First off, gutted to be losing Mike as like everyone else, and that is a testament to the player he is and we are thankful for all he has given during his time at Connacht and would like to wish him great success at his time at Leinster.

Lets be realistic, Leinster are a big time club who are going to be in with a shout of silverware for the next few seasons at least, which must be a big factor asides from the financials. Leave the IRFU debate for another day, it shouldn't be their problem to insist on players staying with Connacht. I don't blame Leinster, the IRFU and certainly not Mike, we need to swallow this bitter pill and keep setting the bar higher for our own achievements. I would be very surprised if Leinster were the only club to come with an offer, and to put a positive spin on it, it is probably best that at least he is going to another Irish province.

Mike travelling east will open the door for a westernly return for Browne, and if Cronin and Carr follow him back as well I will take it as a positive. I am going to be very interested to see what potential second rows we are going to be in contact with between now and next season.

The best of luck to Mike, he is going to be leaving us with big boots to fill.

Some posts today seem to have a victim mentality about Connacht -it's Leinster and the IRFUs fault etc. Imo Connacht are not victims, nor is there a conspiracy by Leinster against all things Connacht. If we assume the role of victims Connacht can never progress, because it is always someone else fault and no one will repsect us. Fact is, we are a small club; Leinster are a big club. Players are ambitious and go to big clubs. It happens in every sport. So too with Macca. Good luck to him.

If Connacht want to hold onto players they need to do 2 big things; become consistent in results, and develop a real professional set up that players want to join because they will improve.

Apart from a few annual high profile wins we fail to get results consistently at the meat and veg games in the Rabo. There is nothing so demoralising as getting beat. We should be beating Welsh & Scottish clubs at home; we should be winning away a couple of times a season; we need to get a consistent performance at all games; and we should be aiming to get a HEC plac by our own results. Despite a good finish, 13 losses in a row does not encourage palyers to stay; this year we have lost 7 already. A performing team keeps its players, gets the TV coverage and gets the better refs. Simple to say, but hard to do.

Which is why the set up has to be highly professional, and despite all his passion, EE and his back up team seems to be a long way behind the other 3 provinces. (Local heroes are high risk - Munster were right not to go with Axel. One area we have struggled over the years is developing skill sets (evidenced by so many basic errors under pressure over the past seasons). The amount of errors is simply not tolerated in other provinces.

Whatever it is Leinster appears to offer a more professional set up and actively improves players (apart from Jamie Hagan) and makes them more consistent. While Fionn Carr is not scoring as much, I think he is a much more reliable player (esp in defence) than he was in Connacht; all he needs is more game time. Cronins lineouts last weekend were the best I've seen (Strauss' were the worst!), and he has really developed since he went. Ditto Keatley in Munster.

Imo the key appointment for Connacht is not players but EE's replacement. We need someone, ruthlessly professional, passionate but less emotional; and preferably a strong enough attraction to get some players to follow him. If we don't we will keep losing our brightest.

Btw; congrats to Cistercian Roscrea who won the Leinster senior league today with 4 Connacht U18s (+4 Leinster U18s), made hard work of it but got there in the end vs Gonzaga 18-14

I'm hugely disappointed to hear Mike is off to Leinster. He'll certainly improve them. I know he'll continue at 100% till the end of the season, so no issues there. Good luck to him.

I agree though with earlier posters who hypothesise that Mike won't actually win anything with Leinster over the course of that 3 year contract. Leinster are on the wane (I'm with Creedence on this one). O'Driscoll, Jennings, D'Arcy, and Cullen are coming to the end of their careers. Players such as Strauss, Roux, Madigan, and Kearney the younger have enormous promise, but there's no guarantee they'll follow through on their potential. Heaslip, Sexton, McFadden, and Healy are top-class players, but they won't carry on their own Leinster through to the success of the last few years, and we must also factor in that Schmidt will almost certainly be gone at the end of next season.

We need to recruit imaginatively to replace Macca. Ian Nagle might be worth a pop, or indeed some other gnarled veteran lock who will give us 1 or 2 seasons in the engine room while Qualter et al mature. If we were prepared to match the money Leinster were offering Macca, well then that assumes a decent war chest. We should go after Nathan Hines. Why not? How about someone like Al Kelloch or Paul Tito or look at someone like Ali Williams being available.

We also must ensure we tie down George to a contract.

First off Good Luck to Mike, he has committed himself to Connacht 100% while here and has been the most consistent performer over that time. I imagine the IRFU played little if any role in this transaction and it was entirely Macca's decision. Maybe they could have encouraged him to stay put, but let's be honest they see a strong Leinster as vital to Irish rugby. Also can't see them offering a 31 year old a central contract so that played no role. Finally, they would not have pointed out that Connacht matched the 3 year deal if all it meant was they were willing to match the length but not the money. I'm sure even Connemara were willing to offer him a 3 year deal.

Now for some sour grapes as to why his is the wrong move for Mike:

While it's certainly more likely at Leinster, there is no guarantee of silverware and my sense is they will be down a bit over the next couple of years. They have been less than impressive so far this season. They have just one try in their 3 HEC games and if they don't step it up they'll find themselves in the Amlin q-f. They have more problems than just their second row.

He'll be 34 by the end of this contract, I'm actually a little surprised they would give him 3 years. His playing time will certainly decrease at a more accelerated rate at Leinster than if he stayed with Connacht. Perhaps his body will be relieved to be part of a rotation policy as long as he gets to play in all the big games, but at Leinster there's a better chance they'll sign a big SH name to eat up his game time.

Dublin is a poor man's Galway.

ummm, wrote: A thought just occurred.

If Macca's signing improves Leinster to the point where they win the HEC again and gain Connacht access to the competition, will we have a different opinion on the rights and wrongs of this deal?

