Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

I have heard Frawley is going.

So Munster are getting Billy Burns from Ulster, Diarmuid Kilgallen from Connacht and are expected to sign Ultan Dillane from La Rochelle, not to mention they got Oli Jager in November and they are expected as well to sign a NIQ hooker. But they don't have the room to pay the Irish captain and club legend Peter O'Mahony? Give me a break.

And now to create parity, Leinster are going to send one of Harry Byrne or Ciaran Frawley to Ulster in order to replace Billy Burns. I wouldn't be surprised if Leinster have to send a winger over to Connacht to replace Kilgallen.

Leinster get weeks of bad press and public disgust for the Snyman deal for a year, when Munster had already agreed not to re-sign his contract, but when Munster are taking the starting 10 from Ulster to play back up, a quality up and coming winger in Kilgallen as well as a Champions cup winning hybrid forward, a international quality tighthead and a quality starter at hooker and very little is said in terms of public outrage.

Leinster allegedly looked for Tom O'Toole to move to the East, but the player declined.

"While Burns could yet be calling Thomomd Park home next year, it is not expected however that Tom O’Toole will be making a similar inter-provincial switch.

The Belfast Telegraph understands that Leinster had looked at the Irish international tighthead but IRFU rules dictate that a province cannot outbid their neighbours for their own player."

It's a move that's probably a little too early for him. He'd be a good 2nd choice TH replacement in the immediate future and a good long term replacement for Furlong. However you'd be doing well to convince him that the best thing for his career would be chilling on the bench for a couple of years.

Right choice for Ireland and Ulster. Would have been fairly unfair for Leinster to have the 1st and 3rd choice tighthead. It seems that they are looking for an Irish tighthead which is interesting.

From what I have read about Billy Burns, they weren't willing to offer him a new contract so in that regard, it is fair that Munster are potentially looking to land him as a quality back up. In terms of Diarmuid Kilgallen, he is hardly going to turn down Munster over Connacht right now if he has a clear opportunity of getting quality minutes next season and gives him more of a chance for the Ireland squad. It's just unfortunate that it is coming at the expense of Connacht.

They chose to allow RG to leave. Killer is 2nd choice at best. Carberry wants to leave and is not really a good out half. The retirements are tough, tbf and yet they may be getting Burns, Dillane and Kilgallen. They just signed Jager!

Munster remember allowed Ryan and Cronin to leave! They're rumored to be signing Milne. That's a loss for Leinster, if true. Billy Burns is a better 10 than Carberry, imo. Fair play to Munster if they succeed getting these players. It makes them stronger.

I'm not trying to hate on Ulster, but my God if ever they could use a complete reset in terms of director of rugby, head coach and current philosophy within the province, this off-season would be the time to do it.

They have some wonderful talent up North but it never seems to push on and it is an incredible shame to see so many quality prospects not pushing on to the next level.

Two messages ago I admitted that it is fair that since Ulster aren't offering Burns another contract so he is more than within his right to move elsewhere and do whatever he wants and Ulster need to go and find another fly half.

It's baffling to me. Flannery is not trusted! Burns has been a good signing.

Agreed. Give him what he's worth.

Ulster are also rumoured to have made a £900k loss last season, largely driven by the fact that they couldn't host La Rochelle in Ravenhill (probably lost out to the tune of £700k+ on that one alone). Billy Burns is 29, so he's at a period of his career where he's going to give one last push to get paid. Maybe with the losses in mind, Ulster have decided to not up their spend on a guy they don't fully believe in.

The vast majority of provincial contracting is already done so Ulster already know who they are or aren't getting, so must be satisfied with whatever deal they've done. I'd be exceptionally surprised if it was Harry Byrne, he's our number 2 for a few years yet. Prendergast's time will come, but he's still 20 and far from the finished article. I'd be hoping he's pushing for the number one spot in 2025/26 season realistically. The age profiles of Ross, Harry and Sam all line up nicely to form a good succession plan.

Does that mean that Frawley is going north? A lot more likely than Harry, but there's also Leinster's forgotten man, Charlie Tector. He'll be 22, has the same pedigree as Prendergast (u20s grand slam winning starting 10) and looks to be a very good player. He's a year ahead of Prendergast, so pushing for a starting berth next season would be about the right timing for his career. He'll also be a lot cheaper than both Harry and Frawley.

My guess is that Ulster are willing to back Flannery for next season and are going to take a gamble on Tector coming good in a season or so.