Connacht sign Kiwi No.8

evil_seed

From the Connacht Rugby website:

"Connacht have completed the signing of back row player George Naoupu from the Highlanders in New Zealand.
The 26-year old, who can also play in the second row, has signed until the end of the season.
The 196cm, 112kg player came up through Canterbury’s academy system and also played for the Hawkes Bay club.
A former New Zealand sevens and U-21 player, Naoupu played Super 14 for the Highlanders this season and will link up with former team-mate Niva Ta’auso at the Sportsground."

What does this mean for Mul?

anonymous_joe

evil_seed wrote: »

From the Connacht Rugby website:

"Connacht have completed the signing of back row player George Naoupu from the Highlanders in New Zealand.
The 26-year old, who can also play in the second row, has signed until the end of the season.
The 196cm, 112kg player came up through Canterbury’s academy system and also played for the Hawkes Bay club.
A former New Zealand sevens and U-21 player, Naoupu played Super 14 for the Highlanders this season and will link up with former team-mate Niva Ta’auso at the Sportsground."

What does this mean for Mul?

Could it mean someone's leaving?

profitius

Whats the point in Connacht being there if they're only going to sign foreigners. :rolleyes:

chupacabra

evil_seed wrote: »

From the Connacht Rugby website:

"Connacht have completed the signing of back row player George Naoupu from the Highlanders in New Zealand.
The 26-year old, who can also play in the second row, has signed until the end of the season.
The 196cm, 112kg player came up through Canterbury’s academy system and also played for the Hawkes Bay club.
A former New Zealand sevens and U-21 player, Naoupu played Super 14 for the Highlanders this season and will link up with former team-mate Niva Ta’auso at the Sportsground."

What does this mean for Mul?

Really disappointed with this signing. Surely it would be in the IRFU's best interests to sign Peter O'Mahony to Connacht instead of a foreign player? O'Mahony would have flourished up there instead of not even making the bench below in Munster. I had heard they were in the process of signing someone but i thought for sure it would be a home grown player. :mad:

thomond2006

Another journeyman signing.

Quelle surprise.

GymJim

chupacabra wrote: »

Really disappointed with this signing. Surely it would be in the IRFU's best interests to sign Peter O'Mahony to Connacht instead of a foreign player? O'Mahony would have flourished up there instead of not even making the bench below in Munster. I had heard they were in the process of signing someone but i thought for sure it would be a home grown player. :mad:

Ah come on it's always going to be the same old story with Connacht...every time you hear of an imminent new arrival we pray and hope it'll be any of the fantastic youngsters from Munster/Leinster but ends up being some guy called Tom, Bernie, Troy or Isaia who played once at U-21 level for the Maoris or something along those lines.

Surely our old pal Clinton Huppert showed how ridiculous a policy signing these kind of lads is. But of course Connacht never learn...in spite of their only decent signings of recent years being Cronin, Carr, Keatley.

Typical short-termism as usual. No wonder the IRFU are so loathe to give the Connacht branch any more funding.

outwest

wat so wrong with this signing.
munster, ulster and leinster all brought in useless journey men.

leinster have left keraney on the bench for a few games this year.
munster are paying a fortune for a centre.
u have a so called journey man a full back who has been their best player this year.

i think give him a chance.
wat the point blooding young prosepts if noone from outside the provence as heard of them, o mahany. who is this key how old is he. and has he ever made for his provence bench.

lads troy has actually been our most consistant player. niva outplayed mafi when connacht beat them last year. and upton is there cause bradley let farley go and we needed a second row with experience.

profitius

outwest wrote: »

wat so wrong with this signing.
munster, ulster and leinster all brought in useless journey men.

leinster have left keraney on the bench for a few games this year.
munster are paying a fortune for a centre.
u have a so called journey man a full back who has been their best player this year.

i think give him a chance.
wat the point blooding young prosepts if noone from outside the provence as heard of them, o mahany. who is this key how old is he. and has he ever made for his provence bench.

lads troy has actually been our most consistant player. niva outplayed mafi when connacht beat them last year. and upton is there cause bradley let farley go and we needed a second row with experience.

