Kleyns skill set is something we lack in our squad but, and fully admitting I dont follow Munster as closely I used to, he has always come across as liable to give away 2-3 penalties a game (which to be fair, would make him similar to Roux on occasion). I would have thought he is a fairly regularly player in their 23 and with the rumours that both Snyman and De Allende might not be staying on I doubt he will go anywhere.
I like the above suggestion of Jack Dunne is he was available
Need someone with experience, Dillane & Roux had hundreds of appearances between them.
Murray & Dowling have prob 20/25 caps each, even thornbury is only around a few seasons. Someone like Jean Kleyn would be ideal albeit he may not want to leave Munster.
Loosehead
Denis Buckley (32) - Signed contract in 2021
Matthew Burke (25) - Signed contract in 2021
Jordan Duggan (24) - Signed contract in 2021
Tietie Tuimauga (28) - Signed contract in 2021
Charlie Ward (22) - Academy year 2
Tighthead
Jack Aungier (23) - Signed contract in 2022
Finlay Bealham (31) - Signed contract in 2021
Sam Illo (21) - Signed 2 year contract in 2021
Greg McGrath (25) - Signed contract in 2021
Dominic Robertson-McCoy (28) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Hooker
Shane Delahunt (28) - Signed contract in 2021
Dave Heffernan (31) - Signed contract in 2021
Jonny Murphy (30) - Signed contract in 2021
Dylan Tierney-Martin (23) - Signed contract in 2021
Declan Adamson (23) - Academy year 3
Eoin De Buitléar (20) - Academy year 2
Lock
Oisin Dowling (25) - Signed contract in 2022
Leva Fifita (33) - Signed contract in 2021
Niall Murray (22) - Signed contract in 2021
Gavin Thornbury (28) - Signed contract in 2021
Darragh Murray (21) - Academy year 2
Back row
Paul Boyle (25) - Signed contract in 2021
Jarrad Butler (31) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Eoghan Masterson (29) - Signed contract in 2021
Sean Masterson (24) - Signed contract in 2021
Conor Oliver (26) - Signed contract in 2021
Abraham Papali’i (29) - Signed contract in 2021
Cian Prendergast (22) - Signed contract in 2021
Ciaran Booth (22) - Academy year 2
Donnacha Byrne (21) - Academy year 2
Oisin McCormack (21) - Academy year 3
Scrumhalf
Caolin Blade (28) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Kieran Marmion (30) - Signed 3 year contract in 2020
Colm Reilly (23) - Signed contract in 2021
Will Reilly (u22) - Academy year 1
Outhalf
Jack Carty (30) - Signed 3 year contract in 2022
Conor Fitzgerald (24) - Signed contract in 2021
Centre
Bundee Aki (32) - Signed 3 year central contract in 2020
Shayne Bolton (22) - Signed contract in 2021
Tom Daly (29) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Tom Farrell (28) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Peter Robb (28) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Shane Jennings (21) - Academy year 3
Cathal Forde (20) - Academy year 2
Back 3
Mack Hansen (24) - Signed 2 year contract in 2021
Matt Healy (33) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
Oran McNulty (22) - Signed contract in 2021
Ben O'Donnell (27) - Signed contract in 2020
Tiernan O'Halloran (31) - Signed 2 year contract in 2020
John Porch (28) - Signed contract in 2021
Peter Sullivan (24) - Signed contract in 2021
Alex Wootton (28) - Signed contract in 2021
Diarmuid Kilgallen (22) - Academy year 2
Josh O'Connor (21) - Academy year 1
IN:
OUT: Ultan Dillane (Lock, TBC), Sammy Arnold (Centre, Brive)
*ages as at 01/09/2022
There's no avoiding it, a team with our resources losing two international locks in consecutive seasons is a huge blow. Leaves us with one lock who I would argue is international qualify, if not capped (Thornbury), two decent URC players who may have the potential to progress (Murray = potential international, Dowling = potential decent Euro level), and some adequate backup in Fifita and Masterson.
Tbh I assumed Fifita was a short term fix and I haven't seen much reason to keep him on thus far, but with our depth eroding he may earn a contract.
Would like to see us go after Jack Dunne. Scrummaging, mauling, rucking tighthead locks are becoming the most sought after asset in rugby. There are few Irish players with the size to play the role, if there's an opportunity to snaffle one of them I hope we take it.
