Didn't know about Saba Meunargia. Thanks

If anyone has been wondering where all the academy players released last year have ended up..

Jamie Dever - Houston Sabercats
Jack Dineen - Lansdowne
Ciaran Gaffney - Zebre
Marc Kelly - Young Munster
Saba Meunargia - Chambery
Conor Lowndes - Young Munster
Stephen McVeigh - UCD
Ed O’Keefe - Viadana
Cian Romaine - Buccaneers

salmson wrote:

connachta wrote: And Italy better off to focus with 1 quality franchise, just like Argentina, Japan, Fidji ...

One franchise is a recipe for disaster - look at how Argentina have gone backwards since they went down that route. The lads who start for the Jaguares every week are more or less guaranteed to start for Argentina and there's no competition for places at all, to the point where they're thinking of letting foreign-based players back into the international fold. Meanwhile the Japanese franchise is a joke and Fiji don't have one - they have a semi-pro team in the Aussie NPC, which is about AIL standard but only goes on for 3 months.

2 is better but not sufficient - both Italy and Scotland need foreign-based players, with the lack of control that brings. You need a minimum of 4 feeder teams for an international set-up. That's the only reason Connacht Rugby still exists.

Argentina does not that bad, look at the game vs Ireland.
Fidjian Drua play in a competition which is above AIL standard
Japanese will progress because of their franchise.

Ireland is a top team with a base of players (around 100K) and good coachings.
I doubt small base of club rugby can allow themselves more than one competitive team, to develop.

connemara man wrote: Would I be right in saying that Parata, Dever, and gaffney are projects in their new countries? Ie have been in them since before Jan 1st gone?

Dever might have an American passport, if not yes he could represent the U.S. in three years. I can see a lot of young Irish lads who miss out on academy places having their heads turned by the chance of earning 30-40k in the U.S.

connachta wrote: And Italy better off to focus with 1 quality franchise, just like Argentina, Japan, Fidji ...

One franchise is a recipe for disaster - look at how Argentina have gone backwards since they went down that route. The lads who start for the Jaguares every week are more or less guaranteed to start for Argentina and there's no competition for places at all, to the point where they're thinking of letting foreign-based players back into the international fold. Meanwhile the Japanese franchise is a joke and Fiji don't have one - they have a semi-pro team in the Aussie NPC, which is about AIL standard but only goes on for 3 months.

2 is better but not sufficient - both Italy and Scotland need foreign-based players, with the lack of control that brings. You need a minimum of 4 feeder teams for an international set-up. That's the only reason Connacht Rugby still exists.

I really think this American pro tournament will be the one that works so dreams of an American pro 14 team should be forgotten!

Italian rugby need a second team. If not more, with the population they have they should be producing more top players but their not, and the Conor O Shea project might change that

That's why it's better to have them out

More seriously, they're poor. We just manage sometimes to be poorer against poorest team (Zebre/Dragons). I hate their gamestyle (there's no style at all).
Yes they're slightly improving. So Slowly that I think ProXX would be better off with US team in 5 years. And Italy better off to focus with 1 quality franchise, just like Argentina, Japan, Fidji ...

connachta wrote: Hope they replace Kings and Zebre in the next 5 years...

Zebre have beaten us twice in two years now. 3 if you count the hammering they were giving us before the gods intervened.

Would I be right in saying that Parata, Dever, and gaffney are projects in their new countries? Ie have been in them since before Jan 1st gone?

Hope they replace Kings and Zebre in the next 5 years...

Parata started at 14 for Zebre.

AJ will be out for 9 - 12 months which is a huge shame, he has apparently been flying for them this season.

Jamie Dever started his first game for Houston. They had 5300 people at a pre season game so an early sign the league over there might have a chance.

Fetu'u Vainikolo is joining Utah Warriors for the major league rugby season state side

I think he'll do well, play 10, and back next season for Crosbie

Rory Parata has joined Zebre

Fairly recent story about Nepia Fox Matamua in the Cook Island News, still rehabbing his last injury with us.
Talking about getting back playing some time next year...

Hope so, good guy and was a very decent player for us in his relatively (too) short time with us...

www.cookislandsnews.com/sport/rugby-unio...gby-star-on-the-rise

A rugby star on the rise
Thursday August 24, 2017 Written by Conor Leathley

A young rugby star is visiting his grandfather in the Cook Islands after finishing a very successful stint for an Irish club.

Nepia Fox-Matamua made a name for himself as a dynamic flanker for St Peter’s College and at ITM Cup level for Auckland, before finding his progress halted in getting into a stacked Blues back row, until he received a surprise phone call.

