Well lads any more news on how many connacht players made the various irish training squads esp 18s/20s as i dont know of any connacht players in the u18schools squad and only know of Sean O Brien in the 20s squad atm

that should read grace at 7.

was at the buccs v bruff game tonite. 32-10 bonus point win for buccs. mom performance from carty at 10 who was rog like out of hand all night. very strong team with kearney at 4, qualter at 5, heffernan at 6, grace at 8, dolan-9, carty, mccrea at 11, finn at 13, leydon at 14 and boland at 15.

very entertaining game in cold, wet n windy conditions. ressonable crowd there of 200-250. finn scored two tries and heff 1. afaik grace got 1st one. they need to realise that sometimes its better to recycle than try to pass out of the tackle. too many knockons again from this.

i think i know why grace hasnt made it at next level. he undoes all his good work as he just cant catch a pass. he had countless knockons again tonight. some borderin on the special needs variety.

buccs are turning into a very entertaining team. a bit overpowered in scrum but wete missin peter reilly at th and kolo at 8.

Is it this straightforward though ?

1/ there are currently rules and regulations about the number of contracted players that can play AIL with each club.
2/ Surely a contracted player (within reason e.g. props) wouldn't be allowed play AIL 2A/2B
3/ Which is better for the training/development/upkeep of the player.e.g playing for Shannon or Connemara ?
4/always s possible de-motivating conflict of interest.e.g.galway lad playing ,training,doing well with corinthians ,is droppped for a contracted player ,who could be in and out of the ail tean depending on the needs of the province.

At same time there is also an abundance of advantages to contracted players mixing it with the ail lads in terms of passing on skills/knowledge,improved results etc

Good points. It's a fine line and I don't have an answer for you. I think alot depends on the individual and how much they buy into the AIL Club their with.

exiled wrote: Anyone heading to the Corinthians vs Galwegians game tonight? Good few of the academy lads on the teams, should be an interesting one to watch.

31-13 Full time to Wegians.

Not too happy being a former Corinthian myself, but listening to it on Galway Bay FM it sounded like some great performances from the Leader brothers, with Darragh landing some huge kicks near the end.

connachtexile wrote: I think we should make a point of getting our guys to play for Connacht clubs make it a contract stipulation or something if we want the game to grow in the province we need the AIL clubs to do well.

Is it this straightforward though ?

1/ there are currently rules and regulations about the number of contracted players that can play AIL with each club.
2/ Surely a contracted player (within reason e.g. props) wouldn't be allowed play AIL 2A/2B
3/ Which is better for the training/development/upkeep of the player.e.g playing for Shannon or Connemara ?
4/always s possible de-motivating conflict of interest.e.g.galway lad playing ,training,doing well with corinthians ,is droppped for a contracted player ,who could be in and out of the ail tean depending on the needs of the province.

At same time there is also an abundance of advantages to contracted players mixing it with the ail lads in terms of passing on skills/knowledge,improved results etc

Anyone heading to the Corinthians vs Galwegians game tonight? Good few of the academy lads on the teams, should be an interesting one to watch.

What about the U18's? Does anyone know who went to national camp from Connacht at that age level?

Jacob Walshe - Loose Head
Saba Meunargia - Tight Head
Joe Bersch - Back Row
Caolin Blade - Scrum Half

Thanks for that. Along with Paratta 5 guys to keep om my radar.

Conman I think your right to. If Connacht can keep the current crop of young players and the young ones that are already playing in the senior team then it can only be a good thing for Connacht.
I personally believe that was what got the Under 19's there provincial title.
It was the even balance of Club and School boys. If you looked at the other teams the mixture wasn't so even. So it shows that if the roots, the clubs, can be strong then it will pass on to the representative teams.

Jacob Walshe - Loose Head
Saba Meunargia - Tight Head
Joe Bersch - Back Row
Caolin Blade - Scrum Half

There were 5 boys out of the under 19s at the National talent. The 2 props Saba and Jacob. Joe the number 7, Bladey the half back and Rory Parata.

Thanks for the info Ropes what were the other guys full names?

Ropes wrote: There were 5 boys out of the under 19s at the National talent. The 2 props Saba and Jacob. Joe the number 7, Bladey the half back and Rory Parata.
Also. Response to Ormond lad, Rory Parata never went to Rockwell till JANUARY and because he wasn't registered in the senior cup team before November he wasn't allowed to play. Must respect your opinion but if he hadn't been in Rockwell then he wouldn't have played for Connacht and then he wouldn't have a inter pro title next to his name. Just to clarify.

sorry had been fairly sure it was before xmas then but i obv was wrong.

There were 5 boys out of the under 19s at the National talent. The 2 props Saba and Jacob. Joe the number 7, Bladey the half back and Rory Parata.
Also. Response to Ormond lad, Rory Parata never went to Rockwell till JANUARY and because he wasn't registered in the senior cup team before November he wasn't allowed to play. Must respect your opinion but if he hadn't been in Rockwell then he wouldn't have played for Connacht and then he wouldn't have a inter pro title next to his name. Just to clarify.

So alot of our players are not playing with Connacht AIL Clubs. I can see this argument from both sides. Surely we need our players playing in the Division 1 or 2 to get expisure to a higher class of Rugby. But I also see the argument for the Connacht clubs that are struggling like Connemara and Sligo, that if they had a few of these players then possibly in time they would be playing at a higher standard. Would all of our U-19's be contracted to all Connacht AIL Clubs, uf so thats surely a good sign for the future.

Connolly wrote:

I was asking Alex a month or two ago on twitter he has moved back to england for college and is staying with Callum o'Connell. this is what he said:
"Alex O'meara ‏@alexomeara7
Chilling in my new pad waiting for @CallumOConnell to get here!! #roomie

10 Sep Derek C ‏@XVanbasten
@alexomeara7 have you left connacht alex???

10 Sep Alex O'meara ‏@alexomeara7
@XVanbasten no I haven't just studying in England this year"

So it seams he'll be back again once college finishes

So it looks like we're keeping Alex O'Meara and Daragh Leader has been promoted to an academy position. Anyone know anyone else? The deadsite doesn't have Leader up so there's no point checking there.