Leinster v Ulster Mon Jan 1 5:15pm KO

[Neill_M]

Leinster v Ulster
RDS Arena, Dublin – KO 17.15 IRE & UK / 18.15 ITA / 19.15 SA
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU, 81st league game)
AR 1: Eoghan Cross (IRFU) AR 2: Tomas O’Sullivan (IRFU)
TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)

Live on: RTÉ, Viaplay, SuperSport, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

[big mervyn]

Joy on the monitor. Bad news for anybody looking to get the last train home!

[Neill_M]

Joy on the monitor. Bad news for anybody looking to get the last train home!

According to the Translink timetable, the last train from Dublin on Jan 1 leaves before the game even starts.

[Neill_M]

Next league game for Ulster is v Ospreys on Feb 18 and a break weekend till Europe restarts so guessing a decent side will be sent down to Dublin.

I see Murray and Beirne sat out the Leinster game due to IRFU Player Management, will Henderson and McCloskey be available etc?

[Jetstream]

I see Jackman is now pushing Zebo for the Irish team.A few weeks ago it was JJ Hanrahan.

[justinr73]

I quite like Zebo.

Reminds me of Frank Worthington when he played for PNE when he was about 40.

That starting pack for Leinster put in a fairly big shift the other night.

Shame Porter is unlikely to play against us as the pens would come in handy.

[big mervyn]

I quite like Zebo.

Reminds me of Frank Worthington when he played for PNE when he was about 40.

That starting pack for Leinster put in a fairly big shift the other night.

Shame Porter is unlikely to play against us as the pens would come in handy.

Both top shaggers ... allegedly

[justinr73]

I quite like Zebo.

Reminds me of Frank Worthington when he played for PNE when he was about 40.

That starting pack for Leinster put in a fairly big shift the other night.

Shame Porter is unlikely to play against us as the pens would come in handy.

Both top shaggers ... allegedly

Pretty sure Frankie preferred his threesomes with two dolly birds.

[BR]

Joy on the monitor. Bad news for anybody looking to get the last train home!

Had hoped that KilJoy's appearance as TJ had signalled an end to her eagle eyed interventions from on-high.

[CIMANFOREVER]

I quite like Zebo.

Reminds me of Frank Worthington when he played for PNE when he was about 40.

That starting pack for Leinster put in a fairly big shift the other night.

Shame Porter is unlikely to play against us as the pens would come in handy.

Both top shaggers ... allegedly

Pretty sure Frankie preferred his threesomes with two dolly birds.

And a bottle of

[Neill_M]

Leinster Rugby Head Coach Leo Cullen has issued an injury update after the St Stephen’s Day BKT United Rugby Championship win over Munster Rugby in Thomond Park.

While Jamison Gibson-Park missed out on the trip, having been originally named to start, Cullen confirmed that this was a precautionary measure and the scrumhalf will be further assessed this week before a final decision will be made on his availability to face Ulster Rugby on New Year’s Day in the RDS Arena.

There was a positive update on both Harry Byrne and Luke McGrath who came through the game against Munster Rugby with no issues following their return from injuries. Ahead of the Round 9 game in the BKT United Rugby Championship, Cullen also confirmed that John McKee would return to full training this week after returning from a hamstring injury.

There was no further update on Charlie Ngatai (calf), Cormac Foley (shoulder), Ross Byrne (arm) and Jamie Osborne (shoulder).

[Jetstream]

I quite like Zebo.

Reminds me of Frank Worthington when he played for PNE when he was about 40.

That starting pack for Leinster put in a fairly big shift the other night.

Shame Porter is unlikely to play against us as the pens would come in handy.

For Jacko and Olding switch Simon and Conor. Same situation different result.
A whinging little man who blamed Joe Schmidt for his lack of caps. Posted his rants on Twitter and then deleted them.
I hate him and Doc. They both play the role of the happy go lucky gombeen to good effect.

[Jetstream]

I quite like Zebo.

Reminds me of Frank Worthington when he played for PNE when he was about 40.

That starting pack for Leinster put in a fairly big shift the other night.

Shame Porter is unlikely to play against us as the pens would come in handy.

A whinging little man who blamed Joe Schmidt for his lack of caps. Posted his rants on Twitter and then deleted them.
I hate him and Doc. They both play the role of the happy go lucky gombeen to good effect.

