Tigers v Leinster (A) - Champion Cup - Qtr Final - 07th April 2023 - KO 8:00pm

[wigworth]

Got this from the BBC Sport rugby podcast.....As an aside, and I didn't see it mentioned in the thread, I didn't realise that Leinster players can also benefit from the "Entertainment Tax", whereby they could get as much as £100k (or equivalent in Euro) when they retire, if they stay playing in Ireland, which is a massive incentive to stay in your home country. The tax also relates to musicians, actors, sports person etc as I understand it. With their salary cap, they have a better chance retaining the Sextons, Ringroses etc and their Academy players - why would they move on ?

Don't France have something similar? I thought that was one of the reasons why it was so lucrative to go end your career over there after playing a few years on a big salary.

France has very generous unemployment scheme, I believe the scheme in France is that if you stay in your field of interest you can claim a "top up" on your wages to your career average for up to two years, presumably for normal professionals to take a temporary step back but stay employed before getting a new promotion, or to take a risk on a new employer with less money now but prospects for more later. Something like that.

So rugby players can use it to take 2 years of semi-retirement in pro D2 or Fed 1.

Thanks, this is what I was thinking of.

[Rugbygramps]

Just making a point that there doesn’t appear to be one Leinster player who played Tigers travelling to South Africa to play Lions.

[JohnB]

With all due respect RG, so what? We earned the right to send a very callow squad to SA because we got to the point with two games left where we couldn't be caught. It gave us the perfect opportunity to build experience among younger players. The 23 who started today's match at altitude in Ellis Park against the Lions contained 9 academy players. That they won 39-36 having been 15 points behind with 24 minutes to go and getting 2 concurrent YCs with 20 minutes to go is a wonderful result and will provide great lessons to the youngsters going forward. They made some very bad defensive reads in the first 60 minutes combined with poor tackling to put themselves under the cosh and really to a degree stole the result. However, they showed themselves the importance of never giving up and got terrific experience from the encounter. Sam Prendergast, the outhalf of our GS winning Ireland U20's team got his first senior cap today playing the entire game and winning the Player of the Match accolade. Invaluable Experience!

[Rugbygramps]

With all due respect RG, so what? We earned the right to send a very callow squad to SA because we got to the point with two games left where we couldn't be caught. It gave us the perfect opportunity to build experience among younger players. The 23 who started today's match at altitude in Ellis Park against the Lions contained 9 academy players. That they won 39-36 having been 15 points behind with 24 minutes to go and getting 2 concurrent YCs with 20 minutes to go is a wonderful result and will provide great lessons to the youngsters going forward. They made some very bad defensive reads in the first 60 minutes combined with poor tackling to put themselves under the cosh and really to a degree stole the result. However, they showed themselves the importance of never giving up and got terrific experience from the encounter. Sam Prendergast, the outhalf of our GS winning Ireland U20's team got his first senior cap today playing the entire game and winning the Player of the Match accolade. Invaluable Experience!

I have no problem with it. The point is you are able to do it and have the strength of squad to do it and apparently win by 3 points. The English squads have neither the budget or the squad size to do that, which leads to injuries and player burnout. The whole discussion was about the different systems and the distinct advantage that gives Leinster.

[Smudge]

So what? You are having a laugh mate. Leinster are an international team in every way.
They should be obliged to compete with clubs the same as the rest of us.
It is bending the system in the same way that Saracens did by being able to field two full teams of internationals only in
your case you have the actual Irish pack to a man. Yes you have recruited well and have good coaches etc but there is no
way you could do what you do competing in a hard league, week in week out and without your massive subsidy and guarantee
of qualification every year. On top of all that your players have a massive tax advantage over the rest. It's a joke, we know it and you know it.

[jgriffin]

So what? You are having a laugh mate. Leinster are an international team in every way.
They should be obliged to compete with clubs the same as the rest of us.
It is bending the system in the same way that Saracens did by being able to field two full teams of internationals only in
your case you have the actual Irish pack to a man. Yes you have recruited well and have good coaches etc but there is no
way you could do what you do competing in a hard league, week in week out and without your massive subsidy and guarantee
of qualification every year. On top of all that your players have a massive tax advantage over the rest. It's a joke, we know it and you know it.

