STUART LANCASTER IS hopeful Connacht can hold on to flanker Shamus Hurley-Langton after his current contract runs out at the end of this season.
The New Zealander is attracting attention from several clubs in France and England, and will be Irish-qualified if he remains with the province for another season. He has Irish lineage but it is not close enough for him to automatically qualify for Ireland.
Hurley-Langton produced another man-of-the-match display in the 29-12 win over the Sharks in the Challenge Cup on Friday night, and he has played 62 times for Connacht since arriving from Manawatu Turbos in 2022.
He returned from a shoulder injury which kept him out since December and marked it with a brace of tries in the recent win over Ospreys. He then backed it up by scoring against the Sharks having put Chay Mullins over for their opening score.
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The arrival of Will Connors in the summer and the increased attention from abroad has Connacht fans fearful of losing a crowd favourite known to them as ‘Moose’, but Lancaster is optimistic he can retain the player who will be 26 later this month.
“We’re pretty hopeful he will stay, but it’s still not finalised,” said Lancaster. “He’s physically a strong man, and he reminds me of a player I used to coach, Henrie Fourie.
“I was actually chatting to Shamus about him the other day, he played for Leeds, went to Sale, played for England, he was a South African back rower, he was just made of granite it seemed.
“Shamus reminds me a lot of him, he’s just strong, obviously he’s very good over the ball, and that’s from what I hear from the last couple of years as well.
“But what’s impressed me so far in these two games is his ball carrying ability to strip a ball in a tackle, his man strength really, I guess you’d describe it as.”
Lancaster said he is going to rearrange the Connacht back five next season as lock Joe Joyce is leaving. He sees a big role for Hurley-Langton in that, not least as the Taranaki native can play right across the back row.
“You have to have six quality back rows in your team to compete at this level. With Joycey leaving, Josh Murphy will probably be more considered as a second row the next season. We have a lot of young players coming through as well in addition to the players already there.
“So, we will see with Shamus, he loves it here and we’re pretty hopeful,” added Lancaster as he prepares for Saturday’s Challenge Cup showdown in Montpellier.
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Stuart Lancaster hopeful Shamus Hurley-Langton will commit future to Connacht
STUART LANCASTER IS hopeful Connacht can hold on to flanker Shamus Hurley-Langton after his current contract runs out at the end of this season.
The New Zealander is attracting attention from several clubs in France and England, and will be Irish-qualified if he remains with the province for another season. He has Irish lineage but it is not close enough for him to automatically qualify for Ireland.
Hurley-Langton produced another man-of-the-match display in the 29-12 win over the Sharks in the Challenge Cup on Friday night, and he has played 62 times for Connacht since arriving from Manawatu Turbos in 2022.
He returned from a shoulder injury which kept him out since December and marked it with a brace of tries in the recent win over Ospreys. He then backed it up by scoring against the Sharks having put Chay Mullins over for their opening score.
The arrival of Will Connors in the summer and the increased attention from abroad has Connacht fans fearful of losing a crowd favourite known to them as ‘Moose’, but Lancaster is optimistic he can retain the player who will be 26 later this month.
“We’re pretty hopeful he will stay, but it’s still not finalised,” said Lancaster. “He’s physically a strong man, and he reminds me of a player I used to coach, Henrie Fourie.
“I was actually chatting to Shamus about him the other day, he played for Leeds, went to Sale, played for England, he was a South African back rower, he was just made of granite it seemed.
“Shamus reminds me a lot of him, he’s just strong, obviously he’s very good over the ball, and that’s from what I hear from the last couple of years as well.
“But what’s impressed me so far in these two games is his ball carrying ability to strip a ball in a tackle, his man strength really, I guess you’d describe it as.”
Lancaster said he is going to rearrange the Connacht back five next season as lock Joe Joyce is leaving. He sees a big role for Hurley-Langton in that, not least as the Taranaki native can play right across the back row.
“You have to have six quality back rows in your team to compete at this level. With Joycey leaving, Josh Murphy will probably be more considered as a second row the next season. We have a lot of young players coming through as well in addition to the players already there.
“So, we will see with Shamus, he loves it here and we’re pretty hopeful,” added Lancaster as he prepares for Saturday’s Challenge Cup showdown in Montpellier.
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Connacht Decision time Rugby Shamus Hurley-Langton Stuart Lawler