Irish Players outside the Provinces

Wonder if anyone has an up-to-date list of IQ players plying their trade (professionally) outside of the Provincial setups.

Would be useful to keep an eye on which players are doing well and who might be nearing the end of contracts in positions that provinces could do with some cover at.

I watched Exeter play in La Rochelle a fortnight ago and Caldwell, Whitten and Steenson all had good games.

Caldwell is at Exeter for a single year, contract up at the end of this season, in a position where the provinces have lost (and will lose over coming seasons) a lot of experience in recent years (Cullen, MOD, DOC, Muller, Swift). He could certainly be on the shopping list for one of the 4 as an abrasive (if perhaps a little loose) and experienced lock. Available for 2015 season. (Connacht?)

Steenson seems to never be coming back, doing too well really for it! I think if he came back it would be straight to Ulster and iHumph would be the one to lose out. If Connacht could somehow find a reason to tempt him West, he could answer a lot of their problems and give Carty a shadow to rest in for a bit as he develops. (no idea of contract)

Whitten is a bit of a forgotten man in the Ulster centre conveyor belt. 63 Senior caps over 4 years, alongside Wallace and Cave, he left quietly enough when Marshall arrived on the scene, and with Olding's emergence and Payne's interest at 13 there simply wasn't any room left for him up North. He's played a bit at wing for Exeter, but is primarily an inside centre. Munster could do with a resilient squad 12, but is Whitten again doing too well abroad to consider it? (no idea of contract)

@Leinster

Perhaps one of our T14 focused posters could fill us in on the sizeable Irish contingent at Grenoble?

• Denis Coulson
• James Hart
• Chris Farrell

Anyone with an interest in London Irish?

• Tomás O'Leary
• Eamonn Sheridan
• Tom Court
• Jamie Hagan (@Leinster at the moment)
• Eoin Griffin
• Conor Gilsenan

are all listed as first squad members.

Stringer!
I jest not, doing quite well

Newcastle haven't had Danny Barnes on the teamsheet yet this season.

Gloucester have Shane Monahan on the books, but he hasn't been in the team yet this season either.

Leicester also haven't used Niall Morris much this season, played 3 games in September but hasn't been seen since.

Bath have been using Peter Stringer mostly from the bench this season. 5 appearances for 167 minutes.

matthew8

George McGuigan got a start for Newcastle recently I think.

irishbucsfan

Don't think Niall Morris is fit. Every time I read his name these days it's people saying he's unavailable. Not sure what's going on there.

In the ProD2

Denis Fogarty has plenty of sub appearances for Agen so far.
Conor Gaston (starting wing) and Brian Hayes (50/50 starter) both seem to be featuring plenty for Aurillac
David Nolan has been in 4 matchday 23s (2/2)for Borgoin
Eoghan Hickey played a couple of games at the beginning of the season for Massy, kicking points from full back but nothing recently.
Mark Flanagan has had 8 (5/3) appearances including a try for Mont-de-Marsan

Teferi

I can never see Tom O'Leary coming back anyway due to his legal issues with the IRFU.

Teferi

Has Fogs lost his starting place? He was getting into teams of the week/teams of the year in the ProD2 there a season or two ago.

awec

Chris Farrell is with Grenoble I think? Probably be back here at some point, the question is with who.

connachta

England (just the less famous guys, not Morris Whitten Steenson etc..)


