True but we need to do something. If we lose Brett next season then I'd all be in favour of signing some massive LH prop. Tight five is a place we need to focus on next year. Nolan is Connacht's version of Feilx Jones a talented player who gets injured alot. Can't see Damien Browne joining us again either he's first team in Leinster and with Cullen aging, Toner a squad player and Denton and Quin still very new it makes sense for him to stay.

connachtexile wrote:

what was the deal with lifting macca in the line-out twice with his back to the thrower.
first time the ref blew up. second time i think he got a hand to it but landed heavily as his lifters lost control of him?

Pretty sure it was tactical Quins were throwing to the front of the line so I'm assuming it was done to try and disrupt this.

For the George question I'd have him in the second row at least against teams with powerful packs. We've shown against Ulster and Harlequins that our tight five isn't strong enough so having more beef like George in there could be a way to nullify it. Next season one of the things we need to do is strengthen our tight five by either getting a beast of a Hooker or a powerful second rower. I'd even happily keep George at 8 if he just moved to the second row for defensive scrums.

Swifty is 120kg and Macca and George are both 112kg. Don't think it would make much difference

what was the deal with lifting macca in the line-out twice with his back to the thrower.
first time the ref blew up. second time i think he got a hand to it but landed heavily as his lifters lost control of him?

Pretty sure it was tactical Quins were throwing to the front of the line so I'm assuming it was done to try and disrupt this.

For the George question I'd have him in the second row at least against teams with powerful packs. We've shown against Ulster and Harlequins that our tight five isn't strong enough so having more beef like George in there could be a way to nullify it. Next season one of the things we need to do is strengthen our tight five by either getting a beast of a Hooker or a powerful second rower. I'd even happily keep George at 8 if he just moved to the second row for defensive scrums.

I thought it was so he could see the Harlequins line up better and compete against whoever was jumping...or maybe that bash on the head in the first half was affecting him!

swift4prez wrote: another question for anyone who can answer it!!

what was the deal with lifting macca in the line-out twice with his back to the thrower.
first time the ref blew up. second time i think he got a hand to it but landed heavily as his lifters lost control of him?

never seen that happen before

The first one he was blown for not making a gap, nothing to do with standing arseways to the ball. I have no idea what the feel-the-force-Luke turning his back was for.

another question for anyone who can answer it!!

what was the deal with lifting macca in the line-out twice with his back to the thrower.
first time the ref blew up. second time i think he got a hand to it but landed heavily as his lifters lost control of him?

never seen that happen before

Seconded on Browne (senior). Dave Nolan is a beast of a lad if he were ever fit, last time I saw him he was off the crutches, anyone know when he'll be back in training?

As for Buckley, he was under pressure in the scrum the whole time and gave away 2 or 3 penalties, including one where Flavin had got the strike against the head. That said he won a oouple of turnover penalties in the loose.

Forgot to comment on the George to Second Row query.

Big fat no from me, you put your best players in positions where they can most likely influence the game. Having his legs drained from playing second row will not bring out the best of George's game.

Gannon was out with the flu only, so he'll be back next week but we have no like-for-like replacement for Swifty plain and simple at the moment. It has to be very high on the incoming Head Coaches shopping list for next season.

Dave Nolan is the nearest we have to a replacement but he is 24 now and by next season he'll have missed out on two consecutive whole seasons of his rugby development. I'd like to hope that he is a good enough player to be able to make up the missing years, but will Connacht & Swifty have the time to wait to see?

Next season Browne (the Senior) will be 32/33 still in his prime, if a deal at the right price can be done he is the right candidate to bring in. Browner (Jnr) is still at 25 only a pup, but he and Kearney needs to put another 10KG on (and they'll still be on the light side...

If Griffin is injured there's little discussion as to where Poolman will slot in. I'm surprised no one mentioned Vainikolo though. Plenty were calling for his head a month ago.

Probably harsh on Henshaw, but I can easily see Eric restoring Duffy to 15 on his return with Henshaw to the bench. Swift and Duffy have been the early disappointments for me and if Duffy's form doesn't rebound I hope Eric has the fortitude to drop him especially knowing what Henshaw can offer. You'd imagine Gavin realises there is now a credible threat and he'll need to up his game.

I would move George to the second row only as the very last resort. He cannot have the impact on a game from there as he has from No. 8.

For me at this stage in his career JOC is an impact sub. You won't get cheated starting him, but it's not something that should be done for an extended period. Falloon has been more than adequate and a good run of starts can only help him.

Was at the game and haven't seen it on TV yet but i'm not sure where the "Buckley Schooled" stuff is coming from. With the exception of one scrum i thought our scrum held its own, it certainly wasn't going backwards at a rate of knots.

It was noticeable (to me anyways) when Wilkinson & Loughney came on that it was under pressure but i'd put that down to the fact that neither of them have had that much game time this season.

