Connacht Thread 12-13

[Donny B.]

Three talented All Ireland League players have been given the opportunity to display their talents at Connacht Rugby after being awarded development contracts with the province. Brian Murphy, Matt Healy and JP Cooney have been drafted in as Head Coach Eric Elwood puts the finishing touches to the 2012/13 squad.

With the first block of pre-season training finished and the season almost upon us the squad is taking shape in more ways than one. Last year saw a new look Connacht team with 16 players joining the club but the season ahead will see a much more settled Connacht side take to the pitch.
Connacht's participation in the British & Irish cup, the Heineken Cup and the RaboDirect PRO12 have led to considerable investment in players and a number of astute signings have bolstered the squad in key areas. There have also been several internal promotions from the Connacht Academy to the senior setup highlighting the commitment of the club in developing it's own indigenous players.

Connacht put together some extraordinary performances last season, finishing eighth in the league and toppling Aviva Premiership winners Harlequins in the Heineken Cup, and the future looks even brighter for the western club. Season ticket sales have soared and overtaken last year's record breaking figure already and crowds are expected to flock to the Sportsground to see the new recruits in action.

As well as seasoned campaigners such as John Muldoon, Michael Swift and Johnny O'Connor, Connacht fans will have the opportunity to see Scottish international Dan Parks, Heineken Cup finalists Nathan White and Willie Faloon and the Stormers Danie Poolman line out in the green of Connacht this season.

The latest additions to the squad include former Leinster and Bristol hooker Jason Harris-Wright, Lansdowne RFC's flying winger Matt Healy, centre Brian Murphy from Galwegians and Garryowen's Bateman Cup winning prop, JP Cooney. They will join some of Connacht's brightest young talents when Connacht kick start their RaboDirect PRO12 campaign in early September.

Head Coach Eric Elwood is delighted with the way the squad has taken shape saying:

"The new guys have slotted into our setup very nicely. Tom (McLoughlin) is putting the squad through a tough preseason programme which should see us in good shape come the start of the season. It's an exciting time for everyone with our second year in the Heineken Cup and competing in the British & Irish Cup for the first time. It's great to see the Academy players coming through and integrating into the senior squad."

"We went through some major restructuring last season and we still finished in our highest ever league position so we're all looking forward to what we can achieve this year."

Connacht Rugby squad 2012/13
Props:
Brett Wilkinson, Ronan Loughney, Denis Buckley, Rodney Ah You, Nathan White, JP Cooney
Hookers:
Adrian Flavin, Ethienne Reynecke, Jason Harris Wright
2nd Rows:
Michael Swift, Mike McCarthy, Andrew Browne, Dave Nolan, Dave Gannon, Mick Kearney
Back Rows:
John Muldoon, Johnny O'Connor, Willie Faloon, TJ Anderson, Eoghan Grace, Eoin McKeon, George Naoupu
Scrum-halves:
Frank Murphy, Dave Moore, Paul O'Donohoe
Out-halves:
Miah Nikora, Matthew Jarvis, Dan Parks
Centres:
Eoin Griffin, Kyle Tonetti, Danie Poolman, Dave McSharry, Brian Murphy, Mata Fafita
Wingers:
Mark McCrea, Fetu'u Vainikolo, James Loxton, Matt Healy
Fullbacks:
Gavin Duffy, Tiernan O'Halloran

[tackle-bag]

First team will probably be something along the lines of:- 15. Duffy; 14. O'Halloran, 13. Griffin, 12. McSharry, 11. Poolman; 10. Parks, 9. Murphy; 1. Wilkinson, 2. Flavin, 3. White; 4. Swift, 5. McCarthy; 6. Muldoon, 7. O'Connor, 8. Naoupu

16. Loughney, 17. Ah You, 18. Reynecke, 19. Browne, 20. Faloon, 21. O'Donohoe, 22. Nikora, 23. Tonetti.

Not a side that's going to win the HC any time soon, but if Parks can kick his goals I suspect they'll have a few major upsets in them.

