BLUE STATE
Leinster academy stocks continue to rise and spill over into other provinces, but is the market becoming saturated?
‘CULLEN HAS 18 STELLAR TALENTS WHO LOOK READY FOR THE TOP’ ‘KEEPING HOLD OF ALL THEIR BACK ROW FORWARDS IS UNLIKELY’
AS things stand, there are currently 164 players on full-time professional contracts in Ireland.
That number is constantly changing during the season and has fluctuated in recent months, even during the Covid-imposed lockdown. There has been plenty of movement around the provinces lately with Munster pair Tyler Bleyendaal and Brian Scott both announcing their retirements from the game following long-term injury issues.
Utility players, like Leinster back Joe Tomane, are set for moves abroad while Connacht announced on Friday that a whopping 12 players would be leaving the Sportsground next month, including crowd favourites Niyi Adeolokun and Darragh Leader. Rob Kearney and Devin Toner’s IRFU central contracts expire next month and it remains to be seen if the veteran pair will be sticking or twisting.
The figure is always changing, but, as things stand, there are 164 players living the dream on the provincial and IRFU payrolls. It won’t come as a surprise to learn that 63 of those players were products of the Leinster system.
Leo Cullen can proudly lay claim to 38 of his current 45-man squad as homegrown talent — 39 if you include hooker Bryan Byrne who is currently out on loan at Bristol. Sean Cronin and Robbie Henshaw were products of the Munster and Connacht youth systems before they flourished at Leinster while Scott Fardy, Jamison Gibson-Park, Michael Bent (both already Irish qualified), Tomane and James Lowe, who becomes Irish-qualified in November, make up the foreign legion.
Drill down into the province’s much-vaunted academy and you will find 18 stellar talents who all look made for the top level.
Rookies like Harry Byrne and Ryan Baird were invited to train with Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad earlier this season.
As the production line continues to churn out top-class players every year, the overflow has poured into the other provinces.
Promising tightheads Jack Aungier and Roman Salanoa have rolled straight out of the academy into senior contracts with Connacht and Munster respectively this month.
The path from Dublin to Limerick, Belfast and Galway has become well-worn in recent times.
There are currently six products of the Leinster system at Munster and eight at Connacht. Ian Madigan became the 11th Leinsterman in the Ulster squad when he signed earlier this summer.
You could argue that Tom O’Toole could swell that cohort to 12 but the Drogheda-born tighthead spent most of his life in Australia before being captured by the Ulster system.
Ulster have been aware of this development for a long time.
When they locked horns with Leinster in that thrilling European quarter-final at the Avvia back in 2018 there was only two locals in the pack: Rory Best and Iain Henderson. The rest of the forward unit was made up of four ex-Leinster players (Eric O’Sullivan, Marty Moore, Nick Timoney and Jordi Muphy), Kieran Treadwell, an Irish-qualified exile, and Springbok powerhouse Marcell Coetzee.
It was in stark contrast to Leinster’s starting pack boasting six born-and-bred players and a further five locals on the bench.
Bryn Cunningham was part of the Heineken Cup-winning squad of 1999 but is now the province’s operations director.
In a newspaper interview earlier this year, he admitted that Ulster are nowhere near Leinster’s production system at present.
The long-term goal at the province is to increase the local representation within the squad – and their academy holds much promise – but, for now, they will take the best Irish-qualified talent available. And the majority of that young talent is coming from Leinster’s base in UCD at present. Issues of provincial identity will always be argued over the current state of affairs. David Nucifora, the IRFU’s performance director, would counter those arguments by using Ulster as an example of the current model’s success. Of the 43 players in Dan McFarland’s squad next season, 39 of them will be eligible for Ireland selection.
Nucifora has a mandate to ensure that everything – from youth, schools and academy level upwards – is being done to ensure the health of the national cause.
He would point to Sammy Arnold, Conor Oliver, Aungier and Oisín Dowling – fringe provincial players – heading west to Connacht next season as a logical move for all parties involved.
You’d imagine he would clearly prefer if a Leinster backrower followed suit as well.
Andy Friend has lost his outstanding Australian openside Colby Fainga’a, who was lured to bigspending Lyon and Will Connors, Leinster’s all-action chop-tackling flanker, would be a perfect fit for Connacht next season.
Connors has been tipped on the shoulder and pushed in that direction before but the 24-year-old has remained steadfast in his desire to carve out a starting berth at his native province. And he saw plenty of game time this season as well, making 15 appearances for the allconquering province before the sport went into lockdown in
March. And
Cullen and Stuart Lancaster were doing a good job in facilitating all the talent at their disposal.
The Leinster brains trust had used 51 players during the current campaign. They went through 57 and 56 in the previous two seasons. The likes of Murphy, Joey Carbery and Jack McGrath have sought pastures new since then.
More departures will be inevitable as Leinster’s resources continue to swell every year.
Keeping hold of all of their backrow forwards seems highly unlikely as well. Leinster were already well stocked this season with Caelan Doris becoming the latest to break into the Ireland ranks.
Wait until the inter-pros in August and you will see the logjam with Jack Conan back from a fractured foot injury along with Dan Leavy, who is set to become rugby’s version of the six million dollar man following a staggering recovery from a horrific leg injury almost 18 months ago.
The likes of Connors, Josh Murphy and Scott Penny could be getting itchy feet by the end of next season. All three would be easily accommodated at the other three provinces. Concerns over identity will be raised again and again in the coming years but until the other provinces catch up, the future is blue.