It's a huge relief to have Roux and Buckley enlisted.
A lot of players still there with contract expiring this summer. But none of them was so important.
IMO the next priorities are Parata, Cooney and Carey

Great work from Connacht Executive this week. Must be a real boost to the playing squad going into the next 2 games.

Three more senior players sign on for future
20th December 2016

Connacht Rugby and the IRFU are delighted to confirm two-year contract extensions for senior players Denis Buckley, Jack Carty and Quinn Roux.

Roscommon natives Buckley and Carty are both products of the Connacht Academy and have racked up 103 and 67 appearances respectively for their home province. Both have represented Ireland at underage level with Buckley making the 2015 Emerging Ireland tour to Georgia.

Roux, who initially came to Connacht on a loan deal from Leinster, is currently in his third season at the Sportsground. He has played in 42 games and last June made his international debut for Ireland during the Summer Tour to South Africa.

Commenting on the latest deals, CEO Willie Ruane said:

“These re-signings are another big boost for Connacht Rugby and our supporters on the back of Tom McCartney, Bundee Aki, Ultan Dillane, Finlay Bealham Niyi Adeolokun, Sean O’Brien, James Connolly, Peter Robb and Caolin Blade all recently signing contract extensions.

“Obviously developing and retaining Connacht-born players like Denis (Buckley) and Jack (Carty) is a huge part of our vision of ‘Grassroots to Green Shirts’ and we value the commitment to their home province massively.

“Quinn (Roux) came to us a few seasons ago on the back of a difficult two years with injuries. He has really taken his opportunity with both hands and we’re delighted he sees his future here with Connacht.”

Head Coach Pat Lam added:

“It’s fantastic to see these senior players sign on for the future with Connacht Rugby. Having witnessed the three of them grow and develop as players and men over the past four seasons, I’m personally very pleased that they will be part of a strong squad that will drive continued success on and off the field for Connacht Rugby.”

-Ends-

Notes to editor

Denis Buckley
Prop
Age: 26
From: Roscommon, Ireland
Connacht caps: 103

Jack Carty
Outhalf
Age: 24
From: Roscommon, Ireland
Connacht caps: 67

Quinn Roux
Lock
Age: 26
From: Pretoria, South Africa
Connacht caps: 42

salmson wrote: Tom McCartney signed on til 2020. Merry Xmas everyone.

That's some great news. First, Tom is a very handy hooker and second, it shows players are not jumping ship just because Pat is moving on.

Injury update: Conor Carey and Dominic Robertson McCoy awaiting scan results, Stacey Ili out for 6 weeks, but Jake Heenan may be back next week

www.connachtrugby.ie/squad-update-ahead-...game-7/#ConnachtNews

That is fantastic news. Tom McCartney for an Irish shirt soon enough too I think.

www.connachtrugby.ie/mccartney-signs-thr...ension/#ConnachtNews

Tom McCartney signed on til 2020. Merry Xmas everyone.

salmson wrote:

clanman wrote: Dawai added to the champions cup squad for this weekend, Jake must be out for a bit

Dawai replaces Griffin (who's out for remainder of pool matches), not Heenan, so hopefully Jake isn't out for long.

Some replacement! What a 5 minutes. Totally imposed himself on the game and turned it in our favour.
The Fiji Times article says he's looking forward to a White Christmas. Has anyone got any connections to whoever did that phone ad (O2?) where they brought in the snow machines?
Connacht fans owe him big time.

clanman wrote: Dawai added to the champions cup squad for this weekend, Jake must be out for a bit

Dawai replaces Griffin (who's out for remainder of pool matches), not Heenan, so hopefully Jake isn't out for long.

Ahead of the round 4 Champions Cup clash at home to Wasps on Saturday, the Connacht Rugby medical team have provided the following update.

Ronan Loughney is continuing his rehabilitation from his knee injury sustained in training.

Jake Heenan sustained injuries to his knee and ankle in the game v Wasps and is awaiting the results of a scan to determine the extent of the injury.

John Cooney sustained a quad injury in training last week but is progressing well in his rehab.

Marnitz Boshoff has undergone surgery for the shoulder injury he sustained v Treviso and will be out of action for 12 weeks.

Stacey Ili sustained an ankle injury in the game v Wasps and is awaiting the results of a scan to determine the extent of the injury.

Peter Robb sustained an injury to his thigh in training last week and is progressing well in his rehab.

Cian Kelleher sustained a hamstring injury v Wasps and will be out for up to four weeks.

Connacht v Wasps
Saturday, 17 December

No mention of Tiernan or Bundee so assume they are fit to play

Dawai added to the champions cup squad for this weekend, Jake must be out for a bit

No medical joker will be coming anyway.

Pat said in an earlier interview or press conference can't remember which I heard it on Galway bay anyway that there's no budget to bring someone in

Sean Kearns at St Marys anyone. Pretty good kicker, great season so far, solid enough around the pitch & a former Leinster academy member still only 21 or Scott Deasy until the end of season. Maybe Pat Lam's son could come back. But we need someone soon. With Jack Carty the only recognised out half fit.

This years EPRC is only part of the equation here. Connacht need to sign somebody to cover 10 until Boshoff & Ronaldson are fully fit and back playing. If they don't then they'll not only be out of this years but also next years EPRC. And that will make it a lot harder in the hunt for a new head coach and top class players. It's still possible to turn things round here but not if they don't act quickly.

@sligsup

I knew that statbunker website had to be off but I didn't know by how much.

Keatley placed 12th for accuracy in the 2010/2011 pro12 season with a kicking percentage of 69.37% (77 out of 111) just slightly over 2 in every 3 kicks at goal. This in itself does not look a terrible conversion rate but from memory he missed some open goals which used to cost us tight games. That season there was 5 games where 3pts would have turned a loss/draw into a win. I'm not saying Keatley cost us these games by the way as we all know his all round game dragged us into games we had no right to be in back then but if he could have got a few more kicks when the pressure was on we would have won more or those tight games. His kicking has improved with a strike rate of 71%* last season but still way off what you need to be challenging top 6 in the pro12 never mind bigger competitions.

To put his kicking percentages into perspective sub 72% would not get you into the top 18 (the only table I have doesn't show past 18) kickers last year (O'Leary is 6th on the list with 82%, AJ is 9th on the list with 78%, Ronaldson is 13th on the list with 76% and Carty doesn't feature on the list with 67.5% accuracy {only 3 players worse than him}*)

Link to Ulster Rugby Archive with 2010/2011 Magners Stats

Link to Leintster rugby end of season stats showing kicking percentages

Link to statbunker site for kicking percentages for Carty and Keatley last season as they were too low to show on the Leinster list

Unconfirmed stats from the unreliable statbunker*