goreyguy wrote:Quite a few leinster underage players not participating in training this summer for interpros due to high time demanded by coaches for no financial reward.
Mostly seems to be happening at u20 level, where players are expected to train 5 days a week.
None of the 6th years from Belvedere last season are participating from what i've been told, some good players there in Ireland u19 backrow Tom De Jongh, Ireland u19 wing James McKeown & Centre Conor Jennings.
Very impressed with James McKeown in the cup last season – I think he's an excellent professional prospect. Good build, good pace, a threat from everywhere on the pitch and a serious nose for the try-line. Never heard of anybody scoring five tries in the semi-final and final of the same cup campaign. Also happy to see the Belvo coaching staff play him on the wing and not at centre or fullback ... it seems to me [going back to Denis Hickie, and including Luke Fitz and Keith Earls] that there's a bit of positional snobbery about wing, especially from the players' perspective: the 'dumb winger' cliche. It's like they see it as an insult to their overall skillset if they're overlooked for either No13 or No15.
With regards to training/not training over summer, I'd have mixed feelings about that. Firstly, club [amateur] players do it all the time! Maybe not five days a week, but they put in a lot of effort and juggle their social and family schedules around after their work commitments in order to train. Secondly, just because you get selected for a Leinster U20s training squad, it doesn't mean that you're a prince of a player that Leinster can't afford to do without. I agree that it's a sacrifice to put a post-Leaving Cert summer on the back-burner and train your b*llocks off every day, but there you go. It's a pretty clear cut decision.