2nd Row going forward

[mildlyinterested]

Who is in negotiations? Leo, Dev or McBryde?

Dev.

Cool. With Fardy likely gone it'd be nice to have not only his ability but his experience.

He didn't rule out playing elsewhere, but didn't sound likely.

[mildlyinterested]

Losing Fardy and Toner in one season would be a lot to lose in one season. Especially with Baird spending more and more time with ireland.

[carlow man]

Ideally I would love us to sign thornbury. Hes 6"8 and over 120kg. Hes been the form lock in the pro 14 this year and has the potential to get better. Good age with lots of experience. Perfect time to bring him to hq.

[mildlyinterested]

Ideally I would love us to sign thornbury. Hes 6"8 and over 120kg. Hes been the form lock in the pro 14 this year and has the potential to get better. Good age with lots of experience. Perfect time to bring him to hq.

Yeah but can't see that happening.

Ideally Leinster would have signed him when he returned from NZ, in November 2016.

[ronk]

Ideally I would love us to sign thornbury. Hes 6"8 and over 120kg. Hes been the form lock in the pro 14 this year and has the potential to get better. Good age with lots of experience. Perfect time to bring him to hq.

Yeah but can't see that happening.

Ideally Leinster would have signed him when he returned from NZ, in November 2016.

That was a long time and a lot of development ago. We probably wouldn’t have given him the minutes anyway.

Even now, how high would he be up our depth chart?

[mildlyinterested]

Ideally I would love us to sign thornbury. Hes 6"8 and over 120kg. Hes been the form lock in the pro 14 this year and has the potential to get better. Good age with lots of experience. Perfect time to bring him to hq.

Yeah but can't see that happening.

Ideally Leinster would have signed him when he returned from NZ, in November 2016.

That was a long time and a lot of development ago. We probably wouldn’t have given him the minutes anyway.

Even now, how high would he be up our depth chart?

Yeah he was a project but he came back from NZ a much better player and he'd have been better off getting them minutes than Nagle or Mick K.

I'm not going to speculate.. but given his current form and size, id say quite high, primary backup TH lock at least.

Thornbury is a rare Irish athlete for his size, you'd hope if someone like him came through again he wouldn't need to leave to develop fully. Same goes for Mr. Beirne.

Ah well cudda wudda shudda..

[D4surfer]

Yeah but can't see that happening.

Ideally Leinster would have signed him when he returned from NZ, in November 2016.

That was a long time and a lot of development ago. We probably wouldn’t have given him the minutes anyway.

Even now, how high would he be up our depth chart?

Yeah he was a project but he came back from NZ a much better player and he'd have been better off getting them minutes than Nagle or Mick K.

I'm not going to speculate.. but given his current form and size, id say quite high, primary backup TH lock at least.

Thornbury is a rare Irish athlete for his size, you'd hope if someone like him came through again he wouldn't need to leave to develop fully. Same goes for Mr. Beirne.

Ah well cudda wudda shudda..

He'd need to get a haircut.

[mildlyinterested]

That was a long time and a lot of development ago. We probably wouldn’t have given him the minutes anyway.

Even now, how high would he be up our depth chart?

Yeah he was a project but he came back from NZ a much better player and he'd have been better off getting them minutes than Nagle or Mick K.

I'm not going to speculate.. but given his current form and size, id say quite high, primary backup TH lock at least.

Thornbury is a rare Irish athlete for his size, you'd hope if someone like him came through again he wouldn't need to leave to develop fully. Same goes for Mr. Beirne.

Ah well cudda wudda shudda..

He'd need to get a haircut.

Leinster rugby is a broad tent.

[Ruckedtobits]

Thornbury had chronic and unually knee problems throughout his time in Leinster Academy. His time in NZ helped overcome this injury, grow into his considerable frame and improve his fundamental rugby skills. He has benefited significanly in the last couple of seasons from the patient and expert coaching of Connacht Forwards Coach Jimmy Duffy - as have numerous others.

I would certainly hope he returns to Leinster in the future as a mature second-row who will play rugby till his mid-30's. Athletically, he has improved throughout his time in Connacht. Apart from his obvious line-out and block-down skills, he won two magnificent turnover penalties last week against Munster and that's no easy acheivement when you're 6'9". He has excellent hands and a range of passing / offloading which is unusual for a second row and, finally, the Connacht props have commented on the improvement in his scrum work over the past 12 months.

Thornbury should certainly be in the conversation about future Irish second-rows for the next 5 years and these will include: Ian Henderson, James Ryan, Quinn Roux, Ultan Dillane, Ryan Baird, Jack Duune, Tomas Ahern, Izzy and Thornbury, It may also include Tagdh Beirne, Fineen Wycherly, and Ross Malony although IMO none of them has a big enough frame to be long-term prospects at 4 or 5.

