Connacht 2021/22

[ronk]

I wonder if this is the reduced number of games. Connacht have 5 locks and Darragh Murray in year 2 academy.

Total squad size is 44. Losing someone like Dillane might let them hold 2 players further down the food chain.

[dropkick]

I'd expect Dillane to France but a possibility is Munster.

Dillane is going to La Rochelle on a three year contract. La Rochelle have confirmed it.

From the Examiner

"A well placed source tells me Tom Daly could be on his way south from Connacht to replace Damian de Allende, who is expected to be on his way next summer. Daly is an excellent player who has had a new lease of life at Connacht but objectively speaking, it’s fair to say he’s not in the same category as de Allende just yet."

Makes sense apparently DDA might be going to Bath. Sorry to lose Daly and not sure how good a move it is for him but ce la vie. Apparently Connacht have a strong belief in Jennings the U20 star to take a step up, otherwise I am assuming they will go after a fringe Leinster player.

Forde looks a good prospect too and Daly is injury prone.

[betty swallocks]

I'd expect Dillane to France but a possibility is Munster.

Dillane is going to La Rochelle on a three year contract. La Rochelle have confirmed it.

From the Examiner

"A well placed source tells me Tom Daly could be on his way south from Connacht to replace Damian de Allende, who is expected to be on his way next summer. Daly is an excellent player who has had a new lease of life at Connacht but objectively speaking, it’s fair to say he’s not in the same category as de Allende just yet."

Makes sense apparently DDA might be going to Bath. Sorry to lose Daly and not sure how good a move it is for him but ce la vie. Apparently Connacht have a strong belief in Jennings the U20 star to take a step up, otherwise I am assuming they will go after a fringe Leinster player.

Forde looks a good prospect too and Daly is injury prone.

I would imagine negotiating a swop of Flannery at 10 or one of O'Sullivan, Hodnett, or Kendellen from the back row for Daly to move South would be the Connacht M.O here.

[dropkick]

Dillane is going to La Rochelle on a three year contract. La Rochelle have confirmed it.

From the Examiner

"A well placed source tells me Tom Daly could be on his way south from Connacht to replace Damian de Allende, who is expected to be on his way next summer. Daly is an excellent player who has had a new lease of life at Connacht but objectively speaking, it’s fair to say he’s not in the same category as de Allende just yet."

Makes sense apparently DDA might be going to Bath. Sorry to lose Daly and not sure how good a move it is for him but ce la vie. Apparently Connacht have a strong belief in Jennings the U20 star to take a step up, otherwise I am assuming they will go after a fringe Leinster player.

Forde looks a good prospect too and Daly is injury prone.

I would imagine negotiating a swop of Flannery at 10 or one of O'Sullivan, Hodnett, or Kendellen from the back row for Daly to move South would be the Connacht M.O here.

Flannery would be a good signing for them. I'd like him to stay but no point stockpiling players. I don't think Hodnett or Kendellen will be going anywhere. JOS could be a possibility as the Connacht style might get the best out of him.

[scentofgunpowder]

Damn, this old feeling again. It feels like since losing Henshaw, MacGinty, and Muldowney in 2016, we have managed to stem the tide in recent times. Quinn Roux was a big loss on paper, but one mitigated by the fact that he had only managed 27 appearances in his previous three seasons. Dillane is a big loss. He's a popular international who came through our academy and contributed hugely to our best ever season as a 22/23 year old. Obviously it's a disappointment to put 120 caps into a player and then lose them just as they are coming into their theoretical prime, but I'm very happy for him to get paid good money to play for an exciting team in a beautiful city.

Obviously he made his name on the back of some huge carries, but I think as he became a "marked man" his carrying became less effective and he had to adapt his game. He runs very upright and has great upper body strength, so I think defenders learned not to try engage at chest height and it became difficult for him to make busts like the one against England. Over time I think he has become an excellent line-out jumper and extremely hard working and powerful defender. He really does work his socks off week in, week out.

Connacht have quietly built the best depth we have ever had, IMO. This time last year we had three international quality locks, next season it looks like we will have just one, who has been injured for a long time now. Oisin Dowling has been excellent since recovering from injury, think he could be a very good URC/Euro level guy, without looking like a potential international. I do think Niall Murray could play international rugby some day, but he is still very young, and needs patience. Fifita has been just ok thus far. Darragh Murray remains an unknown quantity after being ruled out of the u20 6N through injury.

It will be interesting to see how we replace him. I would love to see us go after Jack Dunne. I think the pitch would be quite simple - look at Gavin Thornbury's progression since leaving Leinster. I would also like us to upgrade upon Fifita, but that will be difficult. Tighthead locks could be the most valuable currency in the game currently, if a Willemse/Skelton type was to become available I would expect half the clubs in Europe to be in for him.

[hugonaut]

Sounds like a great deal for Dillane. Great place to live and presumably a good contract. I'd love more players to do this once their international career stalls.

I don't get that.