[nelly the elephant]

Three talented All Ireland League players have been given the opportunity to display their talents at Connacht Rugby after being awarded development contracts with the province. Brian Murphy, Matt Healy and JP Cooney have been drafted in as Head Coach Eric Elwood puts the finishing touches to the 2012/13 squad.

With the first block of pre-season training finished and the season almost upon us the squad is taking shape in more ways than one. Last year saw a new look Connacht team with 16 players joining the club but the season ahead will see a much more settled Connacht side take to the pitch.
Connacht's participation in the British & Irish cup, the Heineken Cup and the RaboDirect PRO12 have led to considerable investment in players and a number of astute signings have bolstered the squad in key areas. There have also been several internal promotions from the Connacht Academy to the senior setup highlighting the commitment of the club in developing it's own indigenous players.

Connacht put together some extraordinary performances last season, finishing eighth in the league and toppling Aviva Premiership winners Harlequins in the Heineken Cup, and the future looks even brighter for the western club. Season ticket sales have soared and overtaken last year's record breaking figure already and crowds are expected to flock to the Sportsground to see the new recruits in action.

As well as seasoned campaigners such as John Muldoon, Michael Swift and Johnny O'Connor, Connacht fans will have the opportunity to see Scottish international Dan Parks, Heineken Cup finalists Nathan White and Willie Faloon and the Stormers Danie Poolman line out in the green of Connacht this season.

The latest additions to the squad include former Leinster and Bristol hooker Jason Harris-Wright, Lansdowne RFC's flying winger Matt Healy, centre Brian Murphy from Galwegians and Garryowen's Bateman Cup winning prop, JP Cooney. They will join some of Connacht's brightest young talents when Connacht kick start their RaboDirect PRO12 campaign in early September.

Head Coach Eric Elwood is delighted with the way the squad has taken shape saying:

"The new guys have slotted into our setup very nicely. Tom (McLoughlin) is putting the squad through a tough preseason programme which should see us in good shape come the start of the season. It's an exciting time for everyone with our second year in the Heineken Cup and competing in the British & Irish Cup for the first time. It's great to see the Academy players coming through and integrating into the senior squad."

"We went through some major restructuring last season and we still finished in our highest ever league position so we're all looking forward to what we can achieve this year."

Connacht Rugby squad 2012/13
Props:
Brett Wilkinson, Ronan Loughney, Denis Buckley, Rodney Ah You, Nathan White, JP Cooney
Hookers:
Adrian Flavin, Ethienne Reynecke, Jason Harris Wright
2nd Rows:
Michael Swift, Mike McCarthy, Andrew Browne, Dave Nolan, Dave Gannon, Mick Kearney
Back Rows:
John Muldoon, Johnny O'Connor, Willie Faloon, TJ Anderson, Eoghan Grace, Eoin McKeon, George Naoupu
Scrum-halves:
Frank Murphy, Dave Moore, Paul O'Donohoe
Out-halves:
Miah Nikora, Matthew Jarvis, Dan Parks
Centres:
Eoin Griffin, Kyle Tonetti, Danie Poolman, Dave McSharry, Brian Murphy, Mata Fafita
Wingers:
Mark McCrea, Fetu'u Vainikolo, James Loxton, Matt Healy
Fullbacks:
Gavin Duffy, Tiernan O'Halloran

Could you not title this thread correrctly you lazy sod! I was expecting a discussion on prospective centre partnerships for the Western Province!

[Donny B.]

Could you not title this thread correrctly you lazy sod! I was expecting a discussion on prospective centre partnerships for the Western Province!

Sorry you're confused again, this is nothing to do with South African rugby.

