Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread XII (The Byrne Supremacy)

The lack of certainty around the team right now has to be hindering recruitment.

The single most important voice in the building in terms of persuading a player to move there is the coach who is going to be picking the team and setting the gameplan for how you intend to play. Right now for Ulster that's not settled, so I completely understand why players would be reticent around moving there without that certainty.

Those aren't the only two factors though.

He has to be convinced he's genuinely putting himself into a better situation; to that he has to be satisfied that he's going to be in an environment where he's going to improve as a player and that will be better than the one he's currently in.

He can't be confident of that at the moment - Ulster have looked unstable and erratic for a few years now really all in, and to have elite players like Kitshoff bounce out of there so quickly doesn't reflect well on the team culture or environment.

He can't be confident around his playing development because he doesn't even know who the coach is who'll be picking the team.

Even something as simple as the lack of a recognised 10 in the squad for next season is going to impact these sort of decisions. If we're all asking that question, you can be pretty sure the players are too.

There aren't a multitude of guys who've made that switch who it has worked out well for either.

There isn't a huge amount either to support a belief that he'll play a lot more big games there either - since that requires Ulster qualifying for those big European knock outs.

So there are plenty of factors beyond just the one you're mentioning why he made the decision he made.

My concerns around Prendergast's defence etc. are more to do with his apparent reticence to take contact (in attack and defence) rather than just his frame.

It would be one thing if he was putting himself in position to make hits and getting blown off physically - that is something you would be more confident could be solved for. To me though looking at him this season, I see a guy who I think shies away from physical contact in a way Johnny Sexton or Jack Crowley absolutely never did/do.

I don't think just putting more physical size on him will necessarily solve that problem unfortunately.

They're not really comparable though - they were at totally different points in their careers. Prendergast was never part of Leinster's academy - they passed him over to take Alex Soroka, which clearly looks like a decision Leinster got wrong.

But it's not comparable to a 27 year old guy moving 8 years into his pro career.

This is highly debatable to me. He was already on 13 caps before he made the move as a 23-year-old, so he was already pretty clearly in the national squad framework, and it's not like he became an international level player after that move.

I believe he'd be a better, more well-rounded, more confident rugby player had he stayed, it's not just about what shirt he'd have had on his back.

I dunno - those are games that it is crucially important that Leinster win.

If you look at this season - those early season wins (34-13 against Sharks - Deegan MotM and try scorer, 36-27 over Edinburgh - Deegan try scorer, 54-5 over Scarlets - Deegan 2 tries etc etc) are really important.

He's Leinster's second highest URC try scorer this year with 6 tries, is the second highest in the entire URC in terms of line out steals (with 8) and brings an experience and leadership to those teams as well that is crucial. Leinster just rolling out quasi-academy sides in those games will not see them getting the results they need for home knock out games and the ability to rest players ahead of big European knock outs etc.

Yeah, but you keep ignoring my point. I can't see many examples of players who left who seemed to develop or significantly improve as players. Carbery certainly did not. It's not just about opportunity, he just never seemed to be the player we thought he might have been when he broke through. Just getting minutes is pointless if its playing a gameplan he's singularly ill-suited to playing.

It is an entirely fair statement to say Leinster have been by far the best coached, most stable and most successful province over the past 10 years or so. That's the primary reason why, all else being equal, it's where players want to play when they have the chance.