The fact that McCartney has understudied to both Mealamu and Woodcock is pretty exciting

McCartney not playing tomorrow morning as Mealamu is in, but Aki named at 12 as usual so we can take a good look at him on Saturday.

I'm a bit lukewarm on this one for some reason. Maybe because the last gym 'freak' we had was Ezra Taylor and the last Super XV hooker was Reynecke (who I didn't rate that highly but at least he gave his all, unlike Taylor). Maybe because he seems to be regarded as 'a good guy to have in the dressing room', which isn't the strongest endorsement.

I agree with Daragh that we're in serious need of ball carriers in the pack and hooker is a good place to start. JHW and SH, while terrific at the basics, don't have the power or pace to trouble defenses with ball in hand, and aren't that proficient at competing at the breakdown. Jason in particular seems to get himself isolated a lot and gives away quite a few turnovers/penalties.

Hopefully my misgivings are misplaced and this guy is the real deal. I have faith in Pat's judgement. I agree with Culk about signing quality even if we miss out in the short term. Hopefully the hookers and McSharry will be spurred on to impress Pat before they arrive in November.

Listened to Second Captains which interviewed Bernard Jackman. Jackamn said that Aki is the best centre on the market this year and couldn't believe Connacht got him. Sounds good for us.

I'd rather sign quality and wait than sign lesser players and have them straight away. I agree it's not ideal but them's the breaks

“the coaching staff are excited about bringing in such an experienced hooker who has also proven skillful at Loosehead prop”

That gives me flashbacks of the great Frik Venter.

All messing aside, this looks like a good signing but only if there are signings in the pipeline for other key areas as other poster have outlined below.

Jason Harris-Wright has in general done well for us ,Sean Henry has shown some positive signs and Dave Heffernan probably isn't quite there yet but has made progress. However being honest we never replaced Sean Cronin with a quality replacement, but this looks like a step up in quality.

He isn't and shouldn't be here merely to cover two positions on the bench. Three years is a positive but looking solely towards next season that fact the two lads won't arrive from NZ until well into the season is a slight worry as we need to get ourselves established at least in and around mid-table if we hope to be in contention for a top 6 finish come the end of the season.

Darragh507 wrote: loughney would want to get the finger out, but not sure we are any worse off than say munster for props.

Get the finger out? You mean stop being injured? Very harsh criticism.

Seems a good signing. 31 isn't that old for a front row forward to break through into the Irish Team. Look at Lutton at Ulster who is only getting a senior contract now at 28. He should hopefully add some heft to our lightweight pack. It's tough on the other guys like JHW but we're paying the likes of Lam to be ruthless. I'm happy with the signing.

this is a great signing and being honest i'd like to see him at hooker.

no direspect to the guys there, but we badly need some grunt and carriers and he would be a better fit and leader at 2.

can nathan white play both sides? i thought he could. i still think we are therabouts for props. loughney would want to get the finger out, but not sure we are any worse off than say munster for props.

a big no 8 and a 10 now and i'd be really happy.

I don't think its that strange, we've lost two centres, three if you count so'oailo's utility cover, and signed one. That leaves plenty of room for young guys like Finn to come through next season.

Bristol have a new sugar daddy and could well be in the premiership next season, and even if they're not in the top flight they're a proven training ground for talented young players. Same with Worcester, both JOC and Annett will gain valuable game time in either the premiership or championship, competitions known for their forward play.
Irish fans sometimes see moves to the championship as a downgrade but if you're playing for the Eagles/Ravens/etc your main competition is the B&I cup which is mainly championship teams so it means you get more game time against the same calibre of opposition.


Connacht already have 3-4 academy/young hookers on the books, signing another just because they're Irish would have been the wrong decision, we needed to sign someone that could hit the ground running and create immediate impact. The fact that this guy McCartney can also prop is a huge bonus.

salmson wrote: Looks like the Indo will have to stop canvassing on behalf of Leinster.

"The bottom line is if we want to move players, it requires co-operation among a number of parties. It requires the co-operation of provinces, players and the union to get involved," Browne said.

"If a player is in-contract, he is in-contract. Unless there is an agreement reached with the various parties then the fact of the matter is, (it is) probably not (possible to engineer a move)."

www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/we-cant-f...browne-30193916.html

Glad that's properly put to bed, but does that effectively mean the IRFU are paying Nucifora big bucks to sit on his Swiss?

On the day of nuciferas announcement this signing does seem strange from an elite irish player development perspective. We have loose head jack o connell leaving leinster to join bristol and former u20s captain and hooker leaving ulster also for bristol i think. Add in griffin joining Li and it makes mccartney and akis signings strange and at odds with what nucifora and wigglesworths roles are supposed to be about.
Exciting times for connacht fans though although i agree that 10 is more of a priority.

Looks like the Indo will have to stop canvassing on behalf of Leinster.

"The bottom line is if we want to move players, it requires co-operation among a number of parties. It requires the co-operation of provinces, players and the union to get involved," Browne said.

"If a player is in-contract, he is in-contract. Unless there is an agreement reached with the various parties then the fact of the matter is, (it is) probably not (possible to engineer a move)."

www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/we-cant-f...browne-30193916.html

Glad that's properly put to bed, but does that effectively mean the IRFU are paying Nucifora big bucks to sit on his Swiss?

a bit worried he and Bundee won't arrive till november...
But now Props ok, Hooker Ok, centre ok, 2nd row ok if Clarke has really come back to trainning

We just need (by order of priority)

1 a flyhalf
2 a defense coach
3 a scrumhalf
4 a 6/8
5 if still money a polyvalent winger/fullback

clanman wrote:
On the other hand and slightly contradticting myself I would prefer if they didnt give these older guys 3 year contracts, does it say how long we've signed him for

3 year contract. At 28 he's hardly ready for the glue factory just yet

salmson wrote:

Craic Head wrote: Sounds like a fantastic signing. Right age and experience. A bit to old to become a project player but if they think that the chance of an AB cap is gone then why not come over here. Well done Pat, hopefully more to come.

Apologies in advance for the cynicism but: His fiance has an Irish grandparent; provided she gets an Irish passport, the second he marries her he's Irish qualified.

what harm, no worse than england and france bringing over these young samoans and naturalising them

As long as he's here for a couple of years, not like Michael Bent who got straight off the plane and put an Irish Jersey on.

On the other hand and slightly contradticting myself I would prefer if they didnt give these older guys 3 year contracts, does it say how long we've signed him for

Craic Head wrote: Sounds like a fantastic signing. Right age and experience. A bit to old to become a project player but if they think that the chance of an AB cap is gone then why not come over here. Well done Pat, hopefully more to come.

Apologies in advance for the cynicism but: His fiance has an Irish grandparent; provided she gets an Irish passport, the second he marries her he's Irish qualified.