Niall O'Connor

During the summer I and alot of others had a right go at the Niall O'Connor signing. Now that a few games have gone by how do people rate him? Dud/Hit/Inbetween?

Dud. But we expected nothing else. He's kicked his goals well but other than that he's been found wanting

from what i seen of him up north i thought he was good, my mistake. now we are stuck with him for 2 years.
fingers crossed he improves.
i think where connacht need to spend money is on a scrum half who is also able to play at 10 and also kick at goal. ie pienner, parra etc. im not saying them but someone like that. would be money well spent

Better than I thought he would be but he can be found severely lacking about the pitch. He has a habit of throwing some horrendous passes to bootlaces when we're making breaks.

I really don't think that he should have been brought on in Ravenhill. Firstly, there was pressure on him to both change the game and prove something to the home crowd; the upshot of this was his "banana kick" from hand that would have made Rivelino proud. Secondly, I'm a big fan of Jarvis and if there was to be any kicking from hand done, I'd rather his spudgun of a boot did it.

On the plus side, he has got a lot of his confidence back; I remember watching him in an Ulster game last year when he was kicking 30-40% and he looked like he'd just been ambushed by the Viet Cong and watched his buddies die face down in the mud.

Still think we should be looking at Gareth Steenson in the Summer though...

Isn't replacing NOC with Steenson a bit like replacing mash with chips?

If we really want a player to take the ball to (and through) the opposition defensive line wouldn't Scott Deasy or Ian Madigan make more sense?

Isn't replacing NOC with Steenson a bit like replacing mash with chips?

If we really want a player to take the ball to (and through) the opposition defensive line wouldn't Scott Deasy or Ian Madigan make more sense?

Madigan has a future at Leinster an he knows that, even if its no2 to Sexton

Deasy is the proverbial case of jack of all trades, master of none. He can play pretty much anywhere across the backline, and he doesn't know his best position. I wouldn't be too keen on him. We need a fly half who's going to control the game, grab it by the scruff of the neck, and reward a pack which does serious donkey work and give them territory and kick our 3 pointers

Madigan has a future at Leinster an he knows that, even if its no2 to Sexton

I don't think they bought Berquist to play third fiddle, so I'd quibble with you on that. As for Scott Deasy, you probably have a point, reminds me of the old soccer chestnut about Utility Player being shorthand for "rubbish in more than one position".

Berquist is a long term injury victim as well as having only a 1 year deal. Madigan has shown in his appearances this year that he has alot of potential and I'm sure Leinster have recognised this and give him plenty of gametime to keep him happy

Berquist is a long term injury victim as well as having only a 1 year deal. Madigan has shown in his appearances this year that he has alot of potential and I'm sure Leinster have recognised this and give him plenty of gametime to keep him happy

Berquist looked to be the choice before his injury though I'd agree with you Madigan is better.

You'd hope he'd want to be number 1 somewhere and push for international recognition.

There's a window in the next 2 years for someone to force their way in as Sexton's backup/challenger at international level before Paddy Jackson and Keatley replace Humphreys and O'Gara at Ulster and Munster respectively. He won't do that playing Glasgow and Aironi during the Six Nations.

And God knows we have a vacancy.

Of course Maybe we should be looking at our own under-20s outhalves instead of conforming to our "Leinster B" traditions. Anyone think either of them has what it takes to step up next season?

Jack Carty has alot of potential. We'll see, he's playing very well for Buccs

Think it was a bit rich having Jarvis playing up in Ballymena recently.

From the few minutes he's got at the Sportsground this season, he's got more about him than O'Connor in terms of opening a game up and giving us that something special we need.

We are, in relative terms, forward rich and back poor at present. A bit of guile to break the 22 and 10 lines is badly needed.

Still , what do I know....................................

As expected really, has had some good kicking displays but really offers little in terms of getting the backline moving but then again its difficult with some of the players he has around him. Jarvis would be my favoured option at 10 but he is in the early stages of his development. Nikora imo is an impact player.

I agree Borders.

With McKinley retired and Berqusit out on a 4 month injury, Madigan is now 2nd choice at Leinster so he's not going anywhere. While I like Steenson I don't think he'd add anything new to the mix. I'll be interested to see if they give Tonetti a shot at 10. Deasy is in his mid-20's and if he hasn't broken through he's not going to at this stage. You can only be labelled with 'Potential' for so long.

Like I said last season when they signed NOC we should have gone after James McKinney. He's behind Humphries, Wallace and Paddy Jackson whose only 21. The guy's more of a ROG than a Sexton but still quality.