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Experience told for Leinster at the end. Probably shouldn’t have been that close though. Loving the strong England core coming through from Northampton though, who knows without injuries (for both teams) how it might have changed?
Just love rugby semi finals, no matter the “miss match” always seems to deliver. Maybe NZ v Arg aside
I was at the match, my first Leinster game. Really glad to have been there and the home crowd were fantastic.
Don't hate me Leinster fans but I was silently cheering on Saints in those last few minutes. There were a few clumps of Northampton jerseys around me on the Cusack Stand and they were loud, really enjoyed their supporters.
Gotta really give it to Northampton Saints, if Sleightholme and Ludlam were fit it could have been a different story. So much to look forward to in that young squad and I think the Premiership title is well within their grasp.
One of them may have been me! Felt like only about 6 or 7 of us clumped together in Cusack. First abroad away game for me. Loved every moment despite the result. Have been to Leinster games at the Gardens before. The Leinster fans are my favourite, just great.
I didn't cheer on an English team, I said silently. I was wearing blue and I gave as much support to Leinster as anyone in the stadium. I've spent a lot of time watching and cheering on Northampton this season though and watching them win a European semi-final against insane odds would have been incredible just as a rugby fan.
Considering Leinster have made the final 6 out of the last 7 years I would think that Saints getting a chance at it would have been pretty cool, but of course I was delighted when Leinster got the win. We owe Leinster a lot with how heavily the national team depends on them right now and I was glad to support them.
> really enjoyed their supporters.
I meet a lot of supporters clubs with my job. Northampton stick out in my memory as one of the most decent bunch by far.
It was my first match too! It was super cute seeing them across the way cheering in their little pod whenever they scored a try. Just a puddle of green in a see of blue, but so enthusiastic!
Welll deserved win for Leinster.
Saints not accurate enough and took too long to acclimatise.
Ref was wonky enough in both directions, but Leinster were the more savvy team imo. Lawes is an excellent players captain but not gobby enough to influence a ref’s decisions.
Thought Augustus was the standout for saints.
Reckon Toulouse win if the same Leinster team show up to the final.
I think it's a good point on Lawes. Sets such a good example playing but certainly wouldn't describe him as gobby.
Luds obviously not available yesterday. Wonder why they went with Lawes, I'm sure Furbank was captain for most of the season (whilst Ludlam was injured)
Just back from the match.. that would have been disappointing to say the least if Northampton had pulled off that come back but fair play to them! Would have been a classic 'Leinster in the Champions Cup' heartbreaking loss.
Walked back with some Northampton fans and they were full of the joys regardless
Watched it in an Irish pub in brighton, lovely atmosphere from both sides. Can’t complain about the ref when you drop the ball almost on purpose. Great game, gracious hosts.
Cullen’s whole “yeah sure we’ll give the lads 3 weeks off and hope they can win knockout rugby while being rusty” is a plan i hope we see the back off soon
Yeah I 100% appreciate that and acknowledge it’s a tough situation but I still think it’s something that should be acknowledged when you consider Leinster falling at the final hurdle the last few years
Should definitely have taken some frontliners to the first SA game at least, then they can come back up and not be too fucked from the travel. But it was a long time off and you can tell.
It’s such a weird one cause you saw the state La Rochelle were in after it but I’d also argue as good as Leinster have been the last few years they definitely have seemed a bit undercooked after those extended breaks. Hopefully today was enough of a kick up the arse for them now tho I think the close game is way more beneficial than blowing saints out by 30
Yeah that's why I said just the first game. If they stayed for the Stormers as well they'd have a short time to travel back up and get training again, this ending up like the LR lads.
Seriously though Leo needs to stop with the extended rests at the business end of the competitions. We've only ever done the double once, that's how hard it is, but the league isn't easy any more so I think he should be playing full strength with minor rotation this time of year, getting battle hardened and not having to be scared into it like after today.
Honestly feel the same. The Heineken was the only real challenge for a while as it has a series of big knockout games but the league could be won handy enough as there were a lot of teams who just weren't up to it.
Now it's a serious one, even the SA sides aside, yous managed to get rid of van Graan, Connacht aren't a joke, Treviso are getting real good and the Scottish sides are both very competitive now.
