The Final

[shamalicious]

Rummy stop killing my buzz. Connacht played like a southern hemisphere team, and if we want the game to thrive, other Pro12 teams need to emulate their style of play.

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[rumncoke]

Sky should be happy with the games they have Televised the last 4 weeks compared to that provided by the premiership which have been to a large extent been a feast of one pass and contact or one pass kick . with the odd run return to contact but all very predictable


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[Snipe Watson]

Russ there was a time when he Rob Kearney was the best full back in the 6 nations as stated elsewhere injuries ,age , and rule changes have rendered him a shadow of the player he was .

The thing about International rugby is that the game is based first and foremost on defence and while Connaught have wings who score the also leaked trys on occasion



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Best of a bad bunch in 09 and the game moved on a week later

Rum is correct.

[Russ]

Russ there was a time when he Rob Kearney was the best full back in the 6 nations as stated elsewhere injuries ,age , and rule changes have rendered him a shadow of the player he was .

The thing about International rugby is that the game is based first and foremost on defence and while Connaught have wings who score the also leaked trys on occasion



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Best of a bad bunch in 09 and the game moved on a week later

Rum is correct.

I didn't disagree with him. I simply added the details

[Dave]

Licking our wounds here.
It is a very good result for Irish rugby and well deserved.
I am still uncertain about aspects of the Connacht project. The demographic fact is that they only have a quarter of the population of Leinster or Ulster. Let's hope that they only build a stadium of say 10,000 to 12,000 all seater capacity.
Munster got carried away by the ephemeral support of the Greatest Fans in the World and can't half fill TP these days.

There is something wrong about our back 3 going to SA. Rob K looks past his best. He has been a wonderful servant but at 30 or 31 he has a helluva lot of mileage and injuries on the clock. In contrast, the Connacht back 3, 2 of whom are long term Leinster rejects, deserve more. Adelolunken could have struck terror into the whites of the eyes of the Saffers.

I look forward to Henshaw learning his trade at the Leinster school next season, if I may be allowed a little irony.

Pair of clown shoes for you pal. Connacht have won the pro 12 and still you refer to them as a "project"!

[Dave]

I can sort of see why Henshaw wanted to go (I still think he's definitely wrong for leaving) but why would Aly Muldowney leave? He's abandoning a club very much on the up to go to a French team not in the Champions' Cup for next season. Seems a really strange move.

Anyway, massive congratulations to Connacht. They have been, by a long way, the best team in the PRO12 this season and deservedly have the silverware to show for it. Although a part of me is slightly wistful that we couldn't win the PRO12 this year given some of the rubbish that's been served up throughout the season.

The challenge for Connacht is going to be massive to come close to replicating their form next season. Despite what everyone is rattling on about, they do not have a pool of top quality players. They are a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. A group of good players, playing out of their skins and collectively making a fantastic team with indomitable team spirit.
Come September, they all have to come back and start again. Can their 10, 12, 13 deliver another season like this without Henshaw? For me Bundee Aki as been the player on a roll and I think he is an ordinary enough 12 when matched up against an equally physical midfield.

I don't think Henshaw has been their stand out back. He has missed a lot of their season from being at the world cup, returning injured and then playing in the 6 nations. Henshaw is a quality player but they have other players who have been better this season. Peter Robb will probably replace him, looks like a big unit but haven't seen a great deal of him.

Connacht will still be a force next year. Sean O'Brien was excellent for them off the bench yesterday and their pack is quality. Bundee Aki has been sensational this year. They will still be major a force next year with their playing style and unshakeable team spirit.

[Snipe Watson]

I can sort of see why Henshaw wanted to go (I still think he's definitely wrong for leaving) but why would Aly Muldowney leave? He's abandoning a club very much on the up to go to a French team not in the Champions' Cup for next season. Seems a really strange move.

Anyway, massive congratulations to Connacht. They have been, by a long way, the best team in the PRO12 this season and deservedly have the silverware to show for it. Although a part of me is slightly wistful that we couldn't win the PRO12 this year given some of the rubbish that's been served up throughout the season.

The challenge for Connacht is going to be massive to come close to replicating their form next season. Despite what everyone is rattling on about, they do not have a pool of top quality players. They are a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. A group of good players, playing out of their skins and collectively making a fantastic team with indomitable team spirit.
Come September, they all have to come back and start again. Can their 10, 12, 13 deliver another season like this without Henshaw? For me Bundee Aki as been the player on a roll and I think he is an ordinary enough 12 when matched up against an equally physical midfield.