E.Sheriff Saracens (Bedford loan) Second Row
John Andress Worcester tight head prop
George McGuigan Newcasle Hooker
Adam D’Arcy Bristol fullback
James Sandford London Welsh second row
Conor Carey Nottigham loose head
Ali Birch Rotherham Titans flanker
S.Cahill London Welsh LH
Niall Annett Worcester Hooker
Michael Keating Rotherham fullback
Peter Browne L.Welsh lock/flanker
Neil Best London Scottish backrow
Corey Hircock Bedford Wing

connachta

Deleted User wrote: »

In the ProD2

Denis Fogarty has plenty of sub appearances for Agen so far.
Conor Gaston (starting wing) and Brian Hayes (50/50 starter) both seem to be featuring plenty for Aurillac
David Nolan has been in 4 matchday 23s (2/2)for Borgoin
Eoghan Hickey played a couple of games at the beginning of the season for Massy, kicking points from full back but nothing recently.
Mark Flanagan has had 8 (5/3) appearances including a try for Mont-de-Marsan

Brian Hayes 2nd row 7 games 4 starts for Aurillac

connachta

Teferi wrote: »

Has Fogs lost his starting place? He was getting into teams of the week/teams of the year in the ProD2 there a season or two ago.

Still Playing For agen : 7 appearence 3 starts 1 try

Championship

Bedford Blues have Eoin Sheriff on a season long loan from Saracens.
Jersey have Michael Noone and Mark McCrea
David McIlwaine is playing for Yorkshire Carnegie
Rotherham Titans also have plenty of ex Ulster in Adam Macklin, Ali Birch and James McKinney, as well as Sean Scanlon (ex Munster) and Michael Keating (ex Leinster)
Neil Best is still playing, ploughing through with London Scottish, joined by Stewart Maguire
Bristol have Jack O'Connell playing with ex Lion Ryan Jones
Niall Anette (ex Ulster) and Darren O'Shea (ex Munster) are currently listed with table toppers Worcester

Wouldn't be surprised if I've missed a few. Clearly on pre-Christmas wind down at work!

connachta

A very correct exiles team with huge amount of experience and talent :

Niall Annett Worcester Hooker
Tom Court LI LH prop
John Andress Worcester tight head prop
E.Sheriff Saracens (Bedford loan) Second Row
R Calwell Bath 2nd Row
Neil Best London Scottish backrow
C Gilsenan LI flanker
Michael Noone n°8 Jersey ex Leicester
P Stringer Bath SH
James Hart Grenoble outhalf
Eamon Sherridan Centre LI
Eion Griffin Centre LI
Nial Morris wing Leicester
Shane Monahan wing Gloucester
Michael Keating Rotherham fullback




Bench

Denis Coulson Grenoble Loosehead prop
George McGuigan Newcasle Hooker
Jack O’Connell Bristol Tighthead prop
Mark Flanagan Mont-de-Marsan 2nd row
Peter Browne L.Welsh OR Ali Birch Rotherham Titans lock/flanker
Kieran Hallett (flyhalf Cornish Pirates)
Ian Whitten Exeter centre/wing

I deeply think this is material for a 5th province or a better 4 !!!

thomond2006

Paul Rowley, former Munster academy scrum-half, is at London Welsh.

Stan27

How is peter lydon playing in London Scottish ?

Losty Dublin

Teferi wrote: »

I can never see Tom O'Leary coming back anyway due to his legal issues with the IRFU.

Fill us in on these legal issues if you could; my mind is a blank.

awec

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Fill us in on these legal issues if you could; my mind is a blank.

He's suing the IRFU for an eye injury he sustained when training with Ireland. A cord snapped and caught him in the eye or something like that.

alias no.9

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Fill us in on these legal issues if you could; my mind is a blank.

He took a personal injury claim against them after suffering an eye injury when the bunjy or whatever you'd call it on a sled snapped in training.

thebaz

alias no.9 wrote: »

He took a personal injury claim against them after suffering an eye injury when the bunjy or whatever you'd call it on a sled snapped in training.

must be a horrific injury to sue - was his eye permanently damaged ?

The Lost Sheep

Danny Barnes is playing mainly on the A team in Newcastle.
Likes of George McGuigan is very unlikely to play for an Irish Province. Has always played in England. Cant see him coming over to a province

alias no.9

thebaz wrote: »

must be a horrific injury to sue - was his eye permanently damaged ?

