I did mention him indeed as any points we need are "checked" by him, including lineout jump which seems natural for him, and big ball carrying as 4, 5 or 8
+ he's one of Keane's pupil!

Darragh wrote:

connachta wrote: Money spent on high-profiles locks where we already have 2 international players + 2 very decent ones (Cannon/Browne)?
No thanks. Jerry Sexton/Nagle/Mick Kearney/other listed here are well enough to be 5th/6th choices. And they all are an upgrade compared to Stevenson/Qualter.
+ Give a chance to 1 within 3 Academy guy to step up and take part in main squad training on a regular basis... (Romaine/Claffey/Gallegher)

Thats the problem for me, we have two 'test locks' but the reality is they are considerably down the pecking order in an area where Ireland are hardly overflowing with talent.

Both are terrible in the lineout. Terrible.
Dillane has the most potential but is extremely raw still.
How many more caps is Roux going to get? Serious question.

Cannon and Browne are good squad players (after all, that's what he was at Wasps and Browne is extremely injury prone), but I would argue we still have a need for a marquee lock.

Our lineout has killed us this year. Cannon is not that player to take us to the next level. Sorry.

You're on the money for me mostly but with Dillane & Roux it's passable if they continue to improve, get Romaine up and running cut out the excess and add maybe Nagle/Thronbury or perhaps a South African project player gem recruit and its very passable. If we replace henshaw with similar quality, Boshoff works out okay and has a high quality understudy and we get the needed Connacht Billy vunipola and perhaps a piutau alongside then I'd definitely go for our Ciaran Clark upgrade. Lepa was mentioned before as a low cost 4th/5th choice

Devils own wrote: Just to clarify I'm not advocating signing major profile locks at present, I was saying that I wouldn't go near Mccarthy or Kearney as even replacement squad players and that I also thought that Nagle or Thronbury could be decent squad players but I would only go for them if we ensure we trim down that area and others so we can focus on real top quality elsewhere in the team. I don't think Romaine is too young Gallagher a little probably.

That's the point. I do think we need to spend "big" money on a LH able to compete with Buckley/ rest him. More there rather than locks.

Just to clarify I'm not advocating signing major profile locks at present, I was saying that I wouldn't go near Mccarthy or Kearney as even replacement squad players and that I also thought that Nagle or Thronbury could be decent squad players but I would only go for them if we ensure we trim down that area and others so we can focus on real top quality elsewhere in the team. I don't think Romaine is too young Gallagher a little probably.

connachta wrote: Money spent on high-profiles locks where we already have 2 international players + 2 very decent ones (Cannon/Browne)?
No thanks. Jerry Sexton/Nagle/Mick Kearney/other listed here are well enough to be 5th/6th choices. And they all are an upgrade compared to Stevenson/Qualter.
+ Give a chance to 1 within 3 Academy guy to step up and take part in main squad training on a regular basis... (Romaine/Claffey/Gallegher)

Thats the problem for me, we have two 'test locks' but the reality is they are considerably down the pecking order in an area where Ireland are hardly overflowing with talent.

Both are terrible in the lineout. Terrible.
Dillane has the most potential but is extremely raw still.
How many more caps is Roux going to get? Serious question.

Cannon and Browne are good squad players (after all, that's what he was at Wasps and Browne is extremely injury prone), but I would argue we still have a need for a marquee lock.

Our lineout has killed us this year. Cannon is not that player to take us to the next level. Sorry.

Claffey and Gallagher are too young yet for senior lock regular games. Qualter hasn't stepped up and Stevenson was just a stop gap. Cannon was a super find. We won't be signing any high profile locks but I hope we do pick up a Nagle type player.

We need to see Soroka and Rowland. I'd keep Poolman and Parata but the rest could find it difficult to secure a new contract.

Money spent on high-profiles locks where we already have 2 international players + 2 very decent ones (Cannon/Browne)?
No thanks. Jerry Sexton/Nagle/Mick Kearney/other listed here are well enough to be 5th/6th choices. And they all are an upgrade compared to Stevenson/Qualter.
+ Give a chance to 1 within 3 Academy guy to step up and take part in main squad training on a regular basis... (Romaine/Claffey/Gallegher)

Couldn't agree more. If we don't see ourselves as top shelf, then how can we expect anyone else to show us the relevant respect. We obviously can't compete financially but that has always led to Connacht operating smarter than the rest in the past and that's exactly what needs to continue. A little thinking outside the box is always better than settling for less than is required.

Darragh wrote: Said it before, we need to sign quality.

Leinster sign Fardy and are talking about James Lowe and we are wondering and talking about Mick Kearney and Mike McCarthy coming back.....really hope we are more ambitious and ruthless than that.... they left.....bye bye!!!!