[Jetstream]

While Munster players and supporters were absorbing the shock news that RG Snyman had signed for Leinster, I couldn’t help but note the irony surrounding a predetermined restriction imposed from on high in relation to his capture.
The IRFU’s performance director David Nucifora was happy to sign off on Snyman’s move to Dublin in one of his last big calls before handing over the reins to David Humphreys next June, but did so with the caveat that Snyman’s arrival would not have any adverse effect on development of the emerging Joe McCarthy, now a regular starter in Leinster’s engine room, alongside James Ryan.
Amassing too much game time on the field was never an issue for Snyman in Munster given a horrific injury profile that, to date, has restricted the dual World Cup winner to just three starts, a further seven appearances off the bench and a paltry 268 minutes of competitive action in his four seasons down south.
Having a combination of Ryan, McCarthy and Snyman in your matchday squad will add greatly to the Leinster cause on the biggest of days when the silverware is being handed out.
With so little game time accumulated over the last four years, Snyman is a 28-year-old with the mileage of a 22-year-old. The only potential risk surrounds the cumulative impact of those serious injuries.
By all accounts Leinster have even been able to factor in the South African’s injury-plagued track record by making sure the financial package on offer will be influenced by the number of games he manages to play.
Given his preference to remain in Ireland and operate in the high performance system that pertains within our provinces, Snyman is happy to back himself and help Leinster get over the line in the biggest games.
The presence of his former Springbok head coach Jacque Nienaber in the Leinster set-up also proved a decisive factor in his decision-making process.
While there are those in Munster who view this move as some form of betrayal, the bottom line is the province chose not to offer him a contract extension, opting instead to retain Jean Kleyn as one of their two non Irish qualified players (NIQs) along with Alex Nankivell, once Nucifora made it clear they could retain just one of the two Springbok locks on their books.
The irony here is, had Andy Farrell chosen Kleyn as part of Ireland’s World Cup squad, that scenario would not have arisen.
That’s not Farrell’s problem and given the rapid progress McCarty has made since being included instead of Kleyn in that squad, Ireland have unearthed a player who will have a big say at the next two World Cups and beyond. McCarthy is that good.
In the circumstances, Leinster’s capacity to attract and afford a player of Snyman’s standing has come under the spotlight.
The inference is that because they currently have seven players on central contracts, soon to be nine with the elevation of Caelan Doris and Dan Sheehan from next season onwards, they have spare capacity within their budget compared to the other provinces when it comes to attracting players of Snyman’s standing.
While there is an element of truth to this, it’s not that straightforward. Munster, Leinster and Ulster operate within an annual IRFU budget of around €8m, Connacht less than that at just over €6m.
In addition, the academy program in each province is funded directly by the governing body with all 78 players in that category available for selection to the provincial management.
In practically all cases, the academies train full time with the senior squad. In Munster alone academy players such as Edwin Edogbo, Shay McCarthy, Brian Gleeson and Tony Butler have featured regularly this season.
Given that Leinster supply the bulk of Ireland’s starting team, it’s no surprise that they have the most players on central contracts.
It acts as the ultimate reward for the development pathways within the provinces that the more players who make it all the way to the national team the more that province is compensated for the fruits of their labour.
While demographics and the number of private schools playing rugby in the province undoubtedly plays a big role in Leinster’s impressive production line of quality players, it’s not the only reason.
After all, those conditions existed when Munster were the dominant force and supplied the majority of players to the Irish team throughout the noughties.
For a player to be offered a central contract, he needs to be multi-capped and assured of a place in Ireland’s match-day squad.
Hence the reason the likes of Doris and Sheehan, with 36 and 21 caps respectively, are now being elevated to the highest levels of remuneration.
Connacht and Ulster have only one centrally contracted player each in Bundee Aki and Iain Henderson. Munster have Tadhg Beirne, Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray, with the latter two set to come off those at the end of the season.
The fact that nine Leinster players are funded directly by the IRFU leaves a bigger pot of money in their provincial budget to fund the remainder of the squad.
That said, there is a balancing act in play, called a Recharge, which is designed to close the gap between Leinster’s net budget and that at play in the other provinces.
Recharge payments are effectively a loan made by the IRFU to the provinces to fund additional player costs and come in a number of forms.
Nucifora overseas a program for a category called Poni's, i.e. players of national interest, whereby the IRFU top up the annual salary of a promising player, deemed outside the reach of a central contract, in order to make sure they remain in Ireland.
In addition, if a province identifies a high-profile NIQ player they want to sign, they are allowed to do so once it has been cleared by Nucifora.
In all cases he will examine how that signing might impact on the development of an emerging home-grown player and view it in a number of ways.
For example, it can be argued that the presence of such a quality player like Snyman in Munster has added significantly to the development of emerging second rows like Edogbo and Tom Ahern over the last few seasons more than in restricting their game time.
While the IRFU cap their salary contribution to an NIQ player at €350,000, the province is free to top up that amount from their own resources or from a benefactor as long as they can prove the capacity to meet those costs over the duration of the contract.
To date in Munster, much of the additional funding funding to sign the likes of Snyman and Damien de Allende has been provided by a cohort of private backers known as the 1014 group.
While the addition of two more central contracts to Leinster players has been used as a stick to beat the current financial model, a review of the system has been undertaken three times over the last eight years and in all cases the provinces have opted to retain the existing formula.
Leinster’s capacity to generate additional funds by moving high-profile fixtures to the Aviva Stadium, coupled with the backing of high-profile benefactors within the province when required enables them to operate profitably on an annual basis.
By comparison, the other provinces struggle on that front and face challenges in breaking even. Munster are the only province that owns their stadium.
Servicing the debt on Thomond Park remains an issue even if the IRFU revised the annual repayments down to €100,000 in recent times.
Despite everything, all our provinces survived the multiple challenges posed by the Covid pandemic and experienced nothing like the carnage that saw great clubs like Wasps, London Irish and Worcester disappear overnight in England.
Our financial model may not be perfect and is certainly not to everyone’s liking but, in the most demanding of times, it proved more than adequate to not only weather the storm but remain competitive on all fronts.
Great read from Donal Lenihan in The Examiner.