They're still bottom of the league and things are starting to change now with the dept of Irish rugby getting stronger and stronger.

The other provinces have brought in badly alright. It doesn't excuse Connacht do the same.

Personally I think the provinces are losing the run of themselves and thinking short term by bringing in too many overseas players. If they spent that money spreading the game around the country they'd get far better value for money multiple times over.

CJ Van Der Linde has been injured all the time for Leinster and Nick Williams the same for Munster.

Last season Nacewa (spell?) was brought in by Cheika playing as a 10 ahead of johnny Sexton and this season he was started ahead of Rob Kearney at full back. No wonder Sexton was on the verge of quitting Leinster. The thing is, how many more like JS are out there.

On the point of John Muldoon I doubt it will have any effect.Really our backrow of Muldoon,Ofisa/joc and McComish with McCarthy as well is a strong selection and I can't see this signing as anything other than a backup unless Bradley plans to play him alongside Bernie Upton in the 2nd row.The good news is its only until the end of the season so if it doesn't work out it'll be easy get rid of him.

He might turn out to be a good signing, but above any team I think we can't be waiting for the nz season to end waiting for fellas coming in or being ready to come in.The damage is already done in the Magners League and I doubt either this fella or Timani will be ready for the vital Challenge Cup games v Worcester.

Of our signings this summer Jamie Hagan, Bernie Upton and Mike McComish have worked out. Tuohy,Nikora haven't to date and we await and see with the other two but the hit rate is poor.When you are releasing thirteen of your squad you should be able to bring in 5/6 quality players. There are more than a few others like Hagan floating around Leinster in particular.

Reading the Galway Advertiser it appears he couldn't get any Super 14 contract and that is why he is coming to Connacht.

I really hope the new coach whoever he may be ends this policy of shipping D list new zealanders over midway through the season.

toomevara

Borders no.2 wrote: »

I really hope the new coach whoever he may be ends this policy of shipping D list new zealanders over midway through the season.

QFT...absolutely inexplicable from any viewpoint.

Zzippy

GymJim wrote: »

Ah come on it's always going to be the same old story with Connacht...every time you hear of an imminent new arrival we pray and hope it'll be any of the fantastic youngsters from Munster/Leinster but ends up being some guy called Tom, Bernie, Troy or Isaia who played once at U-21 level for the Maoris or something along those lines.

Surely our old pal Clinton Huppert showed how ridiculous a policy signing these kind of lads is. But of course Connacht never learn...in spite of their only decent signings of recent years being Cronin, Carr, Keatley.

Typical short-termism as usual. No wonder the IRFU are so loathe to give the Connacht branch any more funding.

Well maybe its because the other provinces are holding on to more of these young players now because they are competing in the British and Irish Cup as well, so these players get proper A games to bring them, and don't see Connacht as an option anymore.
As for Connacht's only decent signings of recent years being those 3, clearly you've forgotten Paul Warwick (Munster's standout player so far this season), Brett Wilkinson (in the Irish training squads this year), Jamie Hagan (beginning to establish himself in the team), John Fogarty (currently first choice hooker for Leinster) to name a few.
You should research your claims better before you make ill-informed generalisations in future.

Webbs

Is it that Connacht arent looking at the other regions or is it that Munster and Leinster dont want there young players going elsewhere?

foreman1916

You cant really give out to connacht for signing him becuase what are they supposed to do there funding isnt as high as the other three provinces and they are expected to get results so that the IRFU don't cutoff them off altogether, so are they supposed to buy kids or buy experienced players who can help them get results. Also maybe the young players see being sent to connacht as a waste of time cause they see connacht as a small club, who always play in small players not big european games and if a few injuries were to happen then to munster lets say they could get a foot in and they make a good career out of it, instead of being in the corner of rugby in europe. so before people give out for what connacht have done maybe u should look at the players themself and the IRFU. connacht are trying to do the best with the bit they have got.
P.S. i would love to see young upcoming player for connacht but with the way things are in connacht it isnt going to happen.

