Connacht 2019/20/21

[cormac]

Greg McGrath is moving to Connacht according to Banjo Jackman on the 42.ie podcast

[sunshiner1]

by LeRouxIsPHat

Am I allowed to think that Cronin isn’t much of a loss for Munster but would still be a good signing for Connacht or Ulster?

I think so. Buckley is out for nearly 9 months, Duggan is young and the rest are injury prone. Bring him in for a season or two and see how much is left in the tank.

[dropkick]

Cillian Gallagher has announced his retirement from the pro game at 23 years old: https://www.connachtrugby.ie/cillian-ga ... er-injury/

He made his debut for Connacht 'A' back in November 2015 as an 18 year old, and played his first senior game for Connacht in the Challenge Cup in October 2017 as a 20 year old. In the interim he played in three U20s tournaments for Ireland, and started in the win over NZ U20 in the 2016 JWC.

This lad was one of the very best forwards that Connacht produced in the last decade, and it's a real pity to see him have to shut down his hopes in the game at such a young age.

Such a pity. He also captained Ireland u20 in 2017 after Jack Kelly got injured, before unfortunately getting injured himself if memory serves. He, Sean O'Brien, and Niall Murray are the three best indigenous Connacht forwards of the last 10 years imo. Now Gallagher is retired at 23, and O'Brien has played 3 games since 2018. Hopefully Murray has better luck.

Pity. Gallagher, Conan O'Donnell, Kerins and SOB came into the scene and looked like they had good futures in Connacht.

[sunshiner1]

by cormac

Greg McGrath is moving to Connacht according to Banjo Jackman on the 42.ie podcast

Hope he does alright. I suppose he's cheap anyway.

edit: Apparently he's in to replace Conor Kenny whose off to Newastle.

[mildlyinterested]

Nigel Carolan appointed as assistant coach focusing on attack with Glasgow.

[Xanthippe]

Connacht Rugby regret to announce that flanker Sean O’Brien has been advised to retire from rugby on medical grounds following a concussion injury.

A Galway native, O’Brien came through the Connacht Academy having represented Ireland at U18, U19 and U20 level. He was also named captain of the Ireland U20s for the 2014 Junior World Championships.

He made his pro Connacht debut away to Enisey-STM during the 2015/16 Challenge Cup, and came off the bench in the Guinness PRO12 Grand Final that same year. A first senior contract soon followed and in total he has made 60 appearances for his home province.

Sean O’Brien has released the following statement:

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Connacht Rugby for making a young boy’s dream come true. The memories and friendships made will last a lifetime.

I’d also like to thank all those in Wegians, Roscrea and Calasanctius who played their part in making it possible, and in particular my Dad Iain who coached me throughout my youth.

Not everyone gets a fairytale ending but I will never forget just how lucky I was to be a part of this club.

I am looking forward to cheering in the stands.

Sean”


https://www.connachtrugby.ie/sean-obri ... rom-rugby/

How incredibly sad - it’s always horrible when injury forces a player to retire early

[hugonaut]

Connacht Rugby regret to announce that flanker Sean O’Brien has been advised to retire from rugby on medical grounds following a concussion injury.

A Galway native, O’Brien came through the Connacht Academy having represented Ireland at U18, U19 and U20 level. He was also named captain of the Ireland U20s for the 2014 Junior World Championships.

He made his pro Connacht debut away to Enisey-STM during the 2015/16 Challenge Cup, and came off the bench in the Guinness PRO12 Grand Final that same year. A first senior contract soon followed and in total he has made 60 appearances for his home province.

Sean O’Brien has released the following statement:

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Connacht Rugby for making a young boy’s dream come true. The memories and friendships made will last a lifetime.

I’d also like to thank all those in Wegians, Roscrea and Calasanctius who played their part in making it possible, and in particular my Dad Iain who coached me throughout my youth.

Not everyone gets a fairytale ending but I will never forget just how lucky I was to be a part of this club.

I am looking forward to cheering in the stands.

Sean”


https://www.connachtrugby.ie/sean-obri ... rom-rugby/

How incredibly sad - it’s always horrible when injury forces a player to retire early

I feel very sorry for this lad – he's the real deal. He was an outstanding player, leader and captain of Roscrea and the Irish U19s and U20s and had a brilliant start to his professional career: 20 appearances for Connacht as a 20/21 year old in their Pro12-winning season [including playing the whole second half of the final] and a further 20 the following year.

I know somebody who was involved on the management side of the U20s the year SOB II was captain, and he spoke extremely highly of him as both a player and a captain – a man amongst boys. I always saw him as the guy who would fill Muldoon's boots in Connacht, the player they would build their pack around. He would have been a test blindside as well – a seriously strong man, and for anybody who remembers him as a schoolboy No8, a very good handler and reader of the game.

Very, very tough for him to have to call a close to his career at such a young age. Very tough for Connacht and Connacht fans too – himself and Gallagher were the two best forwards they have produced in a decade [or longer] and both had careers that were really badly damaged, and ultimately curtailed, by injury.

[scentofgunpowder]

I played with Sean underage, he was incredible from a young age, and captain from at least u10s on. Obviously continued in that vein with Roscrea and Irish underage teams, then broke into the Connacht first team and excelled at a very young age. Unfortunately from about 2017 on he was absolutely plagued by injuries. His ultra-abrasive style (even by blindside standards) likely played a part. So disappointed for him that his career has ended so early, genuinely thought he could be a test captain.

