Edinburgh vs Connacht, 4th March 2016

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Edinburgh Rugby   v   Connacht Rugby
Friday 4th March 2016, KO 19:35
BT Murrayfield

Edinburgh's only home defeat in any tournament this season was 14-16 to Munster in the Guinness PRO12 on 7 November.

Connacht have won their last five matches in all tournaments since their 18-21 defeat in Brive on 16 January.

The Irishmen have won their last two away games in the Guinness PRO12 and have not won three on the road in the competition since season 2002/03.

Edinburgh's only victory in their last four fixtures with Connacht was 16-13 in Galway in January 2015 whilst Connacht have been victorious on two of their last three visits to BT Murrayfield.

7.35pm. Live on BBC ALBA/TG4
Referee: Ben Whitehouse ( 19th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White, Cammy Rudkin (both SRU)
Citing Commissioner: John Kirk (SRU)
TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU)

Head to Head

26  Played  26
14  Wins    10
10  Losses  14
2    Draws  2


Edinburgh
15 Kinghorn
14 Hoyland
13 Dean
12 Scott
11 Brown
10 Burleigh
9  SHC
8  Du Preez
7  Watson
6  Ritchie
5  B Toolis
4  Bresler
3  Andress
2 Cochrane
1  Sutherland

16 Turner
17 Dell
18 Berghan
19 A Toolis
20 Bradbury
21 Kennedy
22 Beard
23 Fife

Players not considered due to injury: Michael Allen (leg), Mike Coman (calf), Jack Cuthbert (knee), Grant Gilchrist (arm),Nasi Manu (neck), Fraser McKenzie (neck), Andries Strauss (knee and ankle) Jade Te Rure (knee) Grant Gilchrist (arm).

Absent on international duty: Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, WP Nel, John Hardie, Stuart McInally

Connacht
15  Tiernan O’Halloran
14  Danie Poolman
13  Bundee Aki
12  Craig Ronaldson
11  Matt Healy
10  AJ MacGinty
9   Kieran Marmion

1   Denis Buckley
2   Tom McCartney
3   Nathan White
4   Quinn Roux
5   Aly Muldowney
6   Sean O’Brien
7   Jake Heenan
8   John Muldoon

Replacements:

16  Dave Heffernan
17  Finlay Bealham
18  Rodney Ah You
19  Danny Qualter
20  Eoin McKeon
21  Caolin Blade
22  Peter Robb
23  Fionn Carr

Injured/Unavailable: Shane Delahunt, Andrew Browne, Ben Marshall, Nepia Fox-Matamua, Eoghan Masterson, John Cooney, Jack Carty, Dave McSharry, Rory Parata, Darragh Leader, Niyi Adeolokun.

Ireland Squad: Ultan Dillane, Robbie Henshaw

EWT Spoons wrote:

Well played Connacht,  I think either team could have won that game (had SHC not missed his kicks) but Connacht did, so congratulations.

Or if Edinburgh had not decided that tackling was optional at times! They let in a couple of very soft tries!

This is also true.

I've not posted for ages but have to after that game.

As good a game as I've seen in a while. Both teams set out to play rugby and I was extremely impressed with Connacht. A well drilled, positive team. Fully expect to see them back at Murrayfield in May.

Edinburgh dragged themselves back from the brink and showed their character and flaws in equal measure. The aimless kicking away of hard won ball drives me to distraction.

Ben Toolis and Sutherland were stand-outs for me. SHC's lack of game time is showing.

Man of the match for me was Ben Whitehouse however. Much is made of the poor standard of officiating in the Pro 12 so we should also give praise where praise is due. I note that was only his 19th Pro12 game..... Based on that performance I trust there will be plenty more. Contributed to a cracking game.

Can't remember the last time the Edinburgh scrum went backward at that rate but that must have been when Gilding was playing. I note that Connacht had 2 monsters in the 2nd row in Roux and Muldowney, no room for the athletic 2nd row here.

Connacht play like a Super Rugby team, they are leaking in a lot of tries but they can score from anywhere, anytime. I hope they will go on and win the competition but Leinster are the favourites for me.

Dollar Bill wrote:

Man of the match for me was Ben Whitehouse however. Much is made of the poor standard of officiating in the Pro 12 so we should also give praise where praise is due. I note that was only his 19th Pro12 game..... Based on that performance I trust there will be plenty more. Contributed to a cracking game.

Credit where it's due the ref did have a good game. He explained his decisions clearly to the players and didn't seem to favour one side over the other.

Probably one of the better refereeing displays this season.

Agreed on the ref, he was excellent.

George Carlin wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Good game and well deserved win from Connacht. Not too unhappy with the LBP. Pleased with Hoyland and Allan.

Allan?

His butler. Apparently he kept the Pimms flowing throughout the game, like any good footman should.

I meant Kinghorn, obviously......

That was great stuff, Lam has worked wonders with the Connacht squad and they're full value at the top of the table. Defence out wide still iffy - Heaky is a great strike runner but defence not great.

Forwards were great - surely Buckley must get into the Irish squad, he's way ahead of Healy. Great stuff from Roux after being out for a while - must be the Edinburgh air as he never out in those sorts of display for Leinster. Great game from Marmion too - Schmidt must start taking notice

I haven't seen much of Connacht this season but what has happened to them!?

They looked really sharp in attack and well drilled at set piece.

I think this game really highlighted Edinburgh's limitations currently. It seems they just have a plan A for the forwards and the backs just chase kicks. There were no (effective) dummy runners or planned moves. Also Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson aren't making the impact I expected them too, making Du Preez's job much harder.

Overall though, good game and good to see Hoyland running on space - he needs to get the ball far more.

Was anyone else though wanting to run onto the pitch with a taser to get SHC to increase the speed of his service? Watson wouldn't have made that daft pick and go where he got isolated if SHC had even jogged to the ruck... Fowels is the best 9 at Edinburgh on form IMO. Also, saying he'd punch the next player that held him back to the ref is only going to encourage players to hold him back...

Thought the ref was OK, one glaring incident of playing the ball on the ground and maybe a bit inconsistent on YCs for the maul, but overall a very promising ref.

Ref was good for most standards. Saw Barnes ref a game not too long ago and he is ahead of him in my view.

Connacht were good. Deserved win for Connacht who look better than Munster and par with Leinster and Ulster. A definite threat to be at Murrayfield at the end of the season.

Edinburgh need to work on their backs play and SHC needs to be dropped from the Scotland squad to play regularly. Burleigh looks good at 10 but lacks the kicking game. Weir at 10 and Burleigh at 12 will hide the weaknesses of the other well next season. Don't think losing Scott early helped either.