Pro14 R3: Leinster v Edinburgh Fri 11th Oct KO 19:35

[Pilotman123]

O'Sullivan and Patterson don't deserve to play for leinster just because they dreamed of doing it when they were young... plus they are also behind an irish player in Osborne.

They need to improve, simple as.

I don’t mind Osborne being there so much it’s JGP and other non Irish players, surely you guys understand why I feel like this

[mildlyinterested]

this attitude has came out of left field.

there is of course room for non-irish players in the leinster squad, in fact I would consider it essential.

[mildlyinterested]

O'Sullivan and Patterson don't deserve to play for leinster just because they dreamed of doing it when they were young... plus they are also behind an irish player in Osborne.

They need to improve, simple as.

I don’t mind Osborne being there so much it’s JGP and other non Irish players, surely you guys understand why I feel like this

I can understand the thought process, but don't agree.

JGP is better than HOS/Patterson, HOS and Patterson need to improve, simple as that.

[Pilotman123]

O'Sullivan and Patterson don't deserve to play for leinster just because they dreamed of doing it when they were young... plus they are also behind an irish player in Osborne.

They need to improve, simple as.

I don’t mind Osborne being there so much it’s JGP and other non Irish players, surely you guys understand why I feel like this

I can understand the thought process, but don't agree.

JGP is better than HOS/Patterson, HOS and Patterson need to improve, simple as that.

Well I guess we’re gonna have to agree to disagree then, fair enough they need to improve but I wouldn’t want JGP being there long term, hopefully the younger scrum halves can learn from JGP and then JGP can move to a different club in the future once the other scrum halves improve

[mildlyinterested]

Well I guess we’re gonna have to agree to disagree then

fair enough, surprised you have only brought this up now and we haven't heard this earlier with Fardy, Lowe, Bent and Tomane all starting in recent weeks ahead of leinster produced players.

Personally i'd start COB this weekend over Tomane and rotate Patterson onto the bench ahead of Osborne.

Next season Tomane/Fardy/Bent all could be gone and their homegrown replacements may be taking their opportunity.

But right now I don't think O'Sullivan or Patterson can feel aggrieved, based on performances and current ability. They've fallen behind an AIL scrumhalf brought in on trial over the summer, they gotta get better.

[cormac]

This defeats the whole purpose of an academy if you’re going to bring in foreign players , we have four players who aren’t Irish starting this weekend..

Steady on Luke

JGP is IQ and a better player than all of the other options we currently have. RWC might be a good window for a lot of players, but we still need to rack up the results

Just because he’s had a holiday in Ireland for three years doesn’t make him Irish!!! There’s players who dreamed about playing for Ireland since they were a kid and then a New Zealand reject comes here and takes there place. JGP is Not Irish
Patterson and HOS wouldn’t make us lose games don’t give me that rubbish saying we need to rack up the results we’ve the best academy in the world filled with fantastic players

Holiday?

[jimbobjoe]

Holiday?

More like a J1 surely!

[Pilotman123]

Holiday?

More like a J1 surely!

https://amp.rugbypass.com/news/england- ... s-players/
Read that article about Steve Thompson views on it
Thompson has no time for these quirks in the Test eligibility rules, claiming the current three-year residency rule should be increased to 10 and not five as had been agreed for the end of 2020.

“I am English through and through. I love it and I just don’t think you should get these players who turn up on holiday for a while, play, earn some money at a club and suddenly get International caps. That is my honest opinion. People hate me for it. Some people like me for it, but that’s the way I believe it is.

[Pilotman123]

He also said “I think it is an outrage what has happened to Devin Toner. He has been an outstanding player for Ireland. Suddenly, some South African has turned up, a couple of years holiday and then suddenly he is included in the Irish squad a week into him qualifying for the squad. That is absolutely disgusting and wrong. It should be a 10-year rule at least.”

[Pilotman123]

Well I guess we’re gonna have to agree to disagree then

fair enough, surprised you have only brought this up now and we haven't heard this earlier with Fardy, Lowe, Bent and Tomane all starting in recent weeks ahead of leinster produced players.

Personally i'd start COB this weekend over Tomane and rotate Patterson onto the bench ahead of Osborne.

Next season Tomane/Fardy/Bent all could be gone and their homegrown replacements may be taking their opportunity.

But right now I don't think O'Sullivan or Patterson can feel aggrieved, based on performances and current ability. They've fallen behind an AIL scrumhalf brought in on trial over the summer, they gotta get better.

Fair hopefully this will improve HOS and Patterson and make them push each other harder for a spot

[jimbobjoe]

I'd be surprised of many here care what Steve Thompson has to say

[cormac]

Holiday?

