Interesting point about the tries conceded. Though NOC dont alright on friday night. Got some good touch finders in difficult conditions and in fairness the three kicks he go could easily have been missed in the past. I know its hard to watch at times but I think with a bit of confidence and time he can improve alot, there certainly is room there to improve. Keatley was no points machine when he came west first but was a much better kicker when he left.

ummm, wrote: All the more reason to improve our bloody kicking percentages!

75% on friday is fairly good when you take in the wind even though he missed the easy one

All the more reason to improve our bloody kicking percentages!

Connacht's defence stands firm

A trademark of Connacht's performances to date has been their resolute defence. Last season Connacht contracted the services of former Great Britain Rugby League legend Mike Forshaw to shore up the defensive systems at the club and the former Wigan Warriors Strength & Conditioning Coach has made a big impact since his arrival.

A testament to Mike's hard work was the tackle count from last Friday night's Heineken Cup match against Harlequins. The starting pack made a staggering 110 tackles over the course of the match and the team had over 235 defensive involvements over the 80 minutes, denying Harlequins both space, territory and clean possession.

The defensive systems clearly took their toll on the visiting side with Connacht turning over possession in every area of the pitch. Man of the match John Muldoon epitomised Connacht's tenacity at the breakdown and the 29 year old Portumna-born backrower displayed a dogged determination and ruthlessness in the contact zone that helped secure Connacht's first win in their maiden Heineken Cup.

Following the pool stages of the Heineken Cup there were 10 teams that conceded more points than Connacht. This list included some of Europe's most prestigious clubs, names such as London Irish, Northampton Saints, the Ospreys and Castres Olympique were among the sides, many of which regularly feature in the competition, to ship more points than the Western Province. Indeed Toulouse are the only team to earn a bonus point against Connacht this season and had to work extremely hard to achieve that!

Though Connacht have yet to turn performances into results in the RaboDirect PRO12 leaking trys has not been the major issue and the club lie level with leaders Leinster on number of trys conceded (19) and following last weekend's heroic performance the team know they can use their impressive defensive capabilities to turn close matches into victories.

Put quite simply, it was one of the very best sporting occasions I ever had the privalge to attend.

The singing of the Fields, the commeradery of the fans , the bond between the players and the supporters .........it is / was something for us all to be proud of.

Let this be the start of something good now and push on for the resy of the year.


Connacht is a great club and with , good will from all incl. the IRFU, we can become a BIG club. The love for rugby is very strong in the west and it can only flourish with positivity based upon this result and how we held up against Toulouse in France.

Connacht abu ......and I can't wait for the Glasgow game already (prefer Friday evenings thought!!)

:lol:

Connolly-Your singing is like Pavarotti compared to myself .

That game will live long in the memory .Think i need to make Bohermore my regular spot for fear of jinking after that.

Well done 1-23 and to the tremendous support also .Everyone gave it socks.

Mul,Lough,Georgie,Ray all brilliant.Fair dues Niall also for nailling those kicks .After that, kinda hope there's howling right/left wind and rain for all his kicks.

Meant to make a few recordings at the game on friday but was too busy chewing my finger nails. Legendary game, definitely one of the ones that will go down in history.

Great performance.

swift4prez wrote: i got everything crossed one of the irish teams wins it.
toulouse said that they owe us one since we kept them in the cup. well keep your word, give us few players or the coach, heard there number 8 is an ok player

We owe you one too - and will do our best to return the favour in May.

swift4prez wrote:

DaSpecialOne wrote: Here's a video of the last 4 mins of play. Was a privilege to be there. The chants & renditions of The Fields Of Athenry were hair raising at times!

i love watching this when the final whistle blows. looking at the players jump with joy and fetuu jumping up on swift.
also love looking at the supporters and seeing the reaction. love this. if anyone has anymore please upload or link to you tube etc

cringe forgot how bad a singer i am and hearing me start singing the fields of athenry at the beginning of that clip :blush: . I'll stick with my day job. Absolute fantastic effort by the whole 23 still smiling this morning

DaSpecialOne wrote: Here's a video of the last 4 mins of play. Was a privilege to be there. The chants & renditions of The Fields Of Athenry were hair raising at times!

i love watching this when the final whistle blows. looking at the players jump with joy and fetuu jumping up on swift.
also love looking at the supporters and seeing the reaction. love this. if anyone has anymore please upload or link to youtube etc

I'm still getting shivers thinking back about the game.

There is a barrier in the Clan Stand which is the proud owner of my fingertips after that game.
What a performance from the lads.

When the final whistle went I was hugging and high fiving strangers.

Saw this stat on Twitter

Tackles Made:
Connacht 149
Harlequins 49

Connacht tackles in the second half 89

totally agree and a nice guy yo boot

Packie wrote: The memory that'll stick with me from the game, is when Locks came off. He could hardly walk, he was in bits, he'd left everything out there. he's a top man I'm delighted he got the call up,

+1

The memory that'll stick with me from the game, is when Locks came off. He could hardly walk, he was in bits, he'd left everything out there. he's a top man I'm delighted he got the call up,

Connacht v Harlequins Heineken Cup 20th January 2012 First 3 Niall O'Connor penalties. Enjoy!!!

Thought Henry looked fantastic last night. Vainikolo as well.