Connacht

From the BBC report on the game in Russia

"Enisei, spurred on by 4,000 fans in their 25,000-seater stadium, poured into attack, but to no avail against the weakest of the four Irish provinces."

Can we say this anymore? Not to get anyones back up but i think they are probably a match for most of the Irish sides on their day. Again not to annoy anyone but they are probably a match for most of the Pro12. I honestly think they should be looking at winning the Mickey Mouse Cup this season

They finished 4th out of 4 Irish sides in Pro12, so seems a fair comment to me.

Until Connacht can finish above one of the other Irish sides they're still the weakest province. I'd say their current league position is largely due to being (by far) least affected by the RWC.

Having said that, I could see them finishing above Ulster (who seem to be on a gradual slide) this season.

They are top of the PRO 12 and while some sides may have been affected by the World cup they are most definately on the rise but don't think any of the other 3 are. Actually think they are all going the other way. Putting my head on the block i think they will finish ahead of Ulster and maybe Leinster this season. Top 6 finish almost a certainity for me

I think they have based it on last seasons results, and not making it into top 6. I do understand your thinking on this though. It's very difficult to say who the weakest of the Provinces is right now, but Connacht are top of the Pro12 table, and they may well finish in top 6 above another Province.

It would be great if they finish above one of the other Provinces. So long as it's not Ulster

'On their day' doesn't go down too well on this site.

Cyril wrote:Having said that, I could see them finishing above Ulster (who seem to be on a gradual slide) this season.

Jeez, our new Director of Rugby has just one game under his belt and we're already being written off!

Had our interim coaching team been left in situ for the entire season I honestly think we would be a mid table team but the arrival of a new DoR who is highly respected by the players plus the return of some quality international players has me optimistic about the next few months.

It's that optimism that will kill ya.

bmcr wrote:They are top of the PRO 12 and while some sides may have been affected by the World cup they are most definately on the rise but don't think any of the other 3 are. Actually think they are all going the other way. Putting my head on the block i think they will finish ahead of Ulster and maybe Leinster this season. Top 6 finish almost a certainity for me

Leinster look much stronger this season so I can't see Connacht will passing them out. I don't think they'll pass out Ulster or Munster either but the gap is closing between them and in 5 or 6 years time there might be little between most of the provinces, especially if the provinces are going to spread out the talent more.