If we discuss the IRFU I think we have to reference its make up its vital to its impartiality We would be naive to think otherwise. If a committee was made up of 5 former Manchester Utd players and 1 from Southampton Im pretty sure that many decisions would favour their old side, do we have equal representation on these committees? its essential.

With regards to the stadium yes the club did go public with some aspirations during Pro12 victory year but nothing concrete then and still nothing, the questions are all the same for over a year now and more, its well past time to make a decision/plan public and put some real pressure on.
There is no real pressure in reality on the IRFU as its all future wishey washey stuff, they need to come out with concrete plans pardon the pun even if they can't afford to implement at present at least the intention is known, then the pressure will be continually on the IRFU to help as we will have made it clear exactly what we want and need. It will look terrible from a publicity stand point if they throw money at stadiums elsewhere but cant even aid somewhat in another part of Ireland.

RoadRunnerR1 wrote: I think in this case it's unfair to blame the Connacht branch...

Agree and add to that, even if the IRFU were willing to help fund the project, there is no easy answer on how to proceed. Relocation, modifications or demolition & reconstruction which is the best way to go? This is a big decision and the branch have to get it right because, unlike Munster, if they get it wrong and incur massive debt that they cannot pay the IRFU will have no problem winding them up.

Darragh Leader seems to be close to a comeback. Could be good timing with Tiernan in Ireland camp. When was his last game? I know it's been a while, so he'll need to get some game time under his belt, but I'd love to see him breaking back into the team. His boot alone was a real asset when we were looking to clear our lines.

I would ask you to read the following article and draw your own conclusions. If you have a different point of view I'd love to hear it.

www.the42.ie/irfu-finance-report-provinc...sts-2880432-Jul2016/

RoadRunnerR1 wrote: I think in this case it's unfair to blame the Connacht branch. The used the publicity generated by Connacht's Pro12 victory to try and force the hand of the IRFU into helping to fund a new stadium but at the same time Munster were imploding & the Munster faithful had turned Thomond into a ghost town. Then the announcement from the IRFU that Munster were unable to even make repayments on the €9 milion outstanding and the IRFU decided they weren't going to get burned again. Then someone in the IRFU had the great idea to keep throwing money at Munster in the hope of making them successful again and therefore capable of repaying what they owe sometime in the very distant future. What a strategy. No organisation would've been able to forsee a set of circumstances like that let alone come up with a plan to deal with it.

To summarise, Are you saying the IRFU refused to help Connacht fund a new stadium because Munster failed to make the repayments on their 9 million IRFU loan ?

I think in this case it's unfair to blame the Connacht branch. The used the publicity generated by Connacht's Pro12 victory to try and force the hand of the IRFU into helping to fund a new stadium but at the same time Munster were imploding & the Munster faithful had turned Thomond into a ghost town. Then the announcement from the IRFU that Munster were unable to even make repayments on the €9 milion outstanding and the IRFU decided they weren't going to get burned again. Then someone in the IRFU had the great idea to keep throwing money at Munster in the hope of making them successful again and therefore capable of repaying what they owe sometime in the very distant future. What a strategy. No organisation would've been able to forsee a set of circumstances like that let alone come up with a plan to deal with it.

I take you point about Leinster but I also feel that much more has to be done promote movement of fringe players from Leinster to other provinces. We've all seen the lists of top players who for one reason or another (Mainly the incredible competition for places) haven't & aren't getting enough game time in Leinster. Some do manage to promote themselves via self made Youtube videos or the AIL but many others end up leaving Ireland and playing abroad.
The aim should be to provide all 4 provinces with strong competitive squads with enough quality & strength in depth as is necessary to compete in the Pro12 & EPRC. Having top class players stuck playing B&I cup during what is often the prime of their careers is totally counter productive.
And before anybody tries to tell me how you can't force players to move provinces to get requisite game time & experience please remember every player earning a living from rugby in Ireland is effectively employed and paid by the IRFU whose first responsibility is supposed to be the success of the Irish team which in turn funds the IRFU & all 4 provinces.
Leinster's refusal to allow fringe players to leave either permanently or on loan or to put it another way their successful methods in convincing said players that their best interests lie in staying is totally understandable. Leinster's first priority has to be Leinster but the IRFU need to do more to free this log jam. The only player in recent memory that fought against all overtures to convince him to stay was probably Cian Kelleher & fair play to him. Dominic Ryan stated last year he'd like to move for more game time & almost a year later he's completely fallen off the face of the rugby world.
In regard to Munster, I've only one question to ask in regard to whether they are the beneficiaries of favoritism or just good business sense. What was the IRFU's business strategy back in 2002 when faced with what they saw as Connacht's inability to be self sustaining. They decided to chop off what they saw as their weak limb, a decision that was only reversed after Connacht refused to be killed off & the IRFU's own subsequent investigation told them they needed 4 provinces to supply enough players for a successful Irish team.
And that was as a result of a hell of a lot less than the €9 million & growing that Munster are in the hole. Just who in the IRFU thought that Thomond park was a good idea and are they still in a position of responsibility within the IRFU. All the while Connacht has been living off crumbs and even they're getting scarcer every year.

Last year we lost Aly Robbie Nathan AJ and Rodney. They were not adequately replaced except for AJ and Rodney. This year we will lose Cooney. We did not sign any marquee players even after winning a pro 12. Do we expect to sign any this time around and if not there must be something not right. Ulster and Munster have signed really well and Leinster hAve so much quality in their side the would get away with losing both Nacewa and Kirchner. They have huge drawing power and money unlike us. We need something just to things are moving forward.

