A POOR WEEK for Connacht has taken another bad turn with confirmation that promising lock Gavin Thornbury will be out for several weeks with a shoulder injury.
Thornbury, who will be 25 later this month, suffered the injury in the early stages of the game against Scarlets last Saturday week.
And having been drafted into one of the Irish camps during the summer, it is unfortunate timing as Joe Schmidt surveys his options for the four autumn international games.
“He’s going to be at least November, December potentially, before he is back. It is an AC joint,” said Connacht coach Andy Friend.
Having already missed the clash with Leinster due to the injury, the prognosis will see Thornbury sidelined during the opening rounds of the Challenge Cup. Connacht play just twice in November, meeting Dragons early in the month before embarking on a tour to South Africa after the league takes a break.
Such trips rarely allow for tentative returns from injury, so the Challenge Cup round three meeting with Perpignan would appear a sensible re-entry point for the powerful lock.
“It is (a big set-back) but he has a bright future ahead of him,” adds Friend.
“They all want to be playing, every day they want to be playing but that’s the sport we play. It’s a contact sport. He only had three minutes in the Scarlets game but in that three minutes he was pretty dynamic and did some good things for us. He has got a very bright future.”
The loss of Thornbury adds to a difficult week with prop Dominic Robertson-McCoy facing a ban for a stamp on Josh van der Flier, while Fijian Sevu Reece is now unlikely to join Connacht after pleading guilty in a domestic assault case in New Zealand.
Reece, who has been in superb form for Waikato in the Mitre Cup, was due to join Connacht on a two-year deal next month but that looks like being withdrawn by the province and the IRFU.
“It’s actually a process I’m not involved in,” added Friend. “We have got a big game this weekend, a six-day turn around, and that’s where my focus is at the moment.
“We have a six-day turn around and we have trained very well out there today and their energy is good. It’s another inter-pro and it’s not hard to get these boys up for that.”
Dave Heffernan, who captained the team in the 20-3 loss to Leinster at the weekend, underwent a scan to establish the extent on an ankle injury on Monday. But Friend is hopeful that squad captain Jarrad Butler may be available for Friday’s trip to Belfast, where Connacht have not won in the professional era and whose last success at Ravenhill was way back in 1960.
“Jarrad trained with us today and we will just check how he pulls out of that but he is integrated back into the programme and hopefully he will be available for selection this weekend.”
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Just because a victim of domestic abuse is still with the perpetrator doesn’t belittle the offense. In the vast majority of domestic violence cases there are repeated offenses.
Very unfortunate for Gavin, up until now it had been a great 2018 for him on the pitch and at the least would’ve been in the camp with Ireland again in November and maybe even featured in the USA match. At least for Connacht he’s not missing too many matches and I hope he comes back even stronger and continues to push on.
@Ian Verdon: Very tough on the guy. He had a great start to the season. I’ve no doubt he’ll come back stronger. He’s shown plenty of drive and character in his young career so far. Took the blow of not being kept on at Leinster and made the bold move to NZ club rugby and developed his game in a big way. Great example to guys across the country who are let go early in their careers.
@Eddie Hekenui: Exactly, it takes a lot of grit and determination and self belief to recover from being let go by your boyhood dream club/province and the skills he’s picked up along the way are invaluable to him and we can see that he’s learnt a lot and is now starting to really express himself as a player. For me he’s the next Irish lad I want to see capped in the second row.
@Ian Verdon: Yeah fair play to him. NZ club rugby is a tough place for guy to step straight into and he did so and thrived. He’ll have a hard time getting into the Ireland set up given the quality of players in his position but if he keeps going the way he is hopefully his chance will come.
@Eddie Hekenui: Oh yeah like I don’t expect him to be even be a bolter for the World Cup squad or anything like that but from an Irish perspective I would like him getting capped over Klyen. I think we are well stocked in the second row currently but it’s always good to have competition especially spread out over the 4 provinces.
@Ian Verdon: I don’t think he’ll be competing with Kleyn for a spot unless he changes role at Connacht. Thornbury’s played most his rugby at LH lock while Kleyn has been at TH lock. Schmidt seems to place huge emphasis on this and that’s why Roux is in camp so often. Thornbury will be up against the likes of Henderson, Dillane, Beirne and of course Ryan (who can play both at a seriously high level). Toner, Ryan, Roux and maybe Kleyn would be competing for the TH lock position. Thornbury could have course have all the skills to play TH lock and we just haven’t seen them yet. Some talented lads coming through at the position too!!