No. Absolutey not....

Can taste the vomit in my mouth at the thought of Macca turning out in the Sportsground in Leinster Blue.
Would be the same though for any other province...

Personally I don't want any leinster lock in return for Macca, it would just feel too much like they are handing back leftovers or players they could not be bothered wtih, imo Macca is well ahead of any of their current locks, even if Browne has been very solid this season. Schmidt favours rotation in the squad but for me anyways Macca will walk straight into the heineken first team, and if he doesn't then it will be a double travesty. Second row is Leinster's weakest link.

People are saying he is leaving in search of silverware but I don't really buy that, surely he should have left the last time Leinster came knocking if that was the case? And then he would have had one maybe two heineken cup medals already.

I don't know if it was the thing that swung his mind but I wonder if working with Greg Feek over the november internationals had any bearing on this decision? There was a decent amount of talk coming out of the Irish and connacht camp about how impressed everyone was with Macca in training, which obviously showed through during the games.

swift4prez wrote: NO cause there doing a wrong and taking a gamble trying to get a right.
cronin hagan and carr went to leinster as champions but failed to win it the first year there.

i remember from the game on friday, every player stayed out on the pitch for few mins after but macca went in after the guard of honour to biarritz. i told my friend then, that was that, macca was leaving

They're doing nothing wrong, they're doing business. It might not feel good, but it's not illegal.

ummm, wrote: A thought just occurred.

If Macca's signing improves Leinster to the point where they win the HEC again and gain Connacht access to the competition, will we have a different opinion on the rights and wrongs of this deal?

Nope. I'm sorry to see him go, and your scenario is impossible to validate. I'd prefer to see a change to the HEC qualification that allows us in ahead of other Rabo sides based on league placings.

NO cause there doing a wrong and taking a gamble trying to get a right.
cronin hagan and carr went to leinster as champions but failed to win it the first year there.

i remember from the game on friday, every player stayed out on the pitch for few mins after but macca went in after the guard of honour to biarritz. i told my friend then, that was that, macca was leaving

A thought just occurred.

If Macca's signing improves Leinster to the point where they win the HEC again and gain Connacht access to the competition, will we have a different opinion on the rights and wrongs of this deal?

Which is something that should worry us in terms of everyone else's contract.

Darragh507 wrote: Also perhaps the open question of who coached Connacht next season was enough to tip the balance?

I'd say guaranteed HEC rugby next season tipped the balance. The Heineken Cup seems to agree with him.

It's hard to take, that's for sure and it won't be the last time either. You can't really judge Leinster fans on a couple of loudmouths, there's always a few mouthing off (here too). I think Macca deserves a chance to win some silverware, that doesn't mean I have to like the fact he's leaving. You never know which players will consider Connacht now that they can see the exposure it affords them. Anybody who is remotely surprised at this is a little bit naive.

Leinster still have Toner, Flanagan, Roux, Denton, Browne and Plug on their books.

Clearly they favour rotation with locks. And Macca will still need to fight for his place. I am sure he will feel confident of that, but if he doesn't get regular game time, then he is in same boat as Cronin.

Quite a brave move the more I think about it. Especially with previous player transfers to Leinster.

Also perhaps the open question of who coached Connacht next season was enough to tip the balance?

I feel Browne home and invest in our young locks is the way to go. Unless we can sign a proven lock out there, I'd prefer to look to our young locks as opposed Tom Hayes, Ian Nagle, etc.

Grow from within......

swift4prez wrote: leinster are playing dirty, why wont we. stick it to them.
id imagine macca was on a nice deal here money wise, offered same as leinster on his new contract!
why dont we throw money at damien browne and get him home. will add nicely to the team and it will leave leinster a big stuck with second rows. browne is first choice this season.
leo (the donkey) cullen might retire this season, we take browne, leaves leinster with macca, toner, denton and quinn roux.

Browne is only starting because Roux is injured. While I'd personally love to see him come home there are some concerns about his lack of pace and movement in general. No disrespect to him at all but we need to be looking at signing someone of Macca's calibre because if Swifty retires, despite our promising younger guys, we are going to be very badly stuck for numbers and experience at lock.

Was expecting this but still felt sick when I heard it this morning. I’d agree that the timing of the announcement was extremely poor. Disgraceful really, total disregard for the massive game on Friday and the focus we should be putting on that. Although who knows, maybe the squad has known for some time. Hopefully it won’t affect them in any case and I have absolutely no doubt it won’t affect Macca’s performance. I have never seen him play a single game where I thought he hadn’t given 100%. Legend. This was probably the last big contract decision he’ll have to make in his career and who could turn down the chance to play for the European Champions and consistently challenge for silverware? Lord knows where we’ll be playing next year. I wish him well.

Anyone who thinks the IRFU would or should have intervened here and somehow blocked this move (I doubt they could have even if they wanted to) are kidding themselves. This was his decision and they’ll be delighted he’s moving. We all know we are not treated equally with the other provinces. We never have been. The IRFU have shown that they consider us the poor relations time and time again. Until we are resourced and treated equally our current situation will not change. We will always lose our best players to the big boys, happens in every professional sport to teams in our position. How many of Man Utds or Man Citys first teams are made up of graduates of their Academy? They’ll say we don’t have the attendances or interest to justify the investment and we’ll fail to retain/attract players and crowds because we are under-resourced and our best players keep leaving. It’s a vicious circle that I would love to see addressed properly but I doubt the IRFU have any interest in doing so. I sincerely hope that they at least assist us in finding (funding?) a worthy replacement.

Interesting to see the mixed responses of sympathy/delight from a lot of Leinster fans. The suggestion by some of them that we should be grateful for the players they declined to offer contracts to or that their academy is largely responsible for our recent success is disgustingly arrogant and inaccurate.