u/Roanokian

Hi folks,

We can see from the data that tone of the sub has improved considerably over the last year. Everyone’s to be commended on that. However, there has been a surge of conduct related complaints and removals in the last month.

Most of these reports relate to users, predominantly new accounts, failing to meet the normal standards of conversational decency and respect when interacting with other users.

We think that probably our most important job as mods is to protect users from abuse, harassment, targeting and antagonism. The sub works best if people feel like it’s a forum where they are automatically respected and people make an effort to preserve the dignity of others. Receiving comments that are intentionally spiteful or cruel, even when it’s from an anonymous person online, will make most peoples day worse and in some cases be genuinely hurtful.

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- mods

I think most people have heard the rumours about Lomax but probably more significantly the Examiner’s news about Jager and Salanoa is bleak. Seems like it might be the end of the road for both.

I like Ronan Foxe. I think he’s the likely future in the position for Munster. He’s the first guy who’s genuinely TH sized at the province in a long time but he’s only 23 and it’s going to take him 2-3 seasons to get there. Between him and Darragh McSweeney there are finally a couple of big lads coming through

Aungier is a good pick up but having said that Connacht have 2 THs that will be better than him before they’re the same age and they still have Finlay.

Ulster have ToT and Wilson. One a current international, the other a future international and Leinster have the current Irish first and second choice as well as the 2 highest profile prospects in Andrew Sparrow and Niall Smyth.

The temptation is to say that one of those 2 should go to Munster but Sam Illo, Jack Aungier, Fiachna Barret, Ronan Foxe, Roman Salanoa, Rory McGuire and Oli Jager are all Leinster developed THs so it’s not like they haven’t been a net supplier of props to date and bleeding them of more would seem excessive.

Obviously the long term solution has to be domestic development through the academy but that doesn’t solve the short term issues. The current situation at Munster will make it difficult to recruit someone like Lomax. Munster went after Mornay Smith last year but didn’t get him. He would have been the perfect solution. But he’s extended with the bulls. As did Fouché at the Stormers. So there aren’t a lot of out of contract angry antelopes.

That doesn’t leave a whole lot of guys out there who can do a job next season. Most contracts are already signed and transfers agreed. Joe Sclavi is the obvious missed opportunity having signed with Leicester and I wonder if Jermaine Ainsley would have been open to a move to an English speaking country instead of requesting a release from Lyon. Tomas Francis as well has signed for Sale from Vannes and it’s hard to understand why Munster didn’t make a move for him.

The only guy who’s left that fits the bill, that I can think of, is Dorian Aldegheri. It’s hard to ever imagine him leaving Toulouse but he is out of contract and Toulouse don’t have a lot of cap space

Maybe the more likely path is ProD2. Ironically, Keynan Knox has played about 25 games for Nevers this year, more than his entire Munster career combined. The guy who sticks out to me though is Pone Fa’amausili. The man is fucking huge and experienced and the perfect age profile and he was a medical joker this year so presumably he’s out of contract. Anyway, if I was Ian Costello, that’s who I’d be targeting given that they’ve made a total balls of recruiting everyone else.

What ideas do you guys have? Who would you sign?