We definitley need a hooker, but I'm very interested to see JHW this year. Has put in a couple of nice performances after a couple of shaky ones. Could have a word in Jordi's ear too. I'd like to keep Reynecke but his NIQ spot is too valuable. Reynecke is a great influence on the province too from what I hear.

I've never seen him at 6/7, so I can't comment on his ability. He is a brilliant 8 though.

if george does go then jordi is def worth going after. porterbelly makes a very good point tho about him being a d4 head. if you broaden that i think it has to be taken into consideration when identifying players for recruitment. jordi is a very good player already but his ambition is to be a leinster regular and will take that oppertunity whenever it arises. that doesnt mean we should shy away from him but it merits consideration. if he did come it wont be forever.
this equally applies to munster players(particularly cork city born) and ulster players( think NOC).

thats why when targetting 2nd row replacements browne comes to the fore. flanagan being a westmeath man may also like the chance of 1st team rugby in galway. henry at munster may like it also if the cronin rumours prove to be just that.

imo we need a hooker, 2 2nd rows, an 8 if george goes and a quality finisher to take us to the next level. Tom Sears has fought the good battle this week, now he needs to focus on keeping the players we want to keep and recruiting the quality that we need.

Porterbelly wrote:

connachtexile wrote: Jordi Murphy was mentioned again in relation to Connacht this time on Whiff of Cordite blog. What a signing he would be.

I wouldn't tend to agree

The only time I've really seen him is when Leinster are steamrolling teams. Armchair ride stuff

Personally I think McKeon is a far better prospect.

He came off the bench v Munster and really impressed, and for the latter part of that game we were certainly not steamrolling them.

I would be disappointed to see him go, but if you have a gap there he is a very promising player. He covers all 3 backrow positions, and is probably behind Ruddock, Ryan, McLaughlin, Heaslip, SOB and Jennings at Leinster

I'd take Jordi because I'd imagine Grace and Anderson will be off so he'd be useful

But Mckeon and even getting heffernan and Conneely through must be priority

Jordi is a big D4 head. He'd be looking for the road back

Porterbelly wrote:

connachtexile wrote: Jordi Murphy was mentioned again in relation to Connacht this time on Whiff of Cordite blog. What a signing he would be.

I wouldn't tend to agree

The only time I've really seen him is when Leinster are steamrolling teams. Armchair ride stuff

Personally I think McKeon is a far better prospect.

Quite a smart footballer and there is a reason why he's been a captain in every team he has played for.

I think he would be a great addition, but McKeon is a great prospect. If we don't lost George, Jordi's time could be wasted here or McKeon's time wasted and then Jordi fecks off back to Leinster and we start again with Eoin.

connachtexile wrote: Jordi Murphy was mentioned again in relation to Connacht this time on Whiff of Cordite blog. What a signing he would be.

I wouldn't tend to agree

The only time I've really seen him is when Leinster are steamrolling teams. Armchair ride stuff

Personally I think McKeon is a far better prospect.

Jordi Murphy was mentioned again in relation to Connacht this time on Whiff of Cordite blog. What a signing he would be.

Good to see Tom is not backing down at all. Schmidt probably should have remained quite on this, though he was damned if he did or if he didn't. The fight is really with the IRFU and them setting up and enforcing proper protocols. The provinces will naturally operate in their own best interests feeling Irish rugby will benefit from their success. Of course this isn't necessarily the case otherwise you'd thinks after Munster and Leinster split 5 of the last 7 European championships between them Ireland would have more than just 1 Six Nations title to their name (admittedly a GS at that) and have gone further in the recent Rugby World Cups. If the IRFU really are interested in 4 strong provinces they are going to have to have a slightly more proactive role concerning player movement.

Should add some spice to three game in the rds

Just heard this on Drive time,

They said that this is quite a row that will rumble on!

Fresh statement this evening.

In observing comments made by Leinster Rugby's Head Coach Joe Schmidt at this afternoon's press conference, Connacht Rugby CEO Tom Sears responded by saying:

"We have the utmost respect for Joe Schmidt and what he has achieved at Leinster. Joe is perfectly entitled to his views and we wouldn't expect him to say anything else. It is interesting to note that he sees these actions as good for Irish Rugby. We would take a very different view that the constant targeting of our senior players, if allowed to continue, will have a detrimental effect on the IRFU's desire to see four strong provinces representing Irish Rugby and producing players for the National Squad."

"Regarding comments made on the protocols to approach players from another province, we do not believe the protocols are sufficient or serve Irish Rugby well and I know the IRFU have recently discussed reviewing these in the near future".

So our summer signings look something like this

Cronin
Nathan Hines
Richie McCaw (Harsh on Faloon, but I suppose its to appeal to the Kiwi Galway crowd)

Could do with another lock. Swift4prez will kill me, but Swifty looks like he might be coming to the end

I'm kinda bored with this too. One of those boring situations where everyone has a valid point.

Indeed, and at least we know there's a good budget for one if we were able to match the terms Leinster offered.

Mike has signed for leinster . What we have to do now as fans and for the good of cpnnacht rugby is get behind the team and him and give 100 % support for the rest of the season. He will want to be on the six nations team so you can bet your bottom dollar his performances for connacht will not dip. He is a guy of integrity also and he knows how well he is liked in connacht. Respect him gor his decision . He has made it with plenty of time to get a replacement and lets do our best to get the best that is available.