Transfers for next season (including transfer rumours!)

GerM

bamboozle wrote: »

throw is Tom Croft & Courtney Lawes good players elevated to world class status by sky sports (who are sh1t but sky big up all the time), got great enjoyment out of Ulster match seeing Dan Touhy absolutely nailing Lawes not to mention seeing the pummeling Croft took at the hands of the Leinster back row.

Cannot agree with you on Lawes at all. Lawes is a million miles from being sh*t in my opinion. The guy is the modern lock and has it all. He's athletic, quick, good in the air and decent on the deck which he has no right to be given his size. If he adds a little more cleverness to his game he will be close to being a complete player. Sky like to build up the hype around players but he is one guy that is justifying it. He was fairly deserving of the man of the match award at the weekend his turnover late on and one or two covering tackles were superb as well as being excellent in the nuts and bolts of the game. He's a lock that can play like a good flanker which there are very few of. I would not be surprised to see himself and Richie Gray combining in Australia in 2 years. Reckon if injury doesn't rob him, he'll see the guts of 100 international caps.

The likes of Croft and Haskell are far more deserving of criticism although Croft has improved steadily to be thereabouts in terms of justifying his reputation. He was nowhere near as good as Sky made out a couple of years ago though and was correcly omitted from the original Lions touring party.

bamboozle

GerM wrote: »

Cannot agree with you on Lawes at all. Lawes is a million miles from being sh*t in my opinion. The guy is the modern lock and has it all. He's athletic, quick, good in the air and decent on the deck which he has no right to be given his size. If he adds a little more cleverness to his game he will be close to being a complete player. Sky like to build up the hype around players but he is one guy that is justifying it. He was fairly deserving of the man of the match award at the weekend his turnover late on and one or two covering tackles were superb as well as being excellent in the nuts and bolts of the game. He's a lock that can play like a good flanker which there are very few of. I would not be surprised to see himself and Richie Gray combining in Australia in 2 years. Reckon if injury doesn't rob him, he'll see the guts of 100 international caps.

The likes of Croft and Haskell are far more deserving of criticism although Croft has improved steadily to be thereabouts in terms of justifying his reputation. He was nowhere near as good as Sky made out a couple of years ago though and was correcly omitted from the original Lions touring party.

where did i say Lawes was sh1t? i said he was a good player elevated to world class by Sky sports hype.

edit, i see now where i said it, meant to have Hape and Banahan in the brackets as the sh1t players while Croft and Lawes are good players hyped up to world class by SS.

GerM

bamboozle wrote: »

edit, i see now where i said it, meant to have Hape and Banahan in the brackets as the sh1t players while Croft and Lawes are good players hyped up to world class by SS.

You're right. Hape is sh*t!

Sky Sports must be getting some commission from players' gents in fairness. The amount of times we've heard that Tom Croft (the most ordinary back rower to have ever gotten a Lions Jersey) is World Class, Haskell (A poor man's Dennis Leamy) being a potent attacking threat, Banahan (A headless and overly aggressive Shane Horgan) being a dangerman is comical at this stage.

In fact, it's players like Lawes that prove it so ridiculous, because when Sky actually finally get it right (even a blind squirrel can find a nut), nobody believes them!

JustinDee

Deleted User wrote: »

Sky Sports must be getting some commission from players' gents in fairness

They're players in a league heavily promoted by Sky Sports (Aviva Premiership), thats why. Look at the criticisms on Leinster from last weekend. All they moaned about was 'cheating'. Graeme Simmons' piece beforehand was hilariously cycloptic.

little173

bamboozle wrote: »

throw is Tom Croft & Courtney Lawes good players elevated to world class status by sky sports (also Hape & Banahan who are sh1t but sky big up all the time), got great enjoyment out of Ulster match seeing Dan Touhy absolutely nailing Lawes not to mention seeing the pummeling Croft took at the hands of the Leinster back row.

The squad Toulon are assembling is going to be comical next season, trying to keep all the players & squad morale happy will be the main issue.

Take the general point but Lawes completely outplayed Touhy in fairness.

sock puppet

Kiwi_knock wrote: »

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12334_6870352,00.html

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/rebels-sign-kurtley-beale-from-nsw-20110413-1ddv3.html

Kurtley Beale has signed for the Melbourne Rebels for the next Super Rugby campaign. It has to be one of the biggest surprises this year, really thought he would play a major part in the star studded back line of the Tahs next year. Will be a fantastic signing for the Rebels who are starting to look very promising. Always rumours that the Rebels are looking at James O'Connor as well, would be another top signing. I do think that with Beale and possibly O'Connor signing it will lead to Cipriani heading back to the NH most likely to France.

Great piece of business by the Rebels to get Beale.

