Leinster Signings

raven136

Not sure if this already has a thread,we know leinster have signed knoop,jennings and cullen but does anyone have any other idea who might arrive.
In the sunday times a few weeks back it was said they were after a young argentine but he went on loan i think to stade,any updates

besty

knoop?
I read an interview with Bernard Jackman that made reference to Ollie Le Roux coming to Donnybrook. It was the first I'd heard of it.

bugler

That's Gomez. Who apparently has signed a deal with Leinster and will meet up in June. He was late coming over as he supposedly had to sit Veterinary exams in Argentina.

But apparently Stade offered him €50,000 for a two month stint and the exams went out the window. Hopefully he won't be offered anything more that might make him reluctant to come over eventually.

I dont like the idea of importing players for our provincial sides. I know there are places to be filled but I'd rather have mediocre Irish sides developing over time rather than big names coming from abroad to fatten the pension.

bugler

Foreign players should be brought in sparingly, for sure. One or two good signings can help develop young Irish players. But some of the signings made are no good to anyone. Most recently I felt very sorry for any young Leinster props, who were ignored and passed over for short term journeymen signings. Leinster did attempt to rectify this this year (by siging Bracken and Ray Hogan, who both opted for Bristol instead) but they've only come up with one (Knoop is now Irish qualified).

Chris Wyatt is another case in point. He's probably the 5th best lock in the Munster squad.

Our system isn't the best for producing enormously successful clubs/provinces. Irish rugby is always the top priority, so Leinster get Knoop, Leicester get Castro. Stade Francais get Hernandez, Munster get Payne.

Sandwich

With no H Cup next year, the financially prudent thing from the IRFU could be to sanction no further signings. Dvmt contracts only, develop irish players, and see what the future looks like for revenue potential for 3 (or 4) Irish provincial setups beyond (or a revised) Magners League.

besty

Sandwich wrote:

With no H Cup next year, the financially prudent thing from the IRFU could be to sanction no further signings. Dvmt contracts only, develop irish players, and see what the future looks like for revenue potential for 3 (or 4) Irish provincial setups beyond (or a revised) Magners League.

That's a good idea

Diamondmaker

Sandwich wrote:

With no H Cup next year, the financially prudent thing from the IRFU could be to sanction no further signings. Dvmt contracts only, develop irish players, and see what the future looks like for revenue potential for 3 (or 4) Irish provincial setups beyond (or a revised) Magners League.

Commercially a very sound idea, also lucky all this did not blow up earlier and threaten the sponsorship deal.

BOI will be raging.

Sangre

The sponsorship deal almost certainly has a number a of contingency clauses for situations like this, especially considering the size of it.

MG

Chris Keane is joining from Connaught or so the commentaror on Setanta said. Good signing - presume Easter Bunny is retiring or relegated to emergency cover.

Bobser

I've heard Andy Dunne going the opposite way

burnedfaceman

easterby is retiring and keane has signed. I also heard leinster prop john lyne will be going to connaught too

smok

Newstalk said this morning that Leinster signed Ollie le Roux and an argentinian prop (whos name I have totally forgotten - but he has 24 caps.

As for bringing in outside players - how else will our own homegrown players learn other than from working woth world class players.
Was Vermaas signed early to allow him to be assimilated?

burnedfaceman

apparently argentinian props roncero and gomez are coming in along with knoop, keane jennings and cullen with a total of 12 players leaving

daveirl

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RuggieBear

daveirl wrote:

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yeah...but i reckon it couldn't be as bad as signing Finnegan this season!!! What the hell are Leicester thinking. The man must have the best agent ever or simply shows videos of him 10 years ago when he was an outstanding player.

zAbbo

Newcastle sign Heymens, the best TH in the world, who's 27 and Leinster get Big Ollie

I know we can't compete with France and England signing Marque players, but surely a better recruitment policy is order, especially to cover RWC games.

raven136

the argentine is meant to be a great scrummager,surely there was a better palyer available thana 34 year old.What about peter bracken?

how have leinster so little money to compete with even munster,c cullen is hardly on bad money and they had a rumored bid for howlett yet leinster can never sign a huge name player

burnedfaceman

lopez is 23 i think and can play either side of the scrum and is very highly regarded, roncero is starting for stade francais and played well in loose against leicester last time i watched him play. there is an article in todays indo about peter bracken but he has signed for bristol next season.

Cullen was on big money and is retiring at end of season, howlett wont be going to munster was prob using it to try and get more cash out of NZRU if in any case he was to leave id imagine he would go to play in england.

as for leinster not signing any marquis players i doubt they have the budget to do so when you consider the contracts that the likes of BOD, Darcy and Horgan would be on. Cheika is trying to bring younger players through and I think we will see a lot more of this next season when internationals are away.

I think ollie le roux is going to be a terrible signing and that the money spent bringing him in could have been better spent elsewhere.

RuggieBear

felipe is on huge money too. As is BOD

burnedfaceman

good point, i totally forgot about felipe, he is leinsters flagship international signing!