Why would you not rather he stays in Connacht? He's the fifth choice lock in Ireland at the moment and a really important player for his province. One injury to a lock [and Henderson is injured at the moment] and he's back in the international mix. Instead Ireland are losing a 28 year old player in his second row prime, and Connacht have lost both their first choice locks in consecutive seasons. That is massively damaging to the province.

No doubt that La Rochelle is a good place to land, and I certainly don't begrudge Dillane a rise and a good payday, but I wish he was getting it in Connacht. I understand that the IRFU funds are tight and that a fringe international isn't a chief concern, but Connacht aren't the province who have owed the IRFU millions of euro for well over a decade and who have had their debt restructured three times because they couldn't meet their repayment schedules. Connacht are doing comparatively a lot more with a lot less for Irish rugby than Munster are.

The IRFU might have had to pay Dillane more than they wanted to as a guy who's not in Irish matchday squads, but the province have already lost Quinn Roux to France, and now they have lost their other test second row. They're f*cked next season. His importance to Connacht was immense, and it sort of looks like the union don't get that. The two best young forwards the province have produced from Connacht stock [SOB II and Gallagher] in the last decade had to retire before they could get their careers going and now they're lost a fella who has been a figurehead for them. Really disappointing.

[berliner]

Fixed provincial narratives: Munster merit the resources to get silverware, Connacht can polish the brass in the toilets. One can argue about Roux's merits, but that he was let go for financial reasons while the IRFU kicked in to bring Zebo back was paradigmatic.

[munster#1]

Fixed provincial narratives: Munster merit the resources to get silverware, Connacht can polish the brass in the toilets. One can argue about Roux's merits, but that he was let go for financial reasons while the IRFU kicked in to bring Zebo back was paradigmatic.

How does a Kerry man leaving Connacht end up in an attack on Munster?

Wish the lad well and thank him for his services to his adopted province and his country.

[fourthirtythree]

I dunno. A Leinster man leaving Connacht for Leinster certainly provoked a huge amount of anger and bile.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Fixed provincial narratives: Munster merit the resources to get silverware, Connacht can polish the brass in the toilets. One can argue about Roux's merits, but that he was let go for financial reasons while the IRFU kicked in to bring Zebo back was paradigmatic.

How does a Kerry man leaving Connacht end up in an attack on Munster?

Wish the lad well and thank him for his services to his adopted province and his country.

you certainly read the with a particular slant

[hugonaut]

Fixed provincial narratives: Munster merit the resources to get silverware, Connacht can polish the brass in the toilets. One can argue about Roux's merits, but that he was let go for financial reasons while the IRFU kicked in to bring Zebo back was paradigmatic.

Well said. Connacht have four players in the current Irish squad [source: https://www.irishrugby.ie/ireland/men/team/ ]. Losing one of them is a very significant blow to the playing resources of the team, and also to the idea that the province is valued by the union, who won't pay for them to keep their best players.

As said previously, they lost an international second row last year in Quinn Roux, who played eight games for Ireland in 2019 and 2020 and started four of them. Losing another Irish international from the same unit is a massive hit – it's compounded damage.

[berliner]

Fixed provincial narratives: Munster merit the resources to get silverware, Connacht can polish the brass in the toilets. One can argue about Roux's merits, but that he was let go for financial reasons while the IRFU kicked in to bring Zebo back was paradigmatic.

How does a Kerry man leaving Connacht end up in an attack on Munster?

Wish the lad well and thank him for his services to his adopted province and his country.

We don't need to descend into the mud here. That was not an attack on Munster but a factual observation on the allocation of resources, as crystalised in the contrasting approach to the Roux and Zebo negotiations (I have no problem with Zebo returning to Munster per se).

As regards Ultan, I didn't even mention him. But there's no outrage on my part at his leaving for France, just disappointment, and I do wish him well. He has made an enormous contribution over nearly a decade at Connacht, and his presence at La Rochelle is reason for me to follow their fortunes and cheer them on.

What relevance is it that Ultan grew up in Kerry, when he went through the Connacht academy?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Sounds like a great deal for Dillane. Great place to live and presumably a good contract. I'd love more players to do this once their international career stalls.

I don't get that.

Why would you not rather he stays in Connacht? He's the fifth choice lock in Ireland at the moment and a really important player for his province. One injury to a lock [and Henderson is injured at the moment] and he's back in the international mix. Instead Ireland are losing a 28 year old player in his second row prime, and Connacht have lost both their first choice locks in consecutive seasons. That is massively damaging to the province.

I think you’ve overestimated how much thought I put into that comment. I just think it’s a cool opportunity and glad he took it.

I know he’s close to the Ireland squad but not sure how much value he’s adding tbh so think we’ll cope there, especially in the medium and long term. If Ross Molony ends up having to bench in the 6N then personally I won’t see that as a huge drop off. Connacht will have to replace him alright but not sure why that’s a big deal for a pro rugby team. Looking at the table I’m not sure why he’s such a loss? Were they going to become a top team because of him? No. Will they drop down to the lower end without him? No.

