I'd take Jack McGrath and Jordi Murphy without a shadow of a doubt. Leinster can keep Leo A'avua too bloody lazy and unfit

Ya i rate mcgrath really highly monster unit and a good srummager he would give us some extra bulk but even last year he had some serious english suiters but maybe we can persuade him the futures bright the futures green
Id agree about leo he is decent no doubt but i think his fralities might only increase if we signed him.

i dont think jordi will be going anywhere and with george re signed its not a priority position for connacht unless the plan is to move him(george) to 2nd row. he is good there and jordi is a great replacement 8. imo jordi will make it at lleinster though and will stay put.
And Leo A'avua, IQ n°8

I dont see why jordi couldnt be persuaded, personally i think ruddock is an execptional player and should possibly be starting for leinster, thats why i dont think he will be going anywhere but with heaslip, ruddock, jennings, ryan, o,brien and mcloughlin leinster are flush with top class back rowers as so jordi desipte his talent will find consistant game time hard to come by, george is not in the same mould as jordi as a backrower and is slightly makeshift as he swithes between 2nd row. jordi would be a fantastic addition i believe

I'd suggest throwing Noel Reid into the mix there aswell, I think his academy contract is up in the Summer and and I wouldn't bet on Leinster offering him a full contract.

He blows hot and cold but more game time and working with Billy Milliard might get more consistency into his game.

What's the story with Jack McGrath? Might be worth a look if Rodney moves on, think Leinster rate him highly though.....

unfortunately I agree with you Rossie can't see leinster letting Jordi go but here hoping

rossie wrote: tom sexton to melbourne rebels confirmed on planet rugby. official statement from player.

planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3824_8427770,00.html

Sexton joins Rebels

That is their title for it. Assume they will get a lot of extra traffic for this article.

tom sexton to melbourne rebels confirmed on planet rugby. official statement from player.

i dont think jordi will be going anywhere and with george re signed its not a priority position for connacht unless the plan is to move him(george) to 2nd row. he is good there and jordi is a great replacement 8. imo jordi will make it at lleinster though and will stay put.

I'd take Jack McGrath and Jordi Murphy without a shadow of a doubt. Leinster can keep Leo A'avua too bloody lazy and unfit

Devils own wrote: From Leinster we should nab ben marshell, jack mcgrath, jordi murphy, or david doyle, josh van der flier or jack o'connell

And Leo A'avua, IQ n°8

From Leinster we should nab ben marshell, jack mcgrath, jordi murphy, or david doyle, josh van der flier or jack o'connell
From Munster we should maybe look at ivan dineen or danny barnes philip donnellan,ian nagle

Im not so sure about this henry buck havent seen him play, i really hope he is quality because we need we cant afford any dead weight iffy players anymore. We should clean house now a good half dozen or more players need to be let go they are excess below par baggage and we need to use our cash very wisely for quality quality quality.

marshall is a 2nd row an should be of interest to connacht.

if sexton has signed for melbourne then that wud have reduced connachts options even further. Imo they were looking at 5 potential IQ options in Annett at ulster, sexton at leinster, henry, fogarty at Aurillac and Blaney maybe at irish. thats without even looking at their current contract situations.

Jack o Connell is supposed to be a very decent prospect but is behind Ross and Bent and maybe hagan. The IRFU have a decision to make re Ross. His central contract is up for renewal aand Botha is up for renewal also down south. BJ wants 2 yrs and will stay apparently if he gets that. i cant imagine that having 1st and 2nd choice TH at the 1 club is ideal from an irfu perspective so it wont be the biggest shock in the world if Ross returns to Munster.all speculation at this point but something is slowing down an agreement.

There are also a few very promising players in yr3 or dev contracts at Munster in positions of interest to Connacht.
Brian Hayes 2nd row very good player but well down the pecking order there.
Barry O Mahoney No 7 on Dev contract and doing well at A level.
Cathal Sheridan scrum hlf from sligo and came through with Henry and Kller via UL. supposed to be a very good operater at B+I level.
Ivan Dineen, impressed me the few times i saw him but will have to move on to get game time.
Sean Scanlon, v good full back/wing and same situation as Dineen.
Scott Deasy, Decent level 10, good boot etc. i mention him only because imo its going to be hard to attract a better back up 10 while Parks is here. They will know that they are firmly No2 which is probably why Nikora is moving on.
Im not suggesting that connacht should take them all on or anything. im just highlighting the type of player available out there. im sure there is probably similar at leinster and ulster.

