Connacht v Scarlets match thread

I thought the commentary was ok. Premier Sports obviously didn't fancy sending some pundits out to Galway on a wet and windy night, either that or no one would go, and it was far better for it.  No constant, cliched talk from pundits every time the commentator paused for breath.  He said his bit and yes there were periods of wonderful silence where we heard the ref and on field chat.

Credit to the ref as well.  He had an excellent game.  Clear and consistent, he wanted a gap in the lineout, he set the defending 1 and got the rest lined off him, the throwing side told to get their players in quicker.  Scrum time he told the props what he wanted and was encouraging rather than guessing and giving penalties.  Best of all he was calling 'use it' to the 9's far quicker than any ref I've seen, very refreshing not to see the ball spending 15 seconds being fed back along the 'caterpillar'.

Despite the weather and resulting mistakes this was the most enjoyable game I've seen all season from any team.  Good ref and limited commentary and a performance from us worthy of the name.  Good commitment all round after dire performances all season.  The were highly visible performers tonight but after a lot of stick last well I though Sebastian showed up well quietly tonight.  Solid scrum and some very deft touches with ball in hand.  Much better discipline all round too.

Too early to say we're on the up, we have a horrible few weeks to come fixture wise but now at least there's hope.

Agree 100% - this was the best refereeing performance I have seen in a very long time - is he always that good, or just having a good day?

In any case, the communication was top class, as you say - and I especially liked the way he reffed the scrums, taking time to tell the props what he expected and talking to them once the ball was in - as a result, there were VERY few collapses - not something you often get in such poor conditions. (Contrast the Wales game, where the ref failed to get the scrums to stay up.) The only scrum that went down more than once was in the last minute - perhaps, as Wil suggested, that was deliberate by the Scarlets front row to run the clock down (it's not unknown - I remember doing the same myself 55 years ago!) - though considering it ended with a pen. to them, which could have been costly if Marmion had kicked it deeper, I rather think it was just tired players and slippery grass.

As for the game - Macnicholl and Conbeer were top class - but who gave those excellent long passes off the left hand to allow Jonny to drift outside his marker? They were just as important. Was it Dinky or Asquith, or one each? Whoever it was, they were beautiful passes.

Jac Morgan continued to impress - he leads from the front. A sure-fire future captain on this form. Asquith proved worth his starting place, as did Conbeer (of course). No-one did badly overall - a very encouraging performance.

Worth remembering that the game was won by the defence as much as by the attack - Blacker's superb tackle, then three of the boys turning their man on his back as he went over - Dinky, Jac and one other... and later Cassiem's knee getting in the way of the ball as their prop went over - a brilliant spot by the ref to see the knock-on, which only became visible on about the 5th replay on the TV. A gutsy and determined effort by all concerned.

Well done, Scarlets.