[Sea_point]

Exeter Chiefs 6 Connacht 8
Mark Stevens at Sandy Park

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter admitted he and his team would not get too disheartened despite kicking off their pre-season campaign with a narrow 8-6 defeat at home to Connacht at Sandy Park.
In the first of three warm-up clashes ahead of the new Aviva Premiership, Baxter’s side were unable to replicate their success of 12 months previous when they overcame their Irish rivals 47-10 at Dubarry Park.

This time round, Eric Elwood’s visitors were a much stronger outfit in all departments and it was a decisive second half try from winger Fetu’u Vainikolo that proved the key difference in the final scoreline.
The Tongan international struck just before the hour mark as Connacht turned defence into attack, allowing the speedster to slip away from the clutching advances of Exeter’s Fijian centre Sireli Naqelevuki.
The Chiefs rallied hard in the closing stages, but either wrong decision-making or some early season rustiness proved costly as a handful of chances came and went.

Afterwards Baxter said he was “disappointed” to have seen his side’s pre-season programme start with a loss, but is confident performances will improve ahead of their seasonal opener against Sale Sharks on September 1.
“Obviously we’re disappointed not to have won,” he said. “We said to the guys beforehand; first and foremost let’s go out and win a game of rugby and work from there. At the same time, you have to give credit to Connacht because they came here and they were very dogged, particularly around the contact area and in defence, and they caused us enough problems to get a win.

“We are obviously unhappy with the amount of errors we made, probably more so in the first half because that is where we had our real clear cut opportunities and we were creating good opportunities, but a lot of time we just dropped the ball , we threw a bad pass or we made a little error.
“I thought for most of the game we looked comfortable in defence, but then we get turned over, the guy make a break up the wing and the game is gone a bit. As I said, I’m disappointed with the end outcome, but it’s like anything with pre-season we’ve now got some real quality video to sit down and analysis with the guys and talk things through.

“The guys have only been back this week from a long break and that showed a little bit too. It showed with our handling and our sharpness, but that is why you have pre-season games and that’s why we have three of them. We will certainly get better, so I’m not disheartened to lose to a decent Connacht side who came here with a point to prove after last season.”

With Baxter opting to stick with many of his tried and trusted stars from last season’s highly successful campaign, it was only Ulsterman Ian Whitten of the eight newcomers who was handed a starting berth.

He teamed up in the centre alongside Naqelevuki, whilst on the wing there was a first return since January for Samoan international Josh Tatupu.
In a tight opening to the contest, it was Connacht who broke the deadlock on five minutes when Nikora fired over a penalty after home prop Hoani Tui was penalised for playing the ball on the floor.

Connacht’s slender advantage proved shortlived as within three minutes parity was restored when Gareth Steenson landed a kick of his own after the visitors were pulled up by referee Andrew Small.

Steenson doubled his tally on 27 minutes with a second penalty, but the Chiefs were unable to add to their tally as chances came and went in quick succession.
The second period saw Exeter back on the offensive once more with Matt Jess and Phil Dollman combining to good effect, but still the scoreboard remained untouched.

Exeter continued to push forward in pursuit of points, but when they were turned over attacking near halfway, it was Vainikolo who was able to pounce as he galloped down the left flank.

Still the Chiefs – who added a flurry of late replacements – pushed hard for points, but sadly it was to no avail.
Next up for Baxter’s side is Saturday’s visit of the Cornish Pirates to Sandy Park (3pm).

Chiefs: P Dollman; J Tatupu (M Foster h/t), S Naqelevuki (N Sestaret 54), I Whitten (S Hill 66), M Jess; G Steenson (M Dorrian 74), K Barrett; B Moon (B Sturgess 54), C Whitehead (S Alcott 66), H Tui (A Brown 66); T Hayes (capt, D Welsh 72), J Hanks (A Muldowney 54); B White (J Phillips 54), J Scaysbrook (D Ewers 72), R Baxter (K Horstmann 66).

