agreed ummm but what a difference a season makes! he was so comfortably no 1 sh last season that he took those liberties which was wrong of him. if he does get a contract he is now far from no1 in anyones estimation so there should be a better work ethic and attitude. afaik he is settled in galway and wont want to move so he has some selling to do!

My problem with Murph was he had some excellent performances last season, but usually when it was against big opposition. We can't afford to have guys who are 'big game' players and don't bring the same intensity to the less attractive fixtures, because there are more of that type of game in the season.

agreed, he is the standout in that list. obviously it wud be better to hold 1 of jarvis or nikora. fetu wud be great but if he has decided to leave then good luck to him. decision to be made re murphy. ive said it often enuf that stringer is a no brainer if he will come but murphy wud be 2nd choice if that didnt happen. i know he was lazy and disinterested for a lot of games last season but his starting spot is gone now and with walsh going well for eagles he will have to be on his game to even make bench. if he can motivate himself from his comfort zone hes still a very talented scrum half. id still prefer strings tho!

Still can't believe Brownie hasn't gotten a new contract yet.....

2016 - Clarke, Muldowney

2015 - White, Loughney, Wilkinson, Marmion, Poolman, Buckley, george, harris wright
2015 - mckeon, kearney, henshaw, carr, henry, Cooney,

2014 - Tonetti, O'Donohoe, Faloon, Parks, Duffy, McSharry, Griffin, O'Halloran, Muldoon Swift,
2014 - Ah You,

2013 - Gannon, Moore, Anderson, Brian Murphy, Reynecke, Flavin, Fifita, Browne, O'Connor, Vainikolo, Frank Murphy, Grace, Healy, Jarvis, Loxton, Nikora

Unknown - Nolan,

Its only a 1 year deal. The coaches must see something in him.
I hope they're proven right.

i think someone posted that its christmas when he becomes iq.
if the scrummaging trials are adapted it may suit rodney so he might not be the liability at scrum that he currently is. they appear to have a good chance of getting through. most scrum gurus appear to welcome them.

Ah You is IQ now right? So he doesn't take up a project slot anymore?

connachtexile wrote: Good post but the facts don't back it up.

Beg to differ.

Of the 30 man 2011 World Cup squad, 23 played for European clubs while 7 were playing for Pampas/in Argetina/were unsttached.

14 of the players that featured in the 2012 Autumn internationals fell into this category and 1 was playing Super rugby in SA. 5 of these have picked up contracts in France since, mostly of the short term variety; for instance Carizza siged for Racing for 6 months from December to May.

The only signings from the Pampas XV I'm aware of this year are:

Lobo to Montpellier
Senatore to Worcester
Aroaz to Glasgow (3 month injury cover)
Ascárate to Carcassonne (Pro D2)
Leonardi to Eastern Kings (Super XV)

I'd love to know what they see in Ah You. I cringe when I see him coming on

The big news that everyone has been waiting for

Ah You and Cooney commit future with Connacht

Connacht Rugby have strengthened their long term front row options with the news that props Rodney Ah You and JP Cooney have signed one and two-year contract extensions respectively. Both props can play on either side of the scrum giving the Connacht Rugby coaching team plenty of choices up front going forward.

Rodney Ah You joined Connacht in 2010, coming from Canterbury (NPC). Growing up in Christchurch and attending Christchurch Boys High, the former boxer only switched to playing rugby full time when he was Rodney Ah_You_resized16 years old. Five years later, he caught the attention of Head Coach Eric Elwood while playing for New Zealand’s juniors and soon made the move to the West of Ireland. Over the last three years Ah You has notched up 41 senior caps, whilst also contributing regularly to the Connacht Eagles.

The 24-year-old prop has been capped by the All Blacks at U-19 and U-20 level and was also a member of New Zealand’s winning Junior World Cup sides in both 2007 and 2008.

JP Cooney_resizedGarryowen’s Bateman Cup winning prop JP Cooney has also put pen to paper on a contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2015. Cooney joined the club last summer and has made a notable impression for the Connacht Eagles in the British & Irish Cup this season.

The 22-year-old from Tipperary earned his first cap for the province in December 2012 when he came off the bench against Michael Bradley’s side Edinburgh. A week later, he made his Heineken Cup debut during Connacht’s 22—14 Heineken Cup victory over French side Biarritz.

Connacht Rugby Assistant Coach Dan McFarland spoke about the recent signings:

“Rodney is a young prop with a lot of potential, who can play on both sides of the scrum. He offers size and power, which can be very effective at scrum time and provides big impacts around the park. He has shown good progress in his time in Ireland and we are hopeful that he will push on again in the coming year.”

“JP can also play on either side of the scrum and he has demonstrated to us in a short period of time that he has the potential, desire and an ability to learn. I am very much looking forward to working with him over the next two years.”