@Eddie Hekenui: Yes that’s true, I haven’t seen Gavin at TH lock before he has some competition but he’s still young and has all the physical attributes and now seems he has all the mental attributes to go to the next level. Ryan for me is the most exciting Irish player I’ve ever had the joy to witness what he can do at such a young age is on par with Rettalick when he was Ryan’s age. Joe loves a cohesive set piece and having a strong scrummaging TH lock is key for him in that area which I have no problem with. Funny to think after D ryan left there was an air of uncertainty over the Irish second row and now like a lot of positions it’s an area of considerable strength.
@Ian Verdon: no need to bring anyone else into this, he’s pushing for the Irish camp and maybe would have got a camp place for November purely because of his own attitude and play. Contrast that attitude and that of bierne to the 2 secondrows Leinster got in to replace them.
@Chris Mc: I was purely just saying if it was between the two of them which one got called up who I’d prefer I don’t see any malice in that…Eddie pointed out rightly that they play different sides of the lock so it doesn’t matter regardless.
@Ian Verdon: For me the most exciting player I’ve seen come through was O’Driscoll but Ryan’s not far off.
@Eddie Hekenui: I only got big into the rugby in 03 and by then Brian had been capped multiple times for Leinster and Ireland so I didn’t get to see Brian’s progression from the beginning whereas with Ryan I saw him in school games since he was 15/16.
@Ian Verdon: Yeah I can see why he stands out for you. Different people from different generations will always have always have that guy who they spotted early and have watched rise to the top. Hard to get over that first love!!
@Eddie Hekenui: And therein lies the once in a génération (worldwide level) ability of Ryan – I think his contribution, for all the praise, was slightly underestimated last season. I have never seen a second row play so well for Ireland in every aspect of the game.
@Ian Verdon: Spot on re Ryan, his european début against Montpellier was a wow moment for me. He is an utter phenomenon.
@Eddie Hekenui: Now I think on the whole BOD will be Ireland’s greatest ever player don’t get me wrong. My first love and all time fav Irish player was Dennis Hickie he watched one of my school games when I was 10/11 and he said “nice step young man” to me as I walked off the pitch after scoring two tries in the 11 shirt. I couldn’t take the smile off my face for a week.
@Andrew Hurley: One more point on Ryan – what augurs very well for him (and Larmour, to cite another) is their prioritising of the team / game intelligence – this may seem an obvious thing to say but when you look at someone like Itoje, he plays to be on a highlights reel, gives away a carry amount of penalties and his game intelligence poor (look at what he did for Leavy’s try in the QF). The media will hype Itoje up, but Schmidt (and provincial coaches) will ensure we develop the better players by focusing on the right behaviours.
@Andrew Hurley: I still think Itoje is one of the best young locks on the planet, he just needs to get his mindset right. He has all the technical ability tho that’s for sure. Saracens also need to keep him at 4 for him to fully grow I don’t think he’s a 6.
@Andrew Hurley: I’d say he has once in a generation talent rather than having once in a generation ability at the minute. He still has a bit of developing to reach the levels of peak Retallick, Whitelock or Etzebeth of recent years. I think he’ll get there sooner rather than later but he’ll need to kick on now he’s a marked man. Remember Itoje looked on a similar track (if a bit fueled by English media hype) before struggling a bit in the last year or so.
@Ian Verdon: Technical ability (I agree he has it) is only a small part of what makes a top player. Wd you say O’Connell was technically brilliant? I wouldn’t, but he was a top player due to his mentality, game intelligence, etc.
I view it as a positive when Itoje plays for England as I know it means we’ll have 2/3 penalties before the game starts.
@Eddie Hekenui: I agree this season will present new challenges fo him. But, how do you distinguish between talent and ability?
@Andrew Hurley: Hence why I said he has to get his mindset right. A player can have an the natural ability in the world but if their mindset isn’t right they might as well be just another average Joe player.