James O'Connor's almost certainly going there too now according to the Super Rugby website.

Cpt_Blackbeard

Just as we're talking about England and I haven't seen this pop up here, so..

The RFU handed Cueto a 9week ban for the eye gouge below. Any coincidence that a starting England international got off so leniently? In time for the warm up matches too :mad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QYJII6Fh9s

wixfjord

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Just as we're talking about England and I haven't seen this pop up here, so..

The RFU handed Cueto a 9week ban for the eye gouge below. Any coincidence that a starting England international got off so leniently? In time for the warm up mathes too :mad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QYJII6Fh9s

That ain't a gouge imo.
Think the sentence is a little on the harsh side.

wixfjord

little173 wrote: »

Take the general point but Lawes completely outplayed Touhy in fairness.

Aye was epic. Great talent. He's one that Sky are right to hype tbf.

sock puppet

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Just as we're talking about England and I haven't seen this pop up here, so..

The RFU handed Cueto a 9week ban for the eye gouge below. Any coincidence that a starting England international got off so leniently? In time for the warm up matches too :mad:

Unlike the eh... no nonsense Magners League?

JustinDee

wixfjord wrote: »

That ain't a gouge imo.
Think the sentence is a little on the harsh side.

There's no such offence as a 'gouge'.
It is 'contact with the eye area' and it is judged on degree of intent, action and conduct history. This is what Cueto was done for.

bamboozle

little173 wrote: »

Take the general point but Lawes completely outplayed Touhy in fairness.

i'm sure Lawes did play well, Touhy still nailed him early on

wixfjord

JustinDee wrote: »

There's no such offence as a 'gouge'.
It is 'contact with the eye area' and it is judged on degree of intent, action and conduct history. This is what Cueto was done for.

Aye, I know that, which is why I said I thought the sentence was harsh.
More of a push away than anything overtly malicious. Also, has Cueto any history of this sort of thing?

Gracelessly Tom

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Just as we're talking about England and I haven't seen this pop up here, so..

The RFU handed Cueto a 9week ban for the eye gouge below. Any coincidence that a starting England international got off so leniently? In time for the warm up matches too :mad:

I think his light sentence is due to the fact that Christian Day (alleged gougee) wrote to the RFU panel and stated he was not gouged, it was merely a hand in his face pushing him away.

GerM

I think Cueto is very lucky to only get 9 weeks to be honest. Was completely unnecessary and he clearly and deliberately makes contact with the eye area. 12 weeks is the standard minimum ban. If that had been in the HEC he would be looking at about 12-16 weeks.

Gracelessly Tom

OT but Alan Lewis has announced he's retiring at the end of the year.

GerM

GerM wrote: »

I think Cueto is very lucky to only get 9 weeks to be honest. Was completely unnecessary and he clearly and deliberately makes contact with the eye area. 12 weeks is the standard minimum ban. If that had been in the HEC he would be looking at about 12-16 weeks.

This is so important. Players need to get away from this nonsense. The laws should be enforced so that players instinctively look to keep their hands away from others' faces, it's almost always a careless and reckless hand incident that players are getting in trouble for. Jennings, Quinlan, Neil Best in recent times are prime examples of this.

The minimum should be the minimum. Enforce it, and we will see less of these incidents imo.

CouchSmart

Until all bans are handed out independently this will continue to happen. Look at the (usual) consistency when the ERC are handing out bans.

GerM

Gracelessly Tom wrote: »

OT but Alan Lewis has announced he's retiring at the end of the year.

Shame. Good referee generally and a nice bloke. If we're being cynical, one would have to assume that repeated criticisms by the NZ coaches last year went a long way to ending his career. He didn't get any of the 6N games and was overlooked entirely for the WC. If Steve Walsh, who has verbally abused a player in a high profile game, can be accommodated I find it somewhat hard to not be cynical in relation to New Zealand's heavy influence on international refereeing appointments.

bamboozle

GerM wrote: »

Shame. Good referee generally and a nice bloke. If we're being cynical, one would have to assume that repeated criticisms by the NZ coaches last year went a long way to ending his career. He didn't get any of the 6N games and was overlooked entirely for the WC. If Steve Walsh, an alcoholic who has verbally abused a player in a high profile game, can be accommodated I find it somewhat hard to not be cynical in relation to New Zealand's heavy influence on international refereeing appointments.

