Sexton to Stade Francais?

jimmybeige

JONATHAN SEXTON could be on his way to Stade Francais, with talks taking place between the wealthy French club and representatives of the Ireland out-half regarding a move to Paris after next year's World Cup.

Stade Francais coach Michael Cheika is a huge admirer of Sexton, having brought the 25-year-old through at Leinster during his five-year, Heineken Cup-winning spell with the Irish province.

Sexton has become first-choice out-half for Ireland under Declan Kidney and is out of contract at the end of the season. Although negotiations have taken place, a deal has yet to be signed.

The IRFU are struggling to match the financial clout of French clubs, who are also understood to be in pursuit of other Ireland stars such as Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip and Tony Buckley.

Sexton helped secure a bonus point for an injury-ravaged Leinster side in Sunday's 20-13 Heineken Cup defeat away to Clermont, whose financial muscle is believed to have secured the big-name signings of Lee Byrne, Regan King, Benjamin Kayser and All Blacks prop Neemia Tialata for next season.

With widespread player movement a certainty after the World Cup (New Zealand centre Ma'a Nonu is in line for a switch to Munster), the IRFU face a tough fight to hold on to their out-of-contract players, who also include Connacht hooker Sean Cronin and Ulster winger Andrew Trimble.

The English union recently announced that they would not allow players earning a living abroad to play for the national side, as they seek to stem the flow of England internationals to wealthy French clubs.

Meanwhile, Munster are likely to discover today the potential disciplinary fall-out from Sunday's contentious Thomond Park 22-16 win against the Ospreys.

Paul O'Connell faces an automatic disciplinary hearing this week following his red card; ERC regulations point out that "the case of any player sent off shall be adjudicated upon by an independent disciplinary committee".

O'Connell, who has only recently returned to action after a lengthy injury absence, is flirting with a suspension that could force him to miss the opening game of the Six Nations against Italy.

However, as the referee already dealt with the incident, mitigating circumstances and O'Connell's relatively clean disciplinary record could lead to the ban being skimmed to anything between two and five weeks, ruling him out of one or two Heineken Cup clashes.

There may also be cases to answer for other Munster players, with Denis Leamy and Damien Varley sweating on the outcome of the citing commissioner's review of the match video.

Pretty bad for Leinster and Ireland if he went. Not sure Stade did a huge amount for the development of Beauxis and Hernandez.

bamboozle

generally i'd put this down as a bargaining ploy, but for some reason i can see Sexton wanting to play abroad.

sooner IRFU come out and say they'll only play home based players the better, otherwise there will be a haemorrage of players from the provinces overseas.

i can see sexton earning 500k plus in france while he'd probably be on around 200k pa here. if Hook is attracting offers of £750k PA then Heaslip should be able to command at least that. Worrying times for the provinces.

Hippo

I'd still have this down as a bargaining ploy, but maybe I'm just being overoptimistic. French poster on LF.com was hinting that SF's finances are not all that wonderful this year.

phog

That's 3 outhalfs that SF are supposed to be headhunting, Contepomi, Warwick and Sexton. I guess it's a ploy for more money here and there's nothing wrong with that.

death1234567

bamboozle wrote: »

sooner IRFU come out and say they'll only play home based players the better, otherwise there will be a haemorrage of players from the provinces overseas.

I think there could be a haemorrage of players leaving the provinces anyway. Their careers are short and if they can double their money by leaving to play in France then you cant blame them for going. Even if it means they won't be able to play international rugby. The same thing is happening to the English players, eg. Wilkinson staying with toulon.

buck65

If a guy chooses to ply his trade abroad surely this shouldn't reflect on his international career. Didn't seem to harm the development of Wood, Reddan, G Murphy, J Murphy, Bowe. Sure the provinces may lose one or two of their stars for a few years but there are plenty in the provinces looking to come through as well. I don't think I have ever seen so many promising under 23 ish players around, for all these guys to be accomodated in the future the IRFU are going to have to let a few of the bigger earners go.
Dropping them from the Irish team is daft.

calvin_zola

it'd be a good move for him, he would be playing in a great rugby nation and it can only improve his game

danthefan

Hippo wrote: »

I'd still have this down as a bargaining ploy, but maybe I'm just being overoptimistic. French poster on LF.com was hinting that SF's finances are not all that wonderful this year.

Cheika said it himself the other night, interviewed on Newstalk.

calvin_zola wrote: »

it'd be a good move for him, he would be playing in a great rugby nation and it can only improve his game

How does moving to a much worse team improve his game?

buck65

buck65 wrote: »

If a guy chooses to ply his trade abroad surely this shouldn't reflect on his international career.

