Connacht 13 - Edinburgh 62
By Sea_point
September 12 2009
As expected the feedback rolling in from within and outside the province after a new record defeat in the Magners League is damning, and of course it is rightly so for there can be no excuse for capitlulation of this level and especially at this regularity and in only the second game of the season.
Capitulation time again...
1st Half: 6 - 20
2nd Half: 7 - 42
FOURTY TWO POINTS conceded in the second half tells you all you need to know about the mindset prevelent in our recent and current Connacht Rugby squads. There was a time when being beaten out the gate meant a twenty point drubbing and on the rarer occasion a thirty odd point beating at the hands of (and no disrespect to them) better teams than Edinburgh
On the supporters message board in the match thread one of the supporters mentions "They are professionals who depend on us supporters for their livelihood"
The thing is they don't depend on the Connacht supporters for their livelihood, the IRFU are the major benefactors, then sponsors and somewhere down the list the supporters. From our average attendance we generate gate receipts seasonally roughly of €400,000 maximum, and that's not profit just turnover. I don't know what the profit margin on tickets is but the reality is our supporters are generating only a tiny fraction of operating income based on our small attendances.
At the end of the day the majority of the players are from outside the province and have no real loyalty to the Connacht cause or jersey, they fly under a flag or convenience and we're just a stop off point in their rugby careers.
But they should have personal pride in what they are doing, and results like today don't convince me that too many of the players in our squad have that pride. They each need to be setting themselves personal goals to push themselves to be better players, but always with a team focus (they will achieve nothing in rugby without that).
The members of the Connacht Squad and Management need to be reminded that none of them are too good to play for Connacht, they wouldn't be in Galway if they were.
They are not here by chance some abborition, but because of what they have failed to deliver so far in their rugby careers.
The fact is that for everyone invloved that their time in Galway is the major turning point in their careers, the key opportunity for each player to either make or break their playing careers. Connacht offers them the opportunity, and probably the last one to push on to great things or to dissapear into the rugby backwater and oblivion.
The sad thing is that too many of them seem to see it as failure to pull on the Connacht jersey, when what really it is a golden opportunity to make something of their rugby careers without the burden of expectation. If they cannot achieve in those circumstances they and we as a province are doomed on the rugby pitch.
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- Management FAIL!!!
The players have no interest in even pretending that they have pride in the jersey.
- Dignity FAIL!!!
Gerry Kelly, might as well be living in cloud Cuckoo land, if he thinks there is any good gonna come of this season.
- Having a CEO with a fully functioning brain FAIL!!!
Maybe not directly, but then show me a team that does. Most teams have major sponsors or backers who pay the majority of the wages of the players with the gate money being only a relatively small proportion of the income of the club, no matter who they are.
It is the supporters who generate the atmosphere and excitement at matches based on what they see on the field which interests TV, sponsors and advertisers who are looking to sell their product to the wider sports loving public who watch these matches on TV.
The difference between Connacht and the other professional teams is that the major paymasters, the IRFU, couldn't give a monkeys what happens in Connacht - actually no I take that back, they do care, they want rid of Connacht and there policy of death by a thousand cuts got yet another cut last night.
All successful teams, clubs, businesses etc have not only strong leadership but identifiable targets that the leadership put in place and demand performances from the team to meet in order to get to these targets. The real leaders in Connacht are the IRFU and their targets are pathetic for Connacht rugby, so there is little or no pressure to perform in the Magners League which leads to performances and results like last night. When push comes to shove subconsciously players know that whether they are beaten by 20 or 40 points won't matter because the paymasters don't give a toss!
Well now is the time for those players to show some real pride in themselves and it has nothing to do with where they come from.
They are role models to an ever growing number of kids who play rugby in Connacht. They need to show these kids that they are willing to die for the chance to wear the green of Connacht.
They need to show commitment, hunger and desire to give every last drop of sweat in effort - and I don't mean just running around like headless chickens, I mean playing over and above themselves on a regular basis to achieve a personal pride in knowing that they have done everything they can to achieve results that people from Connacht can be proud of - we are not looking to win the Heineken cup or anything like that - we just want a team we can be proud of who show that it is the size of the fight in the dog and not the size of the dog in the fight that matters.
You have failed, and just because the IRFU ssems to actually want you to fail shouldn't result in you forfeiting what little ***** you have. Go!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:09:14:14:38:15 by Sea_Point.