I was expecting a big game from Grace seing that he has not had game time and it was time to prove himself.
He didnt and made that silly challenge that could have lost it.
I do reckon he should get another bite of the cherry and start against Edinbourgh.
That game might have given him a kick in the ass and he might turn up.

RogueXV wrote: Only happy with the result because they had to come from behind to get it. If Connacht want to be competitive in the Rabo they need to win at least 75-80% of their home games so drawing with Glasgow, no matter how improved they are, is not on. In the cold light of day it is two points lost rather than one point gained.

I'm beginning to think NOC's problems with placed kicks is down to concentration. I was already thinking it was odd that he seemed to be doing better with the kicks from more difficult angles and now he slots this pressure one to earn the draw. All kicks you'd figure he ups his focus on.

It was good to see Griffin back in action.

+1

Only happy with the result because they had to come from behind to get it. If Connacht want to be competitive in the Rabo they need to win at least 75-80% of their home games so drawing with Glasgow, no matter how improved they are, is not on. In the cold light of day it is two points lost rather than one point gained.

I'm beginning to think NOC's problems with placed kicks is down to concentration. I was already thinking it was odd that he seemed to be doing better with the kicks from more difficult angles and now he slots this pressure one to earn the draw. All kicks you'd figure he ups his focus on.

It was good to see Griffin back in action.

The thing about the penalty that Grace gave away that ye are all talking about is that he did the same thing 5 minutes previous and got away with it because the ref was playing advantage to Connacht and we got a penalty in the end so it wasn't as noticable. I reckon he thought seeing as he got away with it once he could do it again. He was only playing the ref in his eyes, but he got pinged for it

rossie wrote: Salmson, I was down that end of clan terrace for try and just before prop went thru ruck to score henry left defensive position at edge of ruck and ran out to second from touchline on clan side for no apparent reason. I was watching closely and noone appeared to replace him in defensive line. There was obviously some communication problems occasionly in the defensive line on the night.

Recorded & watched it later (well fastforwarded through the awful bits). Henry was replaced at that the clan side of the ruck by George and Loughs came in next to him so that's why Henry moved wide left. No problems that side (though one person who'd know better than I says that once you're at the side of a ruck you don't move til it's finished, so Henry shouldn't have switched). The Glasgow TH got through on the main stand side of the ruck where NOC was blocked/completely unsupported by the rest of the team. But I guess that's still a communication problem

rossie wrote: While Glasgow player made the most of it he did trip him and it was a silly peno to give away.

There's no evidence - even in slow motion - that hs touched him, but you're right, it was silly to go anywhere near the Glasgow player, especially as he hadn't a notion of getting anywhere near NOC.

Salmson, I was down that end of clan terrace for try and just before prop went thru ruck to score henry left defensive position at edge of ruck and ran out to second from touchline on clan side for no apparent reason. I was watching closely and noone appeared to replace him in defensive line. There was obviously some communication problems occasionly in the defensive line on the night.

For 2nd half i moved to 10m line on college rd end of clan terrace(kids were head wrecking at bohermore end) and Grace gave penalty away right in front of us. While Glasgow player made the most of it he did trip him and it was a silly peno to give away. I thought that Grace was having a decent enuf game up to that tho. It wasnt the first silly peno we gave away at vital times this season but hopefully it was the last.

I agree wit seapoint that he should be given every chance. Hes unfortunate in that he plays in the same position as The legend that is Jonnie concrete and another great servant in ray. Jonnie has given away alot of silly penos(not as blatnt as this one) himself this season but he has earned the right to a pardon based on everything else he has done both in past and present. Give time Grace and Conneely could prove worthy replacement for those two greats.

The pen was given for a trip but looking at the replays I don't believe Grace actually made contact with him but the 2 or 3 yard deviation he made into the line of the Glasgow player was enough to convince the ref a pen should be awarded.

We made 3 real mistakes in the whole game, Duffy (glasgow try) and TOH (glasgow pen) both dropping extremely easy high balls and the Grace pen and next thing we have given away 13 points.

In fairness to Glasgow they were determined not to have another horror story like last year and they really got their defence operating well. (there's a argument to say we made them look good in that respect though)

That pen at the end though with our whole tight 5 who played a whole 80 was a little bit special.

The camera behind the goal focused in on NOC as he lined up the shot and all you could see was Swifty in the background mouthing a prayer or threat that he better get it over as NOC went through his routine.

Funk It wrote: Have seen it mentioned but no explanation as to what he did.

He was done for obstruction, blocking a Glsgow player who was trying to charge down a Niall O'Connor clearance. Looked nailed on at the game, but really inconclusive when I saw it on tv; he definitely didn't block him (though you could see him thinking about it, he did all bar give a maniacal laugh as he adjusted his position). He may have tripped the Glasgow player, or the Glasgow player may have, ahem, "fallen".

He also missed a tackle for the try, though it looked like a team fail to me; we ended up with 10 and 12 as pillars at a ruck in front of our posts, George and Loughs got in position to back up Fa'afili on the Clan side of the ruck but nobody helped NOC on the other side. One of the Glasgow forwards just stood up and blocked NOC at the side of the ruck and the TH went straight through the gap. More worryingly we nearly got nailed with the same move in the second half.

First things first, I didn't get to see the game, so can't comment on how well or poor Grace was. From what I saw when he was with Shannon, he is a quality player and showed to be a great player early in the season in Ravenhill, give him a chance (in fact give him a few chances and I believe he will really prove just how good he is). Can I ask, what exactly did he do to give away such a silly penalty? Have seen it mentioned but no explanation as to what he did.

