leinster academy

GerM

CatFromHue wrote: »

back 3 - 3 (all wingers)
centres - 3
outhalf - 1
scrum half - 1
back row - 4
second row - 1
props - 4
hooker - 1

from that list it looks like we're light on second rows and hookers.

I wouldn't be concerned about hooker given that we have 3 good hookers aged 25, 25 and 22 in the senior squad backed up by a high quality AIL player in Dundon. I'm in full agreement on the lock situation though. My kingdom for a 6'7" 18 stone bruiser who can catch and offload. We just don't produce them for some reason. We're alright for locks at senior level however with the signings we've made for this coming season anyway. I would like to see us look down south though if there's no improvement. Dave Foley is a very talented lock that seems to have fallen right down the pecking order. I would be very much in favour of tempting him to Dublin if he continues to languish as 5th or 6th choice in Munster.

durkadurka

Where did Royce Burke Flynn go?

roycon

jason harris wright is on a 6 month contract only until tom sexton gets over his knee ligament injury.

profitius

GerM wrote: »

I wouldn't be concerned about hooker given that we have 3 good hookers aged 25, 25 and 22 in the senior squad backed up by a high quality AIL player in Dundon. I'm in full agreement on the lock situation though. My kingdom for a 6'7" 18 stone bruiser who can catch and offload. We just don't produce them for some reason. We're alright for locks at senior level however with the signings we've made for this coming season anyway. I would like to see us look down south though if there's no improvement. Dave Foley is a very talented lock that seems to have fallen right down the pecking order. I would be very much in favour of tempting him to Dublin if he continues to languish as 5th or 6th choice in Munster.

How about Ben Marshall. Is he too small for lock? He played well in last seasons U20 world cup.

roycon

durkadurka wrote: »

Where did Royce Burke Flynn go?

italy(treviso or somebody), south africa( some adacemy), french first division and then finally english first division - doncaster now i think with michael, keating and michael noone who played for leinster A a few times

GerM

Burke-Flynn couldn't have spent 5 years in the academy, Roycon. He left for Livorno in 2009 and was in the Leinster schools team in 2005. That's a maximum of 4 years and that would only be on the condition that he was brought directly into the academy straight from school. He was in Western Province in 2008 whilst in the academy but that was part of an Ollie Le Roux influenced initiative to allow young players get experience out there. I think he went from Livorno to Montabaun and now to Doncaster. Hopefully it works out because he had a lot of potential back in the day.

GerM

profitius wrote: »

How about Ben Marshall. Is he too small for lock? He played well in last seasons U20 world cup.

I think he is considered just too small for lock. He could cover there in an emergency but at professional level he's probably an inch or two too short. Whenever he has played for Leinster A or when he made his ML debut this season, it was in the back row at 8 for the most part I think. Promising player with a lot of talent but unfortunately he's now being viewed as a back rower which leaves him in a pretty difficult position as a young player trying to break into the most competitive area of a top side.

rugby_fan

anyone know who gt sub academy places?!

Marshall is an out an out 8. Please don't mess with this!

Also, not happy that du Toit was allowed off the radar

Blut2

roycon wrote: »

peter du toit has gone to south africa to play in the under 21 currie cup with the sharks because he wasnt offered a spot by any one and his dad is south african

Was du Toit not the scrumhalf that was being talked of on here as being the next great thing in Leinster rugby for the past few years, surprising he didnt get an offer? Did he have an awful final year in school of rugby or something?

wixfjord

Blut2 wrote: »

Was du Toit not the scrumhalf that was being talked of on here as being the next great thing in Leinster rugby for the past few years, surprising he didnt get an offer? Did he have an awful final year in school of rugby or something?

Think you're probably thinking about Luke McGrath.

Disappointed that Du Toit didn't get anything though.

I have seen du Toit play for the last 2 years and definitely talked him up as a big deal. He plays in the style of Boss and Genia - tough, bulky guy who can make yards if needed.

Just shows the competition for places in the Academy is tough going!

Morf

GerM wrote: »

My kingdom for a 6'7" 18 stone bruiser who can catch and offload.

Doesn't Damien Browne fill this role to some degree?

6'6" 20 stone.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Morf wrote: »

Doesn't Damien Browne fill this role to some degree?

6'6" 20 stone.

He was talking about developing one. The next sentence reads we are alright for lock at senior level with the signings we have made.

Regarding DuToit its hard for him to get a look in when McGrath has just come out of schools and has been talked about for a good while as the great scrum half of Leinster. DuToit also has to be disappointed he didn't start in the JWC at all.

He must feel that someone senior in Leinster looked at Marmion in the JWC and said I haven't seen much of DuToit but if he can't get ahead of this lump of lard then he must be poor don't offer him a contract.

Best of luck to DuToit in his southern adventure and I wouldn't be completly surprised to see him join the academy late for next season if he impresses in the U21 currie cup

thebaz

i find it totally confusing - year 1 / year 2 / year 3 - doesnt seam to be age based either

Foxtrol

thebaz wrote: »

i find it totally confusing - year 1 / year 2 / year 3 - doesnt seam to be age based either

Its not completely age based. Some lads are brought in directly from school, while others are given a year or two to develop further before being signed on. Whether they're brought in directly depends on a lot of things such their raw talent, their physicality and whether other provinces/clubs are sniffing around. Recruits are supposed to complete the 3 year course before moving on to senior contracts but regularly players who are deemed close to first team level will be bumped up early.

profitius

thebaz wrote: »

i find it totally confusing - year 1 / year 2 / year 3 - doesnt seam to be age based either

Basically, they only take the players who have the potential to play for Leinster. Age isn't that important.

