What about Mark Roche of Lansdowne? He's Connacht and a Centre plus he's a mate/collegue of Ronaldson and Healy at Lansdowne as well, meaning he's played with them before meaning it should be easier for him to integrate quickly into the team.

basically i would hope we keep his wages aside and try and say offload another one or two fring players ie. one scrumhalf of po'd / frank or elsewhere

I never thought I'd say this but we should keep POD. His form this season and at the end of last season was very good. He's keeping Marmion honest and is the right age profile for the squad.

Tadgh leader for 12 maybe but its a big jump in vital games. Back row?

Lam mentioned Moloney at a press conference saying he's good but only 90kg which is not enough for a flanker. SOB is probably the same weight thereabouts. Masterson or maybe Kindregan who had played 8 would be the best bet. Maybe stick Leader on the wing and see how he goes but there the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Darragh507 wrote: Am I wrong that I don't want anyone from another province. They do not have our interests at heart in any way.

Our academy has been good to us, so why not promote from within.

Unless we can add real quality, I would rather we promote from within personally. There are a handful of reall good lads in the AIL also which has been good to us.

We have had a fair few flops sent over from other provinces. No more.

Who in academy is ready to be promoted and is not injured?

Tadgh leader for 12 maybe but its a big jump in vital games. Back row?

I'm with ummm, Connacht could do worse than getting Henry back even on a three month contract. I'm all for giving the young lads a chance, but it's nice to have an older head around with some experience.

RonanL, think you're being a little hard on James. He was held in limbo while his permit issues got worked out and then was thrown right in the lineup with very limited work with his new teammates. I have little sympathy for the homesick thing, if that indeed is what sent him packing, but I won't judge what contribution he could have made to Connacht based on the one game against Zebre.

basically i would hope we keep his wages aside and try and say offload another one or two fring players ie. one scrumhalf of po'd / frank or elsewhere , then combine the wages and try and get some quality.....we need to replace swifty properly....would love to see suta come from toulon!!!!!!! suta and clarke.....ok i'll stop dreaming

mareegoo wrote: would definitely like to see darragh leader replace so'oialo and would like to see shane leyden as back up

would prefer to see us looking at the likes of robin copeland, hart(grenoble), eamonn sheridan, and eoin sherriff etc and see if these type of players want to come home


we should set the money aside unless we get a really bad injury list.

Layden is injured

Hart has just signed a 4 year extension with Grenoble. Sheridan is in the first year of a 2 year contract and I'd say Leinster will be keen to get him back.

mareegoo wrote: we should set the money aside unless we get a really bad injury list.

How would you describe our current predicament? If you ask me our squad was thin coming into this season before the current raft of injuries. if the money's there it should be spent as wisely as possible on a replacement asap, even just until the end of the season as cover.

would definitely like to see darragh leader replace so'oialo and would like to see shane leyden as back up

would prefer to see us looking at the likes of robin copeland, hart(grenoble), eamonn sheridan, and eoin sherriff etc and see if these type of players want to come home


we should set the money aside unless we get a really bad injury list.

clanman wrote: name a player who has come to us and not given 100%.

Do you mean from another Irish province or elsewhere?

I think it would send the wrong message at this point in the season to go searching for a niq player/medical joker when there are a number of lads in the academy who are already here training with the squad and trying to put their hand up for selection.

Our team is made up of players from many different backgrounds, it is what adds to the colourful mix at Connacht. I think it would be boring to have 15 connacht bred players which in any case is not going to happen and name a player a player who has come to us and not given 100%.

Am I wrong that I don't want anyone from another province. They do not have our interests at heart in any way.

Our academy has been good to us, so why not promote from within.

Unless we can add real quality, I would rather we promote from within personally. There are a handful of reall good lads in the AIL also which has been good to us.

We have had a fair few flops sent over from other provinces. No more.

swift4prez wrote:

Porterbelly wrote: Did a quick check on Fa'afili and he's playing amateur rugby somewhere

Surely we should be able to loan a back row from Munster like Dave O Callaghan and maybe someone like Chris Farrell from Ulster for a couple of months

i remember we spoke about this last year re-transfers between irish teams. isnt there some rule that pro12 (same leagues) cant sign a player from another team?
(although Peter Borlase came here last season)

if we were to sign any player, what about Darragh Fanning who has been kept fit with leinster

It's a centre and a back row we need. Fanning would be neither. We've enough wingers

Porterbelly wrote: Did a quick check on Fa'afili and he's playing amateur rugby somewhere

Surely we should be able to loan a back row from Munster like Dave O Callaghan and maybe someone like Chris Farrell from Ulster for a couple of months

i remember we spoke about this last year re-transfers between irish teams. isnt there some rule that pro12 (same leagues) cant sign a player from another team?
(although Peter Borlase came here last season)

if we were to sign any player, what about Darragh Fanning who has been kept fit with leinster

Did a quick check on Fa'afili and he's playing amateur rugby somewhere

Surely we should be able to loan a back row from Munster like Dave O Callaghan and maybe someone like Chris Farrell from Ulster for a couple of months

Aye, there were a shedload of offloads at the start of the season.