Its not really that. Stade Francais are crap and it would be a climb down in standard for Sexton. They are floating around the 9 or 10 spot on the Top14 table with some glaring losses.

I'm surprised Toulouse arent looking for an outhalf come to think of it.

bamboozle

buck65 wrote: »

If a guy chooses to ply his trade abroad surely this shouldn't reflect on his international career. Didn't seem to harm the development of Wood, Reddan, G Murphy, J Murphy, Bowe. Sure the provinces may lose one or two of their stars for a few years but there are plenty in the provinces looking to come through as well. I don't think I have ever seen so many promising under 23 ish players around, for all these guys to be accomodated in the future the IRFU are going to have to let a few of the bigger earners go.
Dropping them from the Irish team is daft.

Given the french clubs wouldnt release players for international duty except during IRB approved windows i would imagine the development of players within the international squad would be seriously damaged,
Ireland have benefitted greatly by having the majority of players home based where their schedules could be facilitated by both province and country.
for the first time each of Munster, Leinster and Ulster's academy's are each producing top quality players, within the right structure we can continue to punch above our weight internationally. A mass exedous of players will only weaken our provinces which will in turn see a loss of interest in kids playing the game and bums on seats for provincial & international games.

JustinDee

Isn't the rumour mill great fun . . .

jimmybeige

Not really just rumours. That is from the Independent and said on the radio this morning that they have held talks. It could be Sexton just trying to bump up his contract similar to how BOD did with Biarritz a few years ago, but it doesn't seem like soccer style unfounded rumours.

JustinDee

jimmybeige wrote: »

Not really just rumours. That is from the Independent and said on the radio this morning that they have held talks

Exactly.
Rumours.

danthefan

Seems all this has come from a article in the Telegraph at the weekend, which was more about how Irish players are out of contract after the RWC. The Indo seem to have jumped on it, they do love a sensational headline.

Trojan

Stade won't stay a bad side. Too much money and high profile. And hiring a 10 who has worked for years with their manager will help.

Whatever about Sexton, IRFU doesn't deserve to keep Connacht lads like Cronin, Fionn Carr if he's out of contract, etc.

twinytwo

I cant see him going to be honest. Why leave a starting slot at leinster to go an uncertain future at stade. Especially considering he is trying to establish himself at international level. Cheika has some neck on him.

Tim Robbins

Whatever about where he goes or plays... Isn't Sexton class at those loops?

stejkenny

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Whatever about where he goes or plays... Isn't Sexton class at those loops?

Are you talking about the wraparound - at this stage its his trademark but he uses it so much its in danger of being read too easy by decent defence's.

Tim Robbins

stejkenny wrote: »

Are you talking about the wraparound - at this stage its his trademark but he uses it so much its in danger of being read too easy by decent defence's.

That's true. Wraparound is the new buzzword for loop eh?

Remember when O'Gara came on the scene, he's skip pass was absolute class.
Contemponi is / was a brilliant ball carrier. Amazing how great 10's all have one special move. It reminds me of WWE wrestling!

d'Oracle

JustinDee wrote: »

Isn't the rumour mill great fun . . .

I disagree.
I think its crap.

Evidence of the pervasive influence of professional soccer on bloody everything.
Right down to making up nonsense stories about players moving.

JustinDee

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Wraparound is the new buzzword for loop eh?

Allegedly.
It must have happened when the blindside became the "short side" and advent of the "first-receiver" which basically came about when, shock horror, it was discovered that it need not be a 10/outhalf/first-five eighth/flyhalf/pivot to take the pass from the halfback.

JustinDee

d'Oracle wrote: »

I disagree.
I think its crap.

Evidence of the pervasive influence of professional soccer on bloody everything. Right down to making up nonsense stories about players moving.

I was actually being very sarcastic.

irishbucsfan

d'Oracle wrote: »

I disagree.
I think its crap.

Evidence of the pervasive influence of professional soccer on bloody everything.
Right down to making up nonsense stories about players moving.

Absolute rubbish. I'm not a soccer fan, but creating rumours in the press was around long before money ever came into any sport. The fact that it came into soccer first just shows it is a more popular sport. It doesn't degrade the sport at all, if you want to read and believe the rumours you can.

Nothing to do with soccer, its just the papers needing something to write about to make them seem relevant and ahead of the curve.

