I'd say that Finlay is taking his boots with him on his summer holidays and will take the opportunity to visit the relatives in Canberra.
I believe Fagerson is carrying an injury too. If he was named it probably means that he's likely to be recovered on time, but still, there's hope for Finlay yet.
Furlong Lucky to make the cut. But wouldn't be surprised if Finlay was involved at some stage
The Connacht Eagles matchday squad has been named for tomorrow's IRFU 'A' Interprovincial Championship clash with Munster Rugby at Creggs RFC (k/o 2pm).
Niall Murray captains the side from the second row, while Pro players Temi Lasisi, David O'Connor and Oisín McCormack are also included.
15. Harry West
14. Cian Brady
13. Daniel Hawkshaw
12. John Devine
11. Josh O'Connor
10. Sean Naughton
9. Chris O'Connor
1. Temi Lasisi
2. Matthew Victory
3. Fiachna Barrett
4. David O'Connor
5. Niall Murray (C)
6. Max Flynn
7. Oisín McCormack
8. Eanna McCarthy
16. Mikey Yarr
17. Billy Bohan
18. Ben Griffin
19. Sean O'Brien
20. Bobby Power
21. Charlie Keane
22. Joey Tierney
23. Kelvin Langan
24. Oisin McKey
With 2 Lions Connacht have the same amount of Lions as Wales, and more than Munster (1) and Ulster (0)
Who would have thought that 10 years ago
If we get Finlay we have more players than Wales…. We are tied at the moment.
https://www.connachtrugby.ie/news/sam-gilbert-joins-connacht-rugby/bp3419/
Sam Gilbert signed from the Highlanders. He's a goal kicking fullback
I'm surprised there has been no comms from the club confirming which players are leaving at the end of the season, I assume they will be having some sort of a presentation to them at the game tomorrow evening as they usually do.
Wow, that's a great signing!!
Sorry to lose him from the Highlanders. He's a great tee kicker, and a very useful utility back.
He's played 10, 12, wing and 15 for significant periods.
Sounds like exactly the kind of addition we are crying out for.
I believe it's being announced today
Won't pretend to know anything about him but you don't get 50 super rugby caps for an NZ franchise without having something about you.
Says he's a utility back who kicks, if he can catch a high ball then we should start building his statue now as that will fill a lot of gaps for us.
Just what the doctor ordered. We don't seem to have been able to settle on a 15 this season so he looks like a great fit. It's a bonus that he can also kick and play other positions.
Looks like a decent signing 👍
That looks like a very good bit of business.
Team for Connacht v Edinburgh 15. Santiago Cordero (20) 14. Shayne Bolton (24) 13. Hugh Gavin (9) 12. Bundee Aki (149) 11. Finn Treacy (6) 10. JJ Hanrahan (27) 9. Ben Murphy (14) 1. Denis Buckley (263) 2. Dave Heffernan (217) 3. Finlay Bealham (217) 4. Josh Murphy (37) 5. Darragh Murray (37) 6. Cian Prendergast (85) Captain7. Conor Oliver (95) 8. Sean Jansen (24)
16. Dylan Tierney-Martin (56) 17. Peter Dooley (52) 18. Jack Aungier (86) 19. Oisín Dowling (76) 20. Paul Boyle (114) 21. Caolin Blade (208) 22. Cathal Forde (50) 23. David Hawkshaw (42)
That's a ridiculous decision with regard to Oliver, but it seems we're guaranteed at least one brain dead squad decision each year. This year it's arguably two with Andrew Smith.
Thought there’d be more leaving to be honest. If Liam Turner was brought in to replace O’Conor and a couple of forwards came in, it’s a pretty decent squad. Need to get the coaching ticket right above all else.
Joyce must have an extra year on his contract had thought he was out too
Contracted until end of the 25/26 season.
I'm ok with both decisions. Both are good players but unlikely to play much with options ahead of them and academy players behind.
Reilly does seem a luxury but again a competent player.
On a positive note, as our squad improves the quality of players released each season will go up.
Presume Gilbert will play 15 even though he seems to be able to play most positions along the backline. I like that he's quite big as well at 6 foot 2. We've been quite small in the back three recently. The goal kicking is an added bonus. Could easily see him taking over those duties as the other options are hit and miss there.
As for the departures nothing too unexpected. Bit surprised Oilver wasn't kept on as he's always had regular enough game time. Sounds like O'Conor would have been kept on but was his own decision to leave. Cordero just never got going. Doing the ACL in his first training session was a nightmare start. Never really recovered.
Hard to judge until we see who else arrives. Can't imagine there will be many incomings but hopefully we might see another 2 or 3 in the door.
If Ben Murphy returns to Leinster for 26/27, which seems quite likely to me, we would be very short at scrumhalf all of a sudden. Perhaps that's why Reilly has been kept.
Gilbert isn't just a good signing he's a great one.
I watch a lot of super rugby and he's impressed me every time I've seen him play. I've seen him play 10 and fill back to a high level and he's often under pressure as the Highlanders are the weakest of the New Zealand super rugby teams.
He's an excellent goal kicker, he has a real languid style.
When he goes to the line he's a bit like Aki, not as powerful but he drives hard until he's taken down. He's a very smart rugby player with great vision.
I think Oliver would have worked well under Seib. Aussies value a genuine openside.
Fair point RHS I was thinking the same thing but then I thought are we not in that position for every player on the 2nd year of a contract?
It looks to me like Oliver lost out to SOB most likely on the basis of versatility. Both good players. Max Flynn and McCormack also in the background.
It could have been Olivers decision to leave with the lack of gametime this year. He is a quality 7 and hopefully has another club lined up.
so we have the list of people leaving can someone give a list to date of who is joining?
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://wa.vanillicon.com/v2/ad289898c0c6dda7e667bf900ae26d0c.svg)
