Connacht Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

Funk It

Deleted User wrote: »

"An Irish Winner" of the HEC is now odds on (4/6) with Boyles.

This means that "more often than not" ( aka probably) we will see Connacht playing Heineken Cup Rugby next year too.

odds on... Ireland are only guaranteed to have 1 team in the semi finals, with the winner of Munster v Ulster, maybe 2 if Leinster win as well. Its only the quarter finals now, so wouldnt be getting too far ahead of myself with stats, if we manage to get 1 team into the final its still only a 50:50 chance for Connacht. Sorry for stating the obvious, but as much as I would love to see Connacht in the HC again next year, im not banking on it yet.

Borders no.2

Guessing a bit on the lads below, just looking at what came up on google.

Decent team. Should be a good game, saw these lads from Russia last year they have a huge pack, I'd fear Rodney will be going backwards once again. Don't really see why we couldn't find someone else for a game like this. If we can get a decent percentage of ball thats a good backline though, be interesting to get a look at Loxton finally.

liam12989 wrote: »

Connacht ‘A’ to face Enisey-STM (The Sportsground – Saturday 7th April ko 1.00pm)

15 Shane Layden

14 Conor Finn

13 Finn Gormley

12 Dave McSharry

11 James Loxton

10 Jack Carty

09 Paul O’Donohoe (C)

01 Finlay Bealham

02 Kevin O’Byrne

03 Rodney Ah You

04 Conor Kindregan

05 Danny Qualter

06 Aaron Conneely

07 Eoghan Grace

08 Brian Moylett



16 Stevie Collins - Seems to be 2nd choice for Lansdowne he's never Steve Collins the former boxers son is he?

17 Denis Buckley

18 Dylan Rogers

19 James Connolly - Another from Leinster. Newbridge. Just out of school as well it seems

20 Luke Satchwell - Leinster lad. Just out of school. Kings Hospital.

21 Kieran Marmion

22 Michael O’Flynn - From Mallow possibly not sure

23 Conor Fitzgibbon - Former Irish Schools player, Marist College


anyone know anything about the guys in bold? never heard of them and they seem to be mixing up the A team a bit

Funk It

Funk It wrote: »

odds on... Ireland are only guaranteed to have 1 team in the semi finals, with the winner of Munster v Ulster, maybe 2 if Leinster win as well. Its only the quarter finals now, so wouldnt be getting too far ahead of myself with stats, if we manage to get 1 team into the final its still only a 50:50 chance for Connacht. Sorry for stating the obvious, but as much as I would love to see Connacht in the HC again next year, im not banking on it yet.

It's not a banker, in the eyes of the bookmakers, who study the game more than anyone else in the world, it's more than a 50/50 though.

Hence odds on

Hence the bookies reference!

Hype710

Fairly sure Steve Collins is the boxer's son alright, around 22, was in the Wasps Academy for a year I believe.

ScareGilly

liam12989 wrote: »

Connacht ‘A’ to face Enisey-STM (The Sportsground – Saturday 7th April ko 1.00pm)

15 Shane Layden

14 Conor Finn

13 Finn Gormley

12 Dave McSharry

11 James Loxton

10 Jack Carty

09 Paul O’Donohoe (C)

01 Finlay Bealham

02 Kevin O’Byrne

03 Rodney Ah You

04 Conor Kindregan

05 Danny Qualter

06 Aaron Conneely

07 Eoghan Grace

08 Brian Moylett



16 Stevie Collins

17 Denis Buckley

18 Dylan Rogers

19 James Connolly

20 Luke Satchwell

21 Kieran Marmion

22 Michael O’Flynn

23 Conor Fitzgibbon


anyone know anything about the guys in bold? never heard of them and they seem to be mixing up the A team a bit

Satch is a decent player and Conor Fitzgibbon is quite handy also, played Connacht under 18's and I think he was on one of the Irish under 18's teams? Both play for Buccs... Great to see all the youth given a chance in Connacht..

Funk It

From Connacht Rugbys Facebook for anyone who hasn't seen it:

"Connacht Rugby
Check out tomorrow's Irish Daily Mail for some exciting news in Gavin Duffy's column!"

Rickwellwood

Legend Ray Ofisa - great commitment and thank you for all the wonderful carries and crash ball break over the years. You owe us nothing. Take care of yourself. Absolute legend

see http://www.connachtrugby.ie/2012040582809/legend-ofisa-to-depart-connacht

Article mentions lads who are leaving also - best of luck to them and I think in particular Brian Tuohy - the leg break hopefully is well on the way to being fixed up cheers for the trys Brian

Hagz

No disrespect to the guy, but I'm glad to see Fa'afili hasn't had his contract renewed.

leeroybrown

It's a shame to see Ray move on after so many great years service for Connacht but I suppose the writing was on the wall with the signing of Faloon, the back row players coming through and Ray's NIQ status.

