Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Unfortunally 6"5' is is on the smaller height to take the weight on.

We have a Leinster Lock who played two seasons at U20 for Ireland didn't even turn pro knowing his size wouldn't cut it for the postision at pro level.

If we are buy at Lidl (ie. we don't have the budget to goto Marks and Sparks)… D2 is a step below URC.

All Irish Qualified

John MADIGAN is a 31-year-old Irish rugby player standing at 1.98 m tall (6 ft 6 in) and weighing in at 126 kg (19 st 11.78 lb; 277.78 lb) , who currently plays for Sporting Union Agenais in France as lock.

Frank BRADSHAW (Francis Bradshaw Ryan) is a 30-year-old Irish rugby player standing at 2.05 m tall (6 ft 9 in) and weighing in at 125 kg (19 st 9.58 lb; 275.58 lb) , who currently plays for US Carcassonne in France as lock.

Ryan MCCAULEY is a 28-year-old Australian rugby player standing at 2.03 m tall (6 ft 8 in) and weighing in at 118 kg (18 st 8.15 lb; 260.15 lb) , who currently plays for Valence Romans Drôme Rugby in France as lock.

Cormac DALY is a 28-year-old Irish rugby player standing at 1.99 m tall (6 ft 6 in) and weighing in at 120 kg (18 st 12.55 lb; 264.55 lb) , who currently plays for Yokohama Canon Eagles in Japan as lock. (was in Connacht 6 years ago, when he was 22)

Jack DUNNE is a 27-year-old Irish rugby player standing at 2.03 m tall (6 ft 8 in) and weighing in at 122 kg (19 st 2.96 lb; 268.96 lb) , who currently plays for Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi in Japan as lock.

This guy might be Irish Qualified (Long shot by being English)

George SMITH is a 25-year-old English rugby player standing at 2.06 m tall (6 ft 9 in) and weighing in at 138 kg (21 st 10.24 lb; 304.24 lb) , who currently plays for USON Nevers Rugby in France as lock.

I would pick Cormac Daly over Jack Dunne out of this bunch, Japan Rugby higher quality than D2 and Cormac(667min, Started the last 9 games) is a starter in that league, Jack plays on better team (376 min, started first 5 games).

I say Cormac is finding the temps and humidity tough (it is getting up to 25c and 84% humidity now). starting but playing just a half in last two games… That is very much speculation.

I'd be pretty confident that none of the guys you've listed would be in any way a real asset to Connacht Rugby. They're playing in ProD2 or Japan for a reason IMO. Ulster had Frank Bradshaw Ryan in the building for a while, and he couldn't make any impression.

Most of them tick the size box but that's it.

I'm not necessarily saying Mahon Ronan would be the answer either, but I'm highly sceptical any of the guys you're mentioning would be worth a place in Connacht's 23.

Very fair comment… This is shopping in Lidl…

Finding Irish Qualified 118kg+ guys is very hard… It is quite limited…

Players have form and also need luck. Normally only 5-6 of a U20 Ireland Grand Slam team become full professionals. Cian Prendergast played just 22min at U20 Ireland, he was shocked that Elwood took him on. He got luck in an injury crisis in the back row, but he took his chance, he took it very well and never looked back. FYI Arron Sorkin was the player who took those mins in U20.

Jack Dune was in Leinster for 4 years… He was very unlucky to get a nasty ankle fracture when coming through. Even started against Munster in his last season.

He then played for Exeter the next season. 14 starts and 1167min. That would be form we would take. His next season was injury riddled.

Some players just need time on the field regularly to get their confidence up. We are getting to that need to take a risk on someone at this stage…

We have 9 props in or stable as of today (none in our academy, all promoted)

We have got Francois Van Wyk  coming in.

Peter DOOLEY (hasn't new contract as of yet)

……

So Openside next year:

Billy Bohan

Jordan Duggan

François VAN WYK

Temi Lassi (maybe)

Tight Head

Finaly Belham

Sam Illo

Francis Barrett

That is very tight especially in tight head considering we have no props in the academy. Jordan Duggan cannot play tight head.

Would keep Dooley for another year is Lassi is not making it back.

But tight head is a big problem if Jack leaves.

I don't think it's accurate that so few guys go onto be full professionals over the past decade or so from the Irish U20s:

• 2024: 11 players (Alex Usanov, Stephen Smyth, Evan O'Connell, Bryn Ward, Sean Edogbo, Brian Gleeson, Jack Murphy, Sean Naughton, Hugh Gavin, Finn Tracey, Ben O'Connor - there will be more from this group too)
• 2023: 13 players: (Gus McCarthy, Fiachna Barrett, Paddy McCarthy, Conor O'Tighearnaigh, Charlie Irvine, Joe Hopes, Diarmuid Mangan, Ruadhan Quinn, James McNabney, Fintan Gunne, Sam Prendergast, Hugh Cooney, John Devine)
• 2022: 11 players: Reuben Crothers, James Culhane, Rory McGuire, Jack Boyle, Scott Wilson, Matthew Devine, Ethan Coughlan, Charlie Tector, Tony Butler, Patrick Campbell, Chay Mullins,
• 2021: 20 players: (Temi Lasisi, Sam Illo, Mark Donnelly, Eoin de Buitlear, Lee Barron, Darragh Murray, Harry Sheridan, Alex Soroka, Oisin McCormack, Alex Kendellen, Conor McKee, Nathan Doak, Ben Murphy, James Humphreys, Cathal Forde, Shane Jennings, Ben Carson, Ben Moxham, Jamie Osborne, Jude Postlethwaite)
• 2020: 15 players (Jack Crowley, Andrew Smith, Ethan McIlroy, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Dan Kelly, Tom Stewart, John McKee, Tom Clarkson, Brian Deeny, Tom Ahern, Joe McCarthy, Cian Prendergast, Cian Hurley, Sean O'Brien, David McCann)
• 2019: 18 players (Ryan Baird, John Hodnett, Michael Milne, Niall Murray, Dylan Tierney Martin, Josh Wycherley, Craig Casey, Jake Flannery, Cormac Foley, Ben Healy, Stewart Moore, Rob Russell, Colm Reilly, Liam Turner, Harry Byrne, David Hawkshaw, Scott Penny, Martin Moloney)
• 2018: 11 players (James Hume, Sean O'Brien, Hugh O'Sullivan, Tommy O'Brien, Jack Aungier, Diarmuid Barron, Caelan Doris, Jordan Duggan, Dan Sheehan, Ronan Kelleher, Sean Masterson)
• 2017: 13 players (Liam Coombes, Conor Fitzgerald, Ciaran Frawley, Jordan Larmour, Rob Lyttle, Calvin Nash, Paul Boyle, Gavin Coombes, Oisin Dowling, Tadhg McElroy, Marcus Rea, Fineen Wycherley, Jack Stafford)
• 2016: 12 players (Stephen Kerins, Conor O'Brien, Jimmy O'Brien, Shane Daly, Jacob Stockdale, Hugo Keenan, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Max Deegan, Vakh Abdaladze, Will Connors, Sammy Arnold)

