Boss going to Leinster??

[ColinM]

Or maybe this all came about from Boss being out of form for a considerable period of time. Lets face it, he's only really performed at his optimum in this last month or two, despite being on an upward curve since the beginning of the season.

[bogboy]

colimM thats B-ll-x the guy has always been a good scrumhalf whereas the forwards around him were acting like headless chickens because you don't like the game he was playing doesn't make him a bad player

[ColinM]

colimM thats B-ll-x the guy has always been a good scrumhalf whereas the forwards around him were acting like headless chickens because you don't like the game he was playing doesn't make him a bad player

Not quite bagboy. Re read the post I said he was out of form, not a bad player.

[RedKC]

Or maybe this all came about from Boss being out of form for a considerable period of time. Lets face it, he's only really performed at his optimum in this last month or two, despite being on an upward curve since the beginning of the season.

Agree 100%, always been a great player for Ulster but his form was poor last season, back to his true self now and I desperately hope he stays although it seems a foregone conclusion he's away

[RedKC]

All opinions are ultimately speculative if the final outcome is unfulfilled .jeez thats what forums are about eh? Besides if there are no juicy rumours floating around you should start one

All will be revealed on Thursday.

Nothing revealed yet

[ravinghill]

All opinions are ultimately speculative if the final outcome is unfulfilled .jeez thats what forums are about eh? Besides if there are no juicy rumours floating around you should start one

All will be revealed on Thursday.

So ... its Thursday ..... nothing revealing yet ..... (unless you count the rather fetching low cut top I happened to glance at today !!!) ...

[namron]

Yep im doing the Thursday nightshift on this one .Still hope he stays with ulster but we"ll see.Any more news Rooster ?

[Rooster]

All opinions are ultimately speculative if the final outcome is unfulfilled .jeez thats what forums are about eh? Besides if there are no juicy rumours floating around you should start one

All will be revealed on Thursday.

Nothing revealed yet

Yip was revealed to me today when I next get a weekend off work
namron suggested someone should start a juicy rumour so it's his fault

[againstthehead]

I think I saw Dan Carter and Richie McCaw throwing a ball about in botanic gardens today lads - could be a coincidence...

[Rooster]

I think I saw Dan Carter and Richie McCaw throwing a ball about in botanic gardens today lads - could be a coincidence...

that means time for a visit to Specsavers as your eyesight would appear to be a bit dodgy.

[namron]

Its official he does not want to go at all . Transfer rumours a complete ruse and just to prove it here`s how much he likes playing and winning for us what a guy

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0g2 ... 94x220.jpg

[Gemma]

I wish it was true! But thanks for the photo to cheer me up

[stickinout]

1. Are we that broke? Does this directly relate to the number of bums on seats on a weekly basis? I think it does. Having more cash means you can have greater depth to your squad because you're not dependent on the IRFU. How are we going to keep up (squad depth) with the likes of Munster or Leinster when our gate size is nearly half of Leinster's??? I can only see this becoming more of a problem over the next few years unless the new CEO brings in a lot of new cash. We'll become more and more the plucky outsiders.

2. No offence to Stringer, but he's not getting enough game time and that should amount to something in working out IRFU contracts. Something smells about all this.

3. It doesn't make sense unless the IRFU said we couldn't have the money for NIQ SH unless Boss walked, as there were too many SHs signed. This leads on to the possiblity that it was an UR contractual error, that is, we signed the likes of Porter, etc, taking for granted Boss's central contract, then found out that Boss was losing his central contract and the hit the fan because we couldn't afford him.. and the IRFU won't help out. There's something fishy about it all and there's definitely a bit of horse trading going on........

4. that is, if it's not solely Boss wanting to move on to new challenges and searching for Heineken cup glory.

5. Maybe he was pushed out by the coach? Maybe this is the start of McL moulding a team of his own making and decided we needed a new leader type SH with better hands?

To take the points above 1,2 and 3 are pure speculation, insulting to some individuals (not least Kidney) and as far as I know completely groundless. Think about it we let Boss go because of money and then (maybe) sign Blair for 300,000 Maybe, just maybe, Kidney perfers Stringer to Boss - you may not like it but doesn't mean something fishy is going on.

4 is possible

5 is closer to the mark but even then not the complete story.

Just to reply Ardglass2

Firstly, of course it's pure speculation, that's the nature of the thread i'm afraid

I don't agree with the "completely groundless" statement. I think Shan quoted elsewhere that Mick O'D lost his central contract last year but continues to play at Munster because they're his paymasters now. So i think it's fair to suggest that if a province is getting 20k to a game regularly, they're going to have more money than a team that regularly gets 10k and therefore have more autonomy and can decide how they want to spend it, e.g. expand the squad, or show loyalty to existing players who get shafted by the IRFU . Perhaps one week's extra 10,000 seats would pay the guts of Boss's new Leinster contract after costs for the RDS are taken into account? Possible, i think. That's a scary thought.

On point 1, 2 and 3, it's not intended to be insulting to anyone, just exploratory and speculative. Yes I agree with you, Kidney probably does prefer Stringer to Boss, and i'm sure he has input on who gets the central contracts but i wonder if there's a selection committee that meets and decides on something as important as this? My guess is there is, so IRFU wider politics would come into play. My point was this, Stringer should be getting as much rugby as possible in high pressure games if he is considered the third SH . This is crazy.

