wp_rathead wrote: That Bryn Gatland lad seems daycent..

Thinking the same thing; can run, pass, kick, tackle and seems to have the smarts.

wp_rathead wrote: That Bryn Gatland lad seems daycent..

I know he was born in New Zealand but did he spend 3 years in Ireland as a child? He must have been in Ireland from 1996-2001? If he did, is he Ireland qualified?

That Bryn Gatland lad seems daycent..

pinky wrote:

RoadRunnerR1 wrote: Ihaia West is another guy I'd love to see in a Connacht Jersey.

Ssshhh ... he's asleep ...

That's enough for me to hope it never happens

Don't know if I could deal with the Indo headlines (West's Awake, Go West, etc. and so on).

RoadRunnerR1 wrote: Ihaia West is another guy I'd love to see in a Connacht Jersey.

Ssshhh ... he's asleep ...

Banks' move was delayed til after the Super Rugby season AFAIK, God knows if he'll actually end up in Italy, I'd be surprised if he did.

West is being replaced at the Blues by Otere Black and is nowhere near the ABs, so he might be open to a move north. Think Barrett, Sopoaga, and Mounga are going the be the main men for NZ going forward.

Beauden Barrett is the man in charge of the 10 jersey for the ABs, he's signed up until 2019 and he looks like he'll take some shifting so Cruden moving just frees up the reserve spot. That said I agree- the end of 3 year residency should hopefully spur on the IRFU to let us sign a couple of good project players, though I hate that name. Might be a good idea to watch the Lions game against the NZ Barbarians (or is it a "president select") this weekend- that's a good level for us to be looking at: young guys on the fringes of super rugby teams.

No idea on Banks' contract situation.....not sure anyone does, which might be a good enough reason to steer well clear.

Anybody know what the current situation is regarding Marty Banks. I know he signed for Treviso for the season just ended and never turned up and is currently filling in at 10 for Sopoaga at the Highlanders. Treviso had (initially at least) refused to cancel his contract but since he's currently playing some agreement must have been reached. He's put in some really big performances for the Highlanders this year and could be a top signing if he didn't bring too much baggage with him. Ihaia West is another guy I'd love to see in a Connacht Jersey. Aaron Cruden leaving NZ leaves a vacant AB jersey for the next 3 years and gives hope to a lot of top class 10's in NZ who might otherwise be tempted to head overseas in order to play international rugby. Given that top class 10's aren't exactly falling off the tree's here in Ireland at the moment and this is the last year to get a 3 year project player this could be an opportunity to bend the arm of the IRFU into helping to secure a real top 10 this summer. But I think I'm speaking far more in hope than in any real expectation.

Crosbie is 24 and on a senior contract, he's not a 19 year old academy player. That said 2 senior outhalfs is not enough by a long way

So in terms of gametime and age effectively one senior OH...

connemara man wrote: If Boschoff heads home I wouldn't begrudge anyone wanting to be nearer family especially after the year he's had between family and injuries. It's a shame we weren't able to get a proper look at him.

If he does go it puts Connacht on the back foot before next season starts again, with effectively only 1 senior OH in the squad, unless KK thinks Craig is a 10. I'm sure there is a flurry of work going on. You'd have to think that either an NIQ will be signed but at this time of year that'll be difficult or a loan signing from Leinster with either Byrne or Carberry coming west. I doubt Leinster would want that but youd think Nucifora may try and push that option.

We'll have Crosbie and Carty, still not enough of course

If Boschoff heads home I wouldn't begrudge anyone wanting to be nearer family especially after the year he's had between family and injuries. It's a shame we weren't able to get a proper look at him.

If he does go it puts Connacht on the back foot before next season starts again, with effectively only 1 senior OH in the squad, unless KK thinks Craig is a 10. I'm sure there is a flurry of work going on. You'd have to think that either an NIQ will be signed but at this time of year that'll be difficult or a loan signing from Leinster with either Byrne or Carberry coming west. I doubt Leinster would want that but youd think Nucifora may try and push that option.

I hope we have known about this for a while and have planned accordingly, would be an absolute nightmare to have to start looking for a quality outhalf now.

Fairly disappointing news just when you thought the misery of this season was over, pity he never got the chance to prove himself, like others have said it compounds further having been already disappointed at having to let AJ MacGinty go. With John now gone also we're gonna be fairly reliant on Craig's boot next season

It's been a rough year for him I'd imagine. I'd imagine Galway felt a bit of a lonely place between injuries, the general negative vibe of the season and just when things looked to be coming together for him the death of his father.

Hopefully things work out for him in South Africa. He didn't overly impress in the couple of run outs he got but he didn't get enough of a chance to make a fair judgement on him.

Really could do with some good news coming out of Connacht now.

I would be confident that this is not out of the blue and has being discussed over the last few months. Hence I assume Willie Kieran and Coaches have being in discussion with other 10's given the fact we have released O'Leary with only Luke Carty in the Sub Academy as our only other 10 on the books.
Heard that Boshff was highest earner before Bundee got his latest contract so that will free a nice ball of cash up to target someone decent. Best of luck to Martinz seems a genuine guy, things didn't work out but thats life and hope he fulfills his potential in an environment that will bring the best out of him.