One of my big disappointments has been the inability of Ulster Academy to find more men of Henderson's stature. Treadwell was developed in England and all the key partners to Henderson in the past 7-10 years have been imports. Big men in Ulster sports have generally been located 'west of the Bann' which is not traditional rugby territory, but that's where it is most likely they'll find the next 6'8" plus athlete.

[mildlyinterested]

Thornbury had chronic and unually knee problems throughout his time in Leinster Academy. His time in NZ helped overcome this injury, grow into his considerable frame and improve his fundamental rugby skills. He has benefited significanly in the last couple of seasons from the patient and expert coaching of Connacht Forwards Coach Jimmy Duffy - as have numerous others.

I would certainly hope he returns to Leinster in the future as a mature second-row who will play rugby till his mid-30's. Athletically, he has improved throughout his time in Connacht. Apart from his obvious line-out and block-down skills, he won two magnificent turnover penalties last week against Munster and that's no easy acheivement when you're 6'9". He has excellent hands and a range of passing / offloading which is unusual for a second row and, finally, the Connacht props have commented on the improvement in his scrum work over the past 12 months.

Thornbury should certainly be in the conversation about future Irish second-rows for the next 5 years and these will include: Ian Henderson, James Ryan, Quinn Roux, Ultan Dillane, Ryan Baird, Jack Duune, Tomas Ahern, Izzy and Thornbury, It may also include Tagdh Beirne, Fineen Wycherly, and Ross Malony although IMO none of them has a big enough frame to be long-term prospects at 4 or 5.

One of my big disappointments has been the inability of Ulster Academy to find more men of Henderson's stature. Treadwell was developed in England and all the key partners to Henderson in the past 7-10 years have been imports. Big men in Ulster sports have generally been located 'west of the Bann' which is not traditional rugby territory, but that's where it is most likely they'll find the next 6'8" plus athlete.

Biggest complaint on Izzy with Leinster is that very thing.. non traditional, huge athlete... surely worth the risk given everything. Has much more upside than McCarthy looks to have just down to pure size/athleticism.

Hopefully Deeny returns from his ACL and brings some of that to the table.

[Oldschool]

That was a long time and a lot of development ago. We probably wouldn’t have given him the minutes anyway.

Even now, how high would he be up our depth chart?

Yeah he was a project but he came back from NZ a much better player and he'd have been better off getting them minutes than Nagle or Mick K.

I'm not going to speculate.. but given his current form and size, id say quite high, primary backup TH lock at least.

Thornbury is a rare Irish athlete for his size, you'd hope if someone like him came through again he wouldn't need to leave to develop fully. Same goes for Mr. Beirne.

Ah well cudda wudda shudda..

He'd need to get a haircut.

Nooooooooo.
He wouldn't be Glenn McGrath's doppelganger any more.

[mildlyinterested]

Unsurprisingly Thornbury announced to have renewed his contract with Connacht today, so maybe next year.

https://www.connachtrugby.ie/connacht-r ... 1-players/

[Dave Cahill]

Donnacha Ryan is leaving Racing, will he get his dream move to Leinster for a final year?

[D4surfer]

Donnacha Ryan is leaving Racing, will he get his dream move to Leinster for a final year?

I'd have him.

[Lock9541]

Donnacha Ryan is leaving Racing, will he get his dream move to Leinster for a final year?

We hardly need him do we?

[Oldschoolsocks]

Donnacha Ryan is leaving Racing, will he get his dream move to Leinster for a final year?

I'd have him.

In a heartbeat

[ronk]

We don’t need him if we’re keeping Toner and we can justify it if we aren’t extending him.

[hugonaut]

We don’t need him if we’re keeping Toner and we can justify it if we aren’t extending him.

Everyone likes Donnacha Ryan but he's 37 now, he'll turn 38 this year, he's only played 225 minutes [out of a possible 1520] for Racing this season and he's on a salary that almost certainly would cover the salary costs of all of Ross Molony, Ryan Baird, Jack Dunne, Charlie Ryan, Brian Deeny and Joe McCarthy.

[mildlyinterested]

Possible 2nd row options next season:

Devin Toner(35)
Ross Molony(27)
James Ryan(25)
Jack Dunne(22)
Ryan Baird(22)

Charlie Ryan(22)
Brian Deeny(21)
Joe McCarthy(20)

[Jcahill1]

Possible 2nd row options next season:

Devin Toner(35)
Ross Molony(27)
James Ryan(25)
Jack Dunne(22)
Ryan Baird(22)

Charlie Ryan(22)
Brian Deeny(21)
Joe McCarthy(20)

Big fan of all the second rows we'd have in the senior squad. Will be a position of real strength if Toner can stay on to coach Baird and Dunne through.