Post by Jamie Crawford on Jan 8, 2016 12:37:23 GMT
I know it’s early but there’s no game this week and Forum activity is declining.
To quote the Yorkshire Evening Post, “Clive Griffiths’ side started 2016 by stretching their unbeaten run to 11 games amid atrocious conditions in Jersey and with a thrilling finish.”
Jersey were also the last team to draw with the Knights last November in the B & I Cup. (D'ya like what I did there, linking Championship to B & I Cup?)
Unfortunately Connacht Eagles have yet to win a B & I Cup game at this pool half-way stage, so we may witness a resurrection in the second half of the pool stage; please read on.
Connacht Eagles have scored as many tries in the Cup as Nottingham and conceded fewer than Ealing Trailfinders but the stats aren’t impressive at this stage. Don’t forget that Connacht are currently third in the Guinness Pro12 league and play in European Rugby Challenge Cup (formerly Heineken Cup). Connacht (nicknamed The Devil’s Own) obviously know how to play rugby well, so their development or academy side will be well-drilled.
I’m unsure about eligibility to play for Connacht ‘senior’ team or the Eagles development team but Wikipedia states, “Connacht Eagles (formerly Connacht A) is the team that represents Connacht in the British & Irish Cup[77] and in the All Ireland Inter-provincial Championship.[78] Pre-professionalism and a formal Celtic league structure, the main Connacht team competed in the AIPC. Since the advent of professionalism the provinces have fielded lesser teams in order to concentrate on the Celtic League/Pro12. The team is composed of Senior Connacht squad players requiring gametime, Academy players[79] and AIL players called up from their clubs.[80]”
It is not clear how long a Connacht squad player must not have played for Connacht before being eligible to play for the Connacht Eagles so Connacht may be able to significantly strengthen the Eagles Squad.
The IRFU states, “Connacht Rugby and the IRFU have announced that Academy players Sean O'Brien and Peter Robb have both been rewarded with senior contracts with the province for next season.” O’Brien and Robb have been identified as ready to step up to the senior squad.
Looking at the other Pool leaders at this halfway stage (all have played four games):
Pool 1; Leinster, won 4, 19 points
Pool 2; Bedford Blues, won 3, lost 1, 14 points
Pool 3; Carnegie, won 3, lost 1, 16 points
Pool 4; London Welsh, won 3, lost 1, 15 points
Pool 5; Knights, won 3, draw 1, 16 points
Leinster lead all Pools so far with the Knights second and Carnegie third (draw v loss).
On 5th November 2015 Leinster ‘A’ played Connacht Eagles at Donnybrook in an interprovincial match and beat them 24-43. A couple of quotes from the Leinster website, “…The centre pairing of Peter Robb and Rory Parata were creating space inside the Blues' half, and after receiving a short offload, full-back Ciaran Gaffney - one of the former Ireland Under-20 internationals in action - touched down under the posts at the end of a lung-bursting run from halfway…
… Another conversion by McKeon meant that the sides were level for a fourth time (24-24). The dependable number 10 moved the Connacht outfit back in front near the hour mark, landing a superb penalty from long range…
Connacht A Scorers
C. Gaffney (1 try), R. Loughney (1 try), G. Naoupu (1 try), N. Adeolokun (1 try), C. McKeon (4 conversions and 5 penalties)
Connacht A Lineups
Ciaran Gaffney; Niyi Adeolokun, Rory Parata, Peter Robb, Ed O'Keeffe; Conor McKeon, Ian Porter; Ronan Loughney, Jason Harris-Wright, Saba Meunargia, Cian Romaine, Daniel Qualter, Sean O'Brien, James Connolly, George Naoupu CAPTAIN.
REPLACEMENTS USED: Caolin Blade for Porter (51 mins), Rory Moloney for O'Brien (56), Conan O'Donnell for Meunargia (60), Peter Claffey for Romaine (66), Cormac Brennan for O'Keeffe (70), Aidan Moynihan for Gaffney (73), Jack Dinneen for Harris-Wright, Jacob Walshe for Loughney (both 78).”
Connacht Eagles were level with Leinster 24-24 but went on to score a further 19 unanswered points.
That result begs the question how can Connacht not win any of their four B & I Cup fixtures beat Leinster ‘A’ who have won all four of theirs?
Have Connacht focused on performance in the Irish interprovincial league rather than the B & I Cup and which side will we face?