From a Connacht point of view, losing our two best forwards of the academy era to retirement in their early to mid twenties is absolutely crushing. With such a small player pool we are always going to struggle to produce powerful forwards, we really have to maximise what we do have. Add to them Peter Claffey, who while maybe a tier below was a real prospect, whose academy run was plagued by injury, and you have a really rotten run of luck. Hopefully Niall Murray, and this year's talented u20s (a potential golden generation), have a little more luck throughout their careers.

[mildlyinterested]

i thought this SOB was a good palyer but he was never going to captain ireland and would have struggled to get irish caps due to a lack of top end athleticism/power.. thought he'd captain connacht though and it's a massive shame he has had to retire.

[hugonaut]

i thought this SOB was a good palyer but he was never going to captain ireland and would have struggled to get irish caps due to a lack of top end athleticism/power.. thought he'd captain connacht though and it's a massive shame he has had to retire.

Difficult to say, Mildly. I was a real O'Brien fan. I think if things had gone his way he would have been challenging for the blindside slot. The guy was very, very strong. I saw him captain Ireland U19s against England U19s in Donnybrook [playing directly against Maro Itoje] in April 2013 and he really stood out.

What we saw of O'Brien, we saw as a very young player. He played 60 first class pro games for Connacht and 40 [22+18, 2080 mins] of those were as a 20-22 year old over a 20 month period, November 2015 to May 2017 ... the rest of them were scattered over four injury riddled seasons.

I remember Doris's 2018-19 season [11+4, 913 minutes], and he didn't dominate by any means. I distinctly remember wondering throughout that season why he was being given every chance at No8 while Max Deegan was being shunted around the backrow. Obviously the coaches saw something really special in him, because next season on he went up a gear very obviously and looked so much better.

And then you have Gavin Coombes, who played 456 minutes [3+12] in the equivalent seasons of his career [2018-19 and 2019-20]. I thought Coombes had the tools to be a good blindside for Munster, never saw a 15-try season at No8 coming for him this season.

[mildlyinterested]

He was strong but he wasn't particularly athletic or explosive/powerful. We will never know anyway, which is a shame.

[ronk]

Maybe the amount of rugby he played early worked against him.

[cormac]

Connacht v Ulster to be played in the Aviva on Oct 23rd. Day after all covid restrictions due to be lifted. 100% capacity allowed.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/united-rugby-c ... a-stadium/

[neill_m]

Connacht v Ulster to be played in the Aviva on Oct 23rd. Day after all covid restrictions due to be lifted. 100% capacity allowed.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/united-rugby-c ... a-stadium/

Not gone down well with the Connacht fans. Some people speculating that the 50% capacity restriction will be extended meaning only 4,000 in Galway v 25,000 in Dublin. If restrictions do end, you could get 8,000 in Galway but Connacht looking to get extra cash in the bank by taking it to Dublin.

[Laighin Break]

Connacht v Ulster to be played in the Aviva on Oct 23rd. Day after all covid restrictions due to be lifted. 100% capacity allowed.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/united-rugby-c ... a-stadium/

Not gone down well with the Connacht fans. Some people speculating that the 50% capacity restriction will be extended meaning only 4,000 in Galway v 25,000 in Dublin. If restrictions do end, you could get 8,000 in Galway but Connacht looking to get extra cash in the bank by taking it to Dublin.

Isn't this weekend's game at 75% capacity? Os is this still another 'trial'?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

But sure the whole point of it being moved is because there won’t be any restrictions so why would someone speculate that it could be 50% capacity? Nothing is absolutely certain these days but it seems highly probably that it’ll go ahead as planned at this stage.

Having an issue with a home game being moved is understandable though regardless of the financial need.

I see Prendergast is starting for them, looking forward to seeing more of him, he looks the business.

[The Doc]

Isn't this weekend's game at 75% capacity? Os is this still another 'trial'?

Yes it's up to 75% (though I doubt they sell that many tickets) and no it's not under "trial" conditions - it's the first of the next stage events I believe. I'd assume that if they knew it was going to switch to 75% they would have played it at the RDS

[cormac]

Connacht v Ulster to be played in the Aviva on Oct 23rd. Day after all covid restrictions due to be lifted. 100% capacity allowed.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/united-rugby-c ... a-stadium/

Not gone down well with the Connacht fans. Some people speculating that the 50% capacity restriction will be extended meaning only 4,000 in Galway v 25,000 in Dublin. If restrictions do end, you could get 8,000 in Galway but Connacht looking to get extra cash in the bank by taking it to Dublin.

Isn't this weekend's game at 75% capacity? Os is this still another 'trial'?

It's 75% for venues that are prepared to check vaccination/covid recovery status of attendees at the moment. 50% if not. Goes up to 100% from Oct 22nd.

[neill_m]

Connacht not doing COVID checks with early home games, so at 50% in Galway (4k). Connacht don't expect to make any extra cash from moving the game to Dublin, they seem to just want to give everyone access to tickets etc.

[deco]

Connacht not doing COVID checks with early home games, so at 50% in Galway (4k). Connacht don't expect to make any extra cash from moving the game to Dublin, they seem to just want to give everyone access to tickets etc.

An ironically Cromwellian choice, to hell or to Leinster ?