Brilliant, had him down as a flight risk. Will only be one year from being IQ by the end of that contract so we will hopefully be able to keep him long term.
Is Farrell being released? I guess Thornbury will be and with Murphy coming back in its not too much disruption.
No one knows. They haven't announced yet
'They are also ranked 1st defensively. This is no mean feat at all. Defensive is often the thing the wins you matches, which we are ultimately seeing with Connacht.'
Now while I may be critical I have noticed how much better the defence is this year
In all types of sports, teams with new coaching staffs tend to work on defensive first. I’m hoping to see improvement ls in attack next season.
Won't be long before Hugh Gavin is starting for us, huge for a 19 year old & great hands if he can sort out the Tom Brady passes!
Lot to be said for a durable player these days. As such he gets my vote. That said it's hard to figure how long a durable player will last
At u20 vs England, Connacht three were some excellent performance (Gavin sometimes did mistake. But his last catching restarted kicking ball by Naughton was superb). Treacy's first try and his passing to help O'Connor's try were superb. He looked gifted ball game player. And Espcially Naughton (he gived playing time only last 2 minnutes) kicked very nice for restaritng and touch, ran for line -break near gallline of Enland and converted for the draw between that only two minnutes although he has waited between 78 minnutes at the cold and windy bench. I think that Connacht need such a player. Very good d recruiting.
New 2 year deal for Shane Bolton. He has looked excellent this season.
Excellent no. defence is worst than Lowe 3 years ago. Look at Cardiff game the way he was "erased" by opposite winger one moment before he went off was a joke. Great offensive asset though.
Ah bit harsh that, he has put in some huge hits and turnovers on the ground. Will get better with more game time too. Excited to have him tied down. Feel like he could on the fringes of international selections.
I like Shayne a lot. But I'd trust Smith for some international cameos more than him. Both unlikely though.
Gavin or/and Forde are sure bet(s), SHL IQ in 2027 may be next in line after Baird, for O'Mahony.
Maybe Joyce outside surprise, only 33 in 2027 and brings more than Henderson...
No other obvious caps to be seen from Connacht, though Hansen still there in 3 years of course
There's a big difference between being a good tackler and a good defender. Bolton is very physical but his positioning and decision making need a lot of work. He also doesn't seem to have much of a kicking game so may have a ceiling as a winger. On the flip side he's such an asset in attack, always looks for the ball and invariably makes a positive contribution when he gets it. Glad he's staying, it'll be interesting to see where he plays long term.
Loosehead
Denis Buckley (34) 2025+1
Matthew Burke (27) 2024
Peter Dooley (30) 2024?
Jordan Duggan (26) 2024
Oisin Michel (22) - Academy year 2
Charlie Ward (24) - Academy year 3
Tighthead
Jack Aungier (25) 2024?
Finlay Bealham (32) 2026
Sam Illo (23) 2025
Dominic Robertson-McCoy (30) 2024
Fiachna Barrett (21) - Academy year 1
Hooker
Eoin De Buitléar (22) 2025
Dave Heffernan (33) 2025
Tadgh McElroy (27) 2024?
Dylan Tierney-Martin (25) 2026
Matthew Victory (21) - Academy year 1
Lock
Oisin Dowling (27) 2024?
Joe Joyce (30) 2025?
Josh Murphy (29) 2025
Darragh Murray (23) 2024?
Niall Murray (24) 2025
Gavin Thornbury (30) 2024
Back row
Paul Boyle (27) 2024
Jarrad Butler (33) 2024
Shamus Hurley-Langton (24) 2026
Sean Jansen (25) 2025
Oisin McCormack (23) 2024?
Sean O'Brien (24) 2025?
Conor Oliver (28) 2024
Cian Prendergast (24) 2025
Scrumhalf
Caolin Blade (30) 2026
Michael McDonald (25) 2024
Colm Reilly (25) 2025
Matthew Devine (22) - Academy year 2
Outhalf
Jack Carty (32) 2025
JJ Hanrahan (32) - 2025?
