Christ were very short there now in that position.

All young lads.

I remember his letter from last season and could tell he bought into the Connacht cause quickly. Never questioned his effort on the field so I think his P.S. is unnecessary especially the run down of the Treviso stats. I'd definitely have him around for another season or two, he deserves as much time as, if not more than, Rodney to prove himself. Good luck to you, Ethienne.

I know I posted the message earlier, but I want to put on record my own feelings. What makes me most proud of supporting my province is the calibre of the people we have recruited over the years, we have recruited talented players by varying degrees and with only possibly one or two exceptions they have turned out to fantastic human beings and have honoured our jersey as much off the field as they have on it.

To point out technical deficiencies in a departing players skill set would be absolutely churlish, they should be remembered for the effort they have put in on and off the pitch. If they have given their all that is all I will ever ask of any Connacht player.

Best of luck for the future Ethienne, and hopefully we'll see you on the Clan Terrace in the future r coming back with a visiting side..

Gutted, Ethienne or 'The Beast' as my sister nicknamed him, will defo be missed. He had great passion for Connacht Rugby. I don't know if anyone else every noticed him on the bench during a game, he was in every scrum and ruck with those on the pitch and was only itching to get on!! It's going to be a very different Connacht come September.

Sorry to see him go. A nice lad. Hope he finds another club.

This man was a true gent, I met him a couple of times and he could not have been nicer. I loved seeing his name on the teamsheet as you knew he gave 110% he was to me a wrecking machine. We used to say in the stands when we saw he getting ready to come on as a replacement the other lads are f**ked now, as we are bringing on the artillary.

This picture hangs on my office wall,

inpho.ie/media/6M3Z6_RJKnfRh4dEmJ0pTg..a...t07cziwE6iOlv5JWNM.a

And this picture says it all.

inpho.ie/media/JNCQ86lB49LHLXAB2rbEkg..a...QKTNYoAKGoQbo1lvw..a

A true rugby warrior and a gentleman at the same time.

Disappointed he is leaving. Good guy about the pitch, played with great heart, hope he finds a good new club.

I thought his letter to the clan during the bad run LY was from a player who really cared and had great passion.

Seriously? Would have liked to Ethienne kept on. The guy really bought into the "Us against Them" ethos at Connacht and his work ethic on the pitch was top notch. Was surprised that he was not playing as often this year.

Two very good hookers down.

A true gent, he will be missed.

Nice of him to do that.

ConnachtCows wrote: I've a soft spot for all (our) hookers

Likewise, I always got a good buzz from watching Ethienne. Could be a loose cannon at times, but that's what you tend to get with guys who go tearing into everything anything around the pitch. I'm sorry to see him go.

What is it about hookers? Barring Dylan Harltey and Brian Moore, they are generally a loveable bunch of rogues. They're like props with personalities! :evil:

(think I better lie low for a while...) :lol:

A fantastic person had the pleaser of meeting him on a few occasions, very down to earth and always had time for the fans. Best of luck to him in his future

Ah shit. Him leaving as well. I've a soft spot for all (our) hookers
Fair play to him for getting in touch. I wish him all the best in the future

A true gent. I never had the pleasure of meeting him but I remember one of the u18 lads telling me how it would be understandably very hard for them to strike up conversations with senior players. Ethienne was just in the door a week with the big mullet head on him dancing and singing away like he was a regular in the dressing room for years. He went around to all the underage guys and just asking how they were doing, what they were at, were they enjoying it. The young lads were just shocked at how nice (not that the other seniors were d***) he was.

Ethienne made a contribution to Connacht Rugby, not as big as some on the field, but it is characters like that you want in a changing room and you'd rather talk to a nice guy then a good player. If we could have combined Flavin's throwing with Ethienne's work in the loose we'd have as good a hooker in any other province. Hopefully he gets a new club and comes back to visit.

Gent of a man the few times i met him after games and he's a good laugh on a night out.
he must be one of the top outside players who came here and really cared about the team, everytime he ran on the pitch he gave 100% and wasnt afraid to get the ball and run. sadly his lineouts wasnt that good, i was hoping he'd be kept on as we are seriously thin next season at hooker. ER would be easily 2nd choice and then he'd be IQ?

i remember he was only here a month or so when he wrote an open letter to us supporters telling us to keep the faith when results were down.
ill miss him.

Ethienne contacted the Clan Facebook account directly:

Ethienne wrote: Hi

I would be forever grateful to you if you could thank the supporters of connacht and especially the connacht clan for the extremely enthusiastic and heart-warming support during my 2 seasons here. Its an extremely special place and I will always hold the memories and feelings of running through the clan terrace very close to my heart!!


PS. Although my time here is dwarfed by the great achievements of the other players/coaches leaving, I hope that the supporters recognized that I always threw my body on the line 100% for connacht and its people even when they couldnt be there to support ie v treviso last week in which I had 22 defence involvements, 4 win tackles, 4 turnovers won on the ground as well as 1 with a control tackle.

Please send my regards to the Clan supporters!!

Many thanx