Connacht – Level playing field or poor relation??
Connacht have shown some real intent for next season by signing Bundee Aki and Mils Muliana. Both of these signing have to be good for Irish rugby, one can argue that the Aki signing as a project player could leave more of a sour taste than the Muliana Signing. After all he has signed for one season to play and also for player development. It won’t be a bad thing for the likes of Kieran Marmion and Robbie Henshaw just to name two young players who will benefit from this experience in the long term.
People may feel that the Aki signing may be a step too far as it may block the route to the first XV for some young Irish centre. They have let Eoin Griffin move on to be replaced by Aki. The idea behind the Aki signing it to have him here for three years and then when he is Irish qualified bring him into the Irish set up, lovely in theory but as we have learned not so good in practice, prime example for this being the Michael Bent experiment, he won two Irish caps after coming off a plane from New Zealand and since November 2012 has struggled to get into the Leinster A team let alone the Senior team.
Muliana on the other hand has been brought in to help develop the young talent at Connacht along with trying to add another experienced head into a relatively young squad that really does step up and be counted before it is too late. Far too often Connacht have flattered to deceive and have come up short in the big games bar one off performances against the likes of Munster , Leinster and in Europe Toulouse.
Maybe now as we head into season 2014/2015, Connacht with their new recruits along with some young Irish talent may finally make the break through that they have so often threatened to do. They will be backboned by winners from New Zealand. Having Muliana at 15 will give Robbie Henshaw more time in the 13 jersey and also his presence will bring on the likes of Darragh Leader on leaps and bounds.
He will help also to bring other young players on in his one season with Connacht. He will help with the players skill sets aswell. As we have learned in the last few weeks Connacht don’t have any player recruitment restrictions placed on them by the IRFU and could sign from elsewhere in the future. This may not happen as Connacht would not want to damage the good work they have done at academy level and it would also stifle the number of young players breaking into the first XV.
So the Muliana signing may not be a bad thing for Irish rugby after all. We didn’t hear too may dissenting voices from out West when the other provinces were making their big name signings like Howlett , Thorn and Ruan Pienaar to name just three. So lets be fair to Connacht and let them have their moment in the sun.
By
Cian Mc Gibney
12/05/2014.