In this case I'd think it's likely that Sexton is using the press to put some urgency into the IRFU's negotiations

d'Oracle

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Absolute rubbish. I'm not a soccer fan, but creating rumours in the press was around long before money ever came into any sport. The fact that it came into soccer first just shows it is a more popular sport. It doesn't degrade the sport at all, if you want to read and believe the rumours you can.

Nothing to do with soccer, its just the papers needing something to write about to make them seem relevant and ahead of the curve.

In this case I'd think it's likely that Sexton is using the press to put some urgency into the IRFU's negotiations

Not in sport it wasn't.
This is doubtless a consequence of the regular BS in soccer.

Eoin

buck65 wrote:

If a guy chooses to ply his trade abroad surely this shouldn't reflect on his international career

As bamboozle said, the IRFU lose a lot of control when their international players aren't playing for Irish teams. I'm pretty sure that England have very recently had problems trying to get a player released; and I doubt they can instruct that a player is rested.

stejkenny wrote:

at this stage its his trademark but he uses it so much its in danger of being read too easy by decent defence's

I'm sure there are some ways to adapt though - if they find the defence keeps drifting to cover him, they could have a runner coming the other way to check the defence a little. I'm sure much greater minds than mine have something in mind!

JustinDee wrote: »

Isn't the rumour mill great fun . . .

It's in the media; people are going to talk about it. Not all of us have the inside track that you have.

phog

Gerodan has certainly missed out on international games because Leicester didn't release him in time for him to join camp at the same time as the rest of the Irish squad.

Monty Burnz

...and if course of the best Irish players leave, we'll end up having second or third rate Irish players turning out for the provinces, and hiring journeyman Saffas and Kiwis to fill the gaps.

Think League of Ireland soccer - you don't see too many folks going to games, or too many top-class players being produced. As it stands, our provinces are as good as or better than the top English clubs. We have the equivalent of Man U and Arsenal here - I don't think change will benefit us.

irishbucsfan

Why are people giving this story any thought? Why would Sexton move to an inferior Stade Francais team to sit on the bench behind Lio Beauxis?

Just not going to happen. Cheika's just doing his old player a favour.

thehighground

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Why are people giving this story any thought? Why would Sexton move to an inferior Stade Francais team to sit on the bench behind Lio Beauxis?

Just not going to happen. Cheika's just doing his old player a favour.

If you were to believe Bernard Jackman, the Leinster players had enough of Cheika and his temper.:D

According to Gerry Thornley in the IT today, Warwick is a done deal with Stade. He would be good for Stade as he can play 10, 12 & 15 and he is an Aussie to boot!

jimmybeige

He will be a big loss to Munster. Good player and obviously very versatile. Munster will need to look for a backup OH and a new fullback. Maybe Jones can take over at FB.

profitius

buck65 wrote: »

If a guy chooses to ply his trade abroad surely this shouldn't reflect on his international career. Didn't seem to harm the development of Wood, Reddan, G Murphy, J Murphy, Bowe. Sure the provinces may lose one or two of their stars for a few years but there are plenty in the provinces looking to come through as well. I don't think I have ever seen so many promising under 23 ish players around, for all these guys to be accomodated in the future the IRFU are going to have to let a few of the bigger earners go.
Dropping them from the Irish team is daft.

I agree with that although I would like to see the top class players stay. Sexton would be a big lose to Leinster. I wouldn't mind seeing a lot of fringe squad players move abroad to give more chances to younger players. If any player proves himself they could come back, like Mike Ross.

BoarHunter

I would love to see Heaslip for Racing Metro after the world cup. Would be a perfect replcement for the ageing Chabal.

phog

jimmybeige wrote: »

He will be a big loss to Munster. Good player and obviously very versatile. Munster will need to look for a backup OH and a new fullback. Maybe Jones can take over at FB.

Sexton to Munster?????????????

Edited to add - already suggested here

anonymous_joe

thehighground wrote: »

If you were to believe Bernard Jackman, the Leinster players had enough of Cheika and his temper.:D

According to Gerry Thornley in the IT today, Warwick is a done deal with Stade. He would be good for Stade as he can play 10, 12 & 15 and he is an Aussie to boot!

The Warwick deal makes more sense, as the IRFU can be forced to pay Sexy a lot more wedge as needed.

Doesn't surprise me that some players would want to work abroad for a while, I can only speak for myself, but a lot of lads whom I know, and who would have gone to school in various rugby schools all want to spend a few years away, usually in Australia, Canada, wherever, before coming back to Ireland. (Assuming they can.)

Hardly a stretch to imagine various players wanting the same thing.