No idea, just that the incident was reported at the time and some time later the personal injury claim was reported. Given that the IRFU would have had full access to all medical reports at the time, I doubt there's much room for a spurious or exaggerated claim.

thomond2006

Deleted User wrote: »

Perhaps one of our T14 focused posters could fill us in on the sizeable Irish contingent at Grenoble?

• Denis Coulson
• James Hart
• Chris Farrell

The gametime for all three:

Coulson: http://www.lnr.fr/denis-coulson,19276.html
Hart: http://www.lnr.fr/james-hart,14043.html
Farrell: http://www.lnr.fr/chris-farrell,19138.html

For the players playing Top14 or ProD2, go onto http://www.lnr.fr/ and click on the team's logo. Then click on Effectif and that will bring up the squad list. From there you can select a player and see his Top14/ProD2 appearances and position played.

The titulaire number denotes the number of starts. Temps de jeu is minutes played.

CIARAN_BOYLE

connachta wrote: »

England (just the less famous guys, not Morris Whitten Steenson etc..)


E.Sheriff Saracens (Bedford loan) Second Row
John Andress Worcester tight head prop
George McGuigan Newcasle Hooker
Adam D’Arcy Bristol fullback
James Sandford London Welsh second row
Conor Carey Nottigham loose head
Ali Birch Rotherham Titans flanker
S.Cahill London Welsh LH
Niall Annett Worcester Hooker
Michael Keating Rotherham fullback
Peter Browne L.Welsh lock/flanker
Neil Best London Scottish backrow
Corey Hircock Bedford Wing

Andress plays for edinburgh these days. 6+3 in the league so far.

jacothelad

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Andress plays for edinburgh these days. 6+3 in the league so far.

Adam D'Arcy is back in Oz afaik.

total former

I think this thread is proof that we've been very lucky in keeping our best players in Ireland.

There have been maybe five players mentioned who I'd like to come "home" and none who would make a major difference to any of the provinces.

(Apart from Sexton obviously)

The Pheasant2

Has anyone seen much of James Hart? I hear about him occasionally bit haven't seen him play ever. He's contracted at Grenoble for a few more years right? Might be worth Leinster's while having a look; seen as Boss is near done and Reddan has maybe one season left

Fireball07

total former wrote: »

I think this thread is proof that we've been very lucky in keeping our best players in Ireland.

There have been maybe five players mentioned who I'd like to come "home" and none who would make a major difference to any of the provinces.

(Apart from Sexton obviously)

True enough.

I do think that any of Stringer, TOL or Hart would be a better backup 9 for Munster than Williams, and you could argue the latter two would be better backup 9s for Ulster too... Marshall is way too erratic for my liking.

I reckon Griffin might start for Munster (he wouldn't start for Connacht anymore with Aki & Henshaw). Same with Chris Farrell and Sheridan... they'd at least provide a bit more competition in a weak area.

Steenson is a better OH than Carty, would probably be better than Humphreys too.

Someone like Gilsenan has a load of promise, injuries have stalled his progress somewhat, but I reckon he'd be a player Ulster could utilise, they're a bit short on back row players.

Morris would have been useful with all the injuries to Leinster back 3 players, but he'd never be a starter with everyone fit.

Caldwell is arguably the best of the lot, and I reckon all the provinces could use him at least as backup. Same with JOC.

So yeah, I don't think we've lost any major players, bar Sexton, but there are some useful ones there. But some of them have progressed because they went abroad and it is a good learning experience imo... if they come back like Copeland, Dougall, Ross, MOD, etc, then even better.

thomond2006

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

Has anyone seen much of James Hart? I hear about him occasionally bit haven't seen him play ever. He's contracted at Grenoble for a few more years right? Might be worth Leinster's while having a look; seen as Boss is near done and Reddan has maybe one season left

Hart is a very good player IMO. He was first choice 9 last year but he's lost his place to Charl MacLeod who was signed this year and been a revelation. He's contracted until 2017.

macslash

Is Mushy still playing in England?!

