Transfers for next season (including transfer rumours!)

Hype710

Deleted User wrote: »

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

Neither will Horgan

porterbelly

Hype710 wrote: »

Neither will Horgan

Fionn Carr is signing. Don't be greedy

thomond2006

Willie Mason rumoured to be making a code switch to join.........












you guessed it, Toulon!!!

bamboozle

Indo saying today Paul O'Donoghue off to Connacht.

thomond2006

bamboozle wrote: »

Indo saying today Paul O'Donoghue off to Connacht.

Can't see it happening unless another scrum half leaves Connacht. What's Cillian Willis' contract situation?

PhatPiggins

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.

There's serious talks about abandoning the regional system in Wales and going back to a 10 team Welsh Premeirship. There may be no Ospreys in the near future. Not sure what that'll mean for their participation in the ML. They were supposed to vote on it some time soon, I'll see if I can dig up the details.

AdeT

thomond2006 wrote: »

Willie Mason rumoured to be making a code switch to join.........












you guessed it, Toulon!!!

Just heard that - if it happens it will be the most bizarre signing i've ever seen.

porterbelly

thomond2006 wrote: »

Can't see it happening unless another scrum half leaves Connacht. What's Cillian Willis' contract situation?

Not signed yet but we have Mark Dolan, Irish u20 scrum hlf coming through as well. I wonder does Farrellyknow we've signed Dave Moore from Quins. If not and he's come up with that rumour then he's a bigger tit than I give him credit for

thomond2006

AdeT wrote: »

Just heard that - if it happens it will be the most bizarre signing i've ever seen.

Not really, a few weeks ago Toulon signed a French Olympian who competed at judo!

GerM

thomond2006 wrote: »

Not really, a few weeks ago Toulon signed a French Olympian who competed at judo!

Check the date that story was released by Touloun, Thomond.

Poisson d'Avril.

Hyperbullet

News just in: Ruggiebear and Toomevara have just signed for Toulon.

ongarite

bamboozle wrote: »

Indo saying today Paul O'Donoghue off to Connacht.

It's been confirmed on the IRFU website this morning.
http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/22983.php

BoarHunter

a few signing confirmed this morning for Toulouse :

Burgess, Mc Alister, Steenkamp, Matanvou and Beauxis

ormond lad

BoarHunter wrote: »

a few signing confirmed this morning for Toulouse :

Burgess, Mc Alister, Steenkamp, Matanvou and Beauxis

Link????
Toulouses website confirmation http://www.stadetoulousain.fr/Communique_du_club-49-2861.html

PhatPiggins

Dan Carter to Racing on a 3 year deal by all accounts

TheJims

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Dan Carter to Racing on a 3 year deal by all accounts

NZ Herald Link speculation

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10720600

profitius

PhatPiggins wrote: »

There's serious talks about abandoning the regional system in Wales and going back to a 10 team Welsh Premeirship. There may be no Ospreys in the near future. Not sure what that'll mean for their participation in the ML. They were supposed to vote on it some time soon, I'll see if I can dig up the details.

I can't see them doing it because all their top players will leave Wales then.

The regions are growing slowly all the time and attracting a new generation of younger fans. They're only about a decade old at this point so it'll take time for them.

There does seem to be extreme negativity in Wales (not all fans but a large section) regarding the regions and Welsh rugby in general. They're so negative its actually having a bad effect on attendances etc. They blame the ML for everything instead of looking closely at themselves.

PhatPiggins

profitius wrote: »

I can't see them doing it because all their top players will leave Wales then.

The regions are growing slowly all the time and attracting a new generation of younger fans. They're only about a decade old at this point so it'll take time for them.

There does seem to be extreme negativity in Wales (not all fans but a large section) regarding the regions and Welsh rugby in general. They're so negative its actually having a bad effect on attendances etc. They blame the ML for everything instead of looking closely at themselves.

Very well put, but they're already losing a lot of their top guys with more to go from Cardiff by all accounts.

I know we've covered this before but are the regions growing? The attendences at the bigger club games are on par with average attendences at the Scarlets and the O's.