Hell, if I was an international player, I'd go out of my way to spend a season or two in Super Rugby and try and spend some time in France too.

phog

When does he need to put pen to paper, if he's serious about the move surely Leisnter would need to know sooner than later so they can headhunt a replacement. Also, it cant be easy for him to be concentrating on his game while all these discussions are going on but I'd imagine he's professional enough to give his 110% to Leinster even if he is leaving.

trackguy

This would be bad if he would miss Ireland training camps and things like that (which he probably will). If you assume that he will still be 1st choice fly-half after the World Cup, you wouldn't want him missing training camps where they are drilling moves, patterns and monitoring his condition.

He could be over-trained and over-played in France, which to be fair to the IRFU/ management, is one of the areas that they are very good on.

That said, for the individual, it would be rewarding - different culture, possibly more pay, chances to improve as a player etc so I wouldn't hold it against him.

Sandwlch

jimmybeige wrote: »

Pretty bad for Leinster and Ireland if he went.

Why???
Bad for Leinster indeed. But would it not good for Ireland: someone else paying the bulk of his wage, and freeing up another opportunity for an Irsh outhalf to be developped playing top level rugby?

irishbucsfan

Sandwlch wrote: »

Why???
Bad for Leinster indeed. But would it not good for Ireland: someone else paying the bulk of his wage, and freeing up another opportunity for an Irsh outhalf to be developped playing top level rugby?

Sexton won't be available for training for Ireland. As we've seen with the way French clubs have refused to allow English players to train with England in the past.

It would be terrible.

That's why it's great that it's not going to happen.

bleg

According to some of the rumours on this board everybody is moving everywhere.

SomeFool

bleg wrote: »

According to some of the rumours on this board everybody is moving everywhere.

I heard planet rugby have signed Danthefan and Thehighground, and Thomond2006 is off to scrum.com ...

thomond2006

SomeFool wrote: »

I heard planet rugby never heard of that place have signed Danthefan and Thehighground, and Thomond2006 is off to scrum.com ...

which is owned by ESPN, "The Worldwide Leader in Sports".

Check out http://www.espnscrum.com/ for all the latest news and views.

Remember to check out my blog (exclusive to espnscrum.com) that is being launched soon, where I tell you the Munster lineup every week before the players and even the management know about it. Phatpiggins and irishbucsfan can back me up on this. I also write a Munster match preview every week containing more hyperbole than the Leinsterfans' hyping up of Brendan Macken last season.

Sundy

Sandwlch wrote: »

Why???
Bad for Leinster indeed. But would it not good for Ireland: someone else paying the bulk of his wage, and freeing up another opportunity for an Irsh outhalf to be developped playing top level rugby?

Not having star players is terrible for irish rugby. World class players win games and attract people to games. Look at attendences at ML games during the 6N, they drop because the prospecting of watching players of lesser quality just isnt the same. Couple that with losing more frequently and i reckon attendenances would drop through the floor.

profitius

Clermont have signed Lee Byrne according to one of the papers. The Ospreys will be losing himself and Hook next season.

SomeFool

profitius wrote: »

Clermont have signed Lee Byrne according to one of the papers. The Ospreys will be losing himself and Hook next season.

Aparantly Regan King is on his way there too, as is the kiwi prop Nemmia Tialata (sp?)

JustinDee

Three pages on this utter gossip? Oh dear ...

phog

JustinDee wrote: »

Three pages on this utter gossip? Oh dear ...

Gossip maybe but his head coach certainly added fuel to the fire by commenting on it and saying he will be discussing it with Sexton next week.

tolosenc

Please no.

mikedragon32

JustinDee wrote: »

Three pages on this utter gossip? Oh dear ...

So tell us what you know!

Mr.Applepie

SomeFool wrote: »

I heard planet rugby have signed Danthefan and Thehighground, and Thomond2006 is off to scrum.com ...

I can't believe the planet rugby made these signings. I mean thehighground reminds me of Alan Quinlan - Old and spends most of his time winding people up on the limit of the law.

And Danthefan - well Cian "penalty machine" Healy springs to mind

anonymous_joe

SomeFool wrote: »

I heard planet rugby have signed Danthefan and Thehighground, and Thomond2006 is off to scrum.com ...

Dan does already live on their forum in fairness. :pac:

thomond2006

JustinDee wrote: »

Three pages on this utter gossip? Oh dear ...

Excuse me, but my move from here to ESPN is a big story. Think qualifying for the Heineken Cup after years in the Amlin.