Connacht 2019/20/21

[sunshiner1]

by ronk

I'd be worried that Connacht fans will think that the big calls always go against them and it will erode trust in the game.

That day is long gone.

[Oldschool]

Zebo was offside but didn't advance. That's what caused enough confusion that Beirne wasn't called.

Well I wasn't confused watching so I really don't understand how paid, professional match officials could be confused.
It wasn't even marginal, a meter maybe, that's 39.37 inches in old money.

Oh I wasn't defending them.

Thumbs Up

[blockhead]

Kinda gettin tired of listening to Connacht's constant moaning. Yeah part of Beirne's body was ahead of the kicker, but not by much. Take a real close look. You get bad decisions in games, sometimes in your favour sometimes not. You get up and you go again.
Friend wants the refs head on a plate.
A few weeks back its was the Bulls "not giving us enough respect" adding that no one gives us respect.
Well Andy, there is an obvious solution to that problem.

[fourthirtythree]

To be honest I thought the decision against treviso at the end of the earlier match was the worst decision of the day (taking out on the air mitigated down to a penalty as the person had been tripped and pushed.... What?), The head first no arms tackle to the head of Frawley the second worst, and that merely the third. It wasn't clear to me enough to overrule the on field decision.

Play with pace and ambition and you will get the odd forward pass and offside not called. Connacht fans should know that.

[ronk]

To be honest I thought the decision against treviso at the end of the earlier match was the worst decision of the day (taking out on the air mitigated down to a penalty as the person had been tripped and pushed.... What?),

I didn't see it but if that's how it went down then that's the right decision.

Deterrence based on a duty of care isn't much use if you're tripped or pushed. The tripper is ultimately responsible for their actions.

[Dave Cahill]

<cough>Captains Challenge</cough>

[fourthirtythree]

To be honest I thought the decision against treviso at the end of the earlier match was the worst decision of the day (taking out on the air mitigated down to a penalty as the person had been tripped and pushed.... What?),

I didn't see it but if that's how it went down then that's the right decision.

Deterrence based on a duty of care isn't much use if you're tripped or pushed. The tripper is ultimately responsible for their actions.

No no. The tripper got off, the tripped person and team were penalised.

Much more consequential than marginal no offside call not being overruled early in a game. This was at the end and kickable.Benneton lost 26-29.

[ronk]

Ah for crying out loud. I've actually been seeing more cases of blinkers on replays. So focused on one part of the screen that they completely ignore the important things happening elsewhere, unless it's replayed a million times and then notice it and have to start watching all over again.

[the spoofer]

Kinda gettin tired of listening to Connacht's constant moaning. Yeah part of Beirne's body was ahead of the kicker, but not by much. Take a real close look. You get bad decisions in games, sometimes in your favour sometimes not. You get up and you go again.
Friend wants the refs head on a plate.
A few weeks back its was the Bulls "not giving us enough respect" adding that no one gives us respect.
Well Andy, there is an obvious solution to that problem.

Kidding, right? Beirne was way ahead. He got to the ball by inches and this resulted in the try. It was obvious live, I watched one replay and said "they will chalk that off". Really poor by the officiating team.

[riocard911]

To be honest I thought the decision against treviso at the end of the earlier match was the worst decision of the day (taking out on the air mitigated down to a penalty as the person had been tripped and pushed.... What?), The head first no arms tackle to the head of Frawley the second worst, and that merely the third. It wasn't clear to me enough to overrule the on field decision.

Play with pace and ambition and you will get the odd forward pass and offside not called. Connacht fans should know that.

Don't agree with you on the Treviso decision. One of the Ospreys deliberately stuck his leg out, which caused the Treviso chaser to completely lose his balance and collide with the Ospreys jumper's legs in the air, as the latter is coming down, resulting in the latter landing badly. IMO, the Osprey's forward was the primary cause of the collision, so for me the decision was ok. The charge on Frawley should, I think, been at least a yellow. Whatever. Re Beirne, as I wrote earlier, cos the game was going south for Munster PO'M caused handbags twice in the latter half of the second half purely to wake his team mates up, rile up the crowd and put pressure on the ref, in whose ear he was continuously. That for me is why the ref and the TMO didn't review the Beirne offside as they had earlier O'Halloran's flick, which led to them - rightly - disallowing a Connacht try. Whatever about the decision and its rights or wrongs, the very fact, that the Beirne offside was not put up on the big screen and discussed before Carbery took the conversion is proof for me that PO'M had succeeded in intimidating the match officials. At half time the teams should have been going it at 0-6 not 7-6. That one incident aro changed the course - if not perhaps the outcome - of the match completely.

[riocard911]

To be honest I thought the decision against treviso at the end of the earlier match was the worst decision of the day (taking out on the air mitigated down to a penalty as the person had been tripped and pushed.... What?), The head first no arms tackle to the head of Frawley the second worst, and that merely the third. It wasn't clear to me enough to overrule the on field decision.

