Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

It literally says "It also appears", while the 42 report says it is "believed" that the PONI bump-up was offered, but was "considerably lower this time around".

In other words, find whatever report suits your narrative and believe that. 

how the IRFU treated Cian Healy (or Connor Murray, etc) at the end of his career.

Healy was still regarded by Leinster and Ireland as the second-best LH in Ireland when he finished. Whether people agreed with that is a whole other discussion but he wasn't being given a victory lap, he was kept on because they felt they needed him. And he was probably earning a fraction of what he was at his height.

Conor Murray wanted to keep playing and (as I understand it) was denied a new contract. Remember he was talking about going abroad for one more season?

POM soldiered on until the end and played some of his best rugby in his last year, but not on a central contract and again, no doubt on a much-reduced wedge.

Their treatment was no different to Lowe or anyone else. You're indispensable until you're not.

There's zero chance of that happening!

2 years in Japan on big money for a winger who turns 34 next month is a dream deal, congrats to him and his family!

• Record attendances at the Aviva (31,294 against Scotland for a 54-5 victory)
• Risen to fifth in the world rankings
• First victory for the U21s over England
• 35 central contracts established across all the provinces (don’t worry, @FtD v2I think Leinsterwomen got the most)

With Lowe announced as leaving, the above is a list of what the provinces look like for next season with team movement. Leinster will have 1NIQ, am I correct in saying Munster and Ulster only have 2 with Van Der Merwe, Nankivell and Augustus, Synman? Connacht get 4 NIQ for some reason.

Leinster are looking considerably weaker, I’d argue Munster slightly weaker, Ulster possibly slightly weaker but Connacht look stronger. Are Connacht being given additional advantages by IRFU as they are traditionally the worst of the 4 provinces? Is there a movement to literally make all 4 teams on the exact same level and make some teams weaker to make 1 stronger? I’m confused as why Connacht are even approved for 4 NIQ when, by all accounts, Munster needed a front row signing for about 10 years and were not approved one. Leinster can’t get a top up from IRFU for Irish starter Lowe to resign. I find it a bit bizarre to be honest.

I really don’t think we will be seeing an Irish side in a final or even semi final of Europe for quite some time by some of these changes that have been made. The 1 team we had competing are looking far weaker than previous seasons.

Last NIE tight head Ulster signed Steven Kitshoff only lasted a year. He was pale shadow of the player that helped SA win the WC

He can avail of sportsperson relief if he retires anywhere in the EU.

"I don't think he's necessarily trying to harm Leinster…

I think a real goal of his is obviously to even up the four provinces, and I think he realised the easier way to do that is to make Leinster a bit worse than make the other three a bit better."

Quite apart from that obvious contradiction, why does he want to even up the provinces if not to improve the others?

To be clear - your idea is that his primary interest is for the four provinces to be equal, not to be better? And he's trying to hamstring Leinster not to improve anything, but to ensure no province is better than any other?

I'm sorry the head of the IRFU has upset you, but I find that argument utterly unconvincing and not a little hysterical. You're not a poster I have any issue with in a broader sense, but I find the self-pitying about Lowe to be extarordinary, and your complete lack of interest in the turnaround of the womens' game is fine, but personally I'm delighted by it.

Humphreys doesn't get enough criticism for the mess he made of the U20's structure.

Appointed his mate as head coach who promptly led Ireland to their worst Six Nations finish in years as well as an 11th place finish out of 12 sides in the World Championships. Doak was sacked after less than a year.

Absolute self-serving nonsense.

I know Leinster fans are upset because Lowe is going but you specifically actually don't seem to know much.

Nucifora missed his major KPIs around the RWC and 6N - obviously you don't care, and can't envisage a world in which that might have any sort of knock-on financial affect that the IRFU subsequently has to deal with, but the really interesting thing to me is the problem you have with the idea that money is going from Leinster's cosy set-up to pay for the pathways in other provinces.

The national team pays for every province. No province is self-sufficient.

The central IRFU is keeping Leinster afloat, as it does with the other three provinces. It is literally, in financial and business terms, a liability.

And now, having failed its KPIs, the wider IRFU body is looking to rearrange how it invests its money inwardly. It wants to improve youth pathways. This is apparently a BAD IDEA.

This didn't result in thousands of Ulster, Munster and Connacht academy players flooding the system within months of the announcement of the programme, and so it's an unmitigated failure. You've already decided it can't work (doubtless due to your long, illustrous history of trying to reshape sporting bodies that need improvement).

You think I stick up for him because I'm an Ulster man. I think you are histrionic because you're a Leinster fan and you have an easy excuse without having to ask yourself what's going on with your province. I have no doubt Humphreys not giving Leinster a sack of gold to pay for Lowe's contract will mean that it's his fault that Leinster, shockingly, don't win Europe next season.