Leinster funding

[Old Hob]

From next season Leinster will have 10 players on central contracts. That is, all 10 salaries will be met by the IRFU. This also means that they have an awfully large amount of salary cap free which is presumably how they can afford Jordie Barratt. And who else might they draft in? The situation is getting absurd and the other three provinces' grumbles are getting louder.

[LekkerTigers]

Ideally, if the players are on central contracts, the IRFU should be able to move them to other provinces in order to properly distribute talent and to allow each team the same number of central contracts. It will never happen though. They've produced these players through their monopoly on the private schools in the capital city.

[MCC1964]

And yet in this country the support our private schools give to rugby is used as a club to bash the game over the head. ‘Toffs game’ and all that.

[Old Hob]

And yet in this country the support our private schools give to rugby is used as a club to bash the game over the head. ‘Toffs game’ and all that.

And, indeed, the schools themselves.

[sam16111986]

And yet in this country the support our private schools give to rugby is used as a club to bash the game over the head. ‘Toffs game’ and all that.

And, indeed, the schools themselves.

It's worth noting that private schools in Ireland are a fraction of the cost of private schools in the UK. The Irish government offer subsidiaries to keep the fees low so you can attend for around £3k a year compared to roughly £13k if you are looking at a private school in Leicestershire.

[ABClub]

And yet in this country the support our private schools give to rugby is used as a club to bash the game over the head. ‘Toffs game’ and all that.

And, indeed, the schools themselves.

It's worth noting that private schools in Ireland are a fraction of the cost of private schools in the UK. The Irish government offer subsidiaries to keep the fees low so you can attend for around £3k a year compared to roughly £13k if you are looking at a private school in Leicestershire.

This.

Except the "and the rest" for the fees in England. Oakham is about £25k a year for a day pupil.

I was incredibly lucky that my fees were subsidised by the forces as my father was in the army, we moved every few years for his work. 90% of our fees were picked up by the forces. My parents still picked a relatively (heavy lifting by relatively there!) low fee school in Yorkshire Day so as to afford 3 kids going. Annual fees at that school are around £20k for day pupils and boarding fees nearly £40k a year now.

Some rugby prodigies get picked up on scholarships of course. Not all are from families in the highest income brackets. I'd love to know actual figures on the proportion of privately schooled England caps who were scholarships though. I often suspect, maybe cynically, that it is a bit overplayed.

[Old Hob]

Jordie Barratt has confirmed that the money he was offered was a big motivating factor.

[sam16111986]

And, indeed, the schools themselves.

It's worth noting that private schools in Ireland are a fraction of the cost of private schools in the UK. The Irish government offer subsidiaries to keep the fees low so you can attend for around £3k a year compared to roughly £13k if you are looking at a private school in Leicestershire.

This.

Except the "and the rest" for the fees in England. Oakham is about £25k a year for a day pupil.

I was incredibly lucky that my fees were subsidised by the forces as my father was in the army, we moved every few years for his work. 90% of our fees were picked up by the forces. My parents still picked a relatively (heavy lifting by relatively there!) low fee school in Yorkshire Day so as to afford 3 kids going. Annual fees at that school are around £20k for day pupils and boarding fees nearly £40k a year now.

Some rugby prodigies get picked up on scholarships of course. Not all are from families in the highest income brackets. I'd love to know actual figures on the proportion of privately schooled England caps who were scholarships though. I often suspect, maybe cynically, that it is a bit overplayed.

Ouch. Yeah my knowledge of school fees is very limited. I wasn't lucky enough to go myself so endured a miserable state school experience. I showed my wife some pictures of the high school before it was demolished and she said "wow it's a good picture from back in the 70s", it was a picture of the foyer after I graduated in the early 2000s.

Day fees at Loughborough School Foundation schools do still come in around the £13k-£18k a year range depending on age.

[sam16111986]

Jordie Barratt has confirmed that the money he was offered was a big motivating factor.

Wow there's a surprise. I know he bugged up the short period his family lived in Ireland but there was always going to be an element of lining his pocket (not that I blame him).