There's Forde and Jennings coming through. They could look at one of Leinster's lads. Tommy O Brien or Conor O Brien.
It's worth acknowledging that's two international quality locks we have lost from our squad recently next season. Ultan also an important ball carrier for us too.
Big loss but he owes Connacht nothing. Wish him the very best of luck .
Read on another forum talk of Tom Daly going South to replace DDA.
That's bad news! Wish him well. He's probably off to France. His salary is most likely going up.
Ultan confirmed to be moving abroad unfortunately. Big loss hopefully we can improve Thornbury and Dowling injury record to try and take some of the slack
Been a great player for us
Have always thought Carty deserved more of a crack with Ireland. Think he's been written off too easily by some. I'd have him over Carbery the way his form has been (obviously the injury has promoted him regardless).
Tietie Tuimauga highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srgcSpoge-E
I think the idea was that Leicester don't run it back... They just kick... So kick to them, have a bit of tennis and relieve the pressure..
Season ticket holders ok for the Munster game, and other games assuming the 50% capacity rules don't change further. Presumably other tickets sold will be cancelled and refunded. Will miss the banter with the Munster fans, but should be good for the team to have the crowd fully behind them.
If he is leaving which I hope is not the case, I doubt it is because Connacht/Friend dont see him as 1st choice IMO.
I dont think he will be as big a loss as he would have been in pervious years. A great player but lacks the bulk at maul and scrum time which hurts Connacht. Friend probably see Thornbery and Murray moving a head of him next year partnering Dowling or Fifita. Masterson and the younger Murray covering injuries.
I though he looked good. One great carry and did well coming into a struggling scum, on his debut against Dan Coles in a European game in Leicester. Fitness may limit his game time for the short term.
You are correct. It is clearly a Connacht tactic, i wish game commentators would highlight this so casual fans would understand it is not bad kicking but a game plan. Maybe it is obvious to them that teams like Fiji would not want a set piece game against teams like South Africa but many people watching may not realise this.
Cameron Boon would be nice too
Carty is a miles better 10 than Carbery
Give D.Murray a chance to pair wih his brother and try to enlist IQ J.Kleyn for Roux
Be a big loss especially after Roux going last year. Hard to blame him taking the opportunity if true though, great servant to Connacht.
We don’t agree obviously. If any ten of the other contenders for the ten spot behind Sexton & Carbery were playing for Connacht today, Connacht would have lost by 15. If Carty was getting game time behind a Leinster pack that routinely steam rolls opposition he would have been starting ten last six nations.
Dillane off to La Rochelle!😱
No, neither one was criminal but they were impactful errors at a time when the game was in the balance.
If you're looking at his overall performance, they have to be a factor. He may be the leading candidate behind Sexton and Carbery but there's always (IMO) enough on the other side of the ledger to explain why he might not be a favourite of Farrell.
Tuimauga was stabilizing the scrum all-right he was huge, in both sense of it
I agree and it's a testament to where Connacht are at, that after getting LBP away to the best team in England that there's a sense of "they should have got more from that"
A point is a good result but you can't deny that their error count and breakdown accuracy was poor regardless of who they were playing.
I feel like if Ford was playing Leicester would have been out of sight.
Fair enough. Opinions vary.
As for grinding out tight games, away to premiership toppers Leicester and Munster aren’t really games Connacht are expected to grind out, they were nine point underdogs today. A bonus point is pretty good when you look at the resources available to Connacht, bringing on a loose head from the provincial championship in New Zealand, a rugby league convert etc.
I thought he was decent too
Guys 6 points after 2 games
a home game vs Leicester team which clearly could afford to let 1 slip
and an away game vs average uninterested Stade Français
we have a huge chance to qualify for our 1st knock-on european rugby
I'd have signed for that BP with both hands
that seems to be the widespread reaction if you look at match reporting, even Leicester/English.
That's great. But I'm giving my opinion.
And I never said he was sh*t or anything, I just think "excellent" is pushing it a bit.
It seems to be a big problem for Connacht that they can't manage tight games. It was the same story in Thomond park earlier on in the season. From 50 minutes on today they pretty much forgot how to rugby. The number of unforced handling errors was embarrassing and their accuracy at the breakdown was really poor. With Connacht, either they utterly demolish a team (Bulls, Ulster, Ospreys) or they lose. They can't grind out a result in a tight game.
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