Sean Naughton (21) - Academy year 1
Harry West (21) - Academy year 2
Centre
Bundee Aki (34) 2025
Tom Daly (31) 2024
Tom Farrell (30) 2024
Cathal Forde (22) 2026
David Hawkshaw (25) 2025
John Devine (20) - Academy year 2
Hugh Gavin (20) - Academy year 2
Daniel Hawkshaw (22) - Academy year 2
Finn Treacy (20) - Academy year 1
Back 3
Shayne Bolton (24) 2026
Santiago Cordero (30) 2025
Mack Hansen (26) 2025
Shane Jennings (23) 2024?
Liam McNamara (27) 2024?
Oran McNulty (24) 2024
Tiernan O'Halloran (33) 2024
John Porch (30) 2025
Byron Ralston (24) 2024?
Andrew Smith (24) 2025?
Shane Mallon (22) - Academy year 2
Chay Mullins (22) - Academy year 2
James Nicholson (21) - Academy year 1
Josh O'Connor (23) - Academy year 3
*ages as at 01/09/2024
IN:
OUT: Diarmuid Kilgallen (back 3, Munster)
Exactly.
he's the size of a 12 à la De Allende ...
But we have enough prospects there and he's not good enough defender to play 13. So strong 14 for Kilgallen is the lakeliest
Peter Dooley signed on for another season, with the option of a second. https://www.connachtrugby.ie/news/peter-dooley-renews-contract/bp2931/
Has had a good season imo. Will be interesting to see what we do with our other two looseheads. Burke is surely on the way out, and I could take or leave Duggan tbh. With Dooley and Buckley both entering their thirties, I think we could really do with a high quality young player to start exposing to senior rugby, even if it's very gradual like we've done with Illo. Haven't seen enough of Michel or Ward to know if either fits the ball. Michel looked very solid in the Jack McGrath mould at u20s, very different player to the power athletes we've seen coming through over the past few years. Ward has been in the academy for 4 years now and seems to have had serious injury problems so hard to know where he's at, but I do remember him being quite dynamic underage.
Can't really think of other good IQ options, perhaps we could look at reconverting Temi Lasisi, moving to tighthead doesn't seem to have worked out for him just yet.
When will we know who the ref is for next weekend?
Its craig evans, from wales.
Where are you finding this??
Irfu website
Thank you. Couldn't find it on the URC app or socials.
Lions at this season seem stronger than one last season. Although Fws pack weight is lighter than Connacht (879-L v 912=C) ,their fat THP is very strong LHPs of Connacht will have hard time especially at scrums. Connacht need to win at FWs fight. I want them to make the strongest and heviest selection for win. And are Bolton and Kilgallen available this match?
Reilly and Jennings available this week. Dowling had ankle surgery and will be back in April. Mack back end of April and Cordero back May.
Mcnamara released as of now.
Boyle has been signed a 1 year extension
Agree with you - he hasn't been picked that much recently even when he wasn't injured. Here's what Wilkins says about him:
Paul has loads of talent and it’s great for us that he’s signed up again with us for next season. He’s a natural leader on and off the field, as we’ve seen with his captaincy of Connacht on occasion and with the Ireland Under 20s before that. His work in the community, outside of rugby, also says a lot about who he is and the connections he’s built here in Connacht.
Interesting stat from the website is that he is the second highest scoring forward in Connacht's history, behind John Muldoon.
My favourite thing about that is that when you look up Muldoon's points scored it's 117 because of the conversion.
Don't let Cian Healy hear you say that haha.
Pleasantly surprised with Boyle signing on, hopefully he can stay fit next year.
I've always been a fan of Boyle's so am pleased at this news, but also confused, as it means we'll have three specialist 8s on the books (Jansen, O'Brien) which seems like a lot in the context of the purported pressure to reduce the squad size.
Think Boyle or SOB will be used as a 6 next season. Prendy needs some back up.
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