For next season need to agressively go after an Irish out-half from one of the other provinces. Johnston at Munster or Noel Reid at Leinster I know he mainly plays 12 but more than capable of covering/competing with Craig... or Johnny Mac Philips; great prospect in Ulsters 2nd team. For this season we need an emergency loanee from SH.. Cheque book time.
How long have they known about boschof being out.. they need to announce something very soon or our season could fall apart.

AJ6000 wrote:
Keatley on the way out of Munster anyone???

Please God no. He would actually do better in our current system (not sure what our system will be next year but I'd imagine we'll be looking for someone who can keep the continuity going.

It looks from your article that jj hanrahan is going back to munster this year and if this is so then I makes a mockery of the whole spreading the talent around the provinces mantra that got Robbie up to dublin. He will be competing with bleyandaal and Johnston and squeezing out Keatley who is adequate cover when we have a non irish eligible out half.

Just looks like we are getting screwed with every new transfer announced. Didn't IRFU have to step in and pay off huge debts for munster last season?

www.sportsjoe.ie/rugby/more-good-news-fo...-be-confirmed/106093

Keatley on the way out of Munster anyone???

fatgav wrote: Any update on Boshoff? Wondering if anyone has heard the same rumour I have.

Out until March!

Read it on boards but I'm sure it may be confirmed tomorrow in the squad update

Any update on Boshoff? Wondering if anyone has heard the same rumour I have.

Spoke to Masterson before the Treviso game - he's hoping to back in contention in January time. Looking fit & healthy

Leader will play centre when he's fit again IMO. Excited for O'donnell to come back he was great in his cameos last season. We need to start fast tracking our academy second rows, can't wait 3 years to find out what they're like. Not ideal by any means but we badly need depth. Same with options at 10, parata for one should be looked at as a fly half again.

Jack Carty is not good enough back up to Boshoff
Conor Carey looks the part.
Loose head back up needed whats the story with Conan O'Donnell??
A centre who is not injury prone is needed. Griffin, Poolman, Ronaldson, always getting injuries plus Aki will be with the Irish team next year.

Why does absolutely everything go into this thread?

Michael Corcoran stating Lam is leaving Connacht at the end of the season

No whispers, officially back in the end of December, already on the training pitch

Have there been any whispers of a time scale for Eoghan Masterson coming back? His injury was back in January or February. . .

I think criticism of Ronan Loughney's scrummaging for the final last year is unfair. We all know the quality Buckley has and he showed it against Leinster in the Sportsground in March but going into the last few games of last year the front row was seriously weakened and re-shaped numerous times due to injuries etc. The sole job of the scrum against Leinster in the final last year was to survive. It would be very naive to have thought anything else. They did their job fine bar one penalty. If it was a wet day with multiple scrums it might have been a problem but as it was we were completely outplaying them in all other aspects of the game so to me he did the necessary and got his reward for hanging in there through bad times both for Connacht and for him personally with a lot of injury troubles.

Looking forward we probably do need to look at our front row options. Losing Nathan White and Rodney Ah You as well as international callups and injuries have left us short in terms of options. I think Carey is showing enough to say he will work out a good signing but Robertson-McCoy isn't looking like making an impact in the short term at least and O'Donnell is still only 20 so in terms of depth we really could do with another option at loose-head in particular.

Fwiw I would be relatively certain that Loughney was carrying a shoulder injury into the final last year, look back at the semi final and you'll see he's in a lot of pain a various points. I was genuinely shocked he was named in the team for the final and I think the fast ball out of scrum strategy was a consequence of that injury. If true I wonder how much that has impacted his form this season?

Lough is a gent, nothing against him.
Just talks about contrat renewals, as 33 next season, he knows he has to earn on the field a potential one more year, Especially as IQ LH (abroad too) are far more numerous than TH.
Won't talk about him anymore until we know, you're right it's better..