[Neill_M]

While Munster players and supporters were absorbing the shock news that RG Snyman had signed for Leinster, I couldn’t help but note the irony surrounding a predetermined restriction imposed from on high in relation to his capture.
The IRFU’s performance director David Nucifora was happy to sign off on Snyman’s move to Dublin in one of his last big calls before handing over the reins to David Humphreys next June, but did so with the caveat that Snyman’s arrival would not have any adverse effect on development of the emerging Joe McCarthy, now a regular starter in Leinster’s engine room, alongside James Ryan.
Amassing too much game time on the field was never an issue for Snyman in Munster given a horrific injury profile that, to date, has restricted the dual World Cup winner to just three starts, a further seven appearances off the bench and a paltry 268 minutes of competitive action in his four seasons down south.
Having a combination of Ryan, McCarthy and Snyman in your matchday squad will add greatly to the Leinster cause on the biggest of days when the silverware is being handed out.
With so little game time accumulated over the last four years, Snyman is a 28-year-old with the mileage of a 22-year-old. The only potential risk surrounds the cumulative impact of those serious injuries.
By all accounts Leinster have even been able to factor in the South African’s injury-plagued track record by making sure the financial package on offer will be influenced by the number of games he manages to play.
Given his preference to remain in Ireland and operate in the high performance system that pertains within our provinces, Snyman is happy to back himself and help Leinster get over the line in the biggest games.
The presence of his former Springbok head coach Jacque Nienaber in the Leinster set-up also proved a decisive factor in his decision-making process.
While there are those in Munster who view this move as some form of betrayal, the bottom line is the province chose not to offer him a contract extension, opting instead to retain Jean Kleyn as one of their two non Irish qualified players (NIQs) along with Alex Nankivell, once Nucifora made it clear they could retain just one of the two Springbok locks on their books.
The irony here is, had Andy Farrell chosen Kleyn as part of Ireland’s World Cup squad, that scenario would not have arisen.
That’s not Farrell’s problem and given the rapid progress McCarty has made since being included instead of Kleyn in that squad, Ireland have unearthed a player who will have a big say at the next two World Cups and beyond. McCarthy is that good.
In the circumstances, Leinster’s capacity to attract and afford a player of Snyman’s standing has come under the spotlight.
The inference is that because they currently have seven players on central contracts, soon to be nine with the elevation of Caelan Doris and Dan Sheehan from next season onwards, they have spare capacity within their budget compared to the other provinces when it comes to attracting players of Snyman’s standing.
While there is an element of truth to this, it’s not that straightforward. Munster, Leinster and Ulster operate within an annual IRFU budget of around €8m, Connacht less than that at just over €6m.
In addition, the academy program in each province is funded directly by the governing body with all 78 players in that category available for selection to the provincial management.
In practically all cases, the academies train full time with the senior squad. In Munster alone academy players such as Edwin Edogbo, Shay McCarthy, Brian Gleeson and Tony Butler have featured regularly this season.
Given that Leinster supply the bulk of Ireland’s starting team, it’s no surprise that they have the most players on central contracts.
It acts as the ultimate reward for the development pathways within the provinces that the more players who make it all the way to the national team the more that province is compensated for the fruits of their labour.
While demographics and the number of private schools playing rugby in the province undoubtedly plays a big role in Leinster’s impressive production line of quality players, it’s not the only reason.
