salmson wrote: The 42 say Cheetahs no. 8 Jasper Wiese (6'3", 17.5 stone) is rumoured to be joining, www.the42.ie/connacht-rugby-3-5064891-Apr2020/

He's the one we need!
Great news when confirmed

Tom had a goodbye after 6 years post on Instagram and Findlay and Bucko both had posts wishing him well in the future straight after. Looked like he came to an agreement to end.

Also in the Examiner (John Fallon) which bizarrely lists Eoin McKeon (wrongly, I'm sure) as already retired.

Galway Bay FM is reporting that Tom McCartney has retired.

The 42 say Cheetahs no. 8 Jasper Wiese (6'3", 17.5 stone) is rumoured to be joining, www.the42.ie/connacht-rugby-3-5064891-Apr2020/

Disappointed to hear Darragh may be on his way. Only for injury this season at a very inopportune time I feel he could have made the No15 jersey his own.

Squad news is hardly the most important thing in the world today (even less so than usual) but in regards to next year's squad it very much looks like Darragh Leader is leaving... The individual has 90+ Pro14/ European Cup appearances plus spent time with the Irish senior team.

Interesting interview with Andy here!

leadersinsport.com/performance/leaders-p...&utm_content=Podcast

Connacht Rugby are delighted to announce that scrum-half Caolin Blade and winger Matt Healy have both signed two-year contract extensions that will keep them at the Sportsground until the end of the 2021/22 season.

Connacht native Caolin Blade came through the club structures in the province, playing for his local club Monivea RFC and from there went on to join the Connacht Academy. The 25-year-old has now made 109 appearances in the Connacht jersey and is one of only two Connacht players to feature in all 17 of the province’s games so far this season.

Winger Matt Healy is Connacht’s record try scorer with a total of 55 in 136 appearances across the Guinness PRO14 and European competitions. Healy joined Connacht from Lansdowne RFC in 2012 and went on to win a PRO12 medal with Connacht in 2016. He made his international debut during the summer tour of South Africa in the same year.

Connacht have announced contract extensions for five of their squad ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Centres Tom Daly and Peter Robb are among the quintet alongside hooker Shane Delahunt and props Dominic Robertson-McCoy and Conor Kenny.

Injury update from the times:

Among those issues was a lengthy injury list and several players are still out of action, including Tom Farrell (shoulder surgery), Stephen Fitzgerald (knee), Peter McCabe (ankle), Tom McCartney (hip), Sean O’Brien (foot), Quinn Roux (hand), and longer term injuries to Darragh Leader, Matt Burke and Cillian Gallagher.

Some key players there. What's the story with Darragh? I thought his injury was relatively minor. And is SOB really out with a foot injury?

I'd imagine he's on his way to be honest.
Gerry Flannery spoke about him on house of rugby a few months back and said he was the best athlete in Irish rugby, which meant on his day he was unbelievable but he didn't have the mentality to sustain that consistently so less talented players would overtake him.
After that I started listening to what Friendy says about him and it's always guarded: "that's what Robyn can do", "he's got that in his locker", "great to see him stepping up like a senior player should", "he had that performance coming" which is very much at odds with how he speaks about other player's, i.e. Fitzgerald; "an outstanding young man who really puts in the work in training and it's paying off".

At his best he walks into our team but we're not the sort of team that can wait on a luxury like that, which is a pity as he seems a sound man.

It's too lightweight. The only real 8 we have is Copeland and we have not had him on the pitch anywhere near enough since he signed due to injury or whatever.
Actually will he be another on the way out too or will he get another deal ?

Going to be a loss, been a great player for us but can't say fairer than a guy coming in and giving his all.
Hope he does well, but I'd worry about France a bit. He's an excellent and aggressive player but he's small and they like their players big in France.

We'll struggle to get someone of equal quality in to replace him, so I'd hope we look at a different type of player as I'm not sure the balance of our backrow is right.

Well it's official Colby leaving at the end of the season
www.the42.ie/c...nse-5003719-Feb2020/

RonanL wrote: If the IRFU are serious about Connacht Rugby, they'll get Nakarawa to plug the second row gap

I agree with you but by the same rationale, The Beast, Tendai Mtawarira probably wouldn't have take too much persuasion to plug the gap at loosehead at least for a few months in the EPRC. The Problem is we think too small. If ya don't ask...........