Connacht v Leinster Sat 7:35pm 15.04.17 - TG4

nelly the elephant · Post by **nelly the elephant** » April 15th, 2017, 9:25 pm

artaneboy wrote:Josh is playing a stormer. Everywhere.

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+1.....I thought I had posted a half an hour ago but it got trapped in the ether....love the guy...top notch attitude and effort every time.

erskinechilders · Post by **erskinechilders** » April 15th, 2017, 9:26 pm

Molony and Ruddock competing for that last spot on the bench imo...both were excellent tonight. I'd go with Ruddock because of his size but tonight was one of the best game I've seen Molony play! Josh was exceptional, could easily start and Leavy might make the bigger impression of the bench!

Hippo · Post by **Hippo** » April 15th, 2017, 9:27 pm

Thought Ruddock had a huge game too. Bizarre refereeing, but delighted that the familiar Connacht tactic of eh 'dummy' runners obstructing the tackler got nowhere. Fantastic line speed in defence, lots to like.

Oldschool · Post by **Oldschool** » April 15th, 2017, 9:27 pm

Leinster forgot to read the script and let big John score a try in the last play of the game

Cianostays · Post by **Cianostays** » April 15th, 2017, 9:30 pm

Huge result. We can focus on Europe now with the home SF now safe. A few headaches for Leo during the week. Great stuff.

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ribs · Post by **ribs** » April 15th, 2017, 9:32 pm

Blue Voodoo wrote:Disappointing to lose Kearney after an incident which seemed to occur miles from the ball

Will have to consult the laws don't fully understand some of the interpretations of the ref here

tackled without the ball by a player who wasn't allowed in the game because he was on the ground. will there be a citing or has dk been done by the interpros again?

carlow man · Post by **carlow man** » April 15th, 2017, 9:32 pm

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.

curates_egg · Post by **curates_egg** » April 15th, 2017, 9:34 pm

11 changes and very few first choice players; away from home; against the league winners, with a point to prove. Stunning performance and result in the context, even though Connacht were poor.

Apart from the ridiculous penalty count, the defense was superb I thought. All players clearly fully understanding the system now.
Apart from JVDF and Rhys, I thought McGrath was very good.

That was a bizarre reffing performance but I was amazed that Davies didn't send Aki off at the end.
The utter disrespect he and Muldoon showed to the ref was a disgrace. Aki essentially accused him of cheating, which is a red and a ban.
I hope he is cited and gets his ban because Irish sides don't need to be associated with that kind of thuggery.

artaneboy · Post by **artaneboy** » April 15th, 2017, 9:35 pm

Just had a very quick look at the stats, Connacht ahead in nearly all of them; possession, yards, turnovers, etc. All except tries and that unmarked stat- nous. Well done all. Good vibe for next week.

Subplot was the wing position. Adam was definitely caught a few times on positioning. Dave going off injured probably rules him out for next week, otherwise I'd be opting for the older player for Clermont. Still look at it carefully.

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artaneboy · Post by **artaneboy** » April 15th, 2017, 9:40 pm

carlow man wrote: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.

Ah com'n! Aki was mouthy/ but he's a great player. And what this about Joe "concentrating" on O'Halloran? There's no need to do anything but wait until the player is IQ and then decide if you want to select him. There's no competition between Bundee Aki and O'Halloran. But I will concede that I cannot understand why Joe does not pick O'Halloran in the 23.

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curates_egg · Post by **curates_egg** » April 15th, 2017, 9:42 pm

artaneboy wrote:Dave going off injured probably rules him out for next week

The look on his face suggested longer. They had the splint out.
Got his ankle totally turned in an off the ball tackle by a man on the ground.

Devastating for him after his hard work to get back.

carlow man · Post by **carlow man** » April 15th, 2017, 9:51 pm

Aki isn't a great player. He might be good in the pro 12 but he's not at international standard imo. He gets easily wound up when things aren't going his way and teams will look to exploit that. His lack of discipline is also worrying. Lots of afters when play stops plus he seems to like to say a lot and refs are on to him this year. I meant rather than Joe waiting for him to declare I'd rather let our current centres carry on but full back is the one spot that is up for grabs and tol is the form fb in Ireland. Imo!

Dave Cahill · Post by **Dave Cahill** » April 15th, 2017, 9:56 pm

Ali is the best uncapped player in the NH.

Dave Cahill · Post by **Dave Cahill** » April 15th, 2017, 9:57 pm

Sorry, uncapped back, to be precise

RoboProp · Post by **RoboProp** » April 15th, 2017, 9:58 pm

carlow man wrote: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.

This. Aki giving our yards to the ref, thinking he's all that and a bag of chips. Coming across as a petulant blowhard

carlow man · Post by **carlow man** » April 15th, 2017, 9:58 pm

In your opinion.

Dave Cahill · Post by **Dave Cahill** » April 15th, 2017, 10:06 pm

carlow man wrote:In your opinion.

True, well mine and that of every Top 14 club, all of whom tried to sign him (according to berch) and every AP club with a hole in their salary cap (according to CO'S). The signing of Aki by Connacht was on a par with Munsters signing of Cullen

brenno · Post by **brenno** » April 15th, 2017, 10:06 pm

curates_egg wrote:
artaneboy wrote:Dave going off injured probably rules him out for next week
The look on his face suggested longer. They had the splint out.
Got his ankle totally turned in an off the ball tackle by a man on the ground.

Devastating for him after his hard work to get back.

And of course there was the barely hidden pleasure from some planks on munsterfans.com, jeez when I see sh!t like that it almost makes hope Saracens beat them.....almost. On mature reflection I know it's only the morons down South who spout this shite but still....

hugonaut · Post by **hugonaut** » April 15th, 2017, 10:09 pm

Great win, massive defensive effort and first rate execution. Our linespeed and our hitting was everything we needed it to be.

That was a second string side we sent out and they put a bonus point win away from home on the reigning champions, who put out as strong a team as they could and played with a lot of fire.

Really impressive individual performances from JVDF, Rhys, Ross Molony and Luke McGrath in particular, although every single player out there turned up and got stuck in. Dippy gave away some soft penalties but I thought that his effort was A1. Rossy showed up really well and the front five subs did a cracking job when they came on. Another good performance from Zane at fullback and a really mature turn at No10 from Ross Byrne. Not everything went his way, but he never backed away from making decisions.

Thought the refereeing and the officiating in general was really weak. I think Ian Davies is a grand ref, but it was a big occasion because of Muldoon's 300th game, and he gave a noisy crowd everything they called for. It's a real credit to us that we were able to get out of that game with such a clear points differential, because we got a seriously raw deal at the breakdown.

carlow man · Post by **carlow man** » April 15th, 2017, 10:14 pm

Dave Cahill wrote:
carlow man wrote:In your opinion.
True, well mine and that of every Top 14 club, all of whom tried to sign him (according to berch) and every AP club with a hole in their salary cap (according to CO'S). The signing of Aki by Connacht was on a par with Munsters signing of Cullen

Well let's see where he ends up next season. Is he happy to stay at connacht and want to play for Ireland or will he look at the money on offer elsewhere? Assuming he's not contracted to for next season but I think might be? I still don't see how he would make Ireland any better. Ireland need pace on the wings and at fb. Centres are sorted for me. No way should he be starting ahead of our current 2.

Babbling 'brook