Munster Team Talk Thread - Beirne After Reading

Genuine question - if leinster aren't able to hold on to as many players in future due to changes in central contracting etc, leading to even more leinster players lining out for Munster, will this impact how fans view the team?

I don’t expect this to happen to any significant degree beyond what the current make-up of the squad is, tbh.

I’ve alway said you don’t want to dilute the identity of the Provinces.

And even tho the diverting of the 40% to player pathways will take some time to bear fruit, I don’t see there being any significant shift in the squad make-up, even in the short term. Munster have some very good young and academy players at the moment.

Was expecting a little bit more rotation. Good to see Lee Barron straight into the mix and Kilgallen back.

I assume it's simply a case of the budget the IRFU allocate for provincial contracts will get diluted.

So essentially if leinster have 11 players on 500k and Munster have 1 then Leinster get 2.2m less in funding and Munster will get 200k less. This will likely have an impact on giving provincial contracts to some of their fringe academy players

Of course, the flip side to that is that leinster will still have 11 players on the central contracts vs Munsters 1

Decent team but would have liked Gleeson starting 8. Good that Kilgallen is back. Will be a tough game with the team the Bulls have named.

Super counter ruck from Tom Ahern there. Kleyn with some nice hands. Crowley looking sharp