More like a J1 surely!

https://amp.rugbypass.com/news/england- ... s-players/
Read that article about Steve Thompson views on it
Thompson has no time for these quirks in the Test eligibility rules, claiming the current three-year residency rule should be increased to 10 and not five as had been agreed for the end of 2020.

“I am English through and through. I love it and I just don’t think you should get these players who turn up on holiday for a while, play, earn some money at a club and suddenly get International caps. That is my honest opinion. People hate me for it. Some people like me for it, but that’s the way I believe it is.

So you think that some Irish citizens shouldn't be allowed play for Ireland? Because that's what would happen if it were a 10-year residency rule. Describing a player working his nads off to play for the team you supposedly support as being here "on a holiday" is seriously insulting.

How do you feel about Stuart Lancaster and Felipe Contepomi being coaches at Leinster?

[mildlyinterested]

He also said “I think it is an outrage what has happened to Devin Toner. He has been an outstanding player for Ireland. Suddenly, some South African has turned up, a couple of years holiday and then suddenly he is included in the Irish squad a week into him qualifying for the squad. That is absolutely disgusting and wrong. It should be a 10-year rule at least.”

Holiday?

More like a J1 surely!

https://amp.rugbypass.com/news/england- ... s-players/
Read that article about Steve Thompson views on it
Thompson has no time for these quirks in the Test eligibility rules, claiming the current three-year residency rule should be increased to 10 and not five as had been agreed for the end of 2020.

“I am English through and through. I love it and I just don’t think you should get these players who turn up on holiday for a while, play, earn some money at a club and suddenly get International caps. That is my honest opinion. People hate me for it. Some people like me for it, but that’s the way I believe it is.

I wouldn't disagree majorly with either of those, three years is too short to play for ireland.. but we are talking about playing for leinster, a club side with history of non-irish players playing for the province.

[Dave Cahill]

I'd be surprised of many here care what Steve Thompson has to say

The accuracy of his opinions are in line with his lineout throwing

[wixfjord]

This defeats the whole purpose of an academy if you’re going to bring in foreign players , we have four players who aren’t Irish starting this weekend..

I assume this is a piss take?!

Oh so you’re telling me you’d be fine if Leinster turned into a Man City having loads of foreign players winning trophies with no players in the team being from Leinster? It’s not like we have a bad academy, we have the best academy in the world with fantastic players we don’t need any foreign players who aren’t Irish. All you care about is the winning but you couldn’t care less if our whole team was from New Zealand as long as Leinster are winning....shame on you

It seems we've unearthed Leinsterfans own blend of Farage/Fitzgerald! Fair play you hid it well for 100 or so posts but it's all come out now!

[limecat]

Match Preview

Leinster had another very comfortable win last week. It eventually became like a training match against a fairly hapless Ospreys team.

Read more...

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I'd be surprised of many here care what Steve Thompson has to say

The accuracy of his opinions are in line with his lineout throwing

I don't agree with him (or Luke, or anyone else who has that opinion) but I can completely understand where they're coming from to be fair, I don't think it's a ridiculous opinion to have.

For me the issue isn't that it happens, it's that it happens too often, and I still can't understand (sorry, I know I bring this up all the time) why World Rugby didn't just put a cap on the number of residency qualified players in a match day squad. If they capped it at 2/3 players then the whole landscape changes, simple.

I really hate when people single out players though, it's not their fault that they've taken advantage of an opportunity provided to them and by and large they're busting a gut to be a good as they can possibly be for their adopted province/country and make a really positive impact. Rugby just isn't a big enough sport that we can do away with the residency rule and we need to be pretty liberal with it in order to grow the women's game too IMO.

As much as I don't want us to overdo it, it's great to be able to watch someone like J-Lo every week and it's really exciting that we're trying to develop someone like Salanoa.

[Morf]

Leinster above any Irish province aren't overdoing it in terms of foreign signings.

Would I be happy if the Leinster-produced squad is slightly more so? Yes I would, but ignoring the benefits of external pros with knowledge, experience and different skill sets would be folly.

[Morf]

My team:

No insult to your team but based on Leo's selection policy in the last year or so I expect at least 5/6 players rotated in/out of 15/23.

Made a fool of again.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Leinster above any Irish province aren't overdoing it in terms of foreign signings.

Would I be happy if the Leinster-produced squad is slightly more so? Yes I would, but ignoring the benefits of external pros with knowledge, experience and different skill sets would be folly.

At the end of the day, if you want to watch a team full of Leinster born players then Thomond Park is only a couple hours down the road.