Agreed. Will be interesting to see if the buzz around Heaslip, SOB and Donnacha Ryan leads anywhere. In other respects this could help Ulster attract more players north who might be reticent before. Will have to wait and see.

Changes in this years finance bill means that players no longer need to be based in Ireland on retirement . This is bad news for provinces.


www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/spor...tax-change-1.1572370

connachtexile wrote:

I can't imagine McGrath could have been forced to move province, especially to Ulster as it has knock on implications for his tax rebate which is still worth keeping in mind for a player even a young one, unless he intends to drive up and down to Belfast each day which would be a major pain in the hole imo.

I don't think he was coerced into it but given the hard sell and Leinster told that they have to move someone on? It could have happened.

The rebate is a puzzler but if he is on better money* at Ulster then that could go some way especially if this is only for a season or two.


* I think he was only on a development contract at Leinster but I stand to be corrected. Also if he gets centrally contracted by the IRFU who are based in Dublin does that not could not mean he's based in the Republic?

Who you pay tax to is based on where you live, so in the case of a player he could potentially drive from Dublin to Belfast each day or stay over a couple of days a week in Belfast and spend the rest of his time in ROI and pay tax here, but I think that would be even more disruptive than just moving to Belfast.

He's a graduate of the academy don't think he's on development contract however he's only ever started 16 games for Leinster in four seasons including this season.

I can't imagine McGrath could have been forced to move province, especially to Ulster as it has knock on implications for his tax rebate which is still worth keeping in mind for a player even a young one, unless he intends to drive up and down to Belfast each day which would be a major pain in the hole imo.

I don't think he was coerced into it but given the hard sell and Leinster told that they have to move someone on? It could have happened.

The rebate is a puzzler but if he is on better money* at Ulster then that could go some way especially if this is only for a season or two.


* I think he was only on a development contract at Leinster but I stand to be corrected. Also if he gets centrally contracted by the IRFU who are based in Dublin does that not could not mean he's based in the Republic?

personally id hope it is happening?

jack mc grath needs to be playing.....

Starting at the end first, Rael is on a one year development deal afaik with the intention to go back to Munster. So in a sense yes Munster were either told to clear out the position a bit, or saw the opportunity to give a player they value game time without having to weaken their own 23.

I can't imagine McGrath could have been forced to move province, especially to Ulster as it has knock on implications for his tax rebate which is still worth keeping in mind for a player even a young one, unless he intends to drive up and down to Belfast each day which would be a major pain in the hole imo.

When he got his first cap for Ireland this november I looked up his profile and was surprised that he is only a year or two younger than Healy. Its possible that he decided he needed to make a change as its unlikely he'll ever become de facto no.1 ahead of Healy at Leinster, but if he believes in himself and his talent then there is a chance he feels he could be no.1 for Ireland if he gets game time at the next best province atm.

If you haven't heard at this stage it seems Jack McGrath has signed for Ulster for next season. Much to the delight of Ulster fans and the despair of Leinster fans. The interesting thing about it is it might have being due to the IRFU and Eddie Wigglesworth beginning to flex their muscles and move players from provinces where their is a backlog to other provinces that are shallow in that position. Wigglesworth talked about this in an I.T interview a while back and dropped hints.
So Tom Court leaves Ulster and Jack McGrath replaces him. It keeps him in the Irish system, he still plays with one of the top teams in Europe and he will most likely start for Ulster giving him the gametime he needs to cement his place as Ireland no. 2 LH. At Leinster Michael Bent is promoted to no. 2 LH and it makes room for another Leinster prospect Jack O'Connell to get more gametime.

The question are these. Is this for real, are Wigglesworth and IRFU really beginning to shift players around? And most importantly how will this affect Connacht? Leinster have a big backlog of backrow forwards, Munster second-rows and Ulster talented backs. The other question is has this happened before? Connacht got 2 Hookers off Munster in Sean Henry and James Rael could pressure have being put on Munster to remove their backlog of Hookers? What do you guys think?