Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I genuinely thought Sexton had more respect for himself, he's on a hiding to nothing by thinking he can still play International rugby up to and including the World Cup.

I hope I'm wrong but I think he's setting himself up to be fall guy for Ireland in this campaign.

What did he get an IRFU contract for?

Did Leinster not want to have to pay for him? Jobs for the boys.

In some peoples minds he would be even if he never got on the plane. Doubt he’ll lose a seconds sleep over it though.

Central contracts were for keeping players in Ireland, Sexton is going nowhere so doesn't need one

He should be on a pay for play at his age not a central contact, do they ever learn lessons, Rory Best from the last world cup.

So Leinster have no budgets for players, could they afford to pay all their central contact players?

Barring winning the W/C we're going to lose a game, probably another Q/F and when that happens the knives will be out once more.

Sexton at 38 will get an easy target by then.

As I say hopefully not but media and fans can be fickle.

I don’t think I’m being sensitive at all. It’s an observable phenomenon on here and on social media. That there is a section of people who absolutely hate Sexton. If his form slips, they will be very vocal in blaming him for any failings of the Irish team.

As things stand he is very comfortably the best 10 in the country. However at his age he could very easily fall off a steep cliff. We all know it’s a huge risk but no one is stepping up to replace him. So if we end up with him as or starting 10 in 18 months time. It won’t be his fault.

The problem is that should Ireland do poorly people may blame Sexton regardless of how he himself plays.

BTW, it's not just Sexton who's hated by a few fans and there's a lot of players out there who are targeted when teams lose. I suppose that the nature of social media

My only hope is that his form doesn’t slip to the point to tarnish his legacy.

if we don’t get past a quarter the seagulls will sh1t on everyone, not just Sexton.

in the context being discussed here (i.e. as a central rugby union) do not fund 100% of the playing costs of the provinces.

That’s simply not true though. The IRFU fund the provinces. The vast majority of the revenue is from the international game. If they decided to change the model and fund provinces proportionate to contribution to the national team. Leinster would receive the majority of that funding.

That’s not the way it works though. The provinces don’t fund themselves. All money goes to the IRFU and budgets are allocated to the provinces. None of the provinces are even close to self funding.

I think awecs point is that things like sponsorship revenues etc that the provinces bring in they get to keep. And some of those revenues go toward player budgets. So the IRFU don’t pay 100% of the player costs, some does get covered by provincial revenues.

There are three scenarios for RWC 2023, in order of probability

1. Sexton is still our best out-half and plays
2. Sexton is still our best out-half but is injured
3. Sexton declines significantly and someone else improves massively to take the jersey

I could well see Sexton declining over the next 18 months but I'm not sure where the improvement in a rival is going to come from.

Either way, he had to be kept on next season. It would be madness not to.

All the revenue that comes in goes into the IRFU and is then redistributed. The money for winning the league or European Cup, goes to the IRFU not Leinster. The money for the TV deals with the URC goes to the IRFU not the provinces directly. This is all then topped up with money from the national team.

Wether the sponsorship money and gate receipts stay with the clubs and are then factored into how much money is allocated. I’m not sure but the operating budgets for each province are set by the IRFU.

It doesn’t matter where the money is generated. It is all IRFU money. The vast majority of the revenue still lies with the international game, no matter what way you look at it.

The idea that Leinster gain some unfair advantage because they contribute the most to generating the money. Is in my opinion just wrong. Be it through central contracts or whatever other way it gets distributed, it’s about how the revenue is generated and one way or another Leinster are responsible for generating a lot more.