Heineken Cup Final 2022/23: Leinster Rugby v Stade Rochelais

[Leonormous Boozer]

I mean Leinster fans are getting the England fans treatment I feel

Yeah fair, a lot of weird comments and perceptions, also a strong Welsh contingent.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Dedication to Leinster supporters

You wouldn't see scenes like that anywhere in England, probably why our clubs are going to the wall.

 

[Smurfy]

Yeah fair, a lot of weird comments and perceptions, also a strong Welsh contingent.

La Rochelle are a very expensively assembled side, yet somehow are being painted as the small club overcoming the odds. Basically they are Toulon mark II without the hubris, and far better PR. Leinster have faced constant accusations of huge spending and gaining unfair advantage somehow because of their excellent structures, and yet what is effectively a bought in team with a massive budget are everyone's heroes. It's actually utterly bizarre, and I speak as a Munster fan.

 

[munstermuffin]

For all this also on La Rochelle

La Rochelle are a very expensively assembled side, yet somehow are being painted as the small club overcoming the odds. Basically they are Toulon mark II without the hubris, and far better PR. Leinster have faced constant accusations of huge spending and gaining unfair advantage somehow because of their excellent structures, and yet what is effectively a bought in team with a massive budget are everyone's heroes. It's actually utterly bizarre, and I speak as a Munster fan.

Not to ruin this but they actually are not even near top table of big spenders in Top14.
Will only have 5 or 6 at RWC and alot who came were coming with baggage or being unwanted. Take Dillane for example. He was unwanted by Connacht in end. And turned out to be excellent for La Rochelle. I think the things that are making La Rochelle great are what money can't buy. Culture and attitude but I think this myth of La Rochelle being an assembled fantasy needs to stop

 

[Smurfy]

For all this also on La Rochelle
Not to ruin this but they actually are not even near top table of big spenders in Top14.
Will only have 5 or 6 at RWC and alot who came were coming with baggage or being unwanted. Take Dillane for example. He was unwanted by Connacht in end. And turned out to be excellent for La Rochelle. I think the things that are making La Rochelle great are what money can't buy. Culture and attitude but I think this myth of La Rochelle being an assembled fantasy needs to stop

Nowell is moving there on a reported salary of €450k, double his current Exeter salary. How many Leinster players would be on that salary?

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

They have a bigger budget than Racing who are consistently mocked for being mercs, and it's one of the cheapest places to live in France. They have no homegrown talent, great club culture and recruitment but definitely just a new Toulon.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Not really
Their backs are yes star studded mercs
The starting pack was though
1. Wardi (signed at 23 from Pro D2 team Béziers)
2. Bourgarit (Signed at 20 from Fédérale 1)
3. Atonio (signed at 21 after the head coach saw him at a 10's comp in hong kong as a amateur)
4. Sazy (Signed at 24 from the relegated Montauban)
5. Skelton (Signed from Sarries after they got spanked for cap cheating)
6. Boudehent (Signed at 18 from Fédérale 1)
7. Botia (signed as a free agent after 1 season with the Fiji international team as a amatuer)
8. Alldritt (Signed at 20 from Fédérale 1)

 

[munstermuffin]

They have a bigger budget than Racing who are consistently mocked for being mercs, and it's one of the cheapest places to live in France. They have no homegrown talent, great club culture and recruitment but definitely just a new Toulon.

I don't think they are a new Toulon. And it not about budgets. Look at the culture and like they have identity.
Racing for all their hype never had that

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Not really
Their backs are yes star studded mercs
The starting pack was though
1. Wardi (signed at 23 from Pro D2 team Béziers)
2. Bourgarit (Signed at 20 from Fédérale 1)
3. Atonio (signed at 21 after the head coach saw him at a 10's comp in hong kong as a amateur)
4. Sazy (Signed at 24 from the relegated Montauban)
5. Skelton (Signed from Sarries after they got spanked for cap cheating)
6. Boudehent (Signed at 18 from Fédérale 1)
7. Botia (signed as a free agent after 1 season with the Fiji international team as a amatuer)
8. Alldritt (Signed at 20 from Fédérale 1)

I thought they were being hyperbolic when they said no homegrown players
Presumably none in the backs either?

 

[munstermuffin]

Nowell is moving there on a reported salary of €450k, double his current Exeter salary. How many Leinster players would be on that salary?

On this yes on big money but including bonuses that would be easy meet like international appearances Porter Furlong, Ryan, Doris, Van Der Flier, Sexton, Henshaw, Ringrose and maybe Keenan will be on that. We will never know fully though.
Should add I'm not saying La Rochelle are poor either

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

I thought they were being hyperbolic when they said no homegrown players
Presumably none in the backs either?

Yep or bench

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Nowell is moving there on a reported salary of €450k, double his current Exeter salary. How many Leinster players would be on that salary?

He's an international class winger and you can't use one player to form an opinion on the whole squad. I bet the Irish (New Zealand) wingers are on those kind of wages.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yep or bench

That's really embarrassing, tbh

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

He's an international class winger and you can't use one player to form an opinion on the whole squad. I bet the Irish (New Zealand) wingers are on those kind of wages.

You'd lose that bet.

 

[die_mole]

No one has any idea how much teams are spending on players. Even with the English teams who publish accounts those are easily fudges as saracens showed. Going off of numbers provided by agents to the media is insane. Who knows how much of that is actually paid out each year.

 

[Smurfy]

i must admit I'm not particularly bothered how they put their side together, and it's a professional business, so their astute recruitment is actually admirable. What I find strange is the apparently general acceptance of the "small club" myth, especially as La Rochelle lack the panache and romance of a side like Toulouse. They play a brand of rugby that could best be described as modern brutalist, based on a monstrously physical pack and excellent setpiece. Yes, they have some brilliant backs, but their role appears to be to navigate their way around the bodies their pack has left littered about. I'm a fan of ROGs, both player and coach, but this whole "lack of respect" and "small club " schtick is straight of of the Warren Gatland book of mind games.

 

[Smurfy]

He's an international class winger and you can't use one player to form an opinion on the whole squad. I bet the Irish (New Zealand) wingers are on those kind of wages.

He was an international class winger. He hasn't been within an ass's roar of being a one for over two years, and, yes, you can draw an opinion on the whole squad, because presumably they have, like most professional teams, a wage structure. He will certainly struggle to displace the two starting wingers on Saturday, so I can't imagine either would be happy if a squad player is earning more than them.

And, no, neither the New Zealand nor the Australian Irish wingers would be on anything close to that figure.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

@TRF_Olyy wrt skeltons international form since playing for saracens, I believe he has only started one match (against Italy) and been on the bench twice (against Ireland and france), all last year. I remember thinking he was ok. The wallabies did lose to Italy, mind.

Eddie has talked about how he and will have a plan to get him fitter for the World Cup.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

You'd lose that bet.

I thought I'd read that the salaries in Ireland (for internationals and the like) were higher than England international players?

Would be really interested to compare salaries of all the home nations players to be fair.

 

[Reiser99]

Tbh all the talk of salaries is irrelevant. We don't actually know accurately what they are, so any attempt to shift the narrative to make Leinster look like the underdogs is ridiculous.

It's simple, Leinster were favourites going into the final, bookies odds heavily in their favour, opinions in their favour and they even sacrificed the URC to focus on this. (Yes I know La Rochelle also rested players, but they didn't risk it in a knockout match). This was an upset for the second year running plain and simple.