178 : Connacht v Leinster wrap

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN

MARK JACKSON

FULL TIME TAKES

Conor Cronin Messy night, and Connacht would’ve been deserving of the BP. But to focus on leinster, the lineout needs some work quickly. I appreciate that 2 of our ex players were in there but it, some poor hands and some poor discipline meant no opportunity to use good field position and meant we allowed Connacht to be in the game at half time. Must be more clinical in any game, but particularly with how fired up Connacht are and were tonight

Chris McDonnell There’s the reason that andy farrell has a restraining order keep ross byrne 10 miles from the irish squad.

Martin Loughrey Well that was an arm wrestle. I’m almost disappointed for Connacht. (I like Connacht and the way they play). Thought they did a lot really well and can feel a bit robbed to come away with nothing. Can’t remember a match with so many knock ons. 4gs pitches lie. A dirty night in Galway but hard to tell because the players were so clean. All in all, a win on the road is a win on the road. Luckily they sorted the lineout after the first 20 mins.

Derek McGee To call it “one for the purists” is to overestimate the tolerance of the average purist. Both teams conspired to shoot themselves in both feet whenever it looked like they were gaining an advantage. Really silly errors by both teams. Yes, there was Weather with a capital W but it’s Galway, there’s always Weather. There was a real chance for Leinster to capitalise on the wind in the second half but they didn’t take the advantage offered. A game that further burnished Jason Jenkins’ reputation by dint of his absence. The lineout was a real worry all night & it’s something that needs work ahead of Munster next weekend. Not all doom & gloom, to be fair: Josh doing Josh things, Dan Sheehan good in the loose, Big Mike bringing a bit of power in the second half & I thought Liam Turner had a decent showing in an unfamiliar position. A win is a win is a win but the video session on Monday morning might have a 18 rating for excessive adult language…

Richard Collumb Always a tough battle with the boys from the west. Bit of rust from some of the returning players but still undefeated against an improving team and lots of ex Leinster players with points to prove.

Gerald Williamson Not a great advertisement for rugby to watch.

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

2023 Rugby World Cup chief executive sacked due to ‘alarming management practices’ (the42.ie) [via AFP]

Wasps & Worcester: ‘If it can happen to a club the size of Wasps, who else might it happen to?’ – BBC Sport

France heroics still not enough | Scrum Queens [Alison Donnelly]

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland left ‘really proud’ as province secure first win in South Africa after taming Lions – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [James Bradley]

Munster punish underwhelming Bulls (sarugbymag.co.za) [Rienk De Beer]

URC WRAP

HARPIN ON RUGBY MATCH WRAPS ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE IRISH RUGBY STORE