Thought grace didn't influence the outcome hugely but his work rate and effort was good. Considering it's his first start I would be hopeful that he can develop with game time. Hard to pick him ahead of joc but I wouldn't mind seeing him start again against edinborough. Guys need time, if you consider mckeown and Kearney neither of whom were world beaters first day out but both have developed into real squad options. Grace should be given the same chance. Remember he got almost no rugby last year either with injuries.

He had one excellent turnover middle of the second half, more of that please eoghan and less of the silly pens.

choco128 wrote: have to say very disappointed with grace. after all he's talk on twitter, he had a poor game. He was at fault for the try (two pillars is basic at ruck) and then gives away one of the stupidest peno's ive every seen. Im not tryin to have a go at grace, when he came here there was big talk about him and i really wanted him to do well and after all he's talk on twitter i taught he was itchin for a chance to play. Fact is after the glasgow game the best place for him is on the bench.

also can somebody explain why we had that useless scottish ref when munster had a welsh ref for there match against an italian team. where's the sense in that????

FFS lads will ya give the lad a break, with injury he's had bugger all starts for us apart from a half dozen run outs for Buccs,and he's filling some massive boots in JO'C's and Ray's. He's not the only player who made mistakes Sat night either, or in fact through the season. Far too early to judge his worth and I'm not going to write him off on the basis of one mediocre performance. He comes across as a decent enough lad too..

And what did he say on Twitter precisely? That he was disappointed not to be be getting a game. Jaysus that's the attitude I personally want from all our players, any fringe player that's happy to accept his lot is no use to us or his colleagues. They all need to be fighting for places every week, and being pushed to perform by their immediate competition...

Also the nationality of the ref doesn't particularly matter, fact remains that the performance levels of a lot of the refs of all nationalities in the Pro12 has been inferior to that of the players on the pitch far too often. The IRB are at fault with their tinkering of the laws, refs doen't know whether they are coming or going in relation to interpretation and application of the law revisions and new laws..

have to say very disappointed with grace. after all he's talk on twitter, he had a poor game. He was at fault for the try (two pillars is basic at ruck) and then gives away one of the stupidest peno's ive every seen. Im not tryin to have a go at grace, when he came here there was big talk about him and i really wanted him to do well and after all he's talk on twitter i taught he was itchin for a chance to play. Fact is after the glasgow game the best place for him is on the bench.

also can somebody explain why we had that useless scottish ref when munster had a welsh ref for there match against an italian team. where's the sense in that????

agree that scrumhalf was taking too much time at ruck time and allowing glasgow push up.
Imo this contributed to a lot of turnovers/penalties as Henry was forced inside and seemed to get isolated as a result. He also appeared to lack pace on reciept of ball.

For the Glasgow try he left the side of the ruck and ran to clan sideline immediately before prop went through ruck to score. Noone replaced him in defence line so not sure what happened there.
All in all not one of his better games but not all his fault either.

Thought decision to go for penalty to draw was correct decision but a brave one for noc. Fair play to him for nailing it.He is improving but agree wit other poster that it was wrong to go for posts on second miss. He should know his range by now.Also 1st miss was poor so still work o do.

Scrum was good again in general and geaorge did well of base apart from 1st scrum. Great to see the confidence in them(and especially ronan)to go after the penalty at scrum time to force the draw. It should have been given on 1st scrum but they went after it again and got their rewards.
Maul was excellent and when they picked and went at ruck time they caused glasgow problems. Its apity they dont do more of it.
Its hard to implement any sort of gameplan when you make as many errors as we do so i wudnt be too critical of management on that front. We are a better team without the ball at this stage of our development and with the ball we are better when we keep it tight for now. There is talent at the back but we make too many mistakes trying to get it out there.

Happy wit the draw considering this team were losing these games a few weeks ago.

Very happy with the result but performance left a lot to be desired. I think the Dave O'Hara tragedy had a big impact on a number of the players who would have known him well.

POD was glacial at the back of rucks, was picking up the ball and then deciding when and where to pass, thus allowing the Glasgow rush defense to get off the line quicker than should have been possible.

The decision to take the points was absolutely correct as it meant that it not only showed faith in our kicker, who should get a massive boost from converting a difficult pressure kick, but also meant that we didn't lose.
Not losing is a huge morale booster.
Playing badly and not losing to a team in the top 3 is a huge morale booster.
Not having the press talking about a 11 game Pro12 losing streak is a morale booster.
Having the Clan cheer you off after not losing is a morale booster.
Undefeated in the last 2 home games with a chance to extend it to 3 next week is a morale booster.

Hearing from a reliable source that Dan Parks is definitely coming next season, not sure about that one TBH.

I'm happy with the result for the simple reason we would have lost this 2 months ago. Shows that the team is getting some cohesion and that the mentality is not as panicky in the last 10 minutes.

The ref informed connacht that time was up, the kick would be the last play.

Have to disagree with you on odonaghue thought it was a poor game tonight, also thought that we missed Mcsharry, Henry didn't bring his outside men into the game once, carried into traffic ok and possibly played to instructions but I would be looking for a little more from a 12, thought Eric made the wrong call, Tonnetti should have stayed on and moved in to 12.

Totally agree with borders no 2 there is no obvious plan to beat opponents other than hope we get a lucky bounce here or there and either o halloran or Duffy will score.