Just checked the Leinster site some interesting stuff floating about. Two of their year 3 academy players are talking to English Premier clubs

Jack O'Connell - prop

www.leinsterrugby.ie/profiles/academy.ph...8&includeref=dynamic

and Ben Marshall - back-rower

www.leinsterrugby.ie/profiles/academy.ph...6&includeref=dynamic

Also says that hooker Tom Sexton has signed a 3 year deal with Melbourne Rebels. Sexton was born in Australia.

Henry strikes me as solid if unspectacular performer. Haven't see enough of him though to really get a feel for him but I hope he does well. Good to see another signing in the space of a week though.

rossie wrote: commenting on the Henry signing above it got me thinking about the older players in squad.

Flavin is out of contract. Should we keep him? im undecided but dont think he is 1st team quality.
Swifty is also out of contract afaik. Should we keep him? yes but may be bench material if we sign well in this position.
JOC - im not sure of his contract. If up should we keep him? yes but bench material also.
Murphy- out of contract afaik. should we keep him? depends on who is available.
Duffy- unsure re contract. Should we keep him? yes but select on merit.
when you take Macca and nikora into equation thats a lot of experience either leaving or wrong end of career.
at other end-
Year 3 acadamy- Qualter may be worth a dev contract but no where near team atm.
coneely? worry here is that he has been kept out of the 7 jersey in eagles team by grace who hasnt been good enough for senior squad. Dev contract maybe.
Dev contracts 2012- Cooney? havent seen enough of him. Wilko and Buckley remaining fit has kept him out in his preferred position.
Healy? same as above but injured a lot.
Murphy. liked what i saw of him in B+I but kept out also.
Fafita? similar to healy re injuries and opportunities.
Nolan. if he makes it back he deserves a shot.

IMO
Flavin - Been a fantastic servant but his time is probably up at this stage.
Swifty - Another year but not with as major a playing role as seasons past. Has a big part to play in the transition to the new coaching regime.
JOC - Not a starter anymore, has a role to play for maybe another season but for me Faloon is 1st choice. I would like to see the likes of Conneely or even maybe McKeown given a shot at 7.
Murphy - Best of luck to him but its time to move on. Re-signing him would be a major backward step imo.
Duffy - Here for another season at least, still has a significant role to play.

I'd like to see Cooney held on to. David Nolan has one final pre-season opportunity if he can make it back he deserves a chance, if he can't I think both parties will have to accept it just isn't to be unfortunately.

Not overly enthused about this signing, I'll admit I haven't seen a huge amount of him but going by what I've heard I don't know is this a signing that'll improve the squad majorly.

Saw him playing against Cardiff recently and thought he was awful. (admittedly Munster were awful as a team that night) He looked in poor shape physically. He's it all to prove coming to Connacht but at least he's taken the plunge rather than sit on his arse at Munster like many others do.

As a signing in place of an ageing Flavin its might improve us slightly but I'd hope we have a strong signing lined up to replace Reynecke.

2015 - White, Loughney, Wilkinson, Marmion, Poolman, Buckley, george, harris wright
2015 - mckeon, kearney, henshaw, carr, henry

2014 - Tonetti, O'Donohoe, Faloon, Parks, Duffy, McSharry, Griffin, O'Halloran, Muldoon Swift,

2013 - Gannon, Moore, Ah You, Anderson, McCrea, Brian Murphy, Reynecke, Flavin, Fifita, Browne, O'Connor, Vainikolo, Frank Murphy, Grace, Healy, Jarvis, Loxton, Nikora

Unknown - Nolan, Cooney,

commenting on the Henry signing above it got me thinking about the older players in squad.

Flavin is out of contract. Should we keep him? im undecided but dont think he is 1st team quality.
Swifty is also out of contract afaik. Should we keep him? yes but may be bench material if we sign well in this position.
JOC - im not sure of his contract. If up should we keep him? yes but bench material also.
Murphy- out of contract afaik. should we keep him? depends on who is available.
Duffy- unsure re contract. Should we keep him? yes but select on merit.
when you take Macca and nikora into equation thats a lot of experience either leaving or wrong end of career.
at other end-
Year 3 acadamy- Qualter may be worth a dev contract but no where near team atm.
coneely? worry here is that he has been kept out of the 7 jersey in eagles team by grace who hasnt been good enough for senior squad. Dev contract maybe.
Dev contracts 2012- Cooney? havent seen enough of him. Wilko and Buckley remaining fit has kept him out in his preferred position.
Healy? same as above but injured a lot.
Murphy. liked what i saw of him in B+I but kept out also.
Fafita? similar to healy re injuries and opportunities.
Nolan. if he makes it back he deserves a shot.