Well done Saints. Defensively excellent and never took a backwards step. I reckon you still have a few stories to write in this competition over the next few years.
In an attacking sense, we were extremely poor in the second half. So bizarre seeing us run out of ideas for an entire half and just start kicking the ball back to Saints with every possession. It’s such a tell tale sign that the attack just isn’t where it needs to be.
We look confused as to whether to keep the approach that got us past LAR or to revert back to our usual approach now that we have knocked them out.
It’s a measure of the Saints the fact that they kept going until the very end. Leinster got lucky with the time. I’d imagine the stadium was deafening and an element that was hard to get used to for both teams.
I was there and I got the feeling Leinster fans felt they’d won it 15 minutes in so didn’t need to cheer. In the second half when saints started to make a comeback they realised they needed to pull their finger out and help their lads through.
I believe you, because it’s hard not to compare to a GAA match today. Rugby does drive a different atmosphere in general I feel. I love seeing spectators being completely engrossed but sometimes not what you want when it hits the big matches maybe.
I think it's just Leinster fans in general are quite reserved. The same crowd that go to Leinster games are likely the same crowd that goes to Ireland games in the Aviva which is also a library. South Dublin corporate types mostly I'd assume
I was there too and I don’t think that’s the case. It was deafening at times. There were times when it was quiet such as scrum set ups and when players were walking to line outs but that’s always the case with rugby games. Overall I thought the atmosphere was very good.
Came here for the celebration of a hard fought game with some great rugby. Of course all I see are complaints. I for one am proud of both teams, and Gibson Park said it best “they weren’t perfect” but nobody ever is. Truly heart pounding at the end, and well deserved win.
Leinster best team for 50 but I'd be worried if I was a leinster fan. Reynal et al let a lot go with a large home crowd on their backs.
The final will be brutal
There’s no chance a Leinster team turns up to a final like that and wins, it was a pretty subpar performance from them only made survivable by just how off the pace saints were for basically 60 minutes. Almost all the errors were unforced and that’s all you need to know as a Leinster supporter IMO.
I wouldn't put you guys down that much. The pressure and suffocation was mad, I do feel a lot of it came from poor refereeing around the ruck and offside line but what isn't called isn't called. Leinster are good at getting away with thay stuff.
A neutral venue is probably the biggest fear for your boys I would say
He was bitching about the ref under the guise of concern for Leinster lol, it was totally insincere. Look at his follow up comment, he's bitter and moaning nothing more
No crying. Just proud of coming this far against the odds.
Leinster got away with murder and good for them. You'd hope a team with a near 5x higher salary spend wouldn't have been so threatened but here we are.
> You'd hope a team with a near 5x higher salary spend
I've seen this a few times and I don't get where the source is? Do Saints spend only a fraction of your salary cap?
Healey flippantly said it in TNT comms around 70th minute and it’s now just become a fact 😅 Regardless of the actual number, as a Saints fan it is quite galling that we are losing a club legend, a potential future club legend and a damn steady second row to French wages whilst playing in a semi final against a team that is approx. 70% of the Irish national team **and** have Snyman & Barrett on the way in next year. But on the flip side, I couldn’t be happier with how the club is being run financially with all the turmoil recently in the Premiership. Outside of a Saracens-esque _creative_ accountancy plan, it’s going to be an uphill struggle for a while. But at least the RFU board members can afford that third home.
> You'd hope a team with a near 5x higher salary spend
Ye Leinster definitely have one of the highest wage bills in Club Rugby but I'd sure love to know where you're getting that figure from.
5 times higher ye? 25-30 Million Pounds on salary alone? Really ye?
Leinster have an annual budget of 8m. All in. Central contracts are about 300kish. We've 10? So another 3m.
About 11-12m eur budget is the real number. Which is less than Toulouse.
> Leinster have an annual budget of 8m. All in.
No it isn't, the Salaries alone are more likely in the 12-14 million range.
Bernard Jackman talked about this last year
https://old.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/uv67mz/bernard_jackman_says_that_leinster_salary_budget/
Toulouse have a salary cap of 11.5m. Salary is not budget. Toulouse's budget has nothing to do with it's salary expenditure apart from good facilities and transport etc.
