Sevu Reece is very unlikely to move now that they are talking about him for an All Blacks spot. Also Max Deegan got a decent bit of game time this year, if I was him I would not look for a move, also with Sean O'Brien 1.0 leaving.

We're already confirmed to get a TH Prop. If that's one of the IQ slots then perhaps we might see Oli Jager from the Crusaders or perhaps one of the Leinster back-ups - Bent, Abeladze, or Porter. For a big ball-carrying forward which Andy referenced today - would Max Deegan fit that bill? Mick Kearney is likely to rejoin from Leinster which might leave us with our NIQ coming into the back 3 - some strapping Fijian wing like the chap at Treviso, or even resurrect the Sevu Reece move?

Delighted to see he mentions we need a big ball carrier, we've been short a big brute for a long time now. Realistically that will either come in the second or back row......neither of which are spots I thought we'd be looking to spend big money on :dry:
We surely can't get another NIQ in the back row, maybe a big tight head.

From today’s 42 Friend saying 3 signings to be anointed in the coming weeks . 1 NIQ and 2 IQ .

I see Zane Kirchner has been released by Dragons. Too old for us now but a player in that mould, like a Fergus McFadden or Dave Kearney, who can cover more than one position, FB/Wing or Wing/Centre, has experience and loves to tackle is what we need at 14, too many guys been swotted off like flies on the right wing this season.

Thanks for the research guys. Still it is very disappointing that there is no direct financial incentive from qualifying for the CC, I am very surprised!!

I think we could take a leaf out of footballs book and start using different sponsors on the training and warm-up gear. If we don't do that we'll end up with a jersey that looks like scarletts one riddled in sponsors.

I suppose the other advantage of European Cup, is greater exposure for potential sponsors so we might get a few more on board

Newname wrote:

Accidentally Onside wrote: I just did a quick google and disappointingly it doesn't seem there is any direct financial increase from playing in the Champions cup:
www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/sport/rugb...ing-european-1123657
Gloucester reckon it's worth 250k a year to them, but that increase is from extra tickets sales over the Challenge cup and since we do a pretty decent job in getting bums in seats for European games the increase in attendance for Champions cup games would be in the region of hundreds rather than thousands. That wouldn't be enough to fund even one more player Getting a couple of big teams in the draw that would require extra capacity being added to the SG would improve the figures but it's not the gold mine we might have hoped for.

Do we get a pay out for TV rights?

I'm not sure is the straight answer. Had a look to see if I could find anything and only came up with this:
www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-...up-explained-6950423
Which seems to suggest that the revenues given to the various unions is dependent on the income of the competition, not how many teams they have entered, which seems a bit odd as that would mean the Welsh could get the same income from the CC next year as the Irish despite having, at most, one team in it. The article is a bit out-dated, so may not be reliable, but if it's correct there would be no increase in revenue for the IRFU from having 4 teams rather than 3 in the Champions Cup, though we might get an increase from the IRFU for competing in the CC but that would probably come at the expense of the other three province (i.e. the pot size doesn't change but we might be entitled to a full share for being in the CC which we did not get in the Challenge Cup, but that is purely speculation).

Accidentally Onside wrote: I just did a quick google and disappointingly it doesn't seem there is any direct financial increase from playing in the Champions cup:
www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/sport/rugb...ing-european-1123657
Gloucester reckon it's worth 250k a year to them, but that increase is from extra tickets sales over the Challenge cup and since we do a pretty decent job in getting bums in seats for European games the increase in attendance for Champions cup games would be in the region of hundreds rather than thousands. That wouldn't be enough to fund even one more player Getting a couple of big teams in the draw that would require extra capacity being added to the SG would improve the figures but it's not the gold mine we might have hoped for.

Do we get a pay out for TV rights?

One more Sponsor could well bring an extra 100K to recruit our good NIQ...

I just did a quick google and disappointingly it doesn't seem there is any direct financial increase from playing in the Champions cup:
www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/sport/rugb...ing-european-1123657
Gloucester reckon it's worth 250k a year to them, but that increase is from extra tickets sales over the Challenge cup and since we do a pretty decent job in getting bums in seats for European games the increase in attendance for Champions cup games would be in the region of hundreds rather than thousands. That wouldn't be enough to fund even one more player Getting a couple of big teams in the draw that would require extra capacity being added to the SG would improve the figures but it's not the gold mine we might have hoped for.

General Question, with regard to our promotion to the Champions Cup what is our increase in budget for next year. We obviously get an award for succeeding in the qualification. Would we be at a disadvantage over the other irish provinces in attracting outside talent due to our much lower spending power. Or does Friend have a big influence in who can be attracted from southern teams. Correct me if incorrect on any counts.

Friend was quoted in The42 today as saying another signing at tighthead is due to be announced.

www.the42.ie/quinn-roux-connacht-injury-update-4603392-Apr2019/

www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/47961284


Both can play on the wing..

connachta wrote:

salmson wrote:

ConnachtCows wrote:
Why would we use a marquee NIQ spot on a replacement? Seems a bit of a waste to me

I suppose the answer to that is also a question: do you know of an available IQ TH who's as good or better than Carey?

Well I know a man we could invite to come back from Chanpionship at the same age as Carey did 3 years ago. And he's a Connemara man. Oisin Heffernan!

Didn't he turn us (his native province) down previously...:dry:
Still only 24, and with only one full season in the Championship. I'd say leave him be, but keep an eye on him....