Yeah don't see it. They'd also be replacing a specialist blindside with a specialist openside. He'd be on the same wages and he would find it as difficult or moreso to get into the starting team.

Accidentally Onside wrote: Looks like Peter O'Mahony could be on his way out at Munster (could as easily be agent/paper talk) but if that's the case I'd wonder if that's Jake's next point of call?

Possibly just adding 2 and 2 and getting 60 but he was rumoured to be going there before. Would hurt to see him in red

The guys on the craggy rugby podcast were pretty sure that Jake is off to Bristol

Looks like Peter O'Mahony could be on his way out at Munster (could as easily be agent/paper talk) but if that's the case I'd wonder if that's Jake's next point of call?

Possibly just adding 2 and 2 and getting 60 but he was rumoured to be going there before. Would hurt to see him in red

Heenan is a good player but his leaving is not disastrous, but I feel like he will be absolutely wrecked in a physical league like England or France. Scotland tried to keep Finn Russell with a big offer and found that they weren't even close to what Racing were offering - that's just the reality of the situation, whether a player is fringe or essential (eg Sexton) has nothing to do with it any more, the IRFU can't compete on wages alone. Only thing we can hope is that if a quality player is poached, their wage budget may get distributed amongst some of the other players and give them a reason to stay. That and the Pro14 getting better funding which closes the gap between the other leagues and increases player wages as a result are the only options.

There's teams in the English Championship and in the Pro D2 than can out bid us. If there are anymore players leaving we are going to be up against it. If we lose any of or starting or sub front row, our second row or half backs we are going to find it very difficult to replace them with the same or better quality.
Maybe KK has better contacts than Lam and can uncover a few diamonds in the rough.

I'm not talking about central contracts.. I'm talking about backing Connacht as an entity by increasing the budget so that players will want to stay whether or not they are in the Ireland squad. At the moment even 'smaller' English and french clubs can outbid Connacht if they want

CountFurlo wrote: But they can encourage players to stay or go.. hence Moore & Byrne coming back and Zebo & Dominic Ryan leaving

They're probably bad examples Ryan excepted - Moore & Beirne are coming back on provinical contracts, Zebo was going regardless of whether he was given a central contract or not.

What's far more important is that there are 12-15 central contracts spread between the other 3 provinces, effectively an extra subsidy (over the basic provincial contract contributions that are common to all 4) which Connacht don't get. So the playing field isn't remotely level yet.

But they can encourage players to stay or go.. hence Moore & Byrne coming back and Zebo & Dominic Ryan leaving

The IRFU doesn't directly get involved except in central contracts and maybe rare exceptions. For the vast majority Connacht have a budget and it's up to them to offer what they can or want to.

Right so maybe I've been overthinking this but I think we should be worried about this more than we are. In isolation, Jake leaving is not disastrous. He was meant to be a project player but a combination of injury, loss of form and there being FOUR Leinster 7s and Tommy O'Donnell ahead of him(at least) means that there is no real incentive from the IRFU to compete with any offer coming from UK or France. AND that is where it cannot be seen in isolation.

If the IRFU cannot or will not match offers for the likes of certain Ireland squad players like Moore, Madigan & Zebo, they have even less incentive to match offers for fringe players or those on the outside completely. So if an offer comes in for say a Finlay who has three guys ahead of him(or five if you want to throw Marty & Bent in the mic) or Quinn who has four or Matt or Niyi or even Jack & Denis, where is the incentive for the IRFU to back Connacht on this.

Article only said he was leaving Connacht, not Ireland. I'd hate to see him playing for Munster or Ulster. I really feel sorry for him, as he's invested a lot in moving and playing with Connacht in order to get a chance to play International Rugby. He's always given everything for Connacht but has been dogged by injury. Given the new 5 yr residency rule, it's hard to see him getting to play international unless he's moving back to NZ.

I'm a fan but considering the amount of games he misses and the fact he's probably on decent money I don't think this is a disaster for us by any means.

I'd imagine it's a French club as if it was Bristol or and English club they probably would have said and Bristol normally get their announcements out before Connacht do haha

ConnachtCows wrote: --Better not be Bristol

I doubt it given Lam seemed to favour Fox-Matamua over Heenan (at least that's the way it looked to me).

That's disappointing. I have a proper man crush on Jake.
Suppose we have coverage in the back row, but still sorry to see him go.

Presume it's to France since they haven't announced the new team

--Better not be Bristol

Heenan going at end of season