Podge_irl

Welsh rugby isn't going back to the clubs. All they'd need to do is look at the results of the HEC and CL from when they were in it to put a stop to it.

durkadurka

Hyperbullet wrote: »

News just in: Ruggiebear and Toomevara have just signed for Toulon.

They'll be needed to stop Henson taunting johnny

profitius

profitius wrote: »

There does seem to be extreme negativity in Wales (not all fans but a large section) regarding the regions and Welsh rugby in general. They're so negative its actually having a bad effect on attendances etc. They blame the ML for everything instead of looking closely at themselves.

I came accross this tonight. Look at some of the comments below. Once again the Welsh are blaming the ML for their problems and they firmly believe they've world class players. :rolleyes:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2011/04/17/barry-john-players-on-the-move-is-a-warning-for-us-all-91466-28532908/

durkadurka

One poster said this:

Henson with help from players like Wilkinson to focus his rugby will be re born.

D'oh.

How come the quality of the magners doesn't affect Irish teams performance?
Lack of central contracts might be a bigger problem

Leroy Lita

Munster sure are taking there time in signing players.

profitius

durkadurka wrote: »

How come the quality of the magners doesn't affect Irish teams performance?
Lack of central contracts might be a bigger problem

The ML isn't competitive enough for them but yet they've one team in the top 4. Its competitive enough for the Irish teams who do well in Europe. They're not being honest with themselves.

PhatPiggins

profitius wrote: »

I came accross this tonight. Look at some of the comments below. Once again the Welsh are blaming the ML for their problems and they firmly believe they've world class players. :rolleyes:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2011/04/17/barry-john-players-on-the-move-is-a-warning-for-us-all-91466-28532908/

The Welsh and common sense aren't good bed fellows when it comes to all things rugby.

It's all the ML's fault!! Are you joking, they seem to forget how cat the majority of their teams where before it existed. What's the alternative scenario, a combined league with England? That'll never happen.

As always the problem with Welsh rugby is they have ridiculous expectations from their teams. Look at the team sheets of the 4 regions
Cardiff, might have made the HC knock outs but are where they should be in the league.
Scarlets, lots of history but only 5 good players
Dragons, punching above their weight
Ospreys, big disappointment but look at the player & management structures they've put in place :pac:

Time to get real

Kiwi_knock

Brad Thorn heading to Japan after RWC

http://www.superxv.com/news/super15_rugby_news.asp?id=29892

theboss80

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Dan Carter to Racing on a 3 year deal by all accounts

TheJims wrote: »

NZ Herald Link speculation

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10720600

3 Year deal worth 4.5m but is currently assessing his options and will make decision soonish according to his agent.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2011/0421/carterd.html

Amazotheamazing

PhatPiggins wrote: »

The Welsh and common sense aren't good bed fellows when it comes to all things rugby.

It's all the ML's fault!! Are you joking, they seem to forget how cat the majority of their teams where before it existed. What's the alternative scenario, a combined league with England? That'll never happen.

As always the problem with Welsh rugby is they have ridiculous expectations from their teams. Look at the team sheets of the 4 regions
Cardiff, might have made the HC knock outs but are where they should be in the league.
Scarlets, lots of history but only 5 good players
Dragons, punching above their weight
Ospreys, big disappointment but look at the player & management structures they've put in place :pac:

Time to get real

They actually raise a fair question, if the Scots teams are useless and the Welsh teams are useless, is the league actually much use?

The Welsh public haven't gotten behind the teams, the Scots public haven't gotten behind the teams, who are we to tell them they are wrong for not supporting poor teams?

It's not a good thing for the league to have one Irish province running away with it and another two fairly certain to make the play-offs.

Digifriendly

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

They actually raise a fair question, if the Scots teams are useless and the Welsh teams are useless, is the league actually much use?

The Welsh public haven't gotten behind the teams, the Scots public haven't gotten behind the teams, who are we to tell them they are wrong for not supporting poor teams?

It's not a good thing for the league to have one Irish province running away with it and another two fairly certain to make the play-offs.

To be fair 3 play off places are still up for grabs and both Osprys/Cardiff are very much in the hunt.