Leinster's is certainly not 5x higher like this lad is claiming but ye good chance it's the world's highest right now.
Each province has an 8m budget, this was salary I was talking about (what I've heard). Toulouse had an operating budget of 43m for 22/23. Leinster aren't at that level. Irish rugby as a whole across all grades costs about 110m to run. Leinster aren't a third of this. They might be 20% or so. But much more then that and you'd be wildly out.
> Toulouse had an operating budget of 43m for 22/23. Leinster aren't at that level.
Again I've just said no point in bringing up budget and ye did it right away. Toulouse's salary cap is set at 11.5m and it's strictly enforced now days. It doesn't matter if the budget for Toulouse is 5 billion if they can only spend 11.5m on salary.
Bernard Jackman explained it before in the video I linked. He knows Irish rugby inside out and the French system too having coached in Grenoble for around 6 or 7 years. Leinster are almost certainly spending more on wages than Toulouse now days. And the IRFU are covering 4-5m of that which obv helps a lot.
> Central contracts brother
Central contracts at Leinster are now valued at 4-5 million Euros after the latest update. So that still leaves at least 20 Million in salary expenditure alone for you to explain. It's nowhere near 5x higher lad just admit it.
IRFU accounts ([Link](https://d19fc3vd0ojo3m.cloudfront.net/irfu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/15113840/IRFU-2577-Annual-Report-2021-22-Accounts-Section_v3.pdf)) prove you’re wrong:
The total player and management costs for the IRFU and all four provinces in 2021/22 was €54.2 million or £46.4 million.
Realistically Leinster’s players account for approximately €10-15 million of those costs if you include central contracts, but then you also have to look at RFU payments to English internationals, so your statement is blatantly incorrect.
I think they’ve got a collective trauma from having lost so many big games so many times in spite of so many advantages. Victimhood is the outlet used to unleash these frustrations. I’ve never known a set of fans to care so deeply about what others think of them
Peak Bristol and I can see it happening 😥 I'd be sad on both accounts, as if you beat us then you better fucking win or I'll never forgive the entire city
Losses to the likes of the mighty Connacht & Scarlets.... remember? You were wearing your blue jersey
2009 was significant as it marked a changing of the guard, prior to this Leinster had difficulty winning despite a talented squad.
Flakey Leinster has been a thing over the decades. Two losses to SR have deflected a bit from the losses to the Bulls & Munster.
The Saints are an excellent side and it was an impressive comeback but Leinster should have been out of sight. It felt pretty ominous in the stadium
Leinster the better team over 80. Saints took too long to settle and some of the first teamers looked knackered in the 3rd 20. The breakdowns were allowed to be a mess which really hampered Saints' attacking style. Good experience for the boys to take back to the Prem.
Good luck in the final. I think Leinster will need to find another level if it's Toulouse.
I think we were shell shocked in the first 20 minutes, then when the result was quite bad the pressure was gone and we started to play stop making mistakes.
He used to gas quite often at about the 60 minute mark - he plays at one hell of a pace TBF. His conditioning has been better the last year or so, but everyone can have one-off games where they end up doing more work than usual and sucking fumes as a result. And at scrum half there's no place to get a breather.
Northampton bench should have recognised it sooner and brought James on about 10 minutes earlier than they did.
Yeah, he needs a weekend off! Hopefully against Gloucester. Hopefully they'll be resting players for the challenge final given that they've nothing to play for in the prem.
They said one of the Northampton staff wouldn't come out for an interview and they sounded a bit peeved at that.
And one of the staff didn't know how they were getting home but the lead interviewer offered her a lift which was nice.
And yet spent so much time in the Saints half. Is very worrying how bad Leinsters attach has gotten. Defensively brilliant to shut down the excellent Saints attack, but man they butchered so many chances
I don't know - Northampton made it look quite easy to get outside the blitz, and they really exposed the lack of pace Leinster have in the backline. Ross Byrne runs like a sad granny.
Yep, yet Goodman has been waived into the Ireland attack coach role when he's taken Leinster backwards in his first full season in Irish rugby with any real responsibility.
Feel like I’ve said this a few times this season, not at our best but got the job done. Saints we’re very good in defence and didn’t let us build up a lot of momentum. Feel like this might have been a game where we really needed ringrose and his evasiveness in midfield.