Teferi

Nope, he's retired from professional rugby and playing with Kanturk now. Think he is back to doing the plumbing or sparks or whatever he was before a professional rugby player.

The Lost Sheep

macslash wrote: »

Is Mushy still playing in England?!

Nope. As Teferi says he is back with his home original club Kanturk and is playing AIL with them. He is doing some coaching there and working as a plumber

errlloyd

In before Hanrahan.

Darren Hudson is lacking some love here, and Tom Sexton and Ed O Donohue. Any info?

Bridge93

Danny Barnes scored two tries for the Newcastle Falcons A side on Monday night against Northampton to help them qualify for the semi finals of the Premiership 'A' league.

The Lost Sheep

errlloyd wrote: »

In before Hanrahan.

Darren Hudson is lacking some love here, and Tom Sexton and Ed O Donohue. Any info?

Ed O Donoghue is playing with Queensland Red is he not?
Hudson with Bristol. Saw him come off the bench for Bristol against Connacht Eagles in Sportsground in British and Irish Cup a couple of months ago. Is involved quite a bit in their side. They should be in premiership next season

Glass Prison 1214

A full list of all the players I can find in the Pro 12, Super 15 and the top two divisions in France and England. If I missed any its cuz wikipedia might be wrong.

Loosehead
• Tom Court (London Irish)
• Shane Cahill (London Welsh)
• Jack O'Connell (Bristol)
• Denis Coulson (Grenoble)
• Paddy McAllister (Aurillac)

Hooker
• George McGuigan (Newcastle)
• Niall Annett (Worcester)
• Tom Sexton (Rebels)
• Nigel Brady (Aurillac)
• Denis Fogarty (Agen)

Tighthead
• John Andress (Edinburgh)
• Stewart Maguire (London Scottish)
• Conor Carey (Nottingham)
• Adam Macklin (Rotherham)

Second Row
• Ed O'Donoghue (Reds)
• Ryan Caldwell (Exeter)
• Eoin Sheriff (Bedford)
• James Sandford (London Welsh)
• Darren O'Shea (Worcester)
• Damian Browne (Oyonnax)
• Mark Flanagan (Mont De Marsan)
• Brian Hayes (Aurillac)
• David Nolan (Bourgoin)

Backrow
• James Coughlin (Pau)
• Conor Gilsenan (London Irish)
• Daniel Browne (London Welsh)
• Neill Best (London Scottish)
• Ali Berch (Rotherham)
• William Ryan (Rotherham)
• Michael Noone (Jersey)
• Eoghan Grace (Plymouth)

Scrum Half
• James Hart (Grenoble)
• Peter Stringer (Bath)
• Thomas O'Leary (London Irish)
• Peter Rowley (London Welsh)
• Ruairi Cushion (Plymouth)

Outhalf
• Johnny Sexton (Racing Metro)
• Gareth Steenson (Exeter)
• Peter Lydon (London Scottish)
• James McKinney (Rotherham)
• Kieran Hallett (Cornish Pirates)
• Declan Cusack (Plymouth)
• Eoin Hickey (Massy)

Centre
• Chris Farrell (Grenoble)
• Ian Whitten (Exeter)
• Danny Barnes (Newcastle)
• Eammon Sheridan (London Irish)
• Fergus Mulchrone (London Irish)
• Eoin Griffen (London Irish)
• James Downey (Glasgow)
• Jack Tovey (Bristol)

Back Three
• Charlie Ignall (Sale)
• Niall Morris (Leicester)
• Shane Monahan (Gloucester)
• Darren Hudson (Bristol)
• Michael Keating (Rotherham)
• Sean Scanlon (Rotherham)
• Mark McCrea (Jersey)
• David McIlwaine (Yorkshire)
• Conor Gaston (Aurillac)

Paul Smeenus

Paddy McAllister is playing LH in Aurillac, I think.