Saw a bit of training today. Poolman was fully involved from what I saw. Didn't notice Griffin or McSharry, or Fetu. Only two backs from the last day I saw were the half-backs. TOH was not taking part anyway. Macca didn't seem to be there either.


Who's in danger when Poolman's fit? Grif, TOH?
Regarding Poolman, I think there will be a number of changes in the backline the next day so he'll be easy accommodate. Can see McSharry , Griffin and TOH getting a rest. Without seeing how Poolman settles in it is impossible to say what will happen longer term.


JOC, or son-of-JOC to start?
If Willie Faloon plays like he did last week, and all the signs are that he will do so, he'll be the nailed on starter for the big games, with JOC coming off the bench. We need a second row who is capable of taking Swifty's place in the same way.


Who's the next prodigy off the O'Carolan production line?
The great thing is that all the backs must fancy their chances.

salmson wrote: Watched this back on tv last night, just as good as it seemed live.

Bundle of questions occurred to me though:

Who's in danger when Poolman's fit? Grif, TOH?

Will Gavin Duffy get his place back?

Did Buckley just get schooled as all young props do? Can experience and technique ever compensate for such a huge weight disparity?

Should we be starting George second row and using Swifty as an impact sub?

JOC, or son-of-JOC to start?

Who's the next prodigy off the O'Carolan production line?

For Poolman - either Griff or Tiernan really, both have been a tad underwhelming this term and they need to know competition is there. Griffin is definitely carrying injury, so the need is greater there..

Gav - If Gav is fit then he should have a run with the Eagles or be introduced from the bench for senior side if there is space in the match day squad. There should be no wheeling him back in just because he's injury free now. His form prior to injury has been a little uninspiring so far, so will be interesting to see what the Henshaw factor does for his motivation.

Dennis - He was far from schooled by Johnson and contributed way more outside the scrum than his opposite number. Shows how much bullcrap goes on with player stats though, in the ERC profiles there's 16KG difference between Den & Census's little Bro, but management and players were quoting it as nearly 30KG (ERC = 129 KG & Quins = 138KG. They were also saying Swifty was 20KG lighter than Kohn too, which is looked like nonsense when you see them side by side).

Willie - delighted to say has justified his selection in every game so far even if he was a little quieter against a top class Quins back row. JO'C is worth a selfless 30 minutes of seek and destroy in every game.

Regarding Henshaw, I was under the impression that he was only moved to 15 as cover is that not the case? He has been outstanding there but there's nothing wrong with rotating him and duffy when fit or moving Henshaw to centre if that is his natural position. There are a lot of games left yet and I wouldn't like to see Marmion or Henshaw ran into the ground.

As for Buckley he was probably targeted by the Quins pack to some extent? There was a massive weight difference between the two packs as it was and if I were planning on targeting one of Connacht's props it would have been Buckley rather than White so maybe it was a combination of youth weight and other factors.

Who's in danger when Poolman's fit? Grif, TOH?
Griffin aggravated his ankle injury so I would expect to see Poolman at 13 if he starts.

Will Gavin Duffy get his place back?
With Gav being captain the situation is complicated but it would be very harsh on Henshaw not to retain his place if fully fit. He's been outstanding and Duffy was quite poor before he got injured

Did Buckley just get schooled as all young props do? Can experience and technique ever compensate for such a huge weight disparity?
Excellent question and one that can probably only be answered by someone who's actually played front-row. I've heard about the 'dark arts' of scrummaging but haven't the faintest idea what they actually are. I know a lad who used to play loosehead for 'wegians I'll ask him and get back to you!

Should we be starting George second row and using Swifty as an impact sub?
In my opinion George's best position is 8.

JOC, or son-of-JOC to start?
Very, very tough call. Falloon just about shades it for me

Who's the next prodigy off the O'Carolan production line?
Both the Leaders and Carty showed some good flashes against Newcastle at the weekend.

ummm, wrote: Daragh Leader. Daniel Qualter just tweeted Daragh is in the squad for the Ospreys game.

Bet he gets in trouble for that!

yes i tweeted him back saying i doubt he was aloud to share that, saying i didnt want him to get in trouble, that was about hour and a half ago

Bundle of questions occurred to me though:

Who's in danger when Poolman's fit? Grif, TOH? --- dont no how good poolman is but if TOH is not firing then danie should get his chance

Will Gavin Duffy get his place back? --- if eric is being fair/honest he shouldn't unless henshaw is injured/rested

Did Buckley just get schooled as all young props do? Can experience and technique ever compensate for such a huge weight disparity? -- pass

Should we be starting George second row and using Swifty as an impact sub? -- we cant afford to mess around with george, we need him at 8. browne if fit, not overly keen on gannon

JOC, or son-of-JOC to start? -- now thats a question, id go willie

Who's the next prodigy off the O'Carolan production line? -- daragh leader. seen on twitter he's playing vs ospreys. how true that is, i dont no