I don't think Henshaw has been their stand out back. He has missed a lot of their season from being at the world cup, returning injured and then playing in the 6 nations. Henshaw is a quality player but they have other players who have been better this season. Peter Robb will probably replace him, looks like a big unit but haven't seen a great deal of him.

Connacht will still be a force next year. Sean O'Brien was excellent for them off the bench yesterday and their pack is quality. Bundee Aki has been sensational this year. They will still be major a force next year with their playing style and unshakeable team spirit.

Bundee has been sensational this season, but it remains to be seen if he can replicate that form. He's a massively powerful player and that won't change, but for me he's unsubtle. I could be wrong of course.

[rumncoke]

Aki is a solid centre who does the simple things well and knows when to pass and when not to .

Having played the in NZ he knows how to control the players around him which is the key to Connaught Mid field

It depends on who they get to partner him and how good the out half is .



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[Russ]

Aki is the best centre in Ireland

[Spiffsson]

Much as I am happy to Connaught win the fact is that Leinster were the authors of their defeat . They made to many mistakes in the first 20 minutes and Connaught had the ability to Capitalise on them .
But review of the table shows Leinster only had 27 trys scored against them to Connaught who had 46


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Connacht were the author's of Leinster's defeat.
Why take that away from them with such a negative, back-to-front attitude.
If Leinster made mistakes it's because they were pressured into them by Connacht.
The better team deservedly won.
Tries scored against both teams in previous games mean nothing in the final.

[solidarity]

So, if Ulster had been playing Connaught yesterday how would we have done? We were the only team to beat them twice this season so we should have had any psychological advantage going. I reckon we could have matched them out wide. Of course our pack would still have needed to produce the goods. Just a thought.

[Russ]

So, if Ulster had been playing Connaught yesterday how would we have done? We were the only team to beat them twice this season so we should have had any psychological advantage going. I reckon we could have matched them out wide. Of course our pack would still have needed to produce the goods. Just a thought.

Go back and watch the McGrath interviews. I hope leinstertainment fans do

He says they got up for the ulster game because of the history between the provinces

There's no history between SA and D4 do they will capitulate in Joburg

Luckily bobbo will give a rousing speech about the shirt like the twunt he is

[BaggyTrousers]

Nothing wrong with a playing for the shirt speech, but as Jack McGrath suggested that won't work every week.

Bob was a fine player he was most definitely the best 15 in Ireland but for my money has had less than a handful of really good games on green since 2009 but has been in movable.

For Schmidtferbrains to trot out that he had never even thought of Payne at 15 is not only extraordinary but is frankly now utterly untenable. He is making himself look like everything I've said about him is true and frankly not even I believed all of it.

Ireland have a mass of centre options and a far better 15 option than Bob but I expect Schmidtferbrains to be resolute in playing Jared Payne at 13.

[Spiffsson]

Nothing wrong with a playing for the shirt speech, but as Jack McGrath suggested that won't work every week.

Bob was a fine player he was most definitely the best 15 in Ireland but for my money has had less than a handful of really good games on green since 2009 but has been in movable.

For Schmidtferbrains to trot out that he had never even thought of Payne at 15 is not only extraordinary but is frankly now utterly untenable. He is making himself look like everything I've said about him is true and frankly not even I believed all of it.

Ireland have a mass of centre options and a far better 15 option than Bob but I expect Schmidtferbrains to be resolute in playing Jared Payne at 13.

Yes. I get the feeling that S-F-Brains has a thran, stubborn streak in him. Once he has made a decision on something, it is more or less set in stone and he will not backtrack. How else could you explain the continued selection of his favourite totally fekkking useless acolytes from Mexico, and the willful ignoring of deserving players in form.
Quinn Roux says it all - a player whom Fibber S-F-Brains brought to Leinster several seasons ago. He did not make the grade there and was shipped off to the Westies, where he still can't get a game. Still - he's good enough for Ireland.
It's very sad that we are sending a team to SA that is far short of the best in Irish rugby.

SCHMIDT OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Snipe Watson]

Aki is the best centre in Ireland

Spoken like a former prop........
He's not even the best centre in Connacht.