After all, those conditions existed when Munster were the dominant force and supplied the majority of players to the Irish team throughout the noughties.
For a player to be offered a central contract, he needs to be multi-capped and assured of a place in Ireland’s match-day squad.
Hence the reason the likes of Doris and Sheehan, with 36 and 21 caps respectively, are now being elevated to the highest levels of remuneration.
Connacht and Ulster have only one centrally contracted player each in Bundee Aki and Iain Henderson. Munster have Tadhg Beirne, Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray, with the latter two set to come off those at the end of the season.
The fact that nine Leinster players are funded directly by the IRFU leaves a bigger pot of money in their provincial budget to fund the remainder of the squad.
That said, there is a balancing act in play, called a Recharge, which is designed to close the gap between Leinster’s net budget and that at play in the other provinces.
Recharge payments are effectively a loan made by the IRFU to the provinces to fund additional player costs and come in a number of forms.
Nucifora overseas a program for a category called Poni's, i.e. players of national interest, whereby the IRFU top up the annual salary of a promising player, deemed outside the reach of a central contract, in order to make sure they remain in Ireland.
In addition, if a province identifies a high-profile NIQ player they want to sign, they are allowed to do so once it has been cleared by Nucifora.
In all cases he will examine how that signing might impact on the development of an emerging home-grown player and view it in a number of ways.
For example, it can be argued that the presence of such a quality player like Snyman in Munster has added significantly to the development of emerging second rows like Edogbo and Tom Ahern over the last few seasons more than in restricting their game time.
While the IRFU cap their salary contribution to an NIQ player at €350,000, the province is free to top up that amount from their own resources or from a benefactor as long as they can prove the capacity to meet those costs over the duration of the contract.
To date in Munster, much of the additional funding funding to sign the likes of Snyman and Damien de Allende has been provided by a cohort of private backers known as the 1014 group.
While the addition of two more central contracts to Leinster players has been used as a stick to beat the current financial model, a review of the system has been undertaken three times over the last eight years and in all cases the provinces have opted to retain the existing formula.
Leinster’s capacity to generate additional funds by moving high-profile fixtures to the Aviva Stadium, coupled with the backing of high-profile benefactors within the province when required enables them to operate profitably on an annual basis.
By comparison, the other provinces struggle on that front and face challenges in breaking even. Munster are the only province that owns their stadium.
Servicing the debt on Thomond Park remains an issue even if the IRFU revised the annual repayments down to €100,000 in recent times.
Despite everything, all our provinces survived the multiple challenges posed by the Covid pandemic and experienced nothing like the carnage that saw great clubs like Wasps, London Irish and Worcester disappear overnight in England.
Our financial model may not be perfect and is certainly not to everyone’s liking but, in the most demanding of times, it proved more than adequate to not only weather the storm but remain competitive on all fronts.
Great read from Donal Lenihan in The Examiner.

Very good read, makes sense that Snyman is effectively on pay to play given his injury issues. Didn't know about the recharge re topping up a provincial contract for certain players. Also interesting that the IRFU go to €350,000 / year re a NIQ then it is up to the province etc. Always thought any NIQ salary was 100% covered by the province / their backers.