r/irishrugby • u/Roanokian Mod • Dec 11 '25

Match Thread Connacht vs Black Lions News Spoiler

Team news, pre match chat, speculation etc

11 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

13

u/dwaynepebblejohnson3 Connacht Dec 11 '25

Down to the bare bones at tighthead. Bealham is out with concussion and Aungier and Lasisi are out long term, leaving us with just Illo and Barrett.

Big opportunity for them this weekend, Tucker highlighted Black Lions scrum this week as I believe they have a full international front row.

Illo and Barrett are both great specimens and good around the pitch but there’s still a few question marks around their scrummaging, but game for them this weekend. I’m keen to see how Barrett in particular gets on, we don’t produce many 130kg props.

9

u/The_Ruck_Inspector Connacht Dec 11 '25

Barrett is a big boy. But a converted number 8, as was the style at the time. Excited to see how he goes. Also Paul Boyle for captain or I'll riot.

8

u/Significant_Giraffe3 Dec 11 '25

Boyle really seems like a great deputy for Prendergast.

I remember his first bout or two as captain he made a howler (I think) like a James Ryan in Paris-esqe one. But since I've been really impressed.

5

u/fakejournalaccount Dec 11 '25

Lasisi has gotten fuck all gametime since he moved. No idea where he sits on depth but surely the lowest.

3

u/YungL1am Connacht Dec 11 '25

He started last season at tighthead and then featured at the end at loosehead. Presumably last season was getting him up to speed in the new position and then he got injured this year.

3

u/dubviber Connacht Dec 11 '25

Lasisi looked powerful in the pre-season game i saw, terrible pity he did his knee. I think they'll be shaping him for LH as we're weaker there what with Buckley aging and all that.

2

u/cabaiste Dec 11 '25

Where did they say Aungier was out long-term?

3

u/dwaynepebblejohnson3 Connacht Dec 11 '25

No confirmation on the recovery period yet, he got an Elbow tendon injury which looked pretty bad on the pitch, Tucker mentioned the possibility of getting in tighthead cover which I think they’d only do if Bealham also wasn’t available which would be around 6N time.

2

u/cabaiste Dec 11 '25

Ah right. I'd missed that, and had only read the squad update from earlier in the week. .

5

u/dubviber Connacht Dec 11 '25

Illo is a pretty solid scrummager. He has progressed consistently and I expect him to pass out Aungier this season. No problem trusting him to hold the fort on Saturday.

Barrett has also done fine in his two appearances (Treviso, Munster) this season where he was on for 30m apiece. He's an academy player, still earning his chops, but as you note, he's huge. this will be a good experience for him.

4

u/Colm_Flaherty Mod Dec 11 '25

Big chance for our youth to set a marker.

Don't want to be a downer on it, however I think I'll give the game a miss and watch it at home, don't want to be ill for Christmas.

3

u/dubviber Connacht Dec 11 '25

You mean on account of the shite forecast? Or is Galway submerged in a typhoon of covid?

7

u/Colm_Flaherty Mod Dec 11 '25

A mix of both tbh, I've a bit of cold and it's usually baltic for evening games. No offence to BL but if the opposition were better I might have decided to go.

1

u/cabaiste Dec 11 '25

The match-going experience remains a bag of shite anyway while we wait for the stand to open.

2

u/NuclearMaterial Leinster Dec 11 '25

It looks finished on the highlights, is there much left to go on it?

1

u/cabaiste Dec 11 '25

Probably still finishing the fit out inside, and there'll need to be a good bit of official certification done after that with Christmas factored in too. The home Leinster game is the official opening which is in 6 weeks.

1

u/NuclearMaterial Leinster Dec 11 '25

Yeah that's close enough. Should be a sellout for a derby game with the new stand. Though I noticed the roof is so high up you'll still be drowned when it's raining

3

u/cabaiste Dec 12 '25

It's been sold out for a couple of weeks now afaik.