Does anyone know the make up of the IRFU rugby committee with regards to % Connacht representatives on important committees.

Unless we have equal representation and possible new changed attitude representation from some other others things will have a bit of a bad stench imo

Management
D. Madden, S.R. Hilditch, T. Grace, J. O'Driscoll, P. Whelan, I. McIlrath, P.R. Browne, D. Kavanagh (Co-Opted) in attendance P. Orr (non-voting), K. Potts, D. Nucifora and S. McNamara.

Rugby Committee
I. McIlrath, G. Barrett, N. Comyn, P. Orr, J. Robinson, M. Quinn, M. Cunningham, S. Walker and G. Black, plus 4 Chairs of Provincial Rugby Committees.

Finance
T. Grace, A. Leddy, J. Gibson, M. Coghlan, J. Robinson, D. Madden, P.R. Browne, K. Potts, C. O'Brien, F. O'Rourke (co-opted) and L. Quinn (co-opted).

Commercial and Marketing
Chairman TBC., T. Grace, T. O'Beirne, P. R. Browne, P. Power, S. McNamara, D. Devaney co-option, and P. Dean (co-opted)

We also need to try and slim line some areas even more to put highest quality over quantity,. We require one or two big potential signings.
Just compare Ulsters recent signings Marcell Coetzee, Arno Botha, Charles Piatau those are no relative unknowns .
Very high potential to be international quality has to be our initial starting basis now if we want to push on again to very top. Talk of picking up okay randomers has to be consigned to the long forgetten past or at least only as a second backup.
Some good news and strategic plan or decision on the stadium front is also long long overdue too and the Iron was raging hot last year.
I think the Connacht branch and management I'm sad to say dropped the ball big time after a great year with complacency.
They didn't enhance or replace crucial individuals in the team to significantly build on the teams level in fact the team was considerably weakened at the start of the year that's really unforgivable in my view when Connacht had global headlines at the time.

Largely agree with that Road Runner but I think dragging Leinster into it is unfair, Leinster's competitive advantage comes from their larger population base, supporter numbers and subsequent access to sponsorship. You could argue that they are being slightly hamstrung by IRFU as they are probably the only province that could look to run without IRFU funding.

Your point on Munster is 100%, thought I don't think it necessarily IRFU favouritism, they were faced with a situation where one of their branches was facing financial ruin and had little choice other than to bail them out. Once they had done that the only way they could ever hope to see any of that money back is to have the team doing well which meant more money, and this can't come from anywhere but the IRFU pockets which in terms means the other 3 provinces are carrying the can for Munster's profligacy.

It's not fair, it's just the way it is, but saying someone has a chip on their shoulder for feeling aggrieved about it is unwarranted. Ulster and Munster have strengthened for next year, Leinster are looking very strong and have some serious prospects coming through in the academy, whereas we're losing our coach and reserve SH......not looking great for next year to be honest :blush:

Why is it always referred to as "chip on the shoulder" to just state an obvious fact. Everybody deserves to be treated equally and given the same chances to succeed.
While I can understand it's never going to be equal, individual funding from the IRFU for each province is so badly skewed in favour of Leinster & Munster as to make success for Connacht & Ulster very difficult. Ulster enjoy the luxury of some major private funding but Connacht don't have that luxury and funding for basics like a full time video analyst among others was only made available to them in the last few years and just look at the difference it's made.
And how can Connacht possibly increase their revenue stream without a new stadium. A stadium that at present will not receive the required funding from the IRFU due to the Thomond park fiasco.
The IRFU seem to have now decided that the only way they'll ever see a cent of the €9 million outstanding is to throw more money at bringing success back to Munster & therefore full houses at Thomond week after week. Great for Munster to manufacture an advantage from possible insolvency but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth for me personally as a Connacht fan seeing my province suffer financially due to the complete negligence of Munster.

I wasn't plagiarising your boards post Facecutter. :)In fact I don't read it! The red tape could be a problem if there was interest as cheap doesn't seem to matter whenMitch Lam was going to cost nothing

I actually posted on boards asking if there were any irish guys involved with them then found myself searching through their squad for props. I'm sure a lot of other teams are thinking the same as it is recruiting season and these guys could be very cheap.

To take the conversation in another direction as London Welsh were wound up today wondering would any of their squad be available on short term contract specifically looking at Daryl Marfo at Loose head product of Harlequins academy. Obviously would need ok from an NIQ . Know nothing about him but his stats seem solid.

Dobby did you actually read what I wrote! I was agreeing with you regarding Munster . I backed you, as you had made no reference to Robbie or Leinster . . My remarks were purely focused on your Tiernan for Leinster nonsense . We have just been knocked out of Europe . Nobody needs this now.......

Conn Not 65 wrote: Dobby what are you on ! I was about to compliment you on a reasonably well thought out argument regarding the state of Munster Rugby ( tloche he never mentioned anything about Robbie or Leinster Rugby, in fairness but that's for another time ) But this utter nonsense about TOH takes it way to far . That type of crap might be fine for the Trolls on Boards but not here. If you want to do conspiracies / conjecture with no possible good in it go else where

'So sick of this crap ..... Munster this ... Leinster stealing Robbie .... It's just rubbish.' ?????????