also lovely that lyn jones is their coach!!

stick that in yer pipe ......

Actually I have to agree with some of what OS is saying. We were very slow getting on the shoulders of our breaking players at times and we got turned over at ruck-time a few times because of that. At times our handling was not great as well, with some loose passes and knock-ons (perhaps that was part of the game-plan though ). There was some dodgy kicking from the backs outside of Dan as well.

I realise that we didn't given our backs much chance to attack and I agree that this was 100% the best approach but there were some areas that need work from that game. Luckily if our pack can continue to give us such a solid platform then we can work on the rest of it almost at our leisure!

That said our defence was excellent given some of the off-the-cuff play that Dragons managed.

OldSchool wrote: First - Great Win and great to see the team putting in the effort required and using our pack which has been the strength all season. There is always a but

It's the worst Dragons performance in a long time.
I would expect Connacht to beat the teams around them and below them in the league and that's what they have done, getting the bonus points is excellent.

Our open field play was very loose and we turned over too much ball to a poor team and allowed the dragons to slow the ball down, if we don't protect the ball in the next few games we will be in trouble.

At least our forwards are doing the work, our back line has a lot of catching up to do

Certainly our forwards are further along the development curve than our backs, but I think you're being a tad harsh seeing we had no intention of playing through the backs (and rightly so) yesterday.

The Dragons have no setpiece - haven't for years - so they try to speed the game up into a sevens/league hybrid thingy. You look at the problems Leinster and Munster had against them - Dragons ran in a try against Leinster from the halfway line - and I think our out-and-out forwards based approach yesterday was exactly what was required.

If you try to put the ball through your backs away to Dragons they will turn you over and they will hit you on the break. We just wouldn't engage with that game and that's why we're the only team to deny them at least a league point at Rodney Parade this season.

Exile seems to be implying that Clancy should turn a blind eye to it because he's Irish or something

I'm not implying that at all. In fact I have no idea how you got that from what I wrote. :silly:

I agree with Alan quinlans assertion that 4 officials from neutral union should be appointed for each game including derbies.

Agree with you about neutral referee's though. And that video ref should be retired early.

First - Great Win and great to see the team putting in the effort required and using our pack which has been the strength all season. There is always a but

It's the worst Dragons performance in a long time.
I would expect Connacht to beat the teams around them and below them in the league and that's what they have done, getting the bonus points is excellent.

Our open field play was very loose and we turned over too much ball to a poor team and allowed the dragons to slow the ball down, if we don't protect the ball in the next few games we will be in trouble.

At least our forwards are doing the work, our back line has a lot of catching up to do

I don't think that Clancy gets the blame here. He made it clear he didn't have a good view of the situation and TMO should have supplied him with the relevant information. The fact that we are calling into question the TMO's impartiality is the problem though... that should be out of the question!
It is the league's own fault that we are still talking about it. Needs to be sorted.

Borders no.2 wrote:

rossie wrote:

connachtexile wrote: Clown Clancy does it again. Yellow card to Leader.

He hit him in the air and the team were on their final warning. Critisise when warranted.

Nonsense, it probably was a penalty but the Dragons player was backing into him and Leader made every effort but in no way could get out of the way. It wasn't like it was a case of Connacht killing the ball or pulling down a maul when a yellow would have been justified, it was a completely accidental penalty which if common sense was used would have been just a penalty.

The TMO asked him had he seen it and he said no when he was standing a yard away from it. Not even the Dragons supporters (who were shouting for everything) were shouting for a penalty or yellow card.

Thankfully it had no real effect on the game unlike the officials in the Munster v Treviso game who screwed Treviso over.

I'm no Clancy fan but I don't agree with you on this. Accidental or not he ran into a player who was still in the air just after his team had received their final warning. Yellow card.
Exile seems to be implying that Clancy should turn a blind eye to it because he's Irish or something and I agree there appears to be an element of that creeping into league which is why I agree with Alan quinlans assertion that 4 officials from neutral union should be appointed for each game including derbies.
Someone asked if it was same tmo as scsrlets v Munster. AFAIK that was Tim Hayes who was touch judge yesterday.
Let's not get sidetracked though as I posted yesterday great win and best performance of provinces over weekend.

Some great results the last few weeks. Since the Sarries away result only a narrow 8-6 loss to Glasgow (was it and away)
The team are now performing in the second half. Early season we were holding our own in the first half and being held scoreless in the second. Were now capable of playing for the 80 and getting scores
These performances can really help develop the squad. The ability to get the extra try when needed to get the bonus point will help the confidence.
Fair play to the lads

connachta wrote:

Sol_ie wrote: Thought our entire pack was immense today, our line out stats were huge for the entire game. The level to which we were dominant in the scrum was shocking, never seen an entire front row get replaced so early! Thought marmion and parks went well today, a few dodgy kicks from dan aside.

The backs were a little bit quieter. Robbie and griffin had solid games, you could tell that Fionn (fee hawn, to the welsh) was itching to make a break. Leader was solid too, can't be blamed for his sending off.

Defence was immense, enforced errors were kept low enough.

19/20. I'll take it.

I'd put 18/20, just because JHW went out, and we shoud have to rely on young converted hookers Heffernan and Dineen

I was actually saying that we got 19 points out of the 20 on offer!

Sol_ie wrote: Thought our entire pack was immense today, our line out stats were huge for the entire game. The level to which we were dominant in the scrum was shocking, never seen an entire front row get replaced so early! Thought marmion and parks went well today, a few dodgy kicks from dan aside.

The backs were a little bit quieter. Robbie and griffin had solid games, you could tell that Fionn (fee hawn, to the welsh) was itching to make a break. Leader was solid too, can't be blamed for his sending off.

Defence was immense, enforced errors were kept low enough.

19/20. I'll take it.

I'd put 18/20, just because JHW went out, and we shoud have to rely on young converted hookers Heffernan and Dineen

Lol

In line with the last few positive result is a reduction in Murph13 negative comments - coincidental ????

Our Captain out injured, along with all our specialist 7s.

Yeah gotta give huge credit to Masterson for the way he's played their. Not his normal position but has done a great job. Muldoon to when he played 7 also.

4 wins in a row and 19 out of a possible 20 points. Our Captain out injured, along with all our specialist 7s. It's not luck it's damn good hard work and a team finally understanding their coach and what he is trying to do. Our best Heineken cup run and a long way to go in the league but the possibility of highest finish is not out of reach. Next year could be very interesting if Lam gets in players he wants. Well done to all the team and especially to John Muldoon. Cometh the hour comets the man !!!

Perhaps, lam is finally getting the squad to play the way he wants them too.
you could see from the beginning of the season that he was trying to change the way we played.
Even if we slip back down the table lets judge him on his second season, nothing to lose.

it's amazing it's happening with the likes of Clarke, Heenan and Poolman out.

Agreed. Losing your best players is meant to weaken a team not strengthen it.