On Instagram mention that Dillane is moving to Munster- no no no no no

My favourite part of that is the piece on humility

" The lads are getting VIP treatment everywhere it's getting like Dublin and we had to ground them" brilliant

Munster would be stupid not to approach Dillane given everything he's said about friends and family asking him when he was going to join them - but they were also stupid to let him go in the first place. It would be pretty horrible if he were to leave though as he and Henshaw are two most likely new Irish tourists for this lions tour and he's the sort of player you could easily build your pack around in the next few years.
It also annoys the pi** out of me that Munster seem to hoover up all the potential second rows considering how difficult it is to find quality options.

As someone who knows a thing or two about journalism, I just wanted to add my 2c here.

A few posts up we have a series of links which made inaccurate predictions. And that's standard fare and it is a justified point to make in a conversation like this. But Just because it turns out that a story's prediction turns out wrong, it doesn't mean the story was wrong. Earls didn't go to England, but I have it on very good authority that it was virtually a done deal and he very nearly did, but ultimately stayed. So that doesn't make the Indo story of that time wrong - it was right, and accurate then - even though he's now still with Munster.

Journalists, by and large, don't make stuff up. Munster may well be targeting Ultan and Bundee, I don't know. Is the piece making the most of the situation and 'bigging it up' for headlines? Quite possibly. Is there an agenda behind stories like this? Almost certainly, but if there is it is on behalf of clubs or players or agents, not papers or journos. their only interest is in having a story that generates readership, not what it means for a given province.

Too often fans on forums say 'xxx journalist said xxx player was going to xxx club and they were plain wrong' - it's not often the case, and certainly not as often as it may appear to be.

Hi all! Just a quick reminder of rule 2 and 4, no abuse to be handed out and nothing that might be libelous or defamatory.

Nothing said here of that level at all, but..

And fair play for sticking to the no swearing rule, ye fupping fuppers.

If you can't get a scoop, try a swoop.

When it comes gaining an understanding of swoops on behalf of the Irish Independent, Ruaidhri does appear to have impeccable sources in fairness.

Ruaidhri O'Connor, 29/09/16: Munster line up sensational swoop for Connacht duo

Ruaidhri O'Connor, 17/02/15: Robbie Henshaw to stay with Connacht next season but Munster preparing to swoop

Ruaidhri O'Connor, 11/11/15: Less Kiss could swoop for double World Cup winning All Black Victor Vito.

Yeah this goon was one of the people I was aiming my comments at yesterday. Do these people even go to school before they get these jobs?

The reality is we all get that this is a 'mostly' free marketplace and everyone from every team is fair game. But it is far too easy for these fanboy muck writers to throw out articles based on the total logic of sweet f all.

I would urge all fans to ignore it because these goons definitely read the forums (as all they are are fanboys themselves), so in the words of Gunny Highway.....'don't give the p$ick the satisfaction'.

Podge57 wrote: Quality Journalism at it's best - what muck!

no substance or quotable sources!

time to batten down the hatches and get behind team - a couple of wins will put this b******t to bed

Gutter journalism, the Dillane bit maybe but very much doubt the Aki end of it ..... and to ease a few minds (for the moment) Paddy Power wouldn't give me a price on Aki staying with Connacht. But I do hope they get the major contracts sorted sooner than later.

This the lad that said Earls was joining Saracens the day before it was announced he had renewed his contract at Munster....

Quality Journalism at it's best - what muck!

no substance or quotable sources!

time to batten down the hatches and get behind team - a couple of wins will put this b******t to bed

Jesus wept....

www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/munster-r...5DaOgkFdBAzfEu66cvDA

If he could get a DVD copy of the West's Awake on the inside sleeve I'd buy it.

Gerry Thornley's book on Connacht confirmed for release on 3rd November

www.easons.com/p-4516208-front-up-rise-up.aspx



For years they were the Cinderella province, the poor relations and the weakest link in
Irish rugby, the so-called Development Province, who had never won a senior trophy since
their foundation in 1885. There had been the first green shoots of a revolution in 2014-15
when finishing seventh in the Pro12 - a record high - in Pat Lam’s second season as head
coach. Even so, they started the 2015-16 season as 50/1 outsiders.
Front Up, Rise Up is the story of Connacht’s remarkable journey to becoming the Pro12
champions. The story goes inside the dressing-room, takes in their unscheduled, weeklong,
bonding trek to Siberia and back for a European Challenge Cup game in November,
and all the key twists and turns along the way.
It brings us the characters in this Band of Brothers, from the locals such as captain John
Muldoon from Portumna to their iconic fans’ favourite Bundee Aki, like Lam a Kiwi from
Auckland of Samoan descent, to their Nigerian-born and Dublin-raised match-winner Niyi
Adeolokun.
It takes in their troubled professional history, which had them on the brink of extinction as
a professional entity in 2003 and led to Connacht and their supporters marching to the
IRFU offices in a successful bid to keep them afloat.
And it culminates in their dethroning of the champions Glasgow in the Sportsground in
Galway and their stunning performance in the final against Leinster in Edinburgh to their
open-top homecoming in Galway the next day. In the 21 years of professional rugby,there has been no story quite like it.