Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

There’s conspiracy theories and then there is simply bizarre stuff to suggest that Nienaber capping Kleyn was because he somehow saw all these pieces unfolding.

The latter theory holds zero credibility.

What this points to is a couple of things:

-Leinster are willing to make an almighty gamble for the sake of trying to win another European Cup

-The offers he’s receiving everywhere must reflect his injury record to some extent

-The lure of working with Nienaber is something he views as a big draw

-Leinster, rightly, believe James Ryan and Joe McCarthy will be fixtures in an Ireland squad going forward and that Ryan Baird’s future is in the back row.

I’m extremely surprised that the IRFU are prepared to sanction the move given his injury track record, but if he can stay healthy at the business end of the season it’s a phenomenal signing.

No, I’m sorry, this is ludicrous that you’re going down this route with it.

Nienaber (and Rassie of course) called up Kleyn because of Lood de Jager’s injury. He’d had a great season for Munster, and they weren’t exactly awash with other options (they would have had no idea what to expect from Snyman, and picked the incredibly average Marvin Orie too).

The suggestion that he foresaw picking Kleyn for SA in July 2023 would lead to RG Snyman joining Leinster in summer 2024 and that he gambled SA’s RWC prospects etc to bring that about is nothing short of tinfoil hat conspiracy theory nonsense.

Virtually all of it.

Your theory is here that Jacques Nienaber proposed to Rassie in July 2023 that they select Jean Kleyn for the SA squad, because he had the incredible Machiavellian foresight to see the dominos line up that that would lead to Munster being unable to retain him, and in turn Nienaber (who would have had minimal views on Leinster’s policy or practices around incoming signings) would be in position to swoop in and sign the guy.

The very notion that he would have even been thinking about anything except what was best for SA is delusional, and does a disservice to him (and to Jean Kleyn arguably).

We don’t even know here that Munster were told they couldn’t retain Snyman by the IRFU (a fairly central limb of your “theory”). They may simply have decided they’ve been stung enough by spending a fortune on a guy who has barely ever been available, that they’re well stocked in the position with promising young players and they could better spend that money elsewhere potentially.

This is especially possible if the external funding for the signing is no longer available, given Munster’s less than stellar financial track record of late (the most recent set of IRFU accounts showed an increase in Munster’s debt to the IRFU of c. €4m which essentially crystallised historical operational losses there).

Sure, but is what you’re proposing remotely credible or likely?

Like what percentage probability would you assign to your scenario?

No, that’s not how it works.

There are a multitude of credible reasons why the IRFU might have blocked this move by Leinster, principally his injury track record.

Your scenario is too far fetched to be a basis for how the IRFU would make a decision like this.

This is just outstanding. First we finally beat La Rochelle, then Nienaber outs himself as an arch troll.

I absolutely love it.

https://x.com/bernardjackman/status/1735415825211723956

Jackman shared this on Twitter, the last few mins of the game from the weekend. Baird getting a lot of plaudits for his performance, can see a good example there just before the 78th min on the clock, gets up really quickly off the line and just gets Skelton's legs, doesn't take him down straight away but leaves him totally static behind the gainline. Then gets up and immediately involved in another tackle again behind the gainline. His lungs must have been burning at this point. JOB tackles Danty just the LaR side of the Leinster 22, and they're driven all the way back beyond their own 10 by this point.