Jemo

And Ospreys are reigning champions.

profitius

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

They actually raise a fair question, if the Scots teams are useless and the Welsh teams are useless, is the league actually much use?

The Welsh public haven't gotten behind the teams, the Scots public haven't gotten behind the teams, who are we to tell them they are wrong for not supporting poor teams?

It's not a good thing for the league to have one Irish province running away with it and another two fairly certain to make the play-offs.

The Welsh said its not competitive and yet they've only 1 in the top 4.

If they put half as much effort into promoting the league instead of blaming it for everything there would be far more fans coming to see their teams. The Welsh are like spoilt kids who demand to be entertained. You never hear the English complain about the AP. Its the complete opposite over there where they hype it up but thats good for drawing in fans.

David900

Back on topic

Article on Planet Rugby says Michalak will announce what he will do next year on a radio show next Wednesday. Seems he has quite a few options open to him from the Top 14 and Super Rugby sides.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6889097,00.html

PhatPiggins

thomond2006 wrote: »

Willie Mason rumoured to be making a code switch to join.........

you guessed it, Toulon!!!

This one is happening according to the commentators at the Hull derby today.

Could Toulon be using Mason as bait in their attempts to get Sonny Bill to resign? They were pretty tight at the Bulldogs

castie

David900 wrote: »

Back on topic

Article on Planet Rugby says Michalak will announce what he will do next year on a radio show next Wednesday. Seems he has quite a few options open to him from the Top 14 and Super Rugby sides.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6889097,00.html

Has he played 12 also? or just 9/10

razorblunt

Nice try by Benson Stanley today, made a mug of Cipriani.

sock puppet

razorblunt wrote: »

Nice try by Benson Stanley today, made a mug of Cipriani.

He can join the list so...

Too bad Cipriani is crap in defence. If he sorted that out and cut out some of the mistakes he'd be nailed on for England.

razorblunt

sock puppet wrote: »

He can join the list so...

Too bad Cipriani is crap in defence. If he sorted that out and cut out some of the mistakes he'd be nailed on for England.

Made a fool of himself in this instance, pretty much attacked the line at jogging pace, hit by Stanley, ball ripped off and he cantered in for the try.

Cipriani is veering into Michalak territory hot an cold, with his consistency being his inconsistency, I don't think he'll ever be reliable enough to be the first name on the team sheet.

LeeroyJones

Has his move to Connacht been confirmed yet?

Here's the try for those who haven't seen it, very weak from Cipriani. Stanley does well to go all the way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IiSgmS9F28

porterbelly

No nothing confirmed with Stanley yet. Jared Payne and Luke McAliister are moving on so I wonder will he have a change of heart and stay. Hope not. Other possibility is Munster could come in and take him from under our noses.

Watched the full game this morning and saw him for half an hour last week when he came on against the Waratahs. He's a very solid player, great tackler. He's no Sonny Bill or Conrad Smith but he's a good all round player who'd be a superb addition to the Connacht midfield.

I don't know would he fit into Munster. When Munster sign an all black or southern hemisphere international they seem to expect them to move mountains. De Villiers is a solid player but he's not going to beat 5 or 6 defenders every time he runs or run over 2 or 3 defenders. Tuitupou was signed from Worcester who were relegated from the Guinness Prem. Very strange signing for me and they expected too much of him. He's a bash it up merchant, they should have know that before they signed him. I think Munster expect too much out of some of their overseas signings.

Kiwi_knock

Read an article online during the week (can't find it now) which was talking about all the NZ players that are moving or might move to the NH. In it they mentioned that Stanley was close to signing for Munster. Not the most reliable source but it does show that his proposed contract with Connacht is far from completed. Would not be surprised if he signed with Munster, even though I think he would excel in the Connacht team.

jolley123

Shane Williams extends contract with Ospreys for another two years.http://planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6890132,00.html

Good news. I know he's stated he's retiring from international rugby after the WC so I was unsure if he would be leaving rugby altogether.

tolosenc

Mallett to Ireland? More of a wish than a rumour...