Fa'afili has put in a few good performances lately but overall his contribution hasn't been what you'd want from a player on a fairly expensive deal and it seems slightly convenient that he started putting an effort in around contract renewal time. We do need to to recruit a centre now. Hopefully Tuohy's leg break will have healed before the Summer allowing him to find a new club I think he'd have been well down the list of backs next seasons even if he was still here so it's no big surprise. Rodgers isn't a huge surprise either.

seanin4711

Rickwellwood wrote: »

Legend Ray Ofisa - great commitment and thank you for all the wonderful carries and crash ball break over the years. You owe us nothing. Take care of yourself. Absolute legend

see http://www.connachtrugby.ie/2012040582809/legend-ofisa-to-depart-connacht

Article mentions lads who are leaving also - best of luck to them and I think in particular Brian Tuohy - the leg break hopefully is well on the way to being fixed up cheers for the trys Brian

does Rodney AH you have his contract renewed?
the guy is terrible,and has been given all the chances under the sun!
I thought we were making inroads as regards cutting loose the dead wood except for touhy,i am really surprised at that,got some nice tries over the previous two seasons.

thomond2006

Seanin if you're only upset about one player then that's pretty good, given the amount of so called deadwood that's been in the Connacht squad in past seasons.

I feel sorry for Tuohy but with Vainikolo finding his feet and Layden developing there's plenty of depth at wing.

leeroybrown

As thomond2006 says there's plenty of depth at wing plus we have plenty of players who can fill in at wing in the event of injury problems. Tuohy has had some decent games in a Connacht shirt and scored some tries but he's also a quite one-dimensional player and I can think of areas of the squad that could benefit more from the price of his salary.

As for Ah You, I'm also unconvinced by him but there's more hope of him turning into a player who's up to the league's standards at tight head than Rogers who's never going to be a starting prop in a Rabo Pro12 side.

shuffol

Whens Ah You's contract up ? Wasnt he signed mid season, round the start of last year and given a 2 year deal.

CIARAN_BOYLE

shuffol wrote: »

Whens Ah You's contract up ? Wasnt he signed mid season, round the start of last year and given a 2 year deal.

One and a half year deal ending in may I think

leeroybrown

As far as I remember Ah You was originally signed on an 18 month deal mid season. I'm not 100% sure what his current situation is but I think it requires a new contract this summer.. In fairness to him he actually played fairly well when he came on against Munster.

Borders no.2

Can't understand the sense in keeping Rodney on. At least he's unlikely to get much gametime if White and Loughney stay fit and hopefully Maguire can improve and show what he can do. I think we'd have been better putting our time into developing Maguire rather than trying to develop two tight heads.

Best of luck to all the lads leaving, Ray Ofisa and Brian Tuohy in particular.

wp_rathead

leeroybrown wrote: »

As far as I remember Ah You was originally signed on an 18 month deal mid season. I'm not 100% sure what his current situation is but I think it requires a new contract this summer.. In fairness to him he actually played fairly well when he came on against Munster.

Apart from giving away 2 pens, missing a tackle for their 2nd try and giving ball away in our last attack- all in less than 15mins of being on the field
I just don't rate the guy as a rugby player- hopefully I'm proved wrong and he develops into a star but he looks more and more like a Buckley 2.0 whenever I see him

Fireball07

wprathead wrote: »

Apart from giving away 2 pens, missing a tackle for their 2nd try and giving ball away in our last attack- all in less than 15mins of being on the field
I just don't rate the guy as a rugby player- hopefully I'm proved wrong and he develops into a star but he looks more and more like a Buckley 2.0 whenever I see him

That's insulting to Buckley tbqh.

freyners

Touhy is a player i hoped would be given a shot but with the amount of wings we have it is not a surprise.

Surprised fafaili was let go. Our centres have picked up quite a few knocks this season and he has played very well recently. Mcsharry and tonetti would both be ahead of him for 12 but we never have had both fit at the same time for a long period this season.

bamboozle

how's stuart maguire progressing?

hopefully another 2 or 3 fringe leinster and munster players are signed up over the summer to bulk up the Connacht squad.

blackhound

I know its been rumoured for awhile but still so disappointing to hear that Ray is leaving us at the end of the season. Never gave anything less than his best in a Connacht jersey and such an unassuming man off the pitch, will be missed and I wish him well with the rest of his career.

porterbelly

New 2 year contract for Gavin Duffy

thomond2006

porterbelly wrote: »

New 2 year contract for Gavin Duffy

Well deserved!

wp_rathead

porterbelly wrote:

New 2 year contract for Gavin Duffy

Brilliant, can only help the progress of Layden aswell to learn from the great man

garryowenman

Does anyone know what the story is with Stewart Maquire?

Seems like he has been let go by Connacht

Hes playing every week with belvo but has not featured with connacht senior or A teams in a while

garryowenman

Does anyone know where i could buy the green connacht warm up top that players wear before the game

Have tried elverys.ie but its no longer available

Its a long sleeve jacket with mazda on the front

porterbelly

garryowenman wrote: »

Does anyone know where i could buy the green connacht warm up top that players wear before the game

Have tried elverys.ie but its no longer available

Its a long sleeve jacket with mazda on the front

The Elverys truck at home games stocks them, or used to do anyway

porterbelly

garryowenman wrote: »

Does anyone know what the story is with Stewart Maquire?

Seems like he has been let go by Connacht

Hes playing every week with belvo but has not featured with connacht senior or A teams in a while

I'd be surprised if he's leaving because he signed on a 2 year development contract. He hasn't made much progress but he's still young and has potential. The fact that he's playing for Belvo wouldn't worry me, McSharry spent the first couple of months of the season playing with UCD before he was drafted into the first team. Development contracted players can play with their home clubs afaik, so that's why neither were registered with one of the Connacht clubs

Brian_Zeluz

Out of interest, anyone know where Ofisa is going to?

ScareGilly

Brian_Zeluz wrote: »

Out of interest, anyone know where Ofisa is going to?

Think I heard somebody say he was going to Toulouse/Toulon... Not too sure on the truth in that though...