Andress leaves Chiefs for Wuss

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Thu 09 Feb 2012, 8:55 am

From the

offy site - inevitable given where he stood in the pecking order, altho I think he has come on a long way this season and has really been pushing Mitchell and Tui hard - good luck, Jon

Irish prop John Andress is to leave the Exeter Chiefs at the end of the season the club can confirm today.

Andress, who was re-signed by Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter last summer from Aviva Premiership rivals Harlequins, is to join fellow top flight rivals Worcester Warriors on a two-year deal.

During his first spell in Devon, the Irish A international notched up 44 appearances in two seasons before departing to play in the Premiership with Harlequins.

He spent two years with the capital club, accruing 43 outings, before being persuaded to return to Sandy Park at the beginning of this season, where he has to date played 12 times.

Commenting on his departure, Andress said: “Leaving Exeter has been a really tough decision for me. I’ve had to speak to a lot of people close to me, including my wife, members of my family and other advisors within the rugby world about the best way forward.

“Since returning to the Chiefs I’ve had a fantastic time. The club is great and it’s a great bunch of lads down here and they have fantastic coaches. At the same time, there are two very good tight-heads already here and if I want to get more game time, I feel I have to move on.

“As I said, I have nothing but good things to say about Exeter. Rob has been great with me – both times I’ve been with the club – and he has helped develop my game massively. I knew when I spoke to him last year that the club would progress and that his vision for the game and the long term outlook of the club would stand him in good stead.”

Remarking on the departure of the talented forward, Baxter said: “It is disappointing to see John leave us. We offered him a contract, but for various reasons John has decided to move on.

“He has filled an important role in a successful season so far and hopefully he will be part of a good finish to the season for us and he goes with our best wishes for the future.”

by geoff998rugby Thu 09 Feb 2012, 9:09 am

I knew he was leaving I thought he might go to Munster as any TH with two legs is needed by Ireland.

Will be interesting to see if he or Buckley get called up by Ireland in the next 12 months.

As thinkgs stand Ireland's TH cover, after Ross, and based in Ireland, is Fitzpatrick, Archer Hagan and Macklin - god help us.

Only Fitzpatrick of those has the scrummaging technique to cope at anything like the top level and he cannot cope with the physicalilty of the professional game.
Archers technique is very poor and Hagan and Macklin are a long way from being ready.

If Andress gets regular game time he should be an exception, i.e. non Irish based, in the Ireland set up

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Thu 09 Feb 2012, 9:14 am

geoff, surprised me that he didn't go to Munster, I must say, but Wuss are a wealthy club with room in the salary cap, and maybe he's had some commitments regarding first team game time - fair play to him

by geoff998rugby Thu 09 Feb 2012, 9:29 am

I think your last point was key.

I suspect regular 1st XV game time is more important than a maybe with Ireland. In his shoes cant say I blame him.

I

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Thu 09 Feb 2012, 9:40 am

geoff998rugby wrote:I think your last point was key.

I suspect regular 1st XV game time is more important than a maybe with Ireland. In his shoes cant say I blame him.

I

He's still fairly young tho, and with the right coaching, I would imagine that he could become a decent understudy for Ross? Would have been worth the gamble in my book

by Dubbelyew L Overate Thu 09 Feb 2012, 9:49 am

Cheers John, and good luck.

So, with Budgie likely to hang up his boots at the end of this season, Chiefs will be down to 2 frontline TH's from 4. Lloyd Fairbrother seems to be coming on well, so we may not need a replacement unless we qualify for HC (a very big IF) when we'd probably need a bit more depth.

We can always borrow Alan Paver from the Pirates again, if we promise not to break him this time..

by red_stag Thu 09 Feb 2012, 9:53 am

Gutted. Was sure he'd come to Munster Crying or Very sad

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Thu 09 Feb 2012, 9:56 am

Dubbelyew L Overate wrote:We can always borrow Alan Paver from the Pirates again, if we promise not to break him this time..

by geoff998rugby Thu 09 Feb 2012, 10:00 am

Too much traffic at Munster.
I think he may well have been interested as understudy to Botha but Archer and Borlase as well probably put him off.

He just wants to play 1st XV rugby - with only Botha there he would have got a fair amount of game time.

If the new rules are applied for 2013-14 then with respect to TH Munster will between a rock and a hard place - Archer, Borlase, Mushy returning ? - none of it looks good.

by Kingshu Thu 09 Feb 2012, 10:03 am

I thought that maybe he be moving to Ulster last summer, but I guess he wants to be a first team player, and he wouldn't be behind Afoa,

If you were him would you rather play for Connacht or WW,

Connacht, your in Ireland and available for all the Ireland squad get togethers, and Ireland coaches can see you and speak to you easlily, should be first choice with plenty of games, Silverware and money would not be forth comming.

WW, higher pay in a league with better scrumaging. seams settled in England. Silverware unlikley also.

For me the challage of getting Connacht into the H-cup is harder than getting WW into the H-cup, another province winning it to get you in isn't the way you want to qualify, you want to earn it yourself not won for you by another team. (put it this way if Tigers were Irish they prob wouldn't earn H-cup rugby)

by formerly known as Sam Thu 09 Feb 2012, 10:17 am

Too much traffic at Munster.
I think he may well have been interested as understudy to Botha but Archer and Borlase as well probably put him off

If he's got a family home in Exeter then Worcester would be closer to that as well. Admittedly not that close but at least he might get away without changing the kids schools etc and he said his discussed things with his family so that sort of thing was clearly on his mind. Worcester are a good club with a decent mix of young talent and experienced veterans. They might not win any big silverware but the Amlin and the LV Cup could be in their sights next season.

you want to earn it yourself not won for you by another team. (put it this way if Tigers were Irish they prob wouldn't earn H-cup rugby) .

Actually Tigers have a good record in the league now the RWC is over (undefeated in the league I think only two losses were away in the HEC). They are good at accumilating points from a league structure and securing themselves a good finish. It's one off big games we're struggling with at the minute so as long as we didn't have to play any of the big three Irish provinces in a winner takes the HEC spot we'd probably be ok, we might even get away with a winner takes all game as long as it was at Welford Rd.

by Kingshu Thu 09 Feb 2012, 10:30 am

you want to earn it yourself not won for you by another team. (put it this way if Tigers were Irish they prob wouldn't earn H-cup rugby) .

Actually Tigers have a good record in the league now the RWC is over (undefeated in the league I think only two losses were away in the HEC). They are good at accumilating points from a league structure and securing themselves a good finish. It's one off big games we're struggling with at the minute so as long as we didn't have to play any of the big three Irish provinces in a winner takes the HEC spot we'd probably be ok, we might even get away with a winner takes all game as long as it was at Welford Rd. [/quote]

I suspect that if Tigers were Irish and in the Pro 12 they would have a good chance of Europe, I was using them as an example of how hard it is for Connacht to get into Europe, they'd have to finish above one of Leinster, Munster or Ulster to earn it themselves, something I think that even a team of Tigers, Saracens or Harlequins quality would struggle/maybe not be able to do. Therefore if JA aim is H-cup rugby it would be easier to get there with WW than Connacht (the only Irish province he'd get lots of first team games).

by formerly known as Sam Thu 09 Feb 2012, 11:10 am

Therefore if JA aim is H-cup rugby it would be easier to get there with WW than Connacht (the only Irish province he'd get lots of first team games)..

Fair point though unless Worcester keep hold of their speedy wingers (currently very unlikely) and make some cracking signings this off season the chances of them making the step up to HEC rugby is unlikely. They have a solid team with a few very classy younger players (e.g. Mullan, Kvesic, Carlisle) but they are currently short of star quality to boost them up another level. This signing will certainly help that though.

How long is Botha's deal at Munster? Might it be that Andress will leave Wuss just at the right time to sign for Munster but with two years more experience with plenty of first team rugby under his belt? Rumours of Dean Richards joining the Wuss coaching staff on a permanant basis would be a draw, he is a very hard nosed forwards coach and would certainly advance Andress further, the Worcester back is already mobile and hard hitting.

by geoff998rugby Thu 09 Feb 2012, 11:16 am

Botha's contract is up in 2013. Andress' contract is now 2014.

I believe Andress' other half would have liked to come home which is why I thought Munster were a good prospect because he will not come back to Ulster as they pulled the plug on a contract with him last summer.

Given the circumstance Ulster did what was best for Uslter but Andress has a right to be agrieved

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