GymJim

Zzippy wrote: »

Well maybe its because the other provinces are holding on to more of these young players now because they are competing in the British and Irish Cup as well, so these players get proper A games to bring them, and don't see Connacht as an option anymore.
As for Connacht's only decent signings of recent years being those 3, clearly you've forgotten Paul Warwick (Munster's standout player so far this season), Brett Wilkinson (in the Irish training squads this year), Jamie Hagan (beginning to establish himself in the team), John Fogarty (currently first choice hooker for Leinster) to name a few.
You should research your claims better before you make ill-informed generalisations in future.

While there may be some degree of truth in your B&I Cup point this has been Connacht's policy for the last few years anyway. I disagree overall though as the other provinces know well the B&I Cup won't provide the same level of competition or intensity as the ML (even with Connacht)...it's mainly there as a stepping stone before having to be thrown into injury-plagued ML squads. Surely your point on Hagan proves the other provinces can see the benefit of sending young lads to Connacht.

Was on the run in work earlier making my point on Carr, Cronin, Keatley. Didn't mean to put "only"...more meant these as the most relevant example of lads who would currently be at the same age and level as most guys playing in the B&I Cup at the moment. Bit early to include Hagan in this bracket surely also...great promise but let's judge him after a full season. And my comparison was more with the likes of Troy (yes he's improved this year but let's not forget he had hit the point he couldn't actually get any worse), Bibo, Nikora, Timani, etc.

Warwick has been the exception that's proved the rule in fact. Signing a non-Irish qualified journeyman isn't going to work for Connacht either way...if they're ****e they're boll*xed and if they're good they'll be snapped up by a better team.

The other lads you mention actually prove the benefits of going with at least Irish-qualified players.

I truly believe young lads can see where Flannery and Fogarty have gone due to their stint at Connacht and this in itself actually makes Connacht an attractive proposition.

PhatPiggins

thomond2006 wrote: »

Another journeyman signing.

Quelle surprise.

Do you know anyhting about him?

Have you ever seen him play?

Payne,Warwick,Holwell and Wright were all labelled journeymen but all have made big contributions to Irish rugby.

Risteard

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Do you know anyhting about him?

Have you ever seen him play?

Payne,Warwick,Holwell and Wright were all labelled journeymen but all have made big contributions to Irish rugby.

Wright especially. I think when he first signed there was a bit of slagging as to why they signed him but he's been great performer for Leinster over the years IMO.

For all we know(well me anyway) this guy could be decent enough. My opinion is that for Connacht to grow they have to achieve results in the short term and start winning. This will then attract hopefully more supporters and set the ball rolling. Though there does seem to be some confusing decisions. Keatley wasn't starting for some games this season was he?

Hopefully when the new coach comes in, there'll be a breath of fresh air. I wonder could Bradley make a decent fist of a specialist coach. I don't think he's a good head coach but if he focuses on one area then he could be good.

subfreq

My old man lives in Otago and goes to a lot of Highlanders games so I'll ask him what he knows of the player.

siltirocker

Risteard wrote: »

For all we know(well me anyway) this guy could be decent enough. My opinion is that for Connacht to grow they have to achieve results in the short term and start winning. This will then attract hopefully more supporters and set the ball rolling. Though there does seem to be some confusing decisions. Keatley wasn't starting for some games this season was he?
.