Cross NZRFU at your peril...

didnt walshe get involved in a bit of argy bargy with an english physio or bagman a few seasons ago also, follow them down the tunnel at half time or something sinister

kevin99

Has Alan Lewis reached the age for retirement for international referees?
If not, has he said why he is retiring?
He was a good referee and a very nice guy too. I met him professionally and personally and he was always open, honest and decent.
I noticed he wasn't one of the ten referees appointed to the world cup panel and wondered why?
Neither did he officiate in the 6n.
Is Paddy O'Brien still in charge of referees?
Maybe Lewis's decision has something to do with him being ignored for the world cup and this year's 6 ns/

thomond2006

Steffon Armitage on a 2 year deal confirmed by RCT:
http://www.rctoulon.com/en/news/article/steffon-armitage-toulon/

sock puppet

GerM wrote: »

Shame. Good referee generally and a nice bloke. If we're being cynical, one would have to assume that repeated criticisms by the NZ coaches last year went a long way to ending his career. He didn't get any of the 6N games and was overlooked entirely for the WC. If Steve Walsh, an alcoholic who has verbally abused a player in a high profile game, can be accommodated I find it somewhat hard to not be cynical in relation to New Zealand's heavy influence on international refereeing appointments.

The NZRU have nothing to do with Steve Walsh any more. Your complaints are about 2 years old.

porterbelly

Paul O'Donoghue to Connacht

jolley123

porterbelly wrote: »

Paul O'Donoghue to Connacht

Scource?

jolley123

David Moore to Connacht, announce on the Connacht website.

If the POD signing is true, then that is quite confusing.

l3m0n5

thomond2006 wrote: »

Steffon Armitage on a 2 year deal confirmed by RCT:
http://www.rctoulon.com/en/news/article/steffon-armitage-toulon/

Toulon are going to need 2 or 3 buses for away games.

GerM

sock puppet wrote: »

The NZRU have nothing to do with Steve Walsh any more. Your complaints are about 2 years old.

I never mentioned it was anything to do with the NZRU.

The IRB Refereeing Panel carried any appointments or non-appointments as the case may be. They're headed by the Kiwi, Paddy O'Brien, a man who actually visited the New Zealand team previously to apologise for the performance of a referee who did not referee NZ favourably.

Jedwardian

jolley123 wrote: »

Scource?

The Paul O'Donohoe rumour originated on the PR forum. I suspect it's untrue now that Dave Moore has signed but you never know.

sock puppet

GerM wrote: »

I never mentioned it was anything to do with the NZRU.

The IRB Refereeing Panel carried any appointments or non-appointments as the case may be. They're headed by the Kiwi, Paddy O'Brien, a man who actually visited the New Zealand team previously to apologise for the performance of a referee who did not referee NZ favourably.

So New Zealand influence referee appointments but no one involved in New Zealand rugby has anything to do with it. Okay...

CIARAN_BOYLE

Jedwardian wrote: »

The Paul O'Donohoe rumour originated on the PR forum. I suspect it's untrue now that Dave Moore has signed but you never know.

He was looked at, enquiries were made and either he doesn't want to go west of Connacht decided to go after Moore. Not really sure which

GerM

sock puppet wrote: »

So New Zealand influence referee appointments but no one involved in New Zealand rugby has anything to do with it. Okay...

You obviously imply that I claimed Walsh is under the jurisdiction of the NZRU. I never mentioned that whatsoever and I'm not sure where you got that idea. What I did imply is that they influence the decisions of the IRB refereeing panel via POB.

sock puppet

GerM wrote: »

You obviously imply that I claimed Walsh is under the jurisdiction of the NZRU. I never mentioned that whatsoever and I'm not sure where you got that idea. What I did imply is that they influence the decisions of the IRB refereeing panel via POB.

Well then your comment makes no sense. If they wanted him to be a ref in the world cup so badly they wouldn't have dismissed him.

GerM

sock puppet wrote: »

Well then your comment makes no sense. If they wanted him to be a ref in the world cup so badly they wouldn't have dismissed him.

I've never mentioned that the NZRU want Walsh there. My points were in reference to Lewis and the IRB ditching him whilst they (the IRB) being happy to appoint a referee with such a poor record like Walsh. The NZRU influence was in relation to ensuring Lewis was not appointed, not that Walsh was appointed. I doubt the NZRU give a fiddlers about Walsh officiating at the WC given that they gave him so many chances and only dismissed him when he turned up to a referee's conference off his face drunk.

I can only assume you've misinterpreted my initial post completely.

I think I'll leave it there.

porterbelly

Jedwardian wrote: »

The Paul O'Donohoe rumour originated on the PR forum. I suspect it's untrue now that Dave Moore has signed but you never know.

I was told O'Donoghue by a mate who knows someone in the branch but he told me he made a mistake and meant Moore.

jolley123

porterbelly wrote: »

I was told O'Donoghue by a mate who knows someone in the branch but he told me he made a mistake and meant Moore.

Easy mistake seeing as they're both Leinster scrum-halfs.

