Most impactful foreign player for each Province

mooonpie

With CJ's retirement announcement, there's some interesting discussion in the Munster thread about their most impactful foreign player.

I think a wider discussion would be interesting, so ... who is each most impactful foreign player for each province?

I'll get the ball rolling:

Connacht: Bundee Aki
Leinster: Felipe Contepomi
Munster: Doug Howlett
Ulster: Ruan Pienaar

Edit: Yeh ... Leinster should be Isa Nacewa

sydthebeat

as much as i love Felipe, i dont think there are many who would argue Isa Nacewa isnt the most influential foreign player to play in these shores.

bayern

Leinster's is Nacewa and it's not close.

sebdavis

Isa Nacewa by a significant distance

Some Yoke

Clint Newland, Leinster

CJ aside, Jim Williams was a stalwart for Munster as they developed into a European powerhouse.

Tombo2001

I know damn all about rugby, but even I know its Nacewa in Leinster, Aki in Connaught and Ruan Pieenaar in Ulster.

realhorrorshow

Honourable mentions for Connacht: Ray Ofisa, Paul Warwick, George Naoupu, Michael Swift, who am I missing?

Surely Leinster's should be Jamie Heaslip and Munster's own Ronan O'Gara ?

its_phil

realhorrorshow wrote: »

Honourable mentions for Connacht: Ray Ofisa, Paul Warwick, George Naoupu, Michael Swift, who am I missing?

AJ MacGinty would be technically given he came via USA.

I'd consider Swifty Irish.

Former Former Former

I'd exclude those who qualified to play for Ireland.

Leinster : Nacewa, absolutely no debate
Munster : Howlett
Ulster : Muller
Connacht : Butler (yes I know he's now IQ)

Buer

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I know damn all about rugby, but even I know its Nacewa in Leinster, Aki in Connaught and Ruan Pieenaar in Ulster.

I know few will agree but I'd put Johann Muller ahead of RP for Ulster. Whilst RP took the headlines, JM was the heartbeat of their team and was key in driving their standards.

RP's performances tailed off significantly during his last 1-2 seasons there. As beloved as he was, there's a solid argument that Cooney was an upgrade on the level of performance that RP had been delivering by the end.

phog

I think Rocky should get honourable mention for Leinster and John Langford must be very close to the top of imports for Munster. Also, I'd have Muller for Ulster. Aki is a cert for Connacht

cantwbr1

phog wrote: »

I think Rocky should get honourable mention for Leinster and John Langford must be very close to the top of imports for Munster. Also, I'd have Muller for Ulster. Aki is a cert for Connacht

Langford surely gets it as he is credited with changing the mindset at Munster from glad to be there to being there to win

bilston

Buer wrote: »

I know few will agree but I'd put Johann Muller ahead of RP for Ulster. Whilst RP took the headlines, JM was the heartbeat of their team and was key in driving their standards.

It's a good debate. There are strong arguments for both players. What I would say is that Ulster tailed off significantly after Muller left, but then we also lost Court, Afoa and Ferris around the same time, so there were other factors for it.

Paul Smeenus

Buer wrote: »

I know few will agree but I'd put Johann Muller ahead of RP for Ulster. Whilst RP took the headlines, JM was the heartbeat of their team and was key in driving their standards.

RP's performances tailed off significantly during his last 1-2 seasons there. As beloved as he was, there's a solid argument that Cooney was an upgrade on the level of performance that RP had been delivering by the end.

Absolutely agree on Muller, although his performances also tailed off considerably in his last season. Muller drove the culture and belief forward generally. Pienaar won us games almost single-handedly.

If I could bring one back, in their pomp, it would be Muller. He would sort this pack out.

evil_seed

Connacht: AJ McGinty. Wouldn't have won the Pro12 without him running things

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

realhorrorshow wrote: »

Honourable mentions for Connacht: Ray Ofisa, Paul Warwick, George Naoupu, Michael Swift, who am I missing?

I'd give Aly Muldowney a mention

FACECUTTR

The "Lord of the Lineout" Mike McCarthy did pretty well.

awec

sydthebeat wrote: »

as much as i love Felipe, i dont think there are many who would argue Isa Nacewa isnt the most influential foreign player to play in these shores.

I would argue that either Muller or Pienaar had greater influence on their team than Nacewa did at his, without diminishing the immense impact Nacewa had at Leinster.

I just think Nacewa was an excellent player in an excellent team, while Muller / Pienaar were excellent players that dragged their team to a higher level.

Bazzo

realhorrorshow wrote: »

Honourable mentions for Connacht: Ray Ofisa, Paul Warwick, George Naoupu, Michael Swift, who am I missing?

Craig Clarke?

Short stint in the end but always felt like he was a big catalyst for change in Connacht.

The Inbetween is mine

From a Munster viewpoint, I think back to Tapoki with huge fondness, and yet he only played about a quarter of the games Dougie managed in his time here... Williams, Mafi, Halstead all played their part... but it has to be Dougie for me.

joeguevara

Andy ward for ulster is the best foreign player for me closely followed by rocky. Andy won the first Heineken Cup for a province and the guy came out of nowhere.

Green farmer

For me, there was something special about Shaun Payne. Very low key, but lost count of the amount of times he saved munster at the back under the high ball and as the last man. Just so reliable and dependable. Also fond memories of Jim William's emptying the tank time and time again. Left nothing out there.