I think we cud have beaten them if we had a stronger team out, nice to give young talent a chance but I hope it doesn't cost us a place in quarter final, well capable of beating sale at home tho.

Thanks to the lads for the stream. Hard to get a full view of the game from it but was good to be able to see it all the same.

Thought we were doing really well up until the turnover which led to the try before half time. Again early in the 2nd half we got a major turnover and then I think Tiernan O'Halloran dropped the pass back to him to clear the lines. 5 metre scrum from there the try was inevitable. Straight away from the kick off a poor kick by Fitzgerald who looked to have a good first half from what I could see left us exposed and Sale were able to score and then just when we looked like we might get back in we threw an intercept close to their line which resulted in a yellow card and a few minutes later the bonus point try.

Very frustrating viewing as we were well in the game most of the way but if you turn over the ball as cheaply as we did for all 4 tries at this level you will be punished.

We move on quickly to Ospreys and hopefully the decision to go with a weakened team here will be justified.

So we matched Main Sale team from min 0 to 40 and from 60 to 80. But conceeded 21 points after the break. Bad old stuff

Tall Paul wrote: I will be happy with a bonus point loss or a draw today.

Scoring 4 tries is IMO more likely than staying within 7 points.

But All I want is avoiding Saracens scoreline, try to get a point in Swensea, and win, win, win, after ...

sligsup wrote:

connachta wrote: Look any Connacht team would have struggled today, Sale won the mind game by taking 5 and us only 4 last week. I understand the Pro14 focus after those results, and Sale huge interest in this trophy

BUT We're still in the little pronvince syndrom. Others don't throw away 3 or 4 Academy guys (+ 3 or 4 developement ones) against a 100% full-team away from home, and without international helpers (Marmion, Aki, Roux).
And say a likely very bad day "will be forgivable" is IMO the wrong approach. It's not good for the young guys, it's destructive.

Yeah I know we had no real choice than resting Carty Aki and Roux, but we shouldn't hide behind fake hope...

I think we should be complimenting young Fitzgerald since he joined that the management believe he is good enough and earned the right to be selected

Is he here by his own merit,
or because Carty didn't have a single minute of rest, Ronaldson injured and Horwitz too rusty to play a whole hour vs such a team?

Probably a mix of both, at least he's considered better there than moving Godwin to 10. But as we rest Aki, Godwin was busy at centre...

Best I'm hoping for today is to keep the pool alive. Denying them a bonus would be a good result in my mind but really we dropped the ball not picking up 5 last week.

Next Friday is huge for our season. Allen Clarke seems to have got the Ospreys going again but also they've had a fairly nice start to the season fixture wise. Games against Ospreys and Cardiff are big swing matches anyway but I think a result in ospreys gives us huge momentum for a favourable run of fixtures after that.

Connachta
I agree and disagree with you.
I'm disappointed with the team that is named today after making the trip over to Manchester.
I would like to have seen our best team on the pitch.

But I said it last year.
Pro 14 is our best way to qualify for the HC next year.
If we do not qualify Aki is 100% gone and maybe others as well
At the moment I would say he is 50/50 us keeping him.

I agree with Friends decision today and his teams selection. Fingers crossed at the of the season we have qualified for HC

I am worried with CF at 10. He looked very nervous last weekend in Galway. I really hope I'm wrong but he needs a big step up in his performance.
I cannot see any game changers on the bench bar Tom at Hooker.
I will love it if I'm wrong.

I will be happy with a bonus point loss or a draw today.
I know we can beat them at home

connachta wrote: Look any Connacht team would have struggled today, Sale won the mind game by taking 5 and us only 4 last week. I understand the Pro14 focus after those results, and Sale huge interest in this trophy

BUT We're still in the little pronvince syndrom. Others don't throw away 3 or 4 Academy guys (+ 3 or 4 developement ones) against a 100% full-team away from home, and without international helpers (Marmion, Aki, Roux).
And say a likely very bad day "will be forgivable" is IMO the wrong approach. It's not good for the young guys, it's destructive.

Yeah I know we had no real choice than resting Carty Aki and Roux, but we shouldn't hide behind fake hope...

I think we should be complimenting young Fitzgerald since he joined that the management believe he is good enough and earned the right to be selected

Look any Connacht team would have struggled today, Sale won the mind game by taking 5 and us only 4 last week. I understand the Pro14 focus after those results, and Sale huge interest in this trophy

BUT We're still in the little pronvince syndrom. Others don't throw away 3 or 4 Academy guys (+ 3 or 4 developement ones) against a 100% full-team away from home, and without international helpers (Marmion, Aki, Roux).
And say a likely very bad day "will be forgivable" is IMO the wrong approach. It's not good for the young guys, it's destructive.

Yeah I know we had no real choice than resting Carty Aki and Roux, but we shouldn't hide behind fake hope...

Fitzgerald had to start a match some day. If he's good enough then he's old enough. A bad day against a fully loaded Sale would be forgivable and would stand to him in the long run. However, in the company of a strong pack with experience either side of him he might go well tomorrow. Here's hoping!

Well if we've had other 10 we could have expected smth. 20 senior names among 23. But outhalf matters too muh, in both attack and defence.
Big score against us to expect.

Not on TV. Galway bay will have commentary

Mack the knife wrote: I read it in my tea leaves .

Next time you're having a cup will you send me on the lotto numbers please and thanks.

Mack the knife wrote: My Guess:
TOH
De Butlear
Godwin
Farrelll
Healy
Fitzgerald
Blade (C)
O'Donnell
Delahunt
Carey
Cannon
Dillane
Boyle
Fainga'a
Copeland

Buckley, Bealham, McCartney, Maksymiw-Connolly Mitchell-Horwitz- Adeolokun

Solid prediction.

MulMan wrote: Edit: Sorry never mind Sale announcing their squad through me off.

Yeah, what's with the early announcement? Haven't seen that before. Did they get their dates mixed up too, or is it some kind of mind games?

That squad isn't on the EPCR site, so presumably it's not binding.

Might be no harm for us to pick Robb (if he's fit) in the centre, their 12 is a monster.