It's a shame that Andress still is not back in Ireland. People on the boards here (and previously the ICRSC boards) have been looking at him for a move for years.

no irish interest expressed in him aparently apart from initial inquiry from munster.

ummm, wrote: Quick update: John Andress has just signed for Worcester

Dissapointing news that, unless he's guaranteed game time it could be another couple of years wasted. I can understand him wanting to go to bigger clubs, but it's games that he needs at 27 years of age. Props learn by playing not practising....

Quick update: John Andress has just signed for Worcester

Dose anyone know if Eamonn Sheridan is still injured? I just saw the Leinster team for this wknd and a young lad called O'Shea is at 12. Is he still out or has O'Shea just beaten him on form?

I see Bernard Jackman on twitter raising the Dan parks to Connacht rumour. If he does come at least we won't lose him to international duty.

i was looking on cardiff blues forum to see what they had to say about friday nights game and saw that they are releasing(prob) Ben Blair at the end of season. He is a good goalkicker who is predominantly a fulback but has also played wing. I know we speculate a lot about possible signings here but he could be a viable option.
He is 33 and returned to squad recently after a serious injury. He is a proven goalkicker also and they seem to be a lot sadder to see him going than Parks. What do ye think?

FACECUTTR wrote: Very true but not good for the young guys to get a run out.

The young guys get plenty of runs at Leinster during the course of the season, though, and they're up against stiffer competition. This looks like Munster will be seeking to emulate that.

With the succession plan in place the likes of the Laulala signing can only be a once off, so Munster will be forced to use him sparingly to make sure young talent gets game time.

FACECUTTR wrote: What TH would you like to see pack down in the Sportsground ummm ??

Well, I'm not greedy so any one of Tonga'uiha, Nicola Mas, Owen Franks or Carl Haymans would do me

if they get them all i think it wud go earls, downey, laulala, bowe and jones/dougie at fullback. mafi, zebo, murphy, barnes and hurley as backup with o dea, gleeson, hanrahan and scanlon backing up the back up. not bad.

Thats if they get them all.

Very true but not good for the young guys to get a run out.
What TH would you like to see pack down in the Sportsground ummm ??

It's all about depth, though. Great signing for them. Keep rotating, keep everyone fresh and less prone to injury.

Zebo & Bowe on the wings, Earls at 13 and Howlett at full back would be tasty.

Howlett will probably be phased out anyway, not helped by the succession plan.

2 powerful centres and a great winger.
Who would Munster leave out ??? Earls Mafi Howlett??
None of those guys any good to us as those positions are well filled.
Tighthead Stringer and teach Jarvis to kick or somebody else in the backline.

Speaking of signings, I heard on the radio during the week that Tommy Bowe's contract with the ospreys is worth 350K sterling a year. That's sureley the reason they are looking to let him go with over a year left on his contract, but it just shows what some of the other teams are capable of offering players. No wonder we stuggle to attract the top dogs.

for the record i wasnt suggesting ryan, or anyone, as starting th. i believe that loughney should be starting th and shud only be considered a th by us from now on. he has done very well and will only get better.
i was suggesting him as cover for lh as a replacement for ronan in that regard. young buckley wud then fill in as 3rd choice wit dylan and maguire 2nd and 3rd choice at th respectively.

Deasy would be interesting but wouldn't really be a fan of creating a spot in the team just for a goal kicker, most place I've seen him is full back and wouldn't have him ahead of Duffy, there is one spot available on the wing but not sold on that either, hasn't impressed me on the couple of occasions I've seen him at out half.

The Ryan fella was approached to join us last year if rumours are to be believed and turned it down. A good tight head is going to cost, no one is under any illusion there but its a necessity unfortunately. We already have Maguire as a project tight-head, we've seen the likes of Timmy Ryan and Dave Ryan at Munster who were highly regarded and came to nothing. We must must must spend the time and money getting this decision right.

swift in theory i agree wit u on prop issue but good tight heads are like hens teeth and cost big big money. botha is on 250k at munster. they tried to do it cheaper and ended up wit borlase. afoa is on similar at ulster. most starting ths in aviva and top 14 are on good money as well. i just dont think we have that spending power or profile to attract a good one. it wud be too much out of our budget.

i mention deasy because he can play anywhere from 10 to 15 and has been doing very well for munster a from the tee. some people here suggested that if kicking responsibilities were taken away from 10 we mite be ok in that department.

i accept that we already have players who can play fullback in squad. however i can only remember one game this season when duffy didnt play at 15 and toh started there that nite who started most other games on wing. that workload is just too much for players imo. Scanlon is very good and will end up in aviva soon. why not here.