As for Boss being let go and then Blair bought for 300k and it not making sense, the money for Blair would come from the IRFU for the NIQ, is that not correct? So why would the IRFU pony up that kind of cash and not pony up for one of our own? Do you not think that's strange?

For me, it's too simplistic that Boss wanted a move and a new challenge and once UR knew about this they started looking elsewhere which was the line coming out of UR. I hope what really did happen comes out in the light of day and if there were any bit ups, we hear about it but i'm not that naive to believe we will ever know the truth. If there was any bit up i would imagine Boss will be instructed to keep schtum too as his new masters are ultimately part of the same machine.

On the point i made:

Maybe he was pushed out by the coach? Maybe this is the start of McL moulding a team of his own making and decided we needed a new leader type SH with better hands?

you answered:

5 is closer to the mark but even then not the complete story.


If you know something about it, spill the beans or are you too just speculating too? It's not clear if this is the case.

[stickinout]

1. Are we that broke? Does this directly relate to the number of bums on seats on a weekly basis? I think it does. Having more cash means you can have greater depth to your squad because you're not dependent on the IRFU. How are we going to keep up (squad depth) with the likes of Munster or Leinster when our gate size is nearly half of Leinster's??? I can only see this becoming more of a problem over the next few years unless the new CEO brings in a lot of new cash. We'll become more and more the plucky outsiders.

2. No offence to Stringer, but he's not getting enough game time and that should amount to something in working out IRFU contracts. Something smells about all this.

3. It doesn't make sense unless the IRFU said we couldn't have the money for NIQ SH unless Boss walked, as there were too many SHs signed. This leads on to the possiblity that it was an UR contractual error, that is, we signed the likes of Porter, etc, taking for granted Boss's central contract, then found out that Boss was losing his central contract and the hit the fan because we couldn't afford him.. and the IRFU won't help out. There's something fishy about it all and there's definitely a bit of horse trading going on........

4. that is, if it's not solely Boss wanting to move on to new challenges and searching for Heineken cup glory.

5. Maybe he was pushed out by the coach? Maybe this is the start of McL moulding a team of his own making and decided we needed a new leader type SH with better hands?

To take the points above 1,2 and 3 are pure speculation, insulting to some individuals (not least Kidney) and as far as I know completely groundless. Think about it we let Boss go because of money and then (maybe) sign Blair for 300,000 Maybe, just maybe, Kidney perfers Stringer to Boss - you may not like it but doesn't mean something fishy is going on.

4 is possible

5 is closer to the mark but even then not the complete story.

Just to reply Ardglass2

Firstly, of course it's pure speculation, that's the nature of the thread i'm afraid

I don't agree with the "completely groundless" statement. I think Shan quoted elsewhere that Mick O'D lost his central contract last year but continues to play at Munster because they're his paymasters now. So i think it's fair to suggest that if a province is getting 20k to a game regularly, they're going to have more money than a team that regularly gets 10k and therefore have more autonomy and can decide how they want to spend it, e.g. expand the squad, or show loyalty to existing players who get shafted by the IRFU . Perhaps one week's extra 10,000 seats would pay the guts of Boss's new Leinster contract after costs for the RDS are taken into account? Possible, i think. That's a scary thought.

On point 1, 2 and 3, it's not intended to be insulting to anyone, just exploratory and speculative. Yes I agree with you, Kidney probably does prefer Stringer to Boss, and i'm sure he has input on who gets the central contracts but i wonder if there's a selection committee that meets and decides on something as important as this? My guess is there is, so IRFU wider politics would come into play. My point was this, Stringer should be getting as much rugby as possible in high pressure games if he is considered the third SH . This is crazy.

As for Boss being let go and then Blair bought for 300k and it not making sense, the money for Blair would come from the IRFU for the NIQ, is that not correct? So why would the IRFU pony up that kind of cash and not pony up for one of our own? Do you not think that's strange?

For me, it's too simplistic that Boss wanted a move and a new challenge and once UR knew about this they started looking elsewhere which was the line coming out of UR. I hope what really did happen comes out in the light of day and if there were any bit ups, we hear about it but i'm not that naive to believe we will ever know the truth. If there was any bit up i would imagine Boss will be instructed to keep schtum too as his new masters are ultimately part of the same machine.

On the point i made:

Maybe he was pushed out by the coach? Maybe this is the start of McL moulding a team of his own making and decided we needed a new leader type SH with better hands?

you answered:

5 is closer to the mark but even then not the complete story.


If you know something about it, spill the beans or are you too just speculating too? It's not clear if this is the case.

[Ardglass2]

2 points:

1 - Boss doesn't have a Central contract so he hasn't just lost it.
Leinster are offering him more money but as I understand it is not because we cant pay , it is because we wont pay
what he wants

2 - My understanding is, and I agree a degree of specualtion in this, is that McLaughlin just prefers a quick passing scrum half, not a Boss type. I would further speculate that the reason we saw a lot of Marshall early in the season was McLaughlin was assessing if he was up to the standard required. The decision made was that he didn't

Did mean to have a go - sorry if it came across like that