IRFU Funding Model changes

You are aware the private school only take children at 12/13 type age. Do you think they all just land into a private school never haven't seen a rugby ball before in their life and suddenly the private school trains them to play rugby?

Do you think Leinster rugby are giving advice? and to who?

Someone posted earlier you have no idea about the schools system or how it work, seems like it

So why did it stop?

As I have highlighted on the previous page to LP, it didn't. There's a big list of players from this "lost generation" who are still playing pro-rugby. The extent to this dearth of development by Munster (besides in certain positions such as centre - which is the same for all provinces - see Leinster at 9) is grossly exaggerated when these conversations come up.

All of these things were the case back in the 1950s and before, but absolutely were throughout the 2000s when Munster were the dominant force of Irish rugby. How come there wasn’t this massive elite player production disparity then?


I'd argue a few different reasons. Obviously, you just have your generational ups and downs which have been discussed at length. At the same time, it took some time for Ireland to adjust to the realities of the professionalisation of the sport. There was a marked change in the game around 2010/2011 - a point after which the difference between the type of rugby played before and after is incredibly clear and jarring. Around this time, rugby started becoming more and more of the power and pace based game it is today (which obviously benefits those who get younger/greater access to S&C facilities). Hell, even up as far as seven or eight years ago, a guy like Rory Best, who was physically unimpressive but technically astute, was able to forge a career as an International centurion, test captain, and B&I Lion. There's zero hope of that happening nowadays.

That's a bit of a tangent, but a bit necessary to deal with my upcoming comments. Obviously, the 2009 Heineken Cup final win did huge things for rugby in Leinster, and this had a massive effect on the uptake of the sport in the province. A similar effect can be seen in the past couple of years from Connacht's 2016 Pro12 win. This absolutely resulted in a change in attitude towards the way the schools treated the sport.

There's an OffTheBall article which talks about how St Michael's in particular met up with an aim of maximising their number of future players around this time. They employed "top-end strength and conditioning coaches Fiona Oppermann, the former Irish athlete; Junior Charlie, the New Zealander and ex-Connacht flanker; Andy Burke, the ex-Munster outhalf; and, currently, James Ruxton, a former Irish 400 metre runner" - on top of professional coaches such as Bernard Jackman among others. In 2016, St Michael's invested in an astro-turf all-weather pitch, specialised scrummaging areas, a new sate of the art gym, and a new sports pavilion housing modern changing facilities and showers. After this, their production line exploded - having only produced one pro player prior to 2014 (a believe I read but cannot re-find the article). They actually put their superior resources and demographic advantages to use, and look what it resulted in. A production line of players who are more prepared for the professional game than ever before.

That's just one example, but I can go on about the burst in investment which occurred beginning in the 2010s. Blackrock completed a new state of the art gym in 2018 and a new astro-turf pitch which was funded by their own Capital Fund and government grants. This followed the construction of the Des Places Sports Pavillion in 2012. There are also continuous developments in Blackrock between 2019 and 2024 - all funded using their own Development Fund. Note this is all private development, not Leinster funded.

Ultimately, I think that level of increased investment starting in the 2010s is what really kickstarted this - hence why "there wasn't this massive elite player production disparity" before. I'm sure it isn't the only reason - but its a major factor.

QUICK EDIT: Right, that's two theses written today. Time for bed - see you all tomorrow folks

The other provinces should offer academy places to the players from these schools who just miss out on the Leinster academy…

More Nick Timoneys.

Why would Leinster do that?

Talk about f**king the entire system up, the rest of the provinces would just wait around the schools cup and pick up players as they walk out, not try develop the players in the province they have access to.

The provinces have shown they have plenty of their own talent, why not keep on that progress and look at other options? why is the answer always "just take players from Leinster"

Apparently he knows everything about the leinster system.

Incredible knowledge for someone not living in Ireland.

Mod: Attack the post not the poster.

Does the CC distribution matter? Shouldn't a CC contract be earned?