Always has been. Amen.

[parvacat]

The luxury that is the Leinster squad! Impossible to compete.

The squad who played us:
15 Hugo Keenan
14 Jimmy O'Brien
13 Garry Ringrose
12 Robbie Henshaw
11 James Lowe
10 Ross Byrne
9 Jamison Gibson-Park
1 Andrew Porter
2 Dan Sheehan
3 Tadhg Furlong
4 Ross Molony
5 James Ryan
6 Ryan Baird
7 Caelan Doris
8 Jack Conan
16 John McKee
17 Cian Healy
18 Michael Alaalatoa
19 Jason Jenkins
20 Scott Penny
21 Luke McGrath
22 Harry Byrne
23 Ciaran Frawley

The squad who played Lions in the URC yesterday:
Leinster: C Cosgrave; T O'Brien, L Turner, B Brownlee, D Kearney; S Prendergast, N McCarthy; M Milne, L Barron, V Abdaladze, B Deeny, J Jenkins; R Ruddock (capt), W Connors, M Deegan.
Replacements: T McElroy, E Byrne, T Clarkson, A Soroka, J Culhane, B Murphy, C Tector, R Russell.

[RichieRich89]

The luxury that is the Leinster squad! Impossible to compete.

The squad who played us:
15 Hugo Keenan
14 Jimmy O'Brien
13 Garry Ringrose
12 Robbie Henshaw
11 James Lowe
10 Ross Byrne
9 Jamison Gibson-Park
1 Andrew Porter
2 Dan Sheehan
3 Tadhg Furlong
4 Ross Molony
5 James Ryan
6 Ryan Baird
7 Caelan Doris
8 Jack Conan
16 John McKee
17 Cian Healy
18 Michael Alaalatoa
19 Jason Jenkins
20 Scott Penny
21 Luke McGrath
22 Harry Byrne
23 Ciaran Frawley

The squad who played Lions in the URC yesterday:
Leinster: C Cosgrave; T O'Brien, L Turner, B Brownlee, D Kearney; S Prendergast, N McCarthy; M Milne, L Barron, V Abdaladze, B Deeny, J Jenkins; R Ruddock (capt), W Connors, M Deegan.
Replacements: T McElroy, E Byrne, T Clarkson, A Soroka, J Culhane, B Murphy, C Tector, R Russell.

I think you're reading way too much into one result. The second choice XXIII from currently available players squeaked a win against the 10th placed side in the league. 10th place out of 16 probably means they're a better team than the 10th placed team in the 11-team Premiership, but they're not nearly as good as they were some years back when they made three Super Rugby finals in a row. Their successful coach, Ackermann, went to Gloucester, and a lot of their best players were signed up by some English teams. They seem to be the weakest of the four Saffer franchises in the URC now. But it was still a fantastic win by a Leinster team that was very callow in some positions.

There's the Lancaster effect too. His coaching methods prepare the second and third string players to fill in seamlessly; he likes having three teams of players in training and he gets them to swap in and out so all players in the squad get equal reps. And he's also ensured the academy players are fully involved, which wasn't the case before he came on board.

The capped players against the Lions were:
3. Vakhtang Abdaladze 3 caps (Georgia)
5. Jason Jenkins 1 cap (South Africa)
6. Rhys Ruddock 27 caps
7. Will Connors 9 caps
8. Max Deegan 2 caps
11. David Kearney 19 caps
17. Edward Byrne 6 caps

Some good quality players in there, but at the same time it's hardly a who's who of household names that have been signed up to bolster the squad. Ruddock and Kearney haven't been involved with Ireland for some time and are probably past their peaks. Would Leicester's 2nd XXIII from currently available players be significantly weaker? Genuine question. I don't know enough.

Leinster earned the right to keep the first teamers at home to prepare for knockout games by building up an unassailable lead in the League. The result against the Lions was excellent. But I would be pleasantly surprised if they can repeat the trick against the Bulls.