Anyone see the Chiefs highlights from this morning? Some sensational back play!!!! Good maul too.

100% agree wouldn't touch Kearney or Mccarthy in a million years sends out every type of wrong signal imaginable. Romaine & Gallagher in academy prioritise them. Nagle and Thornbury are youngish and decent and could be useful "squad" players for us. We would certainly need to release any lower level potential players to make room for them it's about highest quality now just like the other provinces and even some of the Welsh etc pro12 sides above us now. For me perhaps harshly I would 'examine'

Soroka
Browne
JP Cooney
Stevenson
Andress
Rowland
Qualter
Poolman
O'Leary
Ili
Parata
Griffen
Loughney
Cooney (leaving for ulster)

That's a big chunk of cash free for 3/4 high potential signings (Not speaking specifically about locks) as I said for good squad players Nagle/Thronbury might be of slightly higher potential.

Said it before, we need to sign quality.

Leinster sign Fardy and are talking about James Lowe and we are wondering and talking about Mick Kearney and Mike McCarthy coming back.....really hope we are more ambitious and ruthless than that.... they left.....bye bye!!!!

Anyone see the Chiefs highlights from this morning? Some sensational back play!!!! Good maul too.

RoadRunnerR1 wrote: Yeah I take you point re experience but the age profile not so much. I'm not trying to make a comparison but Maro Itoje & Jonny Gray are still only 22 & Launchbury is 25 and they'll probably all be heading to NZ with the lions. Thornbury definitely lacks experience playing top flight professional rugby but I think his stint playing in NZ will really stand to him especially given the type of rugby Connacht try to play. Granted there's no real hard evidence to back it up but even given the small amount I've read and seen of him, I think he could really be the guy to fill the Muldowney role.

Only locks I see listed on the website are Cillian Gallagher 6'6" & Peter Claffey & Cian Romaine both 6'5". Let me know if I'm missing anyone.

Fair enough, I would still prefer a more experienced TH lock but that's just me. Whichever route we go down I think our 2nd row options for next year should be pretty good.

On my second point I wasn't talking about locks specifically, it was more of a reaction to seeing that Claffey nearly weighs as much as Quinn Roux and we have a 1st year prop listed at 135kg which I would lazily assume would make him Ireland's heaviest player?

Yeah McCarthy would be a better choice than Stevenson but Stevenson was probably only signed as cover given the pre season injuries at lock. He can't really be seen as the benchmark for the type of player Connacht need to be signing for the future. And although I can kind of understand some of the reasons why, the truth is the guy up and left Connacht after they'd done all the work developing him and while they were trying to build something good for the future. Kearney also made the same choice. Dillane, Aki, McCartney ect. ect. had the same if not even more opportunities to leave but chose to show their loyalty to Connacht and stay. Also feel that McCarthy's best days might be behind him and Kearney seems to be constantly dogged by injury and given the tight budget restrictions we can't afford another season like the current one with so many players constantly unavailable due to injury.

Yeah I take you point re experience but the age profile not so much. I'm not trying to make a comparison but Maro Itoje & Jonny Gray are still only 22 & Launchbury is 25 and they'll probably all be heading to NZ with the lions. Thornbury definitely lacks experience playing top flight professional rugby but I think his stint playing in NZ will really stand to him especially given the type of rugby Connacht try to play. Granted there's no real hard evidence to back it up but even given the small amount I've read and seen of him, I think he could really be the guy to fill the Muldowney role.

Only locks I see listed on the website are Cillian Gallagher 6'6" & Peter Claffey & Cian Romaine both 6'5". Let me know if I'm missing anyone.

Would people be in favour of having McCarthy back (again)? Obviously not at his best any more but still fit and playing a fair bit I think, probably an improvement on Stevenson to be brutally honest who rarely seems to be trusted.

RoadRunnerR1 wrote: All good options and I know I'm repeating myself here but I think Thornbury is the pick of the bunch here if for no other reason but his height at 6'8". Cannon is the only senior lock we currently have at this height and we've all seen the difference it makes to the lineout when he's in the team. But apart from that Thornbury looks to be very mobile and athletic and I think he could be a major ball carrier which is something else we're currently in need of.

He's also young and has no real top level experience. Also players with that sort of physique tend to mature a lot later (see Devin Toner). I'd much rather see if bring in an experienced lock in his prime (28-33) than a lad with high potential, when we already have 3 major prospects in the academy. Dillane is still a child in 2nd row years as well.

On a side note, either we have some absolute monsters in the academy or the stats on the website are a bit off..