Play with pace and ambition and you will get the odd forward pass and offside not called. Connacht fans should know that.

Don't agree with you on the Treviso decision. One of the Ospreys deliberately stuck his leg out, which caused the Treviso chaser to completely lose his balance and collide with the Ospreys jumper's legs in the air, as the latter is coming down, resulting in the latter landing badly. IMO, the Ospreys forward was the primary cause of the collision, so for me the decision was ok. The charge on Frawley should, I think, been at least a yellow. Whatever. Re Beirne, as I wrote earlier, cos the game was going south for Munster PO'M caused handbags twice in the latter half of the second half purely to wake his team mates up, rile up the crowd and put pressure on the ref, in whose ear he was continuously. That for me is why the ref and the TMO didn't review the Beirne offside as they had earlier O'Halloran's flick, which led to them - rightly - disallowing a Connacht try. Whatever about the decision and its rights or wrongs, the very fact, that the Beirne offside was not put up on the big screen and discussed before Carbery took the conversion is proof for me that PO'M had succeeded in intimidating the match officials. At half time the teams should have been going it at 0-6 not 7-6. That one incident aro changed the course - if not perhaps the outcome - of the match completely.

[blockhead]

Connacht have downsized the crowd they expect against Ulster on Saturday with a disappointing attendance of around 6,000 to 8,000 now expected having switched the tie to the Aviva Stadium.

Initial expectations of up to 30,000 for the URC clash were well wide of the mark and while exact ticket sales have not been disclosed, Connacht say the trend would suggest somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 will attend.

And while there will be a bigger than usual Ulster support base for a Connacht ‘home’ game, officials at the Sportsground believe the venture has been worthwhile as they try to claw back some of the losses made during the Covid pandemic.

The Aviva Stadium has been made available free of charge to Connacht but it looks like there will only be a few thousand more at the game than if it had taken place at the Sportsground.

Well isn't that nice, free of fupping charge.
The squeeky wheel is the one that gets the oil, aint that the truth.
No doubt it will somebody elses fault for the low attendance.

[king]

The Media generally sets the topics for discussion after the weekends rugby. A full blooded interpro with a narrow margin of victory is always likely to dominate the conversations at least until teams are named for the following week ( on this occasion until int squad is named). This week that started with Stringer, Flannery and heaslip post match followed by Friend, Williams, thornley etc. That Connacht fans are also discussing it is to be expected.

The topic, beirnes offside ( not the only talking point but certainly the dominant one). So in this context Connacht fans are likely to feel aggrieved for a number of reasons.

1. We lost, we are pissed off.
2. We think Beirne was off side and that the try shouldn't have stood.
3. We feel it's not the first time we've come out the wrong side of decisions.
4. We feel the world is against us.
5. We want to be one of the big boys.

Now I'm not a ref basher (I do make an exception in the case of Frank Murphy ). I generally look for the reason a decision was made not evidence of a conspiracy. In this situation the officials got it wrong, wrong not to review it. Let's move along, it happens.

Here's where my very long winded point comes, in rugby the laws of the game are very complex, very few fans know them all, few players know them all, most refs seem to know them but they are open to wide interpretation. As a game I enjoy the contribution for the most part of the refs interpretation, it adds to the drama, excitement and leaves the outcome of all games in the balance. Something I consider of value. The alternative is an amebic shadow of a game lasting longer than an NFL Match. I'd rather get shafted a couple of times a year by a shocker of a decision.

So are Connacht fans whingers, yeah we have a chip on our shoulder and with good cause, we are the runt of the provincial litter in terms of facilities, funding, population, tradition, representation, reporting. Genuine underdogs in Irish rugby. I for one am happy to embrace that role and take my pleasure in watching great players missed out via the usual pathways grinding their way upwards in a tough career and a gradual process of earning respect from our provincial rivals on the pitch.

Connacht have to look to ourselves and not be distracted by the ref. We had control of the game, toh was first to the ball and knocked it on, delahunt took the crocked lineout not the ref, carty missed the conversion etc pappili gave the ball away 3 times in 6 minutes.

The reffing team didn't cover themselves in glory, they are descended from a long line of anti Connacht officials who have always worn their Munster underwear under their shorts and have shrines to Peter o Mahoney beside their single, red beds where they sing themselves to sleep with stolen anthems and dream of countries called Cark. b$&%@#ds

Let's move on, Ulster await.

[ronk]

And the annexation of Athenry, there's always that.

[riocard911]

And the annexation of Athenry, there's always that.

On that point, does "The Fields" ever get sung at Connacht-Munster derbies? And if yes, by whom? The home team supporters? The supporting group which does it first? Both groups of supporters? Only the Westies when the match is in the Sportsground and only the Reds when the fixture is in Thomond? Asking for a friend....