i dont think exeter 'let him go' as much as he wanted to leave, connacht came calling, as was said we had kept an eye on him for awhile and the chance for him to play for ireland might of made his choice easier

Rory McTiernan wrote: is Muldowney good? seems to get released a bit by clubs does anyone no much about his apart from youtube videos?

Have a look at the Exeter Chiefs fan forum - usually a good indicator- they think he is a big loss and deserved more first fifteen selections. I wouldn't be worried about his earlier career. He was a former basketball player and only took up rugby in his twenties so peaking later than others.

is Muldowney good? seems to get released a bit by clubs does anyone no much about his apart from youtube videos?

Wilkinson Harris Wright White Swift Clarke Faloon George Muldoon Marmion Parks McSharry Tonetti Pooleman Carr Henshaw What a team

salmson wrote: According to Pat Lam in "De Paper" the other day, Tonetti and McSharry are doing skills training only and are not expected back until October/November.

that makes sense, with over 3 months to go to the first Heineken you'd expect one or both to be ready for the first game.

According to Pat Lam in "De Paper" the other day, Tonetti and McSharry are doing skills training only and are not expected back until October/November.

connachta wrote:

clanman wrote:
I'd take a chance on Ronaldson to start but then So'Oialo has to start either on the wing or full-back to do the kicking, which in turns means that Henshaw could end up on the bench

Ok for Ronaldson and So'O to kick, but why persiting to put the latter 11 or 15, whereas Mcsarry and Tonetti are still unaviable! He's definitly our 12 until october! The only other way is to put Henshaw as 12, but I really prefer keeping the young guy as fullback..

I believe Tonetti is in pre-season training and McSharry had a small operation on his weird groin injury early June and saw him quoted on twitter that he'd be back involved in pre-season training as well. Obviously if both fail to come through pre-season then I'd have to make a couple of enforced changes to the team i picked. BTW i'm picking this team for the first Heineken cup game

connachta wrote: If the squd remains injury free I think we will have, for the 1st time, nearly two european competitive XV

My choices :

1 Wilko and Buck
2 JHW and ???
3 White and Loughney
4 Clarke and Nolan
5 Muldowney and Kearney
6 Browne and Muldoon
7 Faloon and Heenan
8 Mckeon and Naoupu
9 Marmion and ??? (hope F.Murphy or Walsh)
10 Parks and Ronaldson
11 Carr and Layden
12 Mc Sharry and Tonetti
13 Griff and So'Oialo
14 Poolman and TOH
15 Henshaw and Duffy

..I tried to pick the 30 most reliable players able to disturb teams like Toulouse Sarries and Munster

Hooker is a major concern, we have taken a massive gamble IMO Rael or Henry are not going to weaken us massively if anything happens to JHW. McShaz and Tonetti missing a third of next season (9 out of 28 games) is a big blow and I'd imagine we could be seeing the James So'oialo playing a good bit at 12 for us next season. It seemed and I have no figures to back this up but we were running with about 10 front line injuries for most of last season, if White, Parks and JHW pick up knocks at the same time the lack of HC quality depth in key positions is a huge risk.

Just as a comparison I have had a guess at the Toulouse and Sarries possible 30's for HC purposes. We didn't draw Quins this year but Buckley or Wilko will be coming up against James Johnston again for Sarries and Toulouse have signed Hosea Gear for next season and I'd genuinely worry about the damage he could do if he came up against TOH or Carr.

Toulouse:

1 Gurthrö Steenkamp / Vasil Kakovin
2 Chiliboy Ralepelle / Christopher Tolofua
3 Census Johnston / Yohan Montès
4 Yoann Maestri / Joe Tekori
5 Patricio Albacete / Romain Millo-Chluski
6 Yannick Nyanga / Grégory Lamboley
7 Thierry Dusautoir / Yacouba Camara
8 Louis Picamoles / Edwin Maka
9 Jean-Marc Doussain / Jano Vermaak
10 Luke McAlister / Jean-Pascal Barraque
11 Hosea Gear / Vincent Clerc
12 Florian Fritz / Lionel Beauxis
13 Gaël Fickou / Yann David
14 Yoann Huget / Timoci Matanavou
15 Maxime Medard /Clement Poitrenaud