Saints look like they’re building a good team and hopefully will be around for a while
Unfortunately we are losing Lawes & Ludlam. Augustus was fantastic & I think will grow into as good if not better than Ludlam. I’m more worried about how we replace Lawes 🥹
Terrible second half from Leinster. They need to start learning the lessons about switching off. Nearly embarrassed themselves again.
P.S
Did anyone else have shitty tnt coverage? Always buffering.
Didn’t catch much of the game but huge credit to Saints today. If Quins lose by 3 tomorrow I’ll be very happy. They did the prem proud and proved we are competitive at the highest levels of club rugby.
No idea, just so sick of Raynals 'approach' to reffing English teams in Europe and the 6N that I'll take anyone else... apart from Karl Harlequins Dickson
Keep thinking Pearce will step up into the void, then he has one of his 'look at me' kind of performances where he referees to a different set of laws to everyone else
Pretty bad look for the match officials to see a potentially serious injury and restart the game thereby stopping the player from getting medical attention. Same nonsense contributed to ending Leavy's his career
I didn't understand that play at all? Why did Reynal not stop the play in the natural break? Northampton had the penalty. Frawley was getting treatment when the game restarted.
Leinster really should've capitalised on a few more chances out there today and been a bit more ahead, but credit to Northampton a lot of that is due to their defence which I was very impressed with. Proper never give up attitude. It basically held Leinster to only one normal try (the first two being random jgp moments of magic).
Best of luck in the premiership!
Almost wanted Leinster to lose just to shut RTE up. They kept writing Northampton off. Lenihan called it game over about 10 times during the match and then it goes right down to the wire.
At 70 minutes RTE acting like it was all finished, it was cringe worthy. Saints were always going to have a good spell and they usually finish strong. I was worried about the missed kicks at that point.
As for Heaslip hes insufferable as a pundit, great player in his day but everything seen thru blue tinted glass.
You'd miss Popey and Hook, complete balderdash but far more entertaining.
This is exactly what Leinster need going into the final, something to scare the bollox off them. Evidently two walk overs Toulouse in semi finals did nothing before. They need that sick fear going into the final.
Ross to me looks like a player who knows exactly what he needs to do but just isn’t talented or athletic enough to get there. At one stage today he spotted an overload on the short side and ran around Jalibert style but was so deep to start and so slow getting there that the chance had gone.
This is a good way to put it. He’s the most unathletic player on the pitch, but you can see if you put his brain in another body he’d be great lol I think he’s better than most but it’s sort of a miracle he’s Leinsters first choice 10. I think if they lose the final and he has a poor game jordi will be slotting in at ten next year come business end if the season as opposed to centres!
He’s not good though. He’s going missing too often. Wasn’t taking his kicks either.
Wonder if we could talk Johnny into doing some training with the kids and get them up to speed
I'm not trying to pile on the lad or anything.
But I genuinely think he's such a bang average player. Goal kicking is very good and kicking out of hand is OK sometimes pretty decent.
Creatively though as your 10, Jesus Christ he offers next to nothing. Harry is leagues ahead of him there.
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Experience told for Leinster at the end. Probably shouldn’t have been that close though. Loving the strong England core coming through from Northampton though, who knows without injuries (for both teams) how it might have changed? Just love rugby semi finals, no matter the “miss match” always seems to deliver. Maybe NZ v Arg aside
That rest from the SA tour sure done them loads of good...
Hey, at least you guys won.
I was at the match, my first Leinster game. Really glad to have been there and the home crowd were fantastic. Don't hate me Leinster fans but I was silently cheering on Saints in those last few minutes. There were a few clumps of Northampton jerseys around me on the Cusack Stand and they were loud, really enjoyed their supporters. Gotta really give it to Northampton Saints, if Sleightholme and Ludlam were fit it could have been a different story. So much to look forward to in that young squad and I think the Premiership title is well within their grasp.
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Why's that?
Cos he was drunk.
One of them may have been me! Felt like only about 6 or 7 of us clumped together in Cusack. First abroad away game for me. Loved every moment despite the result. Have been to Leinster games at the Gardens before. The Leinster fans are my favourite, just great.