I had no idea until now that Moore was playing for Harlequins. I wonder if Conor O'Shea decided on that. I know he said he'll be looking to attract Irish academy players to his team.

I'm happy for academy lads to go over to the premiership. Only four teams in Ireland so it's pretty cut-throat.

David900

Shane Geraghty to Brive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/15/shane-geraghty-steffon-armitage-france

Probably the right choice for him. Not too sure who is in front of him at Brive but he hasn't got a look in at Northampton. I think he is a far superior player to Meyler but maybe not a 10. His game management needs a bit of work but I think he is a bit like Ian Humphries - he is quite a skilful player and could be excellent in the right environment. He is probably glad he never declared for Ireland because he would probably be uncapped now if he had

GerM

David900 wrote: »

Shane Geraghty to Brive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/15/shane-geraghty-steffon-armitage-france

Probably the right choice for him. Not too sure who is in front of him at Brive but he hasn't got a look in at Northampton. I think he is a far superior player to Meyler but maybe not a 10. His game management needs a bit of work but I think he is a bit like Ian Humphries - he is quite a skilful player and could be excellent in the right environment. He is probably glad he never declared for Ireland because he would probably be uncapped now if he had

With the signing of Lamb, Geraghty really had no choice but to hit the road. It's a shame he ever declared for England. Don't blame him for it; they're his nation. But if he had stuck with Ireland he could be a fairly handy solution for Munster. Talented distributor who is comfortable at first centre. With some coaching and a good run of games he could have been a very useful player for them. Only ever got two starts for England.

David900

GerM wrote: »

With the signing of Lamb, Geraghty really had no choice but to hit the road. It's a shame he ever declared for England. Don't blame him for it; they're his nation. But if he had stuck with Ireland he could be a fairly handy solution for Munster. Talented distributor who is comfortable at first centre. With some coaching and a good run of games he could have been a very useful player for them. Only ever got two starts for England.

I completely forgot about Lamb heading there. Seems they must have given up on Geraghty so, seems a bit strange, Lamb is fairly shaky himself.

totallegend

The TG4 commentator is after saying that Regan King is going to Clermont next year. This was news to me; how many f**king players do they need? Hines, Lee Byrne, Skrela, Sivivatu already added to one of the deepest squads in Europe.

razorblunt

totallegend wrote: »

The TG4 commentator is after saying that Regan King is going to Clermont next year. This was news to me; how many f**king players do they need? Hines, Lee Byrne, Skrela, Sivivatu already added to one of the deepest squads in Europe.

Yeah someone posted that a few pages back he's va va vooming alright.

David900

Its confirmed Marty Holah will leave Ospreys at the end of the season to return to New Zealand. Although he is 34 now I think he definitely could have kept playing and will be a big blow to Ospreys IMO. Will be intersting to see how they fare next season.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_6882274,00.html

conf101

Yeah, they've lost a massive number of first choice players from this season. And even with those guys they've been very underwhelming this year. Next season will be very interesting for them. But you never know, a large change in personnel could be just what they need and could do wonders for them. I doubt it though.

profitius

conf101 wrote: »

Yeah, they've lost a massive number of first choice players from this season. And even with those guys they've been very underwhelming this year. Next season will be very interesting for them. But you never know, a large change in personnel could be just what they need and could do wonders for them. I doubt it though.

It'll take a few seasons for them to rebuild. They've a strong squad now with good young players coming through but they'll find it tough in the ML next season.

The money is drying up from Cuddy and so they'll have to sign a few smaller name signings during the summer. Along with the players leaving you have Shane Williams who is starting to slow down and I'd say Tommy Bowe is cursing his decision to sign a 3 year contract now especially seeing the Irish provinces going so well.

thomond2006

All Blacks and Blues hooker Keven Mealamu has committed his future to the New Zealand Rugby Union after agreeing a new deal which will take him through to 2013.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2011/0419/mealamuk.html

bamboozle

profitius wrote: »

It'll take a few seasons for them to rebuild. They've a strong squad now with good young players coming through but they'll find it tough in the ML next season.

The money is drying up from Cuddy and so they'll have to sign a few smaller name signings during the summer. Along with the players leaving you have Shane Williams who is starting to slow down and I'd say Tommy Bowe is cursing his decision to sign a 3 year contract now especially seeing the Irish provinces going so well.

if they let Mike Phillips leave mid contract maybe they'd also let Tommy move on....

cartoonninja

bamboozle wrote: »

if they let Mike Phillips leave mid contract maybe they'd also let Tommy move on....

would love to see him back in ireland

SomeFool

cartoonninja wrote: »

would love to see him back in ireland

... at Munster.....

SomeFool

SomeFool wrote: »

... at Munster.....

probably the best place for him. Howlett wont be around forever