Exactly.

the accepted narrative within the national media is that leaving Connacht enables player to advance in international terms. What that same media fails to take into account is that stockpiling players affects Irish rugby in horrible ways. Copeland could have been lost to ireland through it & yet the accepted logic is to have all the'best players' in three provinces. Only two centres can play in any match so why should Robbie go to a club where he may be No 13 or may not when he could stay here and probably be 13 and if not definitely be 15.

connachta wrote: Even Cronin was already the substitute Hooker for Ireland when he was still in Connacht

Agree, he wouldn't even be on the bench if it wasn't for strauss discovering that hole in his heart earlier this year

Even Cronin was already the substitute Hooker for Ireland when he was still in Connacht

can someone tell me which players who have left Connacht to improve their international chances in the last five years HAVE improved their international careers?

Cronin is the only one I can think of. Macca moves to Leinster & loses his place to Toner. Hagan & Fionn, Keatley, Downey even. Leaving Connacht is about the worst thing you can do

Diom wrote:

theCulk wrote: ok fair enough. Maybe look into a swear filter?

We had one before, but there were a lot of false positives. I will look into it again.

So THAT's why I couldn't post about Ezra Taylor.....

The bottom line is the national team has to be number one regardless of what Munster, Leinster, Ulster or Connacht supporters think of it as the success or otherwise of the national team is currently by a distance the biggest source of revenue for the union.

Whether rugby will go the same way as soccer eventually whereby international rugby will be downgraded to secondary status by the club games, we don't know and won't know until we see how the new european competition evolves, the extent to which TV, sponsors etc are prepared to put money into it and the extent to which teams from all 6 nations are willing to take it seriously.

We have seen more input from the national coach as to what games players should play in etc in recent years and I haven't really agreed with it.

There has been more structured players movement in recent years with players moving between provinces in areas where there is a backlog in their own province and shortage in another. For example, Cronin to Leinster, Keatley to Munster etc.

If Leinster need Henshaw, a way will be found around the contract issue but at the moment I wouldn't be too concerned.

So now the IRFU is going to start forcing players to move for the betterment of Irish rugby? Where have they been the past 10-15 years? How many players should have been moved to Connacht to get regular playing time over the years? Perhaps this is a message to Lam to play Henshaw at 13 or he'll lose him. I don't expect it to happen but it would be a new low for the IRFU if it did. It's one thing to let the other provinces poach good players when their contracts are coming to an end, but to steal a contracted player is ridiculous and counter to the development of rugby in the west. They'd be pissing away any extra funding sent to Connacht if the threat exists that anytime a player of real value is developed he can be moved to another province mid contract.

Absolute nonsense re: Robbie. Fair enough if he feels himself that he should make a move when his current contract is up, no hard feelings whatsoever. However, if he decides himself that he wants/needs to break contract before then that's between him and Connacht. No point in retaining a player who absolutely positively doesn't want to be there. But to suggest that he'd be shifted away from us at the whim of Schmidt or the IRFU is total nonsense.

Interesting what he says about increased funding for us and the naming of a new CEO. Any rumours floating around about who it'll be and what our money bump will be?

(My €0.02 on the swearing thing. I know my brother, who's 12, sometimes checks this place out. We get a some traffic from links from FB and twitter and people who lurk without signing in, none of whom I'd want to turn away because of language. Let's be inclusive?)

theCulk wrote: ok fair enough. Maybe look into a swear filter?

We had one before, but there were a lot of false positives. I will look into it again.

ok fair enough. Maybe look into a swear filter?

theCulk wrote: I'm more than capable, but I'm calling a spade a spade here. How is it my issue? If people are offended so what. Let them be offended and then move on (). If children frequent here then that's not my problem or your problem either. It's up to their parents to monitor them. Political correctness gone to yer heads!

Culk, this is not about not being able to express yourself. We have to put a line in the sand somewhere and we have chosen to not allow swearing on the board, not allow links to porn, posting of porn or general off-topic spam. I have received emails about being too permissive and about being too strict, and to be honest both of them are just as annoying as the other.

We are trying to stay balanced between allowing you guys to express yourselves and keeping this forum from degenerating into a free-for-all in which only the thick-skinned feel comfortable.

Regarding your point about parents moitoring their children: You (and some others evidently) are forgetting one very important fact, and that is that children are fans of Connacht Rugby every bit as much as you are. This is NOT an adult subject and children deserve to be able to read this forum as well. Do you want parents to look at this forum and decide that their children should not be able to interact with us?

You are well capable of making your feelings known while upholding the general guidelines we have, as loose and permissible as they are.

So let me make this clear to anyone reading.

• This is not your personal blog
• This is not an adult only site
• We want fans of all ages to feel comfortable here
• There is NO swearing allowed on this forum.

Them's the rules. Enjoy

Decadence wrote: I know people are (rightly) emotional about the subject, but the kind of language being used in the last few posts is simply not acceptable here and it is not to continue. Understood?

Fair enough. Didnt mean to cause issues.
Dont agree with the stance on language, but I'll accept it

And lo, it came to pass that the IRFU managed to get yet another foot in their collective mouths, which surely should merit inclusion in a certain book of world records.

Henshaw should see this as a sign of things to come, and a big warning. The IRFU are basically telling him they own him and his own wishes will not be respected if they interfere. The IRFU did something similar with Sexton and look where that got them.

If I was Guy Noves or another Top14 coach I'd be keeping a close eye on this situation. If the IRFU tear up Robbie's Connacht contract I'd be in like a shot. Noves himself certainly wouldn't have forgotten Henshaw's performance in Toulouse.

It seems to me that Fitzgerald was doing his best to avoid answering a direct question and passing the buck to Schmidt instead.

Decadence wrote:

theCulk wrote: sure. let's dilute our opinions and not speak how we really feel :S

If you're not capable of expressing how you feel about something without resorting to swearing then that's your issue. You might not be aware that it offends others and that children also frequent this forum but it does and they do.

I'm more than capable, but I'm calling a spade a spade here. How is it my issue? If people are offended so what. Let them be offended and then move on (). If children frequent here then that's not my problem or your problem either. It's up to their parents to monitor them. Political correctness gone to yer heads!

Checked over at Babbling Brook and the boys in the know over there say it's all rubbish. The term "slow news week" is being bandied about so I wouldn't worry about it.

Also regarding Payne to Leinster he was down in Dublin for his hearing and met a few Leinster boys after, which is probably why the Payne to Leinster rumours are getting a re-airing.