Marmion and Henshaw are good examples of what Leinster could have done but I believe Robb, Masterson, and several others were only ever on two-year academy deals rather than the three year deals that were standard in all the provinces in the past.

There were increases in academy pay (from practically nothing to not very much) and changes in duration (year-to-year rolling) announced recently by Nucifora which mean young players moving province could happen more readily in the future.

salmson wrote:

greyingbeard wrote: The thing I don't get is if they wanted him that badly then why not offer a full contract?

Players complete the academy at their native province, then if you still want them, you offer them a development contract, then if you STILL want them, you offer them a full contract. That's the way it's always worked[/b, and I imagine a player offered a dev contract pinging another province about his availability is as likely as a player being granted a first central contract at a province other than the one that produced him.

An even better question would be: if they rated him that highly why retain Kirchner?

Peter Robb has been given a Senior Contract (or maybe it's Development) despite being a year to go in his academy contract
Henshaw and Marmion given senior contracts before their Academy ran out
Agree about them keeping Kirchner was and still is a puzzler

maybe it was that technically the rules were broken however common sense should prevail, the player will benefit from getting gametime with us in pro12 and probably also champions cup, opportunities that he would almost certainly not have got at Leinster. In 2 or 3 years time he may decide to return to his home province and good luck to him, by which time Leinster will benefit from the experience he has built up.

greyingbeard wrote: The thing I don't get is if they wanted him that badly then why not offer a full contract?

Players complete the academy at their native province, then if you still want them, you offer them a development contract, then if you STILL want them, you offer them a full contract. That's the way it's always worked, and I imagine a player offered a dev contract pinging another province about his availability is as likely as a player being granted a first central contract at a province other than the one that produced him.

An even better question would be: if they rated him that highly why retain Kirchner?

The thing I don't get is if they wanted him that badly then why not offer a full contract?

Pat reveals it was Kelleher who initiated the move. Makes Leinster's whingeing all the more laughable

www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/connacht-...nnacht-34683442.html

Kelleher signing announcement from Connacht:
www.connachtrugby.ie/connacht-sign-fullb...lleher/#ConnachtNews
2 year deal

connachta wrote: won't happen this year for Bristol. They are further ahead of the other team than they were last 4 seasons. Doncaster and Bristol won away yesterday, it will be the final. And Bristol will win, no London Welsh or Worcester this time

About Boshoff does anybody know if he's due in August after SuperRugby or October after CurrieCup? Huge difference for us..

History says even with just as good or better squads Bristol choke over a two leg final. Doncaster are no mugs either, they have some very decent quality in their squad with five players named in the Championship Dream Team (compared to three from Bristol's expensively arranged squad). You'd be a fool to mortgage your house on a Bristol win, that's for sure..

Harris-Wright came to us on the back of them choking, and Contepomi to Leinster and Pichot to Racing Paris on back of failure...!

connachta wrote: About Boshoff does anybody know if he's due in August after SuperRugby or October after CurrieCup? Huge difference for us..

My understanding is that he is contracted til October but he was expected to be released early, but it all seemed a bit vague.

won't happen this year for Bristol. They are further ahead of the other team than they were last 4 seasons. Doncaster and Bristol won away yesterday, it will be the final. And Bristol will win, no London Welsh or Worcester this time

About Boshoff does anybody know if he's due in August after SuperRugby or October after CurrieCup? Huge difference for us..

sea_point wrote:
Nope, Bristol finished top of the Championship, but there's no direct promotion. Like Pro12 there's a top four playoff. They're top seed so drew a semifinal against fourth placed Bedford. If they win they play Doncaster or Yorkshire (Leeds) Carnegie in the playoff final.....

Like Harris-Wright, O'Connell could have get out clause if they fail to gain promotion...

And Bristol do have a proud record of fecking up the playoffs when raging favourites ...

In other news, Lions got hammered this weekend and Elton Jantjies was taken off with a knee injury (possibly medial, might be criciate, I don't believe anything this guy's doctor says anymore). Apparently he was having a bit of a mare anyway (missed easy conversion, threw intercept pass). So maybe another chance for our guy to play some proper rugby this season.

Excited that this young fella had the desire and guts to come West for his own self interest.

I must confess to not knowing anything about him, but he will have every opportunity to flourish.

I think it is good that the Treviso loss seems to have highlighted a few squad weaknesses, which means we can try to fix them in the short and long terms.

I still hope for 1-2 more signings in the pack.

As I say, next season everyone will be gunning for us.

Only my opinion, but they do need to be proper quality signings.

Devils own wrote: No guys we only sign top quality and top potential. We trimmed some okay players from the squad in Carr and Harris Wright etc.
We don't recruit below par that day is long gone.
A project player like tevita is what we need to be aiming for now we are challenging for the league and in the champions cup.
We should have a players who will come in a fight tooth and nail to be starting not like some of players mentioned. We also don't want overpaid guys who will retire soon and who are doing it for the paycheck.
The super 14 will provide a few top end future Ireland project players and we supplement that with the likes of Conan O'Donnell, Romaine etc in the academy.
If we do get a loose head he should be a real young potential nugget to keep Buckley on his toes perhaps a south African.
The end goal is to have a rotatable squad where at least two players are pushing hard for the starting shirt .
No wasting any cash, a team and squad of sharks biting at each others heels.
Jack O'Connell is a decent young player but he seems to have signed up with bristol again and they got promoted this year.

Nope, Bristol finished top of the Championship, but there's no direct promotion. Like Pro12 there's a top four playoff. They're top seed so drew a semifinal against fourth placed Bedford. If they win they play Doncaster or Yorkshire (Leeds) Carnegie in the playoff final.....

Like Harris-Wright, O'Connell could have get out clause if they fail to gain promotion...

No guys we only sign top quality and top potential. We trimmed some okay players from the squad in Carr and Harris Wright etc.
We don't recruit below par that day is long gone.
A project player like tevita is what we need to be aiming for now we are challenging for the league and in the champions cup.
We should have a players who will come in a fight tooth and nail to be starting not like some of players mentioned. We also don't want overpaid guys who will retire soon and who are doing it for the paycheck.
The super 14 will provide a few top end future Ireland project players and we supplement that with the likes of Conan O'Donnell, Romaine etc in the academy.
If we do get a loose head he should be a real young potential nugget to keep Buckley on his toes perhaps a south African.
The end goal is to have a rotatable squad where at least two players are pushing hard for the starting shirt .
No wasting any cash, a team and squad of sharks biting at each others heels.
Jack O'Connell is a decent young player but he seems to have signed up with bristol again and they got promoted this year.

phatguerilla wrote: I would have said that Franks is out of our price range, but according to Brendan Fanning the IRFU are giving the provinces an extra €500k in both of the next two seasons. That plus whatever is saved by the release of four or five players already would suggest we could potentially have enough cash for a two year contract. Competition from Premiership and French teams is another thing altogether.

What I thought was interesting about that article was that Munster will post a huge loss and Leinster will post a loss of EUR 100,000.
While Connacht have had a great season how are our financials looking?

FACECUTTR wrote: Franks yes but Court would only be a squad filler

That's who we need. Someone to play on the bench behind Buckley, slightly better than Loughney, on reasonable money, preferably IQ,
Tom Court is one with that profile. As Jack O'Conell