Sarries:

1 Mako Vunipola / Rhys Gill
2 Schlak Brits / Jamie George
3 James Johnston / Matt Stevens
4 Steve Borthwick / Mouritz Botha
5 Alistair Hargreaves / George Kruis
6 Kelly Brown / Jacques Potgieter
7 Will Fraser / Jacques Burger
8 Billy Vunipola / Ernst Joubert
9 Neil de Kock / Richard Wigglesworth
10 Owen Farrell / Charlie Hodgson
11 David Strettle / Michael Tagicakibau
12 Brad Barritt / Marcelo Bosch
13 Joel Tomkins / Tim Streather
14 Chris Ashton / Joe Maddock
15 Alex Goode / Chris Wyles

I know these teams finish in the top 3 of their respective leagues but it does put in to perspective the challenge we face in this year's HC. Not to forget Zebre will set their season up to try and get a win against us.

clanman wrote:
I'd take a chance on Ronaldson to start but then So'Oialo has to start either on the wing or full-back to do the kicking, which in turns means that Henshaw could end up on the bench

Ok for Ronaldson and So'O to kick, but why persiting to put the latter 11 or 15, whereas Mcsarry and Tonetti are still unaviable! He's definitly our 12 until october! The only other way is to put Henshaw as 12, but I really prefer keeping the young guy as fullback..

the fact that the front row picks itself is not a good sign, we really could do with one of the younger props stepping up. I think this year will make or break for Buckley.

:ohmy: i would of had Buckley ahead of wilkinson. Buckley kept Brett on the bench most of the season till he got injured.

denis started 7 and came on 8 times
brett started 15 and 3 subs.

remember wilkinson got dropped to the connacht eagles to play in the B+I cup.

buckley is still 22 still the 9/08

1 Wilko and Buckley
2 JHW and James Rael
3 White and Loughney
4 Clarke and Swift
5 Muldowney and Browne
6 Muldoon and Browne
7 Faloon and Heenan
8 Mckeon and Naoupu
9 Marmion and F.Murphy
10 Ronaldson and Parks
11 Carr and So'Oialo
12 Mc Sharry and B.Murphy
13 Tonetti and Griffin
14 Duffy and O'Halloran
15 So'Oialo and Henshaw

I'd take a chance on Ronaldson to start but then So'Oialo has to start either on the wing or full-back to do the kicking, which in turns means that Henshaw could end up on the bench, it would do him good to compete for a place as even though he earnt his place in the team last year initially he got handed a starting place due to a lot of injuries to key players.
I'd have Browne as the utility forward as he's a versatile player, he suffers a bit as he's one of those betwix and between players, he's not in my first team but in reality he'll get more game-time than any other forward over the season due to injuries to other players. tight call between McKeon and Naoupu, certain games I'd defintely have Naopu in ahead of KcKeon. I'd say Lam will rotate them anyway during the season. the fact that the front row picks itself is not a good sign, we really could do with one of the younger props stepping up. I think this year will be make or break for Buckley.

If the squd remains injury free I think we will have, for the 1st time, nearly two european competitive XV

My choices :

1 Wilko and Buck
2 JHW and ??? (our biggest potential weakness)
3 White and Loughney
4 Clarke and Nolan (some of you will disagree, but I think Swifty is more a luxury backup now, and I'm so glad to see in picture that Dave is back to trainning, and will have a new opportunity)
5 Muldowney and Kearney
6 Browne and Muldoon
7 Faloon and Heenan
8 Mckeon and Naoupu
9 Marmion and ??? (hope F.Murphy or Walsh will make it but...)
10 Parks and Ronaldson
11 Carr and Layden (His hour has come)
12 Mc Sharry and Tonetti
13 Griff and So'Oialo
14 Poolman and TOH
15 Henshaw and Duffy


of course some bad or good surprise could emerge ( I predict Mc Auley Fafita Ah You and Qualter for the good ones) but I tried to pick the 30 most reliable players able to disturb teams like Toulouse Sarries and Munster