Penalties - Steenson (2)

Connacht: T O'Halloran (M Jarvis 57); F Vainikolo (M McCrea 75), K Tonnetti, B Murphy, J Loxton (M McCrea h/t); M Nikora (K Marmion 66), D Moore (M Fifita 41); F Bealham (D Buckley 25), A Flavin (JH Wright 32) , P Reilly (JP Cooney h/t); M Swift (capt, M Kearney h/t), D Gannon; A Browne, E Grace (W Faloon h/t), G Naoupu (E McKeon h/t).

Try - Vainikolo; Penalty - Nikora

Referee: A Small

[tackle-bag]

Good result for Connacht. The side they faced wasn't a million miles off the Exeter first team, so to get a win with such a young side will give them a fair amount of confidence.

[Sea_point]

Good result for Connacht. The side they faced wasn't a million miles off the Exeter first team, so to get a win with such a young side will give them a fair amount of confidence.

Yep, especially when you see that we have Muldoon, Loughney, Wilko, White, Duffy, McCarthy and of course Parks to come back....

[johng]

When I saw the Connacht squad for this year a few things struck me.

1/ They have the same number of players as us this year. Didn't they always have considerably less? I think they are in the B&I this year which might explain that.

2/ They seem to have brought in some good players. Parks is not everyone's cup of tea, but he is a long standing international player with considerable talent who just might suit their gameplan.

3/ As usual they will not lose players at international windows, but this year this will really count in the league. They will be one of those sides that take big scalps during the windows. A bit like Exeter (who they just beat) during the WC.

4/ They will still have that hard edge that they are so feared for but this year they should turn it into more wins.

I would be hoping for top half of the Rabbo and a good showing in the HC.

[tackle-bag]

I would be hoping for top half of the Rabbo and a good showing in the HC.

I think that's a fair target. With regards to the HC, one of the slots in the quarters of the Amlin would appear to be realistic given that the draw has been very kind to Connacht. Zebre are a new side and are likely to be a bit all over the place, so Connacht should be aiming for two comfortable wins against them. Biarritz and Harlequins will both be beatable in the Sportsground. 4 wins would come very close to guaranteeing second place in the group and a spot in the quarters of the Amlin.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Parks will win them some tight games that they lost last season but they need to make sure that him being at ten doesn't stunt the development of Griffin, TOH etc. Tricky balance.

[Sea_point]

I would be hoping for top half of the Rabbo and a good showing in the HC.

I think that's a fair target. With regards to the HC, one of the slots in the quarters of the Amlin would appear to be realistic given that the draw has been very kind to Connacht. Zebre are a new side and are likely to be a bit all over the place, so Connacht should be aiming for two comfortable wins against them. Biarritz and Harlequins will both be beatable in the Sportsground. 4 wins would come very close to guaranteeing second place in the group and a spot in the quarters of the Amlin.

I think more than a few teams are going to get caught out early season if they think that Zebre (as a new organisation) are going to be pushovers. They are basically Aironi with some of the chaff removed and an improved all-Italian coaching ticket. Aironi made a little progress last season too as they won four games against only one in their inaugural season.

It'll be interesting to see how Quins deal with being English champions this season, they could take their eye off the ball again, although I think they'll be primed to beat us this time after blowing up in Galway but we nearly had them at the Stoop also so I can see us getting one win against them . This could be a very interesting group overall as Biarritz are also one of those clubs who are guilty of frequently underestimating Italian sides (especially in Italy).

[tones]

I think Connacht will do quite well this season. Their pool is definitely negotiable. While they won’t have the element of surprise or being taken as lightly this year (for example Quins), they have recruited well in the off-season. You also have to factor in that last year they went on a run of 13 defeats (majority being less than 1 score), a serious injury list with a small/limited squad. So, if teams are aware of them and their potential, they may be basing that on last year and not on the fact that Connacht most likely have moved forward in that period.
Also, I really rate Elwood as an astute coach with some exceptional man-management skills to boot.
Regarding Quins themselves, while they are English champions, a lot of English champions have come (and gone) in the Heineken Cup due to an enlarged ego e.g Glaws, Sale. And to be honest, I am still not wholly convinced about Conor O’Shea at the very top end of rugby.