@Andrew Hurley: I probably could’ve explained that better. What I was trying to say is that Ryan has the talent to be a once in a generation player. There are lots of talented guys who don’t kick on and live up to their talent for a host of reasons be it attitude, injury and so on. I think of two locks from NZ who were labelled as potential superstars before fading into obscurity, Isaac Ross and James Ryan. Ryan got some awful injuries that derailed his career while Ross struggled to bounce back mentally after running afoul of peak Matfield and Botha. Guys like BOD, Retallick, Smith, McCaw and so on had once in a generational ability because they did it time after time, year after year. That’s how I personally disinguish between talent and ability but that’s just the terminology I grew up with. I think Ryan, if he can avoid injury, will get there.
@Ian Verdon: I’m agreeing with you but I’m saying it isn’t right and I don’t think he’s the smartest tool in the box – but with different coaching and a focus on the team that could change.
@Eddie Hekenui: Thanks for the detailed reply – for me talent and ability are roughly the same thing, if I understand you right you’re saying ability and performance / mindset but it’s only semantics and I agree with what you say. I think what will help Ryan this season and next are the two environments he will play in – he couldn’t have better coaches around him. The NZ game could be difficult but will at least be a learning curve. Aside from that he has nothing to fear what Fardy / Toner / Henderson alongside him.
I’m sure you remember the effect playing at TH had on Henderson (who has a great engine) – he was knackered as the game went on, and here Toland is good at talking about the TH lock’s role. Ryan seems unaffected by it, and between his tacles, carries, offloads, it’s hard to see a weakness. He seems (let’s see what the future brings) to have the right balance between confidence and humility (like Larmour, who is perhaps a little more on the confident side, which is fine given he’s a back) so there is every reason to believe he will progress psychologically too.
It’s great that when Donncha Ryan went to Racing I thought Ireland were in trouble for locks. Since then Ryan has emerged, and we’re in the very nice position of having a potential 4th choice lock at Beirne, who has potential to challenge to get in the 23. Ireland have never had such depth in this position.
@Chris Mc: How do you know anything about the respective attitudes of Mick Kearney and Ian Nagle Chris?
Isa mentioned Kearney as one of the best trainers in the squad last year by the way.
@Andrew Hurley: Yeah it was amazing to see him step across so seemlessly. I thought they’d ease him into it but the guys got a serious engine. Next task will be working on his lineout work. That’s a real mental aspect of the game that requires lots of homework. I’ve heard he’s not the smartest tool in the shed but by all accounts has a great rugby brain so it’ll be interesting to see if he can dominate that area of the game too. POC lacked the physical talent of Ryan but he became an absolute master of the lineout through hours of study on and off the pitch. Hopefully Ryan can do the same. As you say he’s in a great environment to learn though. That’s why signing a guy like Fardy was a great bit of business for Leinster. He’s a smart, hard working player who’ll be able to pass on tons of knowledge.
Reading up in the Reece case, I actually think Connacht should proceed and sign him. Before you get outraged read why first. When the judge was weighting up the case and all aspects, connacht confirmed a conviction would terminate the contact. She weighted in that the victim had forgiven him, were still together, and their best future as a couple is with Connacht. She decided to discharge without conviction so that this oppurtunity wouldnt be lost to the couple. For Connacht to withdraw the contact they are going against what the judge who heard the case thought best for the couple. They are only considering Reece and thier reputation and forgetting the victim and family unit, the judge considered this. Remember tearing up the contact will also punish the victim in this.
@Kingshu: Connacht and the IRFU are perfectly entitled to decide who they want to represent them. Whatever about what the judge said he still drunkenly beat his partner. It’s not up to the judge to decide who they sign. I don’t see how Connacht rescinding the offer is punishing the victim.
@Eddie Hekenui: Of course Connacht are entitled to employ whothey like. Second you say he drunkly beat his parther you make it sound like he punched her in the face, he dragged her to the ground which the judge considered ‘mid range’ still bad but not quite the same as you make out. Judge Clark said a conviction would have ended the Fijian-born player’s Irish contract – and that would have been out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending…. An Irish contract would help Reece provide for his family. He is still with the victim and they are going to counciling together. So of course ending the contract will have a knock on effect to the couple.
The judge who heard the case thinks if Connacht end the contract it is out of porportion to the offense. Should that not be considered?