CouchSmart

tolosenc wrote: »

Mallett to Ireland? More of a wish than a rumour...

Oh how I'd love that. He's worked wonders with the Italians.

On an unrelated note, any word yet on any Munster signings? Surely they'll be bringing in someone. Perhaps offer Kaino whatever he wants. He's exactly what they need.

Risteard

CouchSmart wrote: »

Oh how I'd love that. He's worked wonders with the Italians.

On an unrelated note, any word yet on any Munster signings? Surely they'll be bringing in someone. Perhaps offer Kaino whatever he wants. He's exactly what they need.

Only one NIQ spot left and I hope it's a 12. As I've said elsewhere I'd prefer our younger backrows to be given a chance. Foley seems to have hinted that they'll be given some chances even when he internationals are back from the world cup.

Risteard

On another note it appears McCaw and Carter are to be offered 'sabbaticals' in a bid to allow them to play in the NH and for the ABs.

Link

CouchSmart

Risteard wrote: »

Only one NIQ spot left and I hope it's a 12. As I've said elsewhere I'd prefer our younger backrows to be given a chance. Foley seems to have hinted that they'll be given some chances even when he internationals are back from the world cup.

Ye, I've heard it's a 12. Benson Stanley maybe and Corey Jane and Toueava have been mentioned as well.

I do think you're missing an athletic lineout operator in your backrow. A Heaslip or Ferris type. What's the story with Leamy, has he really fallen so far out of favour that Ryan is considered ahead of him at 6?

CIARAN_BOYLE

Risteard wrote: »

Only one NIQ spot left and I hope it's a 12. As I've said elsewhere I'd prefer our younger backrows to be given a chance. Foley seems to have hinted that they'll be given some chances even when he internationals are back from the world cup.

It has to be a center, 3 NIQ props already, hooker is good, lock is good, backrow is decent, could be better but there is 4 good choices and some young options, SH is excellent, OH is excellent, there is quality in the back three and good young options coming through, midfield is the real problem, well that and prop but you can't really go for a fourth NIQ prop.

CouchSmart wrote: »

I do think you're missing an athletic lineout operator in your backrow. A Heaslip or Ferris type. What's the story with Leamy, has he really fallen so far out of favour that Ryan is considered ahead of him at 6?

Ryan is in the last year of his contract I believe and is giving a good run of games in the backrow to determine whether it is a good idea to keep him I think. Also Leamy has played a lot of rugby and is being rested. He was given a week off this week.

He hasn't done badly these last few weeks either

Risteard

CouchSmart wrote: »

Ye, I've heard it's a 12. Benson Stanley maybe and Corey Jane and Toueava have been mentioned as well.

I do think you're missing an athletic lineout operator in your backrow. A Heaslip or Ferris type. What's the story with Leamy, has he really fallen so far out of favour that Ryan is considered ahead of him at 6?

Leamy's played a lot of rugby recently so I suppose it was a case of giving him a rest. Peter O'Mahony is a very tidy lineout operator from what I've seen. also has experience of running the lineout as well.

tolosenc

tolosenc wrote: »

Mallett to Ireland? More of a wish than a rumour...

Sorry, should clarify in case anyone hasn't heard. He's out of Italy at the end of the RWC: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23042011/2/rugby-italy-coach-mallett-world-cup.html

porterbelly

CouchSmart wrote: »

Ye, I've heard it's a 12. Benson Stanley maybe and Corey Jane and Toueava have been mentioned as well.

I do think you're missing an athletic lineout operator in your backrow. A Heaslip or Ferris type. What's the story with Leamy, has he really fallen so far out of favour that Ryan is considered ahead of him at 6?

Stanley deal to Connacht is a long way from done. However I'd be extremely pissed off if Munster swept in under our noses and took him. Tis not often we get close to signing a player of that calibre and Munster have the pick of the southern hemisphere if they can stump up the cash.

Listening to Gerry Thornley during the week on Newstalk, he said he's not entireley sure who Munster are after but he said maybe an IQ centre or a prjoject type centre. Have heard Kyle Tonetti's name mentioned elsehwere but I don't think there's anything in it because he has a year left with Sale