BRUMBIES CENTRE ANDREW Smith is among the options Munster are considering to fill the gap that will be left in their midfield by the departure of Casey Laulala to Racing Métro this summer.
TheScore.ie understands that the 29-year-old has spoken to the province about a transfer, although a deal has not yet been agreed. Smith is out of contract with his Australian Super Rugby franchise at the end of the 2014 season.
As with any vacancy, Munster are considering other potential recruits at outside centre and are expected to make an announcement in the coming month.
Sources close to the Brumbies – where former Munster forwards coach Laurie Fisher is now director of rugby - expect Smith to leave at the conclusion of his current deal, with the Irish province believed to be his most likely destination.
Predominantly a 13, but with Super Rugby experience on the wing, Smith has struggled for starts in the last two seasons due to the level of competition in the Brumbies’ backline and a run of unfortunate injuries in 2013.
Wallaby trio Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Lealiifano and Pat McCabe have been preferred in midfield during this campaign, while Joe Tomane, Henry Speight and Clyde Rathbone provide alternatives wider out.
At close to 6ft 5ins and weighing 104kg, Smith is a powerful presence, but as his ability to play on the wing highlights, his top-end pace and evasion skills are impressive too. His defensive game is rated as highly effective, particularly in making reads when shooting out of the line.
The busiest season of the Sydney native’s career so far came in 2012, when he started 15 Super Rugby games for the Brumbies [all at outside centre], scoring four tries.
Good players but should Irish provinces be importing players who can’t make their own teams in the Southern Hemisphere?
Very true . southern hemisphere cast off s doesnt excite. Anything less than a marquee signing would feel like a failure in my opinion
Days of marquee signings look to be gone. Ulster getting additional funding from IRFU was the main reason they could recruit so well over the past few years. Munster and Leinster’s recent NIQ signings have hardly been world XV contenders.
The days of marquee signings are long gone, the money simply isn’t there anymore.
No major, marquee players are going to move 1 season away from the World Cup, so I would honestly prefer Munster sign up a top quality backs coach for next season, identify how to best use the talent we already have (Zebo, Conway, Earls, VDH, JJ, Keats, etc) then set a structure and tactics for the team before signing any major players the following season.
Good point
Is Conrad smith ever available
Heard something about he likes Munster
Conrad Smith won’t leave in a World Cup year. He’ll come to Europe after that surely.
That has to be a joke.. He’s 32, himself and Hurricanes back line has been seriously impressive this year
Conrad Smith has years left in him, especially after the break he took last year. He’ll be coming to Europe it’s just a matter of which club can sign him up. He’s a player Munster could really do well with.
If he is so good why ain’t he the starting centre?
I don’t understand signing guys that ain’t first choice for their club
Would we not be better bringing an Irish midfielder through
Not many Irish centres around.
The reason he’s not the starting centre is the number of injuries he’s had and other people taking their chances. He’s talented.
Quick and sharp for a big man.
There’s a few you only have to look at London Irish they have 3 or 4 Irish centres, if Munster don’t bleed through a few mid fielders or sign a promising Irish centre then they will always have to sign these over seas players and rely on that to fill the void, only centre’s we have really seen come through since rua tupoki and mafi is earls and Ivan dinneen and earls is a winger even before RT and mafi we struggled to bring Irish centres through
Hugo Campagnaro is someone I’d love to see at Munster/ Leinster he’s too good for Treviso
+1 Callum but we’d lose him for the 6n period. Major reason we sign sh players.
Another possibility could be Niall Morris, ex Leinster academy and playing wing/13 for Leicester regularly.
Another option could be Niall Morris, ex leinster academy, who’s playing regularly at wing/13 with Leicester or also ex Ulster man Ian Whitten who’s with the Exeter Chiefs.
Another option could be Niall Morris, ex leinster academy, who’s playing regularly at wing/13 with Leicester or also ex Ulster man Ian Whitten who’s with the Exeter Chiefs.
Whitten has been in excellent form but id say he will move back to Ulster, hes more of a 12. Niall Morris is plays mostely full back
Would like to see Munster sign Charlie Ngatai of the chiefs or Eamonn Sherridan
Or maybe Malakai Fekitoa of the Highlanders.. He hit the headlines with the hat-trick of tries he scored recently, I think against the Sharks.
Doesn’t look great, but you’d trust Munster have seen something in him
Smart signing for me (Leinster or Munster) would be Francis Saili. Capped last year by NZ in the June tours, he is very capable in either 12 or 13. He’s 23, so still has a lot of development.
However, with Ben Smith filling in for Conrad last November, the emergence of Fekitoa, Ryan Crotty’s ability to cover both positions and SBW & Nonu set to duke it out for the 12 shirt, it’ll be a long time before he has a chance at another NZ jersey
Realistically, while he is still developing, why would he want to leave NZ where they have the very best coaching, and where he is from? Even if he doesn’t make many XVs for the All Blacks, he’ll still be in the squads learning from Nonu and Smith, not to mention Hansen, with the likelihood of replacing Nonu in two or three years. Why would he give all that up for a small payrise?
Good point and a potential future Irish player as well
Roughly double your money is a lot more than a small pay-rise. There’s no guarantee of the AB stuff. Montpellier convinced Rene Ranger to join them from a reasonably similar position, 2/3 year age difference.
4 year age difference, and Saili is the heir apparent to Nonu. Doubt he’d be in a position to get crazy money over here
What other Irish qualified outside centres are around? Don’t see why they would bring a centre who’s out of form and hasn’t had much game time in.. Does Sheridan play 13 as well as 12 for London Irish?
Don’t know why someone doesn’t go after Robbie Fruen.
Crusaders didn’t know what to do with him, and doesn’t get a start for the Chiefs.
His heart problems are probably a major deterent. Class player on his day tho.
Robbie Fruean has a long documented series of heart conditions that have repeatedly prevented him from completing a super season.
Undoubtedly one of the world’s best under-age players but his illnesses have prevented him on capitalising on his talents.
Signing him could be a good move but in my opinion that gamble would be too big and bad business.
Rua Tipoki wasn’t a super rugby regular before he came to Munster, Mafi was playing NPC with Taranaki. Paul Warwick was playing Shite shield before Connaught picked him up. Need to continue scouting well and making good value signings.
The New Zealand teams strength depth in depth is way a head of the other countries’ teams. The ITM is way ahead of the Currie Cup, and Australia still don’t have a similar tournament
Rua tipoki was a regular in super rugby played for the nz Maori against the lions and is arguably one of the best centers never to play for the AB’s
Apart from the Maori bit – all of that is complete rubbish!
There are a good few outside backed who could do well with game time, Munster had two handy midfield backs in Barnes and Deacy but let them go, what was the story there.