sunshiner1 wrote:Craig Ronaldson, James Mitchell, James Connolly, Conán O’Donnell, Peter McCabe, Peter Claffey and James Cannon are all leaving Connacht. With Conor McKeon and Eoin Griffin retiring. I gotta say I'm shocked. That is one hell of a clean out. With that many players gone I would expect some players from other provinces being moved to Connacht. No idea who though. It looks like maybe two or more academy players will be promoted from inside Connacht but that Mick Kearney to Connacht rumour suddenly makes a lot more sense to me.
Some surprises there. Cannon, McCabe and Ronaldson are important squad players, I thought. Pity to see so many players, who came through their academy, on the list but that's professional sport.
Rumour is that Cannon is retiring but hasn't being announced yet. McCabe is a surprise. As for Ronaldson he's a great player but super injury prone and a team like Connacht can't afford to keep an injured player on the books all the time.
Pretty shocked he let O'Donnell, Connelly, and Claffey go.
Wasn't Peter Claffey the guy who partnered James Ryan back in his u20s days? if so I thought he had huge potential back then - what has happened since? He's obviously still very young. Would it be worth Leinster taking a punt on him?
Also given Leinster's openside stocks for next season, would Connelly be worth a one year contract? Yes Connors, JvdF and Penney are there but two of those have had recent long term injury concerns and there aren't any more opensides in the academy to dip in to
ChrisUppy wrote:Wasn't Peter Claffey the guy who partnered James Ryan back in his u20s days? if so I thought he had huge potential back then - what has happened since? He's obviously still very young. Would it be worth Leinster taking a punt on him?
Also given Leinster's openside stocks for next season, would Connelly be worth a one year contract? Yes Connors, JvdF and Penney are there but two of those have had recent long term injury concerns and there aren't any more opensides in the academy to dip in to
Claffey looked good for the U20s. Think he was about 19st and decent carrier.
Don't think Leinster need Connolly. Might be better to give the opportunity to other young players.
Well done to Connacht. An excellent coaching performance throughout the season and now a very genuine pathway to the international team for every player qualified for Ireland. Thornbury is the latest player to show the benefits of a Season with an excellent coaching team and I hope to see him continue to improve and develop to his undoubted potential of a full green jersey.
ChrisUppy wrote:Wasn't Peter Claffey the guy who partnered James Ryan back in his u20s days? if so I thought he had huge potential back then - what has happened since? He's obviously still very young. Would it be worth Leinster taking a punt on him?
Also given Leinster's openside stocks for next season, would Connelly be worth a one year contract? Yes Connors, JvdF and Penney are there but two of those have had recent long term injury concerns and there aren't any more opensides in the academy to dip in to
Claffey looked good for the U20s. Think he was about 19st and decent carrier.
Don't think Leinster need Connolly. Might be better to give the opportunity to other young players.
Claffeys had lot of injury breaks Leinster have no need for any of these guys. Have enough in their own ranks
Oli Jager perhaps? Or could be Vakh or Benty but unlikely with both Andrew and Tadhg down to go to the WC.
Jager makes the most sense. Would be a big surprise if the other two moved. That said last time they got Robertson - McCoy who was on no ones radar. Oisin Heffernan (Nottingham) is another possibility.
Jager would be a big surprise too though surely? He's seemingly well rated and getting Super Rugby game time and has been down there for 6 years now.
He'd be a brilliant coup though, would add more potential depth at TH for Ireland as well.
That's the thinking. The IRFU might want to bring him home now and get him in the mix. Leinster and Ulster are well-stocked in the propping department and he's not South African enough for Munster so Connacht is the obvious choice. We'll find out soon.
Connacht going to announce three new signings sometime this week. Two IQ and 1 NIQ. Friend has being talking about a power game citing the lack of a player who can give them go forward ball such as Coetzee at Ulster or Stander at Munster so would expect a bulldozer to be a signing.
Connacht have signed former Munster tighthead prop Rory Burke from Nottingham. They have also promoted Stephen Kerins to a full contract. If these are the two IQ signings Friend was on about then that's pretty sad.
John Porch signs for Connacht an Australian 7's player. Hope he does well but another underwheling signing. Strange how they signed him but never gave that 7's flyer Jordan Conroy a real chance when they had him.
sunshiner1 wrote:Connacht have signed former Munster tighthead prop Rory Burke from Nottingham. They have also promoted Stephen Kerins to a full contract. If these are the two IQ signings Friend was on about then that's pretty sad.
They don't seem to. They have they got something like 43 players in the squad so I can't see them bringing anyone more. They've talked about how retaining players is hurting the budget so I think that's it.