We're unbeaten in 11 games, can we make it 12 at the Galway Sportsgrounds?
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
To quote the Yorkshire Evening Post, “Clive Griffiths’ side started 2016 by stretching their unbeaten run to 11 games amid atrocious conditions in Jersey and with a thrilling finish.”
Jersey were also the last team to draw with the Knights last November in the B & I Cup. (D'ya like what I did there, linking Championship to B & I Cup?)
Unfortunately Connacht Eagles have yet to win a B & I Cup game at this pool half-way stage, so we may witness a resurrection in the second half of the pool stage; please read on.
Connacht Eagles have scored as many tries in the Cup as Nottingham and conceded fewer than Ealing Trailfinders but the stats aren’t impressive at this stage. Don’t forget that Connacht are currently third in the Guinness Pro12 league and play in European Rugby Challenge Cup (formerly Heineken Cup). Connacht (nicknamed The Devil’s Own) obviously know how to play rugby well, so their development or academy side will be well-drilled.
I’m unsure about eligibility to play for Connacht ‘senior’ team or the Eagles development team but Wikipedia states, “Connacht Eagles (formerly Connacht A) is the team that represents Connacht in the British & Irish Cup[77] and in the All Ireland Inter-provincial Championship.[78] Pre-professionalism and a formal Celtic league structure, the main Connacht team competed in the AIPC. Since the advent of professionalism the provinces have fielded lesser teams in order to concentrate on the Celtic League/Pro12. The team is composed of Senior Connacht squad players requiring gametime, Academy players[79] and AIL players called up from their clubs.[80]”
It is not clear how long a Connacht squad player must not have played for Connacht before being eligible to play for the Connacht Eagles so Connacht may be able to significantly strengthen the Eagles Squad.
The IRFU states, “Connacht Rugby and the IRFU have announced that Academy players Sean O'Brien and Peter Robb have both been rewarded with senior contracts with the province for next season.” O’Brien and Robb have been identified as ready to step up to the senior squad.
Looking at the other Pool leaders at this halfway stage (all have played four games):
Pool 1; Leinster, won 4, 19 points
Pool 2; Bedford Blues, won 3, lost 1, 14 points
Pool 3; Carnegie, won 3, lost 1, 16 points
Pool 4; London Welsh, won 3, lost 1, 15 points
Pool 5; Knights, won 3, draw 1, 16 points
Leinster lead all Pools so far with the Knights second and Carnegie third (draw v loss).
On 5th November 2015 Leinster ‘A’ played Connacht Eagles at Donnybrook in an interprovincial match and beat them 24-43. A couple of quotes from the Leinster website, “…The centre pairing of Peter Robb and Rory Parata were creating space inside the Blues' half, and after receiving a short offload, full-back Ciaran Gaffney - one of the former Ireland Under-20 internationals in action - touched down under the posts at the end of a lung-bursting run from halfway…
… Another conversion by McKeon meant that the sides were level for a fourth time (24-24). The dependable number 10 moved the Connacht outfit back in front near the hour mark, landing a superb penalty from long range…
Connacht A Scorers
C. Gaffney (1 try), R. Loughney (1 try), G. Naoupu (1 try), N. Adeolokun (1 try), C. McKeon (4 conversions and 5 penalties)
Connacht A Lineups
Ciaran Gaffney; Niyi Adeolokun, Rory Parata, Peter Robb, Ed O'Keeffe; Conor McKeon, Ian Porter; Ronan Loughney, Jason Harris-Wright, Saba Meunargia, Cian Romaine, Daniel Qualter, Sean O'Brien, James Connolly, George Naoupu CAPTAIN.
REPLACEMENTS USED: Caolin Blade for Porter (51 mins), Rory Moloney for O'Brien (56), Conan O'Donnell for Meunargia (60), Peter Claffey for Romaine (66), Cormac Brennan for O'Keeffe (70), Aidan Moynihan for Gaffney (73), Jack Dinneen for Harris-Wright, Jacob Walshe for Loughney (both 78).”
Connacht Eagles were level with Leinster 24-24 but went on to score a further 19 unanswered points.
That result begs the question how can Connacht not win any of their four B & I Cup fixtures beat Leinster ‘A’ who have won all four of theirs?
Have Connacht focused on performance in the Irish interprovincial league rather than the B & I Cup and which side will we face?
We're unbeaten in 11 games, can we make it 12 at the Galway Sportsgrounds?
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