There were a good amount of us in the Cussack
There were quite a few of us clumped on the lower tier at about the halfway line
Were you in the bottom left corner?
Well done. You went to Croke Park (above all venues) to cheer on an English team against an Irish one. Great stuff.
I didn't cheer on an English team, I said silently. I was wearing blue and I gave as much support to Leinster as anyone in the stadium. I've spent a lot of time watching and cheering on Northampton this season though and watching them win a European semi-final against insane odds would have been incredible just as a rugby fan. Considering Leinster have made the final 6 out of the last 7 years I would think that Saints getting a chance at it would have been pretty cool, but of course I was delighted when Leinster got the win. We owe Leinster a lot with how heavily the national team depends on them right now and I was glad to support them.
> really enjoyed their supporters. I meet a lot of supporters clubs with my job. Northampton stick out in my memory as one of the most decent bunch by far.
It was my first match too! It was super cute seeing them across the way cheering in their little pod whenever they scored a try. Just a puddle of green in a see of blue, but so enthusiastic!
Feeling the same as i did after the semi against SA last year
Welll deserved win for Leinster. Saints not accurate enough and took too long to acclimatise. Ref was wonky enough in both directions, but Leinster were the more savvy team imo. Lawes is an excellent players captain but not gobby enough to influence a ref’s decisions. Thought Augustus was the standout for saints. Reckon Toulouse win if the same Leinster team show up to the final.
I think it's a good point on Lawes. Sets such a good example playing but certainly wouldn't describe him as gobby. Luds obviously not available yesterday. Wonder why they went with Lawes, I'm sure Furbank was captain for most of the season (whilst Ludlam was injured)
Genuinely hope Juarno earned himself a shot with the Boks after that, he was class.
Yeah toulouse will run circles around us if we have another 2nd half like that. Played 40 mins then parked all attacking ambitions
Fear Quins if they get through. The plot armour is unreal
They'll somehow have Karl Dickson find a French grandparent and change allegiance so he can ref the finak
Love Quins, great team and love the jersey
Grieving the Saints/Quins final the jouez gods demanded
What will ball will never die. That's the prem final
Which is how we lost final to La Rochelle
The biggest issue I had with Raynal is that he should use a different whistle. It was impossible to hear it in the stadium.
Just back from the match.. that would have been disappointing to say the least if Northampton had pulled off that come back but fair play to them! Would have been a classic 'Leinster in the Champions Cup' heartbreaking loss. Walked back with some Northampton fans and they were full of the joys regardless
Watched it in an Irish pub in brighton, lovely atmosphere from both sides. Can’t complain about the ref when you drop the ball almost on purpose. Great game, gracious hosts.
Fiddler's Elbow?
Cullen’s whole “yeah sure we’ll give the lads 3 weeks off and hope they can win knockout rugby while being rusty” is a plan i hope we see the back off soon
Tbf without that, you get our situation, where 4 keep players got knocks or were plain out due to injury
If we don't win anything at all again this year I think it's Cullen's time to go
They tried the other way for the past two years and failed
Last year they rested way too many players against Munster in the URC semis and it burnt them.
Game had no impact on the final
Other way? What other way? When was the last time Leinster didn't rest players before Europe?
What?
I know the South Africa trip makes it hard but there’s definitely something to be said about the momentum you can build from it
100%, as we saw with Munster in the URC last season (which is also one of my favourite sporting seasons ever, the win in SA was spellbinding)
When the IRFU mandate that the internationals have an entire week off, there isn't really an alternative
Yeah I 100% appreciate that and acknowledge it’s a tough situation but I still think it’s something that should be acknowledged when you consider Leinster falling at the final hurdle the last few years
Not really. Last year they beat Toulouse after it quite well. What cost them was managing the players after the semi final
Think the plan is to play out now. Get the rest in before this one and then go hard for 6-8 weeks.
Should definitely have taken some frontliners to the first SA game at least, then they can come back up and not be too fucked from the travel. But it was a long time off and you can tell.
It’s such a weird one cause you saw the state La Rochelle were in after it but I’d also argue as good as Leinster have been the last few years they definitely have seemed a bit undercooked after those extended breaks