The Munster Rugby Thread 2019/20

[El Guapo]

The benefactor stuff is true but the operation is badly run and needs to be completely overhauled by professionals who know what they are doing. It's amazing how an organisation can be turning down money on renaming Thomond Park year after year and profess being cash strapped.

I see a lot of the old mistakes with the academy in terms of making the original representative panel and not getting off it until u20....or the newer one when you get a leg over others if daddy has already played for Munster..

Apparently they got in some hot water a few years back trying to rail road young fellas into taking courses in UL

 

[How bad boy]

Apparently they got in some hot water a few years back trying to rail road young fellas into taking courses in UL

Shifting them from other colleges? Or just going to college? The former is bad but the latter is good IMO

 

[El Guapo]

Shifting them from other colleges? Or just going to college? The former is bad but the latter is good IMO

The latter, suggesting to LC students from Cork that their munster ambitions were best served by living in Limerick.

I can understand the rationale but you're not talking a professioal contract, at best the prospect of an academy contract to have an 18 year old move city leave his friends and not persue his academics in the way he would have without infulence is not on I reckon.

 

[Cormac]

Europe and Super Rugby agree to 2028 Club World Cup

Rugby chiefs sign initial agreement for inaugural global club tournament, scheduled to take place every four years between top sides from northern and southern hemispheres

www.thetimes.co.uk

"The tournament would do away with the latter stages of the Champions Cup every four years, so there would be no European champion that year. Instead, it would pitch the eight quarter-finalists against six top-ranked Super Rugby Pacific teams and two guest sides, probably from Japan."


Jesus fucking christ, are they deliberately trying to make the European Cup format as shit and incomprehensible as possible?

Rugby is completely undermining itself with this obsession of trying to morph the two hemispheres together.
It is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist imo.
The real value of rugby is in the tradition of it's long standing tournaments.
All these nonsense new formats they are trying to create at both club and international level is doing nothing but slowly eroding away that value.

You can't squish the world down to more resemble the shape of a rugby ball so that the hemispheres are closer together.
Distance and time difference are unsurmountable obstacles.
If rugby doesn't give up on their obsession with trying to "fix this problem" then they are in real danger of creating a disconnect with the fans imo.

 

[How bad boy]

The latter, suggesting to LC students from Cork that their munster ambitions were best served by living in Limerick.

I can understand the rationale but you're not talking a professioal contract, at best the prospect of an academy contract to have an 18 year old move city leave his friends and not persue his academics in the way he would have without infulence is not on I reckon.

That would be the former.

I think it's really good that there's a lot of emphasis in pro rugby in Ireland to have players get qualifications while still playing. Way too many pro sports don't give a shit about players that don't make it or don't have anything else to go to when they retire.

Pushing players into UL instead of UCC, for example, is really pretty poor form if its happening.

 

[How bad boy]

Rugby is completely undermining itself with this obsession of trying to morph the two hemispheres together.
It is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist imo.
The real value of rugby is in the tradition of it's long standing tournaments.
All these nonsense new formats they are trying to create at both club and international level is doing nothing but slowly eroding away that value.

You can't squish the world down to more resemble the shape of a rugby ball so that the hemispheres are closer together.
Distance and time difference are unsurmountable obstacles.
If rugby doesn't give up on their obsession with trying to "fix this problem" then they are in real danger of creating a disconnect with the fans imo.

Agreed.
The Heineken Cup format pre pandemic worked. The current format is terrible and adding this nonsense in would make it quite a bit worse.

Rugby is in trouble in some key countries like England, Wales, Scotland and Australia but it's thriving in others, especially Ireland, France and 2nd tier nations like Spain.

 

[El Guapo]

That would be the former.

Shifting them from other colleges? Or just going to college? The former is bad but the latter is good IMO

Ah, i read "shifting players from other colleges" as enticing a student from UCC to move to UL on the promise of an academy contract

and "just going to college" as enticing school age kids to head to UL because its in limerick regardless of their contract status.

I heard specifically that Paul O'Connell intervenied on behalf of a for Cork players a few years ago.no idea what players

 

[Meridian]

I think Munster do have a serious financial challenge though, especially with POM and Murray coming off central contracts.

Snyman was apparently being offered €500k a year, but he was previously funded by benefactors. Not sure if that's been true in recent years but if so, it means there's no savings to be had in him leaving.

I'm not sure Munster have the funds to splash the cash on anything other than journeymen right now.

Personally, I would much prefer the money be spent on an expanded academy. With 17 players now in the academy, I suspect more money is indeed going that way, with 5 props in there now. Only one hooker, still a decent improvement on May last year:

I suspect they're trying to build a new set of front rowers from the academy. That can take a long time to pay dividends but if I'm right, would expect another prop and hooker added by August.

It can be riskier than just buying in talent but bulking up the academy is likely to pay off long term.

Speaking of money, I take it Munster are going to get a financial hit now being knocked out of the Champions Cup at this stage ?

 

[Jon Hurling]

Speaking of money, I take it Munster are going to get a financial hit now being knocked out of the Champions Cup at this stage ?

€400k for a losing finalist last year so you'd imagine the quarter finalists are probably far less circa €50k. They massively lost out by not having a home round of 16 game in terms of ticket sales. The real money spinner would have been a home semi final in PUC but you'd wonder when we will see a semi final again.

 

[outdagap]

Or if your Uncle / Dad is the team doctor.

Bingo.