“I got a random phone call from former Blues and Auckland coach Pat Lam, who was coaching the Connacht province in Ireland,” Fox-Matamua said.

“He rang me up and said that they’d had an injury to one of their flankers, and he wanted to get me over immediately and play for him in Galway.”

Initially there was resistance from the Irish Rugby Union, which meant that he was unable to fly out that season, but the troubles were soon resolved.

“He came back to me not long after that, saying that he wanted to sign me for two years and I just jumped at that chance. Because it wasn’t only a chance to do something I love full time (playing rugby), but it would be an opportunity to be in Europe and travel.”

Fox-Matamua did not know too much about Ireland before arriving, though he soon found that the level of rugby was similar to what a Super Rugby player would experience in the Southern Hemisphere.

“The level of competition over there is really strong,” he said.

“I played in the Pro12, so we played against the top Irish teams, Welsh teams and even Italian teams, so it’s sort of like the Super Rugby of the Northern Hemisphere. There were also crossover games against French and English teams, so it’s a pretty high level. I really got to play the best Europe had to offer.”

His integration into the team was made a bit easier through the supervision of Lam, who had arrived two years before Fox-Matamua and was preaching a style of rugby that is sacred on this side of the world, but unfamiliar in the far north.

“We tried to play like a Southern Hemisphere side, throwing the ball around like you would down here. And while I was there we actually won the Pro12, and I mainly put it down to the style we were playing,” Fox-Matamua said.

“Connacht is probably the poorest out of the four provinces in Ireland, so we didn’t have too many super stars. But we had really strong structures and played a way that was unfamiliar to our opponents, because at the time a lot of our opponents were playing the really typical ‘kick and chase’ rugby.”

Although the team went through a period of adjustment earlier in Lam’s tenure, his demeanour and encouragement helped the players feel more comfortable, Fox-Matamua said.

“He encouraged them to play freely, to be a bit risky, like running the ball out of your own 22.”

Fox-Matamua’s time in Galway coincided with the most successful period in the club’s history, as in addition to winning the Pro12 for the first time, they defeated the prestigious London Wasps at home and also defeated a terrifically rich Toulouse team that was packed to the brim with internationals.

“One of the players I was really excited to play was Justin Tipuric, the Welsh and Lions no.7, because he’s a great player,” the 25-year-old New Zealand-born flanker said.

“Thierry Dusautoir, the former French captain, he’s one of the most awesome players that I’ve seen. He’s a guy that I’ve tried to model my game around, and to play against him was pretty cool.”

Unfortunately, Fox-Matamua was injured when Connacht claimed the Pro12 over Leinster, as he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after breaking the line and trying to step the fullback in a previous match.

It’s one of sport’s most severe injuries and Fox-Matamua laments that the length of his recovery has put his future playing plans on hold.

“It’s still one of the worst injuries that you can get in rugby, because that’s you gone for six months.

“Science has sped up recovery time for a lot of injuries, but not the ACL. So when I got injured I still had two months on my contract, so I’ve done a lot of rehab in the early stages when it’s most important.

“So now that I’m back in Auckland, I’m doing most of the rehab by myself, trying to keep fit. I might also look at playing sevens to keep myself in game-playing shape.”

Well-known former New Zealand broadcaster Derek Fox, who is Nepia’s grandfather, explained that the name Nepia came from his uncle, George Nepia, the iconic All Blacks fullback who starred for the team, now known as the Invincibles, in their 1924-25 tour of Britain, Ireland, France and Canada.

Fox also spoke about how Nepia was received by the fans over there and what this could mean for young Pacific rugby players in the future.

“Initially I think that the Connacht fans may not have been too happy, thinking that Lam was bringing over another foreign player instead of giving one of their local boys a go,” Fox explained.

“But then they saw him play, how fantastic he was, how hard he tackled and ran, that he wasn’t just there to get paid, and when he scored a few tries, they were happy to call him their own.

“What Nepia’s story highlights is the opportunity for young Pacific players. If they work hard, then there are opportunities for them to play in New Zealand, in Australia, in Europe or Japan.

“And there is a huge rugby following in Europe, huge crowds turn out to support the players. Pacific players should really look at this as a chance to set up their lives.”

Although Fox-Matamua leaves Rarotonga later this week, he will return next year to marry his fiancé Kate.

By then, he hopes he will be playing competitive rugby again.

Jamie Dever has signed for the Houston Sabercats.