I don’t mean to be disrespectful when I say that. He’s an important player for them but wouldn’t exactly say he carries the pack and is irreplaceable.

[paddyor]

Listening to the eggchasers podcast and they did a segment on the GP salary cap going to 5m and 1 Marquee. The consensus over there seems to be they're moving from a standard bellcurve distribution of wages to a heavily left sided one with a long tail. Lots of guys on 50-100k and a handful on a big six figures. Which got me thinking that with the new JIFF rules in France there might not be as abundant opportunity overseas as there was in previous years. Exeter have lost Sam Skinner to Edinburgh and Johnny Hill is off to Sale(letting go of Lood de Jager). Rumour is Hogg is off at the end of his contract too as he can't be counted as a Marquee anymore.

Ever-tightening JIFF quota rules are increasingly squeezing squad places. Nevermind the average requirement of 16 JIFF-qualified players in every matchday squad, from next season, a maximum of 14 non-JIFF players, including any player who signs on a short-term ‘medical joker’ contract, will be permitted in the overall squads of established Top 14 sides.

The premium – for better or worse – is now on JIFF-qualified players. Ones who’ll keep the matchday averages up and avoid end-of-season points deductions. Those overseas players who do head to France will either be megastars on mega salaries, or up-and-coming talents on relatively small deals.

That's from the rugbypaper last year and from what I gather from Journos on twitter they're taking it very seriously. Anyway point is it could be a last chance for a fringe international like him to get a big payout like that.

[sunshiner1]

by ronk

I wonder if this is the reduced number of games. Connacht have 5 locks and Darragh Murray in year 2 academy.

Total squad size is 44. Losing someone like Dillane might let them hold 2 players further down the food chain.

Supposedly a lot of contracts been offered are one year contracts which isn't unusual right now. Can't blame players going so they have job security. Dillane would be a top earner at Connacht so doubtful Connacht could have offered him a great contract. Unfortunate all round.

[berliner]

Big question now is what happens with Bealham, he also signed a one year extension last spring. Not sure about Heffernan.

[sunshiner1]

by berliner

Big question now is what happens with Bealham, he also signed a one year extension last spring. Not sure about Heffernan.

They need to sign them both. They have to stop the bleeding somewhere.

[dropkick]

Listening to the eggchasers podcast and they did a segment on the GP salary cap going to 5m and 1 Marquee. The consensus over there seems to be they're moving from a standard bellcurve distribution of wages to a heavily left sided one with a long tail. Lots of guys on 50-100k and a handful on a big six figures. Which got me thinking that with the new JIFF rules in France there might not be as abundant opportunity overseas as there was in previous years. Exeter have lost Sam Skinner to Edinburgh and Johnny Hill is off to Sale(letting go of Lood de Jager). Rumour is Hogg is off at the end of his contract too as he can't be counted as a Marquee anymore.

Ever-tightening JIFF quota rules are increasingly squeezing squad places. Nevermind the average requirement of 16 JIFF-qualified players in every matchday squad, from next season, a maximum of 14 non-JIFF players, including any player who signs on a short-term ‘medical joker’ contract, will be permitted in the overall squads of established Top 14 sides.

The premium – for better or worse – is now on JIFF-qualified players. Ones who’ll keep the matchday averages up and avoid end-of-season points deductions. Those overseas players who do head to France will either be megastars on mega salaries, or up-and-coming talents on relatively small deals.

That's from the rugbypaper last year and from what I gather from Journos on twitter they're taking it very seriously. Anyway point is it could be a last chance for a fringe international like him to get a big payout like that.

The premiership cap reduction us good for Irish rugby. In a way we're protected from the Top 14 by being wealthier (average player wages) than other countries in general. So they will first go to the pacific islands, then SA, then Australia, NZ etc. We're a bit down that list.


Now we have the likes of Sam Skinner signing for Edinburgh. They're building a good squad and might be able to start holding onto players now.


I think we could see many players switching provinces this summer. There has always been some but we might see more than usual and it won't be Nucifora's doing. It will simply come down to supply and demand. Not just about money but players looking for game time.


I think there will be a reduction of most squad sizes and a reduction of the average player wage. The pressure coming from abroad is less now. There will be a few who decides to leave but the IRFU will weigh up who is leaving by the potential savings by reducing wages and I think they won't mind a few players leaving.


Connacht are also rebuilding the Sportsground so their budget is tighter by their own design. Friend is doing a great job there and maybe they have an IQ lock lined up.

[Ruckedtobits]

Strongly suspect that Dillane's French birthplace was a significant element in the latest recruitment by La Rochelle. By my reading of the Top14 eligibility regulations for next season, he counts as a French man and doesn't impinge of their overseas contracting quotient.

A valuable attribute for an Irish international.

[fourthirtythree]

Zebo must be kicking himself.