It's at least double that every year - and the above numbers would be higher except I'm refrained from double counting guys who played 2 years at U20s (i.e. Caelan Doris played in '17 & '18, Evan O'Connell in '23 & '24, Hugh Gavin in '23 & '24, etc - these guys have only been counted once.

Aaron Sorkin is a man of many talents - but I don't think he took any minutes from Cian Prendergast at U20s. I think you're thinking of Alex Soroka.

It frustrated the hell out of me as a Leinster fan to see a guy like Jack Dunne, who I thought looked a decent prospect (with great size) leave to go to Exeter, while we signed guys like Jason Jenkins, but Dunne has struggled to make an impact at multiple lower wattage stops since. He was back training for Old Belvo for a period last year and wasn't eye catching at that level.

I actually think Connacht's performances and the calibre of the squad mean they should be at the point of looking to bring in more targeted, better talent who will be a fit for the gameplan. If they get into Europe that's a big draw, there's a new stand and a good buzz about the place, it's a young talented squad, Lancaster will be a big draw etc. I'd much rather see them spend the cash to bring back someone like Ultan Dillane (obv not a TH lock, but a big athletic guy who'd plug back into the gameplan very well IMO) than waste time and a squad place on any of the guys you've mentioned.

So, if I am correct, SHL is the only player yet to sign a contract into next year and Jack is retiring. Otherwise the squad will be unchanged for next year. In return we will have Frawley and Connors as replacements for both of the players mentioned

No. Not correct. Van Wyk joins at prop.

The two red flags in your list are SHL and Harry West. Now maybe Connors could replace SHL at a stretch but West has shown he is integral to this Connacht team. So I hope that business gets done. As for all the others do we have the players within the academy to replace those currently out of contract

Played 4 times at the back end of last season, all off the bench, for a combined 76 mins. Twice came off the bench covering LHP and twice covering THP.

If he retains that versatility (and comes back from injury okay) then he's a valuable guy to have in the wider squad.

Not for Leinster fans it hasn't!

Some of that is the standard of the league and the other teams continually keeps improving year over year in my view, but I also feel Leinster have gotten worse.

Maybe that's a feature of the Lions tour and the two international breaks etc and what that's taken out of our squad, maybe it's poor coaching (I think this is a factor) or maybe it's something else, but it's clear Leinster have been markedly poorer this season.

I posted the stats on the URC thread - but year over year in the URC at this point in the season Leinster had conceded 103 less points in the league, and have scored 37 less points than we had at this point last year too.

On the flip side of all that - we had several years where we were dominant in the URC league process, and still couldn't get it over the line in the European and URC playoffs.

We're still in the mix in both, and no one will care about awful performances against Munster, Cardiff, Glasgow or Benetton if we're lifting trophies at the end of the season.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the Connacht thread here with these comments btw.

As such what's your expectations. Do you believe we will retain players who have not played this year. Obviously we will retain Mack but will we lose players. And if we lose the likes of Oisin, Temi. Denis and David, how do we replace without like for like. Do we dip into the academy or sign new players, or sign these players for another year. As stands we have no other options?

Yep… Started writing and found out you were right in the end 😭

Big Problem is we have no Props in our Academy as well…

Can't really start a season with 6, probably need 8… Even a promising academy player or two

Andrew Sparrow would fit us well… They have Niall Smyth coming through on the tight head as well…

Pick between Dooley and Lassi…

I dunno if Sparrow or Smyth will leave yet, though one of them probably will in time.

Slimani is gone this season, and Furlong is very close to the end. Clarkson is our first choice for the foreseeable, and Sami Bishti looks a great prospect coming behind, so hopefully one of Smyth or Sparrow will prove themselves of international quality there.

I still think Connacht have a great situation at prop. Sam Illo and Fiachna Barrett are two great athletic prospects who could anchor the right head side for the guts of a decade and Billy Bohan has been an outrageous find at LHP. It’s ridiculous how much better he’ll get over the next few years with experience and naturally getting a bit stronger.

Symth(20), Sparrow(21) and Bisthi(19) are all Tight Head Props (RHP, No.3)… Alex Mullan(21) is the other Prop in the Academy is also a Tight Head.

Then they have Furlong (who by has at least 2, and probably 3 more years)

Clarkson is the heir apparent.

They are even more packed on the loose head. Those young Props can see Billy Bohan and Barret, they see that if you have the ability you get opportunities under Stu.