Glass Prison 1214

I was always gonna miss someone, updated now.

Fireball07

In addition to the above list... does anyone know where Philip Donnellan is these days?

Andrew Farley and Adam D'Arcy were born outside Ireland but both qualify, playing for Grenoble and Bristol respectively, I think.


I couldn't remember if Cillian Willis had retired or not, his wikipedia page tells me he retired in 2013 to pursue a career in "magic and dark art" Tommy Hayes retired recently enough too.


Have any of Scott Deasy, Aaron Conneelly, Timmy Ryan found a club abroad?

Fireball07

Oh, and James Downey would be a relatively big-name one. At Glasgow now. Oh, and Leo Auva'a.

RuPi

As far as I know, Charlie Simpson is in the Aurillac academy, full back from Ballymena Academy played Irish Schools.

Nigel Brady now has a role within Ulster Rugby, was temporarily kit man, coaching Dungannon 1st XV as well.

Glass Prison 1214

Neither Farley or D'Arcy are still playing for those clubs I believe. Your right about James Downey, updated now. Leo Auva'a is no longer eligable for Ireland now that he has left.

b.gud

Dave Nolan left Connacht for Bourgoin in the pro D2 this year

Fireball07

But yeah, a best 23 based on players outside Ireland... I mightn't have seen a lot of them, so some of it will be based on hearsay + what they were like in Ireland and what I saw of them.

15. Niall Morris
14. Shane Monahan
13. Eoin Griffin
12. Eamonn Sheridan
11. Darren Hudson
10. Johnny Sexton
9. James Hart
8. James Coughlan
7. Ali Birch
6. Conor Gilsenan
5. Ryan Caldwell
4. Damien Browne
3. John Andress
2. Tom Sexton
1. Tom Court

16. Denis Fogarty
17. Paddy McAllister
18. Adam Macklin
19. Ed O'Donoghue
20. Eoin Sheriff
21. Tomás O'Leary
22. Gareth Steenson
23. Chris Farrell

phog

Mike Haley has an Irish parent and is playing FB for Sale.

phog

Fireball07 wrote: »

In addition to the above list... does anyone know where Philip Donnellan is these days?

Andrew Farley and Adam D'Arcy were born outside Ireland but both qualify, playing for Grenoble and Bristol respectively, I think.


I couldn't remember if Cillian Willis had retired or not, his wikipedia page tells me he retired in 2013 to pursue a career in "magic and dark art" Tommy Hayes retired recently enough too.


Have any of Scott Deasy, Aaron Conneelly, Timmy Ryan found a club abroad?

Tim Ryan is a coach (could be player coach) with a Cork club, Dolphin, I think, he featured for Munster A in the B&I Cup recently.

Braken

phog wrote: »

Tim Ryan is a coach (could be player coach) with a Cork club, Dolphin, I think, he featured for Munster A in the B&I Cup recently.

Highfield club in question...

The Lost Sheep

Fireball07 wrote: »

In addition to the above list... does anyone know where Philip Donnellan is these days?

Andrew Farley and Adam D'Arcy were born outside Ireland but both qualify, playing for Grenoble and Bristol respectively, I think.


I couldn't remember if Cillian Willis had retired or not, his wikipedia page tells me he retired in 2013 to pursue a career in "magic and dark art" Tommy Hayes retired recently enough too.


Have any of Scott Deasy, Aaron Conneelly, Timmy Ryan found a club abroad?

Donnellan is in UCD doing a PHD
Timmy Ryan with Highfield in UBL
Conneelly is with Lansdowne playing UBL afaik

thomond2006

Deasy is with Lansdowne.

Hagz

Gilsenan finally seems be making some headway in London Irish these days. He has serious competition in front of him in the form of Blair Cowan, but he's impressed in the last few games and got a start today.