Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

I must admire your commitment to winding people up Burkie that you included Te Aihe Toma, an NPC (at best) level scrumhalf who played a grand total of about ten minutes in a RaboDirect game against some cannon fodder team.

Including the likes of Blyendaal, Stander, Gallagher and Haley who all are (or became) IQ is ludicrous. Imagine if we tried to claim Lowe and JGB were a big name signings!

Omitting Synman and De Allende, who were the works of JPs 1014 Consortium and not subject to any IRFU money, who was the last signing to be off the standard of Barrett and Synman? Probably Howlett/Botha/JDV/Cullen - all from "back in the day"

(Fekitoa was perceived as well last his prime after Toulon and Wasps, even if he did play quite well for us for a finish. He'd be the most likely rebuttal to that argument about the standard of NIQs we've signed with IRFU money. Du Tout I don't believe was anywhere near the Springboks at the time.)

You mentioned Nankivell earlier as an excuse for "Munster can't complain" as if Nankivell wasn't a bit part Super Rugby player before he arrived.

Ye also both forgot Jean Deysel, for what it's worth. (EDIT: And Kiran McDonnell, but I also think that injury cover signings are also not really the same thing - unless they signed on again for a longer period a la Taute)

Regardless, @awec basically hit the nail on the head with his post last night so I don't know what further I can add. The system is designed to keep the top team at the top, simple as. Refusing to acknowledge it is just serious mental gymnastics.

That's without going into international selection policy, but that's for the Irish thread I think :).

Side note: I think it's clear by now that this is far from a Munster fan issue, which I think most posters bar a couple seem to acknowledge. Ulster fans aren't pleased at all, while Connacht fans are just used to being the runt of the litter and are too caught up in their ongoing depression to care.

On an additional note (and likely my last), the allocation of NIQs by position is also a weird one.

Leinster had three international seconds rows and three international centres (excluding Frawley and JOB, which would be a stretch tbf), and they have been given NIQs in those positions. I think a THP I could get over, given there isn't much going on behind Furlong.

It just seems a bit backwards.

This was part of the NIQ rules brought in back in 2011, that you could not renew an NIQ nor could you sign another in the same position. It was quietly done away with a few years later.

I have already acknowledged that some of those signings were project players etc but the bottom line is players have been signed by Munster from the southern hemisphere in vast quantities. Munster have had plenty of latitude from IRFU with signings.

Just because De Allende and RGS were paid by a benefactor doesnt take away from the reality of signing RWC winners while now complaining about another province signing RWC winners. Mental gymnastics at its finest. If Fekitoa was well past his prime, why not give that game time to some one else? Scannell maybe? I have no issue with provinces signing players but when one province justify it with "they buy into the province" and "he will help develop players" and then the next centre after Taute and Saili are Fekitoa, De Allende, Nankivell, Frisch then you really cannot complain. All of them are centres and cannot play anywhere else. Jordie Barrett can play 10-15 basically.

Just because De Allende and RGS were paid by a benefactor doesnt take away from the reality of signing RWC winners while now complaining about another province signing RWC winners. Mental gymnastics at its finest [sic]

It kind of does when the whole premise of the argument (or atleast my argument) was about the financial inequality between the provinces caused specifically by the IRFU.

As I said above, I wouldn't have been too pushed if Leinster signed an NIQ THP. It's not like I'm saying "Leinster should be barred from ever signing NIQs". Synman and Barrett are a bit ridiculous though.

If these were positions where Leinster were deficient, then I wouldn't have a foot to stand on (as you have well pointed out re: Munster's centres)

Presume the RWC winner in question is RGS

wealthy local punters 

?? Pricing the tickets at an extremely affordable level is one of the main reasons the Aviva gets good crowds.

less wealthy, less successful province without easy access to a big arena.

Munster have sold out Pairc Ui Chaoimh twice in the last 18 months for random games that no other province* is allowed to run, and another one is lined up for Thomond in the autumn.

*source; Gerry Thornley

Leinster played against an international team less than twelve months ago :P