[Donny B.]

Connacht Rugby have announced the starting XV that will take on the Cardiff Blues in the opening round of the RaboDirect PRO12 tomorrow at the Sportsground.
Gavin Duffy will lead his side out, having been announced as captain for a second year running. The 6'2 former Mayo Minor footballer has 10 Irish caps and was called up to the Ireland squad during the summer tour to New Zealand. Duffy is supported on the wings by last season regulars Fetu'u Vainikolo and Tiernan O'Halloran while the dynamic centre partnership of Mata Fifita and Eoin Griffin complete the backline.

Kieran Marmion will gain his first cap for Connacht at scrum half. Kieran started in the preseason friendly against Harlequins and also played a pivotal role for Ireland at the IRB Junior World Championship, starting four of their five games en route to a highest ever finish of fifth.

Another regular from last season is out half Miah Nikora who got a good run out in both pre-season friendlies in August.

Connacht have plenty of experience amongst the starting forwards. John Muldoon, Mike McCarthy, and Johnny O'Connor have almost 450 caps between them while Michael Swift holds the record with this his 220th cap for the Province. Ronan Loughney, with 105 caps, provides plenty more experience with George Naoupu , Denis Buckley and Ethienne Reynecke completing the firepower of the forwards.

In the past two seasons both Connacht and Cardiff Blues have begun with an opening weekend victory and tomorrow both sides will endeavour to hold on to that record.

It's been a summer of change for Cardiff Blues with a number of senior players such as Martyn Williams, Xavier Rush and Deiniol Jones retiring from the game and a new exciting crop of youngsters coming through.

Director of Rugby, Eric Elwood, is looking forward to kicking off with the new season. "All the pre-season training has led to this point and we can't wait to get going."

KO is at 5pm at the Sportsground.

Connacht XV

15. Gavin Duffy (Captain)
14. Tiernan O'Halloran
13. Eoin Griffin
12. Mata Fifita
11. Fetu'u Vainikolo
10. Miah Nikora
9. Kieran Marmion

1. Denis Buckley
2. Ethienne Reynecke
3. Ronan Loughney
4. Michael Swift
5. Mike McCarthy
6. John Muldoon
7. Johnny O'Connor
8. George Naoupu

Replacements (from):
16. Adrian Flavin
17. Rodney Ah You
18. Finlay Bealham
19. Dave Gannon
20. Willie Faloon
21. David Moore
22. Matthew Jarvis
23. Robbie Henshaw

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Good to see Griffin back, assumed he'd be out for a while when I heard he was going to Germany to see a specialist, hope he stays fit.

Interesting that Marmion is starting too. Like a lot of people, I didn't think he was up to much until the u-20 world cup but he really was outstanding, fingers crossed he can continue that form.

[kendalgerty]

Very interesting to see Marmion fast tracked to the starting team. I thought scrum half was a huge weakness for Connact last season, so had a sneaky feeling they might put Marmion to the front of the queue.

[tackle-bag]

Where's Parks? September is often a portion of the season in which Connacht are able to knick a few wins, so they should really be putting their best foot forward to get a good start to the year.

[Scott]

Where's Parks? September is often a portion of the season in which Connacht are able to knick a few wins, so they should really be putting their best foot forward to get a good start to the year.

calf injury

[Donny B.]

Lost 9-13. Were 13 down at one point so at least they came back and got a losing BP but up against a relatively weak Cardiff side, they'll be disappointed.

[Sea_point]

Lost 9-13. Were 13 down at one point so at least they came back and got a losing BP but up against a relatively weak Cardiff side, they'll be disappointed.

Poor loss against a second string Blues, should have had enough experience and guile to get the win on home turf. The Irish failing of being poor favourites....

[Donny B.]

interesting away gear......