Connacht Rugby CEO, Tom Sears said:

“I’m very pleased that Rodney and JP have committed their immediate futures with Connacht Rugby. Both young props have displayed destructive scrummaging and ball-carrying skill this season and I’m looking forward to watching them develop even further with the province.

“Our squad retention programme for next season has gone very well. In the last few months, five of our props have signed contract extensions and this is an area in which we are now very strong going into next season. There are still a number of areas we are working on and, over the coming months, we hope to announce additional player recruitments as we seek to build the strongest squad possible.”

yes but their value has diminished since argentina joined the rugby championship.
its time that a common season for both hemispheres was adapted. AFAIK rugby league have one. Alternatively the argies will have to enter a couple of franchises in the s15.

Salmsom Wrote:

I see a lot of suggestions round signings of Argentine international players. You have to ask, if they're that good, and they are, why haven't we, or someone else, snapped them up....

When preseason kicks off in early/mid June, your new Argentine international will be with the Argetine national team for 3 matches against England and Georgia, finishing June 22. Then a month's holiday is the norm. This granted, is the same as for any Irish internationals you have.

End July, when you might expect your internationals to arrive, our Argentine friend goes into camp for the Rugby Championship, which kicks off mid-August.

He's the unavailable up til and including the first week of October, before hotfooting it over to Europe a couple of days before the first European game of the year a la Rua Pienaar.

3 weeks later it's off to the November internationals.

So you can see why the French clubs are divesting themselves of Argentine internationals. Equally you can see why no one else is really taking up the slack.

Good post but the facts don't back it up.

22 Pampas XV players were signed by professional clubs in 2011 & 2011. I don't know how many in 2012 but I could find out. Anyway here's the list.

2010 (10):

Miguel Avramovic (Agen)
Martín Bustos Moyano (Montpellier)
Agustín Creevy (Clermont)
Santiago Fernández (Montpellier)
Agustín Figuerola (Brive)
Mariano Galarza (Leinster)
Agustín Guzman (Rovigo)
Martín Rodríguez (Stade Français)
Horacio San Martín (Aironi)
Benjamín Urdapilleta (Harlequins)

2011 (11):

Belisario Agulla (Agen)
Maximiliano Bustos (Montpellier)
Matías Cortese (Gloucester)
Agustín Creevy (Montpellier)
Agustín Gosio (London Scottish)
Mauricio Guidone (Mont-de-Marsan)
Juan Imhoff (Racing-Métro)
Nicolás Sánchez (Bordeaux-Bègles)
Leonardo Senatore (Toulon)
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (Stade Français)
Joaquín Tuculet (Sale)

RogueXV wrote: McCrea had some decent appearances last season so when he didn't feature more I made the assumption, right or wrong, it was an attitude thing. I wonder if both McCrea and NOC were "suggested" by the IRFU and Eric wasn't thrilled to have them and they weren't thrilled to be at Connacht? I'd be surprised if he'd suddenly blossom upon leaving though it has happened, but not very often.

I can tell you from a good friend of NOC's that he was genuinely excited to be coming to Connacht and gave it everything. Whatever about questioning his ability, I wouldn't question his commitment. He doesn't regret the move.

He looked to have turned a corner at one stage but then had the injury that finished his season.

Best of luck to Mark McCrea in the future, didn't really work out unfortunately for whatever reason. Looked decent in his first home game but didn't impress on the other couple of games he got. Maybe we will regret it but I'd be surprised if we did.

Hopefully he'll do well at his new club. Think its a good deal for all parties, they are near the bottom of the championship and I'd imagine he'll add to their squad. Really he hadn't really much to gain from the next 3 months at Connacht anyway. Someone like TJ Anderson could benefit from a deal like this as well, a good run of games at a championship team has been a good shop window for players in the past.

I see a lot of suggestions round signings of Argentine international players. You have to ask, if they're that good, and they are, why haven't we, or someone else, snapped them up....

When preseason kicks off in early/mid June, your new Argentine international will be with the Argetine national team for 3 matches against England and Georgia, finishing June 22. Then a month's holiday is the norm. This granted, is the same as for any Irish internationals you have.

End July, when you might expect your internationals to arrive, our Argentine friend goes into camp for the Rugby Championship, which kicks off mid-August.

He's the unavailable up til and including the first week of October, before hotfooting it over to Europe a couple of days before the first European game of the year a la Rua Pienaar.

3 weeks later it's off to the November internationals.

So you can see why the French clubs are divesting themselves of Argentine internationals. Equally you can see why no one else is really taking up the slack.

If you get the equivalent NZ or Australian player (same for most SA players) that's it, no international commitments, he's yours.