menacethedenis wrote: The Indo claimed today that O'Mahoney signed his new contract despite interest from France. Didn't specify where from

I believe the club was "L'Agent Monsieur 15%"

The Indo claimed today that O'Mahoney signed his new contract despite interest from France. Didn't specify where from

Cian Healy has just signed for 3 more years with the IRFU (and Leinster) so I guess we can safely dismiss this foreign exodus thing as just an 8 day wonder.

There are very few players in the ROI based provinces who both (1) are young enough to move abroad *and* some home in time so as not to fry their tax breaks and (2) have no fear of being dumped form the international side should they leave.

Apart from Sexton (going) and Healy (staying) it's hard to think of anyone else who fits this template - maybe Kearney, but only at a stretch, he's been injury prone and we have buckets of cover in the back 3.

Connnnnacht wrote:

ummm, wrote: And you know this how?

Because if he was worried that he might be playing in the Amlin next season he would have waited to see if Racing qualified for the Heineken Cup next year before making his choice

Wow, smoking gun right there.

Looks like it is not racing. If one thing I have learned over the years, it is always trust L'Equipe.

www.lequipe.fr/Rugby/Actualites/Sexton-fait-le-buzz/345809

As someone said, imagine him at Clermont!

ummm, wrote: And you know this how?

Because if he was worried that he might be playing in the Amlin next season he would have waited to see if Racing qualified for the Heineken Cup next year before making his choice

From an Irish pov its a good move, first of all it shows that the irfu arent going to empty the kitty on a few star players and that they are willing to play hard ball in negotiations.

second, this frees up madigan to get plenty of game time at leinster so that we can see if he can step up to the next level.we will then have 5 outhalves (young) who are putting pressure on each other and competition is good.

from a leinster pov its a disaster, but hey thems the breaks.now they know what its like to have your top players taken by bigger sides.

To one extent it might not be a bad thing if some Irish boys did go (not all obviously). Look at the likes of Ospreys which were rejuvenated after all there big names went. There's a lot of young talented guys looking for a break and if some big names left it would give them a chance to shine.

And you know this how?

I'm sure the 750k would ease the pain. It's the only reason he's moving.

Best of luck to him. Its a new challenge and he has had a good run at Leinster. I'm not really concerned about this in an overall sense. There might be a trickle but imo it won't become a flood. We are different from the Welsh at provincial / regional level in that we have functioning teams who have a strong support base and can generate significant revenue. The Welsh are lost in a middle ground between clubs and regions where it'll be difficult to find a solution.

Personally I think it'll end in tears for Sexton and he'll come back home possibly with both parties cutting a deal after 1 season. From an Irish perspective the main hope is that he can stay injury free. The likes of Bayonne and these type of teams won't hold back admiring you unlike say the Dragons or someone in the Rabo and that'll be every week in comparison to make the 15/20 top games he plays for Leinster / Ireland these days.

Also if he's going to Racing he might yet be playing in the Amlin next season. They have had a couple of good results recently but they will need to keep winning as its very tight around mid-table. Can't imagine he'd be too impressed playing Bucharest in front of a couple of hundred people while Leinster are playing a big HC game the same day.

overstrander wrote:

sea_point wrote:

theCulk wrote: One thing I found interesting is that Schmidt said "France". He didn't mention a team. Imagine if it's Clermont :ohmy: and not Racing

He's wasting his time if he is going to Racing, which is a wealthy playboys plaything like Toulon. They have an average squad, lot's of names but all of them well past their best. And critically they have the ficle Parisian support base.

Clermont would have been a great fit for him, even Toulouse where I think he could have really re-juvinated them (their flyhalf options crucified them in the #HCup.), but only if Noves stands down and a new regieme can whip their lard-ass and over priced squad into shape.

Agree with Clermont or Toulouse being better for Sexton, he needs to stay clear from Racing, Stade or Toulon.

I won't have you saying anything about Guy Noves though, the man is a legend!

He is, but he's old school and despite the talent in his current squad far too many of them are out of condition compared to teams from UK & Ireland (even the likes of Clermont). If Vern Cotter went to Toulouse both forwards and backs would be 5kg leaner I can guarantee you that. Their conditioning is atrcious...

sea_point wrote:

theCulk wrote: One thing I found interesting is that Schmidt said "France". He didn't mention a team. Imagine if it's Clermont :ohmy: and not Racing

He's wasting his time if he is going to Racing, which is a wealthy playboys plaything like Toulon. They have an average squad, lot's of names but all of them well past their best. And critically they have the ficle Parisian support base.

Clermont would have been a great fit for him, even Toulouse where I think he could have really re-juvinated them (their flyhalf options crucified them in the #HCup.), but only if Noves stands down and a new regieme can whip their lard-ass and over priced squad into shape.

Agree with Clermont or Toulouse being better for Sexton, he needs to stay clear from Racing, Stade or Toulon.

I won't have you saying anything about Guy Noves though, the man is a legend!

theCulk wrote: One thing I found interesting is that Schmidt said "France". He didn't mention a team. Imagine if it's Clermont :ohmy: and not Racing

He's wasting his time if he is going to Racing, which is a wealthy playboys plaything like Toulon. They have an average squad, lot's of names but all of them well past their best. And critically they have the ficle Parisian support base.

Clermont would have been a great fit for him, even Toulouse where I think he could have really re-juvinated them (their flyhalf options crucified them in the #HCup.), but only if Noves stands down and a new regieme can whip their lard-ass and over priced squad into shape.

theCulk wrote: One thing I found interesting is that Schmidt said "France". He didn't mention a team. Imagine if it's Clermont :ohmy: and not Racing

Yeah I had been wondering about that everyone has assumed it would be Racing and it could well be but I don't think its been officially announced. And while the Racing staff could have just been playing things down both the president and the coach completely poo-pooed the idea of Sexton going to Racing in recent weeks. That's a high risk strategy on their part if it was intended as a bargaining tool. I probably have it all wrong though.

One thing I found interesting is that Schmidt said "France". He didn't mention a team. Imagine if it's Clermont :ohmy: and not Racing