Sincerly doubt he'll be any good, according to the papers, he literally couldn't find a club in the SH or France, hence Connacht. What kills me is the amount of kiwis Connacht have signed in the past year. 5. (Only one would start in a fully fit squad -Upton, maybe 2 depending on form-Ta-Auso.) Compared to only 2 Irish men signed in this time.
As regards Keatley. Nikora was signed and in a complete lack of faith Bradley dropped Keatley for the Kiwi who besides 20mins of his debut, has been Connacht's weakest player this year and i for one will be surprised is he starts a major game again for Connacht. Ever.
People even spoke in hushed tongue that him and his representatives may have pulled the wool over on Connacht Rugby.

Robbo

I really don't know what to make of this chap until he plays other than what in Jeff's name are we doing signing another back row when cover is needed at outhalf/center. I only hope that he isn't costing too much. Baffling.

To those who are bemused it isn't an Irish signing, why would it be at this time of year? With the A Tournament and the semi-autistic way that players are hoarded elsewhere to be prepared for a disappointing career in the AIL, don't expect otherwise. This kind of waste can be afforded elsewhere.

PhatPiggins

People even spoke in hushed tongue that him and his representatives may have pooled the wool over on Connacht Rugby.

Sorry but how exactly do you achieve this. Did they not see him play beforehand or at least see video footage of his past dozen games? Surely they would have offered him a trial firsty if they hadn't done either?

If they signed him on the basis of a highlights dvd his agent sent them or worse clips off youtube then sorry you deserve what you get

anonymous_joe

foreman1916 wrote: »

You cant really give out to connacht for signing him becuase what are they supposed to do there funding isnt as high as the other three provinces and they are expected to get results so that the IRFU don't cutoff them off altogether, so are they supposed to buy kids or buy experienced players who can help them get results. Also maybe the young players see being sent to connacht as a waste of time cause they see connacht as a small club, who always play in small players not big european games and if a few injuries were to happen then to munster lets say they could get a foot in and they make a good career out of it, instead of being in the corner of rugby in europe. so before people give out for what connacht have done maybe u should look at the players themself and the IRFU. connacht are trying to do the best with the bit they have got.
P.S. i would love to see young upcoming player for connacht but with the way things are in connacht it isnt going to happen.

I don't know that youngsters see going to Connacht as a waste. Quite a few lads have become successful there.

Flannery, Jackman, Warwick and so on all came good there. Keatley and Carr are doing so.

PhatPiggins

anonymous_joe wrote: »

I don't know that youngsters see going to Connacht as a waste. Quite a few lads have become successful there.

Flannery, Jackman, Warwick and so on all came good there. Keatley and Carr are doing so.

Not a waste per say but I've heard from a few of the Leinster academy coach's that they have trouble in getting some of their lads to even consider going west.

The problem I see, and its just my take on it, is that some of the academy guys see their team mates from both schools and academy levels shoot to stardom in the senior team and think "if I hang on here a bit that'll be me next season". They see players like Healy and Fitzgerald pretty much walk into the senior squad at a young age and think that because they have been playing in the same teams as them they are just as good. When in reality a couple of seasons in the Western Riverias is what they really need.

If you think of the talent in the Leinster A and under 20's with little or no chance or game time for the senior team and what they could add to Connacht you'd wonder why the IRFU dont take a stronger line on imports.

siltirocker

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Sorry but how exactly do you achieve this. Did they not see him play beforehand or at least see video footage of his past dozen games? Surely they would have offered him a trial firsty if they hadn't done either?

If they signed him on the basis of a highlights dvd his agent sent them or worse clips off youtube then sorry you deserve what you get

To answer the bold, i sincerly doubt it.
The italics, you would think that.

And the scenario in the underline is essential how i reckon they signed him, the second i read it in the paper. Players have been signed after a quick look at their CV in Connacht.

PhatPiggins

siltirocker wrote: »

To answer the bold, i sincerly doubt it.
The italics, you would think that.

And the scenario in the underline is essential how i reckon they signed him, the second i read it in the paper. Players have been signed after a quick look at their CV in Connacht.

