April fools day joke?
Alot of it was prob agent driven as you say to get the best deal possible.
They are paid relative to what pro rugby generates.
Its not comparable to soccer as it doesn't have the audience that has.
There will always be an outlier player on big money but generally they are paid well within the financial structure of the game.
I wouldn't have said there was no risk in Crowley leaving, we are not privy to negotiations.
Would you have had the same no doubt re Sexton leaving for Racing?
It's not really a comparable situation. The Sexton scenario will go down as utter rank incompetence by the IRFU and I doubt we will see such stupidity again.
The Sexton scenario was utterly, utterly different because he knew he could go abroad and still play for Ireland, as indeed any Ireland player could at that time.
As soon as IRFU told him he had to come home or be cut from the national side, home he came.
Crowley leaving was always a very long shot, not least because it's highly unlikely the numbers being floated for his salary at Leicester were remotely realistic.
Yes, April fools.
Sorry, it's not even a good one…
He was also offered a deliberately desultory and insulting contract for reasons that escape all logic. I don't think whatever bright spark came up with that plan is still handling contracts at the IRFU and we haven't seen such a scenario come close to playing out again.
What was the offer?
By his account they offered him something like 5k€ over his previous contract when he wasn't the Irish starter.
Some genius in the IRFU took it upon themselves to "test" the market to see if the key players would actually leave and got it very badly wrong would be my reading.
Yeah fair enough there was a different structure in place when Sextn left.
I was using it as an example
He still left.
Just a difference in opinion re Crowley, I wasn't in the "I was never in doubt he'd leave" viewpoint.
As I said we are not privy to negotiations & like was pointed out in the Sexton move, a below par offer,something said in a heated discussion, direction of a club etc could sway a move abroad
But at the same time, he left in 2013, that's 12 years ago at this point, which sort of proves how rare it really is for someone to leave when they're close to the national team.
Actually, Ian Madigan might be a better comparison; he was second choice for Ireland and left in the full knowledge he was ending his test career but (allegedly) was offered stupid money by Bordeaux.
Summer Tour coaching staff confirmed
In the most respectful possible way, is Leamy not mince? I thought Munster's defence had been a serious issue this season?
Shame Flannery and Jones are outside the system currently
to be honest, we had at 1 stage, 21 players injured. This has been a freak of a season.
When the right players were available, we had the meanest defence in the league.
As a Munster fan I've felt the pain of leaking tries more than most here but it should also be remembered that under the same coach we were the best defensive team in the league.
Well there can be no complaining if there are a load of Leinster players included in the 23 with that coaching team!
I know you're only stirring (nice try btw) but if you think that coaching team will be the selectors of the touring party then you've very little knowledge of Irish rugby
Okay, Cheers to you and @Brief_Lives - as an Ulster fan, I'm not fully across it, I had just heard a bit of gnashing of teeth about Munster leaking tries.
Definitely this year it's a concern, how much is on him I don't know but last season we topped the table, season before we won the tournament.
It appears we were all fooled.
Crowley hasn’t signed!
https://www.the42.ie/jack-crowley-munster-contract-3-6665684-Apr2025/
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/2025/04/02/jack-crowley-admits-his-hands-arent-tied-as-he-remains-tight-lipped-on-future/
Cheap ass IRFU
I like what I’ve seen of Jack Murphy for Ulster the few times I’ve seen him.
By next year’s six nations there could be three young contenders at out-half.
loving what’s going on in Connaught Rugby with the fan base extending , reminds me of Munster build back when I was a youngster .
I've followed Murphy's career since he was in school. Very talented but I think he is a step below the other two in terms of floor and ceiling.
Not a slight on him at all, it says more about Prendergast and Crowley.
Maybe you're right, but to be honest he has developed a lot in the 4 months alone. His kicking from hand is a bit inconsistent. When he gets it right he has a howitzer on him (surprising as he isn't the biggest), but sometimes he doesn't always get it right and it can be a bit messy. But the one big thing I've noticed in the last two games he has played is his pace, he definitely has a break in his locker IMO, and the more experienced and confident he gets, the more I hope he will start to challenge defences which will in turn create space for the likes of McCloskey and Hume.
Anyway, from an Ireland POV let's see where he is in 18 months time. Hopefully he can get into the conversation for extended squads in time. If he is starting week on week at Ulster and playing well he should have a chance. H
An Irish qualified starter for a province is always going to be in the Ireland picture to some degree or another. Murphy is young, that he didn't light things up when he was underage doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.
A good day for irish rugby, both 10s showed their class, though I think casey is the big winner, JGP was great but he won't last forever, Casey looks like he can step up when the time comes.
Casey's kicking has improved so much. He was deadly accurate today.
Oh look he's already displaying his talent at the highest level of club rugby and he's still only a Year 1.
Happy to be proven wrong about him because I actually rate him as a rugby player and always have done.
In fairness I posted the above before watching Prendergast and Crowley yesterday who were both excellent. So there's no doubt he has a bit to go to get to their level. But he is a year younger than Prendergast and maybe 4 years younger than Crowley so he'll hopefully move in that direction, how far down the road he gets remains to be seen.