Quint2010

Would not be at all surprised to see McGrath play ML this year. He is that good. They throw them in at that age in the SH. Why not here?

rugby_fan

Wouldnt be surprised either..he was class in the FIRA final against england..

[Jackass]

Luke McGrath is now 3rd choice scrum-half for the senior team as the only other we have are Reddan and Boss. Amazed on that basis alone that Du Toit was let go, seeing as we (seemingly) had two excellent scrum-halves to develop.

I've seen Du Toit a good few times and thought he was excellent (better than O'Donohue coming through, who I think could still prove to be a top class scrum half at Connacht), I've never seen McGrath, but I hope the hype, plus the fact that he seems to be trusted as 3rd choice straight out of school, bodes well for him.

Reddan and Boss are both hitting 30, so it would be nice to have at least two home grown talents coming through.

John Cooney still there Jackass

thebaz

Deleted User wrote: »

John Cooney still there Jackass

cooney got a full contract - vastly improved since school

thebaz

Quint2010 wrote: »

Would not be at all surprised to see McGrath play ML this year. He is that good. They throw them in at that age in the SH. Why not here?

i think his size may go against him - hes quite small

thebaz

thebaz wrote: »

cooney got a full contract - vastly improved since school

I know, I meant that Cooney is definitely 3rd choice ML player, not McGrath. Think Jackass forgot about him when thinking through our Scrum Half choices.

GerM

thebaz wrote: »

i find it totally confusing - year 1 / year 2 / year 3 - doesnt seam to be age based either

It's not age based. It's based on players who have the potential to be professional rugby players. If a player is identified as having this potential they are brought into the set up. Obviously the majority of players involved are younger as it's clear whether they have the potential or not normally when they are in their late teens. However, there are exceptions. Alan Cotter is in the Munster academy and he's is almost 25. He has just completed his first year.

jolley123

rugby_fan wrote: »

anyone know who gt sub academy places?!

David Quirke(Clongowes Out-Half). He was offered a place in the Munster academy, but turned it down.

GerM

jolley123 wrote: »

David Quirke(Clongowes Out-Half). He was offered a place in the Munster academy, but turned it down.

Wow, I find that really surprising. Had been reported on MF site that he was Munster through and through and wouldn't be taking any offer from Leinster. Silky runner. Not much of a kicking game though. Hopefully he comes through. Can see him being a centre in the times ahead though.

GerM

GerM wrote: »

Wow, I find that really surprising. Had been reported on MF site that he was Munster through and through and wouldn't be taking any offer from Leinster. Silky runner. Not much of a kicking game though. Hopefully he comes through. Can see him being a centre in the times ahead though.

I don't like to use the word prophet lightly but...

posted on May 3rd

Deleted User wrote: »

At the end of the day the IRFU can't operate without money. It really can be that simple.

If currently Munster have the biggest squad of the four provinces, at a cost of €whatever a year, they won't be permitted to add big name signings & wage bills until that changes.

The IRFU has seen quite straightforwardly that Academies are most important things for provincial development. Look at Ulster and Leinster's growth as a result of their academies' progress. Realistically, every € spent on an academy is investment, every € spent on a player is current expenditure only.

If you want Munster back at the top, you've got to push the team up from the bottom. That means that faith has to be shown to the academy and youth systems, and not having players coming in and playing for 3 years, stunting the development of the younger guys and then effing off and leaving the exact same hole.

Fix the academy and more importantly use the academy, and Munster will be a superpower again. Load the team with Jerry Collins / Yannick Jauzions, and see them gain parity for a small period of time, its a band aid over a gaping wound though.

At the moment, if I was an 18 year old rugby magician in Ireland, I wouldn't even dream of going to join the Munster academy, I'd head north or east to Leinster, were their academies have shown that they can bring players into professional and competitive teams.

Short term pain, long term gain.

GerM

Lotto was at 8pm, Emmett. You wait until now to reveal your prophet ability?
:mad:

It's interesting though. Am I right in saying, Jolley, that he was offered a spot in the Munster academy and the Leinster sub-academy but plumped for the sub-academy spot instead? Really says a lot about how the Munster academy is thought of within the game if that's the case.

jolley123

GerM wrote: »

Lotto was at 8pm, Emmett. You wait until now to reveal your prophet ability?
:mad:

It's interesting though. Am I right in saying, Jolley, that he was offered a spot in the Munster academy and the Leinster sub-academy but plumped for the sub-academy spot instead? Really says a lot about how the Munster academy is thought of within the game if that's the case.

Couldn't tell you whether he was offered a sub-academy or academy at Munster, all I can tell you is they approached him, but he opted for Leinster instead.

I think a lot of it has to do with his education. I think he's heading to Trinity, maybe medicine, but I can't remember.