I'd criticize Connachts management but the images of Clinton Huppert, Juan Gomez and that Fijian prop who's name escapes me are floating around in my head.

irishbucsfan

PhatPiggins wrote: »

People even spoke in hushed tongue that him and his representatives may have pooled the wool over on Connacht Rugby.

Sorry but how exactly do you achieve this. Did they not see him play beforehand or at least see video footage of his past dozen games? Surely they would have offered him a trial firsty if they hadn't done either?

If they signed him on the basis of a highlights dvd his agent sent them or worse clips off youtube then sorry you deserve what you get

I can't help but be reminded of the fabulous story of Ali Dia

wikipedia wrote:

After a playing career at the lower levels in France and Germany, and having already had failed trials at Port Vale, Gillingham and Bournemouth, before playing at semi-pro club Blyth Spartans, Dia was signed by Southampton manager Graeme Souness in 1996, after Souness received a phone call purporting to be from Liberian international and former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah. "Weah" told Souness that Dia was his cousin, had played for Paris Saint-Germain and had played 13 times for his country. Actually, none of this was true, and the phone call was from Dia's agent. Nonetheless, Souness was convinced, and signed Dia on a one-month contract.

Dia played just one game for Southampton, in the number 33 shirt, against Leeds United on 23 November 1996; he had originally been scheduled to play in a reserve friendly against Arsenal, but the match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. In the match against Leeds, he came on as a substitute for Matthew Le Tissier after 32 minutes but his performance was spectacularly below Premier League quality. He was later substituted (for Ken Monkou) after playing until the 53rd minute; Leeds won the match 2–0.

Le Tissier himself recalled the story in a television interview, telling that Dia spent only a weekend at the club. He first came down to train with the team on Friday morning and that he "didn't look very good" and Southampton players thought that they would "never see him again", but then on the next day Dia was surprisingly named to the subs bench. His performance on the field after he came on to replace Le Tissier "was unbelievable. He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice, it was very very embarrassing to watch." Yet according to the team's physiotherapist on Sunday morning Dia "turned up for treatment of an injury" and "then he left, and we never saw him again ... nobody knows where he went."

Dia was released by Southampton two weeks into his contract. He briefly played for non-league Gateshead, before leaving in February 1997. He went on to study business at Northumbria University in Newcastle graduating in 2001.

anonymous_joe

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Not a waste per say but I've heard from a few of the Leinster academy coach's that they have trouble in getting some of their lads to even consider going west.

The problem I see, and its just my take on it, is that some of the academy guys see their team mates from both schools and academy levels shoot to stardom in the senior team and think "if I hang on here a bit that'll be me next season". They see players like Healy and Fitzgerald pretty much walk into the senior squad at a young age and think that because they have been playing in the same teams as them they are just as good. When in reality a couple of seasons in the Western Riverias is what they really need.

If you think of the talent in the Leinster A and under 20's with little or no chance or game time for the senior team and what they could add to Connacht you'd wonder why the IRFU dont take a stronger line on imports.

Well it's understandable.

I know that if you've grown up in Dublin, and want to live and work here, going to Galway's not the most appealling prospect. Hell, I know I could have gotten the course I wanted in Galway with my LC points but did a different course in Dublin instead.

Moreover, if you are 'close' to the team, leaving's a bit of a bitch.

When you look at the state of Irish rugby at the moment, we've enough props for about one professional team realistically. (Irish ones.)

We've enough wingers and full backs (if you count the really talented youngsters) for about six or seven.

There'll always be that surplus in some positions...

outwest

i say if they want to stay in Dublin, limerick. let them.

keatley is much closer to the national squad then them staying.

carr should be in the training panel and no other player has a scroing rate like him. apart from bod for ireland.

and sean is capped.

they would still be playing AIL if they stayed at home.

wonder would flan would be were he is today if he never went to conancht.

profitius

At least the players going to Connacht have good ambition to succeed. Some others don't want to go outside their comfort zone.