Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

There were 52 players across the other three provincial squads this season (senior squads and academies) who were produced via Leinster pathways (predominantly the schools system). That's bigger than a full provincial squad essentially.

This has always been the thing - realistically we're barely scratching the surface in terms of where we develop players from, and there is so much more scope out there to improve it.

The idea that there is some monopoly on talented athletes in South Dublin capable of being developed into pro rugby players makes no sense, but equally, for me, the argument that it's just a question of money is a lazy cop out.

I went to Blackrock, and for me, a lot of it is numbers and a really deep rugby culture that runs through families for generations. It's a big school (over 1,000 pupils), all male, and a huge percentage of people who go to the school play rugby and love rugby as their #1 sport. Competition to make teams is really intense at all levels.

Absolutely, the facilities are excellent, and the coaching has always been very good as far as I know, but it's also almost always been provided by teachers.

I have two boys now, who will likely both go to school there, and my 3-year-old has been going to Rugby Tots for around 12 months now etc. It's that kind of thing that is extremely prevalent in the school, and to me is more of a factor than just money. I'd draw a comparison to somewhere like St Kieran's in Kilkenny, which just seems to have a really deep hurling culture, and have equally dominated the Dr Croke Cup winner's table.

Michaels is about half the size of Rock, so proportionally representation is the same. The common part of the equation is effort & a culture around rugby excellence which thankfully is now spreading to more schools in what is a very competitive environment both inside the school itself and for the cup. Money is not the saviour as witnessed by England who have far deeper talent in the rugby schools and an annual fee which is a multiple of private schools in Ireland with a wealth depth which is many more multiples above that again.

"The facilities are excellent".

What are the facilities like in St Kieran's?

I think you stumbled onto something there, most secondary schools down the country can only dream of the sorts of facilities a place like Blackrock has. My old school had a halla that leaked due to visible holes in the ceiling and we had no pitch, no gym. We ran our training drills in the park.

There was an amalgamation of two schools that led to a brand new school being built, and the facilities they have are unreal. Indoor and outdoor pitches/courts, astros for different sports. So much so that entire new sports teams have started, some at inter-county level now, junior FAI level… that simply didn't exist before.

Money isn't the be all and end all, good coaching is key obviouslt… but it sure does help. Like when Terenure decided to bring Carlos Spencer over on a 3-year contract.

My comment wasn't in relation to private or public schools. You said Mammy and Daddys and wealthy past pupils are propping up Dublin schools rugby programmes. The exact same thing is happening up North no doubt.

I just went on the 3 schools I mentioned websites. Methody fees are £140, RBAI £1,824 or @ £7,080/7,560 for preparatory department to include tuition fee, insurance and pupil specific resources (not too sure what that actually means or is), while Campbell fees are £4,290 for day students and £26,070 for boarding. Now you know more than me about Ulster school rules and governance but if this no longer permitted, RBAI and Campbell are certainly charging day students for something.

Not sure where to start with this. The fact that Leinster don't play in the World Cup seems like an obvious one.

They make up the majority of the national team who do

The underlying assertion here is that any teams Leinster have beaten are, by definition, rubbish, and any team that Leinster haven't played would obviously hammer us. 

No it’s not. Stop making things up

You're sh1tting all over Leinster for getting to the CC final via a "handy draw" as though it was drawn out of a hat, but ignoring the fact that Montpelier got the same handy route to the final in the second-tier competition, huffed and puffed to beat Connacht, fell over the line against Dragons before beating a seriously depleted Ulster. But yeah, they'd have hammered us

You did watch that final right? You saw how bad Leinster were? Montpellier would absolutely have done a job on Leinster. Any Top14 team would have beaten Leinster bar maybe Montabaun. They were genuinely that bad.

Literally got to the final, with another final coming up next week. By this definition, there can only be one "serious" contender every year

Nope. You’re making things up again.

Apologies . Yes. By the way the La Rochelle fans were amazing that day. Loud and colourful.

Any Top14 team would have beaten Leinster bar maybe Montabaun. They were genuinely that bad.

Just a reminder that Leinster played four matches against Top 14 opposition this season, and won three of them, none of which were against Montauban. Three matches against the superstars of the PREM, three wins. Now awaiting the final of the URC.

This assertion that we're crap and would be beaten by anyone half-decent is somewhat undermined by, well, reality.

In a time in which Leinster are struggling to put bums on seats, the decision to not offer JL a competitive deal could be viewed as very short-sighted. One of the few players with an infectious demeanour that energizes teammates and crowd alike. Have a feeling he'll score in the URC final and IRFU/Leinster (to a lesser extent) will be left with egg on their faces. Is this the last of Leinster signing top quality additions in areas we are short on talent?

Would think a lot depends on what now happens with Snyman………

I could just as easily bring up Leinster losing to Cardiff or Benneton, or getting hockeyed by Munster, or struggling badly against Bayonne. l stand by what I said 100%. Montpellier would absolutely have done a job on Leinster in a final. Look at what the 8th placed team in the Top14 did to them. I don’t think it’s that out there to say the 2nd placed team would beat them

All secondary schools have a pupil to teacher ratio and are provided with the teachers based on that ratio. The fee-paying schools have the advantage insofar as the fees allow them to hire additional teachers which is why they can offer more subjects for example. Or in this case, hire extra teachers for "PE", i.e. rugby and sports.

I would be stunned if those lads mentioned above spend more than a couple of hours a week in the classroom. There's no way those guys are spending all week in the classroom and then running a rugby programme in the school on top of that.