht's success has made harder for them.

Ruddock and VDF were immense, Molony much improved.

[ronk]

Would it a stretch to say that's up there with win of the season so far all things considered
1-23 the lads stood up, not or recent but even to deny them losing bonus was terrific
JVDF was a man possessed along with a few others in the pack
Our Backline D is unrecognisable to last season...hat tip to Lancaster
Was it 3 turnover try's from D pressure...I particular enjoyed Cronin laying out Buckley which led to Dalys try....

How many of that 23 will be involved next week do we reckon????

It would be a stretch. Champions Cup had more pressure. This was one they needed more.

There were some bigger performances in ripping teams to shreds.

[artaneboy]

My Irish is fairly limited, but did the older of th two TG4 analysts say before the game that we had picked our B&I Cup team?

Yeah he said it was more or less or B&I cup team, that we'd be hammered and that Connacht would get a BP no bother. The TG4 commentators are completely clueless however, the only people who can speak Irish and know one or two things about rugby. Horan is also a terrible analyst. Get Fitzgerald on there ffs! Or me!

Now my Irish isn't great, but I did not get that type of translation from the TG4 commentary. More we were weakened so would be up against it. I have it recorded though and will review. But in any case Horan-whatever his persona as a player (unpleasant) is a very good on the pitch analyst.

To be honest, I expected us to lose that match- not to say believe that we'd get a bonus point. I don't think I was alone in that belief. So not surprising that TG4 expressed it also.


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[erskinechilders]

My Irish is fairly limited, but did the older of th two TG4 analysts say before the game that we had picked our B&I Cup team?

Yeah he said it was more or less or B&I cup team, that we'd be hammered and that Connacht would get a BP no bother. The TG4 commentators are completely clueless however, the only people who can speak Irish and know one or two things about rugby. Horan is also a terrible analyst. Get Fitzgerald on there ffs! Or me!

Now my Irish isn't great, but I did not get that type of translation from the TG4 commentary. More we were weakened so would be up against it. I have it recorded though and will review. But in any case Horan-whatever his persona as a player (unpleasant) is a very good on the pitch analyst.

To be honest, I expected us to lose that match- not to say believe that we'd get a bonus point. I don't think I was alone in that belief. So not surprising that TG4 expressed it also.


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I'm an Irish teacher so I hope I'm correct or else I'm in trouble!

[artaneboy]

Yeah he said it was more or less or B&I cup team, that we'd be hammered and that Connacht would get a BP no bother. The TG4 commentators are completely clueless however, the only people who can speak Irish and know one or two things about rugby. Horan is also a terrible analyst. Get Fitzgerald on there ffs! Or me!

Now my Irish isn't great, but I did not get that type of translation from the TG4 commentary. More we were weakened so would be up against it. I have it recorded though and will review. But in any case Horan-whatever his persona as a player (unpleasant) is a very good on the pitch analyst.

To be honest, I expected us to lose that match- not to say believe that we'd get a bonus point. I don't think I was alone in that belief. So not surprising that TG4 expressed it also.


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I'm an Irish teacher so I hope I'm correct or else I'm in trouble!

Mon Chapeau! I bow to your superior linguistics.

But still not unreasonable of them to see Connacht winning big.


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[ronk]

Will be tough. A losing BP here, a losing BP against Ulster and a non-BP win at home against Glasgow is enough to get us a home semi though.

1.D.Buckley v C.Healy = Leinster
2.Heffernan v Tracy = Leinster
3.Bealham v Ross = Connacht
4.Roux v Molony = Connacht
5.Browne v Triggs = Leinster
6.McKeon v D.Ryan = Connacht
7.Heenan v VDF = Leinster
8.Muldoon v Ruddock = Leinster

9.Marmion v L.McGrath = Connacht
10.Carty v R.Byrne = Leinster
11.Poolman v D.Kearney = Leinster
12.Ronaldson v Reid = Leinster
13.Aki v O'Loughlin = Connacht
14.Adeleokun v A.Byrne = Connacht
15.O'Halloran v Kirchner = Connacht

Head to heads: Leinster 8 - 7 Connacht

16.Delahunt v Cronin = Leinster. 17.Dooley v Cooney = Leinster. 18.DRMC v Bent = Leinster. 19.Nagle v SOB 2.0 = Connacht 20. Dawai v Timmins = Connacht 21.Blade v N.McCarthy = Connacht. 22.Crosbie v T.Daly = Connacht 23. Griffin v B.Daly = Connacht

Interesting comparisons @neilog93 but what about looking at the units?

Front-five: Connacht more dynamic, Leinster stronger
Back-row: Leinster better individually, Connacht a better unit
Half-backs: Connacht duo just shade it
Mid-field: Connacht stronger but RO'L might surprise.
Back-three: Connacht more counter-attack, Leinster better defenders

On that assessment Connacht must be slight favourites, possibly 5 points in it, Ross Byrne's place kicking versus Carty may re-balance the contest.

BTW, I would reverse all your assessments of the Bench contests between replacement backs, but that just opinion.

Hindsight probably tilts the balance a bit more towards Leinster for, say, Ross, McGrath and A Byrne.

The weak Leinster selection narrative wasn't really true.

[Ruckedtobits]

Leinster defended so aggressively that Connacht attack couldn't operate effectively. My assessment underestimated the Leinster hunger to dominate at the tackle. In truth, whilst the Connacht half-backs did their jobs really well, the Leinster pair were better than expected. Leinster front-row were more dominant than expected.

However, overall I still consider that Connacht were their own worst enemies by insisting that they would not kick, except with Penalty advantage or cross-field to a winger. This allowed Leinster to push up defensive line and leave huge gaps behind and out wide in the knowledge that Connacht stubborness wouldn't change.

[neiliog93]

Yeah, A.Byrne and Ross definitely bettered their opposite numbers.

[artaneboy]

Yeah, A.Byrne and Ross definitely bettered their opposite numbers.

Well Ross certainly did. Byrne was more of a curates egg.

Did some great things, but still a worry in defence.


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[curates_egg]

Someone shoukd tell aki to keep his mouth shut for good. Why this guy is keeping Ireland hanging on is beyond me!! He's a poor man's henshaw. Leinster had his number both times this season. Schmidt should concentrate in getting ohalloran in the team, not aki. If he's as good as he thinks he is then go back and play in nz and I'm sure the all blacks will come calling.....not!

Great game to watch thou. Good win and some superb individual performances esp vdf and mcgrath.

agree on Aki. That petulance (and it wasn't just one incident) and mouthing won't endear him to Joe. Very poor discipline; other refs would have him off. The keeping Ireland waiting bit doesn't endear him to me personally either; not exactly chomping at the bit - compare that with Strauss and Stander for instance. On top of that; I'd have Scannell, Marshall before him (already in Joe's plans); in addition there's McCloskey, Olding, maybe even Hanrahan. It's not like we don't have options.

Aki facing sanction for his petulant, unsportsmanlike treatment of the ref:
https://twitter.com/MichaelC_RTE/status ... 8633561088

Surprised it took so long but glad it has happened.

[carlow man]

Not surprised with this. Although I would have thought it would have happened before now. Seems to have taken them quite a while before deciding whether to take action. But it sends out the right message to all pros. Abuse the ref and you will get banned . Let's hope he's learned his lesson. No need for it.

[riocard911]

Not surprised with this. Although I would have thought it would have happened before now. Seems to have taken them quite a while before deciding whether to take action. But it sends out the right message to all pros. Abuse the ref and you will get banned . Let's hope he's learned his lesson. No need for it.

Éist! Éist!!!