EdgarAllenPoo

I would like to see leinster try sign Tana Umaga purely because I wonder how he would get on with BOD and he seems to be nearing the end of his career and that's the only time Irish teams ever seem to be able to sign decent players.

PeteJones

Big Ollie might be old but he has a lot of test experience behind him including winnings over NZ and Aus. I don't think he will be a match winner but his experience will help the younger players in motivating them to perform better. How many Leinster players can say they have been on winning sides against the ABs?

If Leinster had to sign match winner's and these players don't perform or win matches then everyone will blame the new signed players. At least if Ollie gets blamed we know he was not first choice.

Rugby is a global game and you need players from different countries to be introduced to see how different the game is played.

Oh, and I have played in SA, still playing in Ireland and there is a massive difference. I've learned alot and sure others have learned from me as well.

burnedfaceman

PeteJones wrote:

Big Ollie might be old but he has a lot of test experience behind him including winnings over NZ and Aus. I don't think he will be a match winner but his experience will help the younger players in motivating them to perform better. How many Leinster players can say they have been on winning sides against the ABs?

Im sure Ollie can offer a lot of experience to the leinster set up maybe he could offer about as much experience as Owen Finnegan has brought?? im sorry but i just dont buy the bringing the whole experience thing, the reality is that he is well past his best as was the case with finnegan and christian cullen and the only reason these players are coming to play in northern hemisphere is for a paycheck.

when players come in to play in the prime of career such as felipe or agustin pichot they undoubtedly make a significant contribution in terms of experience and whatnot but its a symbiotic relationship were they get to ply their trade in professional envioronment and gain the benefits of this for their national sides and Northen hemisphere teams get talented players in prime.

majority of australian new zealand and SA players who come to play do so only after they are finished with national sides and decide its time to cash in.

take finnegan,whitaker,cullen,matt burke,justin harrison,umaga,heymans,brooke,pienaar,skinstad and percy montgomery as evidence of this fact.

zAbbo

What about the glut of All Blacks coming to England / France for a 2 year paycheck after the RWC ?

Hayman to Newcastle, Mauger to Leicester, Byron Kelleher to Agen and Chris Jack, Rico Gear, Luke McAlister and Anton Oliver are all likely to go as well.

Sandwich

zabbo wrote:

What about the glut of All Blacks coming to England / France for a 2 year paycheck after the RWC ?

Hayman to Newcastle, Mauger to Leicester, Byron Kelleher to Agen and Chris Jack, Rico Gear, Luke McAlister and Anton Oliver are all likely to go as well.

The IRB needs to watch out. Some are not necessarily beyond playing for their country. Southern hemisphere teams risk being devalued (which doesnt mean they wouldnt still be best!) because players are flying to the English or French cash and retiring from the international scene. Could not be good for the rugby scene in general. Its time for real leadership from the IRB and a worldwide schedule taking into account the needs for international tournaments, international club ones, national club ones, and the demands on players.

PeteJones

I can't speak for Owen Finnegan but you are right to some extent about SH players and paychecks in the NH but not everyone does it. Take David Holwell for instance.

These retired players still have the experience to show how SH rugby is played. What is stopping NH players from going to SH countries and show us how they play?

Felipe was forced to play in Europe as there is no local league (that I'm aware of) in Argentinia. Would you say that Felipe was always a big help in terms of his experience from his first game for Leinster? I don't think so, it took time for him to became the better player he is today.

Just so you know the majority of NZ, AUS and SA players are already earning a lot of money for playing professional rugby and I'd hardly think they gonna come over here to become millionares.

take finnegan,whitaker,cullen,matt burke,justin harrison,umaga,heymans,brooke,pienaar,skinstad and percy montgomery as evidence of this fact.

Put these guys in a test team now against any test nation and they will be on the winning side of some matches. They can still bring something to the table. Skinstad and Montgomery will be back for the boks and their experience in NH countries are invaluable to us, especially now for the Sharks in the S14.

Again, rugby is a Global game and the closer the player base is from all different corners of the world the closer the test matches will be, which is good for the game.

Just as a matter of interest if you had a choice of selecting a few SH players now in their prime who will it be ?

zAbbo

Isn't there a wage cap in NZ ?

RuggieBear

PeteJones wrote:

What is stopping NH players from going to SH countries and show us how they play?

For the most part, The SANZAR unions will only sanction one or two at absolute most "foreigners" playing in their Super 14 teams.

PeteJones

Yes, and very similar in SA. But still each player gets contracted for 1/2 seasons so will still have to get paid even though they might be injured. In SA the players also get individual bonusses for tries scored.

Take the ABs for example, they field 1/2 teams during tours. We all know Dan Carter is their best flyhalf but he was rested a few games but he still gets paid.

PeteJones

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeteJones
What is stopping NH players from going to SH countries and show us how they play?

For the most part, The SANZAR unions will only sanction one or two at absolute most "foreigners" playing in their Super 14 teams.

That might be true but the local domestic leagues are open to more than 2 foreigners and the NZ cup and Currie Cup are great leagues to play in down south