Connacht in the Heineken Cup

Connacht have gone a banger of a group with Gloucester, Harlequins and Stade Toulousain. How do people see them getting on? How strong a home venue is Galway and can they claim any scalps.

Definitely wishing the best of luck to Connacht. Heineken Cup is an amazing competition and sums up everything about rugby.

To home wins is about as good as I think it will get for Connacht maybe they might be able to sneak an away win at Quins or Gloucester if they play really well but that would be about it.

In and around 8-12 points and looking to finish third should be their aim and not getting hammered in France too.

one great bit of news is that Season Ticket sales have gone up from 300 to 3000

I wouldn't be surprised if they came away with at least 1 win in the HC. I expect this year to see a massive rise in the local popularity of the team, if they could manage 1 win it would excellerate things even more. Can't wait to see Toulouse crossing the dog track!

When they want to raise there game over there it can be quite a place to play Its the furthest outpost in europe
It is open and on a bad winters day i cant see many team liking it too much.

I expect some great games and maybe a great scalp
If they could qualify again next year it would be massive

A cold windy night is what we want with the Connacht lads running through brick walls.
Toulouse won't like it up em...you know.

Seriously if Toulouse, and the others, don't go there fully focused and it is a rough night anything could happen.

The only win I can see is Gloucester in Connacht. They don't travel well.

Quins beat did the double over them last season.

Toulouse should simply be too strong.

It's a learning curve for Connacht as their first season in the HC.

Their aim for next season should be to qualify for the HC without relying on other sides to do it for them. Or if failing that then improve on their league position. A real opportunity to do so as the world cup should leave them stronger than others for that period surely?

Can't see them winning any game to be honest. They've played Harlequins quite a few times in the past few years and have a bad record against them.

Glaws in the Sportsground is their best bet in terms of not being whitewashed.

They're going to have to stay competitive in the Pro12 with a tiny squad. The HEC, while fun, could turn out to be a distraction and, worse, a source of injury to a team that really can't afford it.

beshocked wrote:The only win I can see is Gloucester in Connacht. They don't travel well.

Quins beat did the double over them last season.

Toulouse should simply be too strong.

It's a learning curve for Connacht as their first season in the HC.

Their aim for next season should be to qualify for the HC without relying on other sides to do it for them. Or if failing that then improve on their league position. A real opportunity to do so as the world cup should leave them stronger than others for that period surely?

I don't think so. I don't think they have the depth of squad to do that. Remember last season they would have to finish 3rd ahead of Ulster to do that. Even if the Irish sides drop a few places, I'd say that there will be three Irish sides in the top six. So there minimum hope of qualifying would seem to be top six. I don't think they have the depth or quality.

Notch wrote:I don't think so. I don't think they have the depth of squad to do that. Remember last season they would have to finish 3rd ahead of Ulster to do that. Even if the Irish sides drop a few places, I'd say that there will be three Irish sides in the top six. So there minimum hope of qualifying would seem to be top six. I don't think they have the depth or quality.

Or to put it another way, an increased chance of Connacht qualifying for the HEC on their own steam would require a decrease in the overall quality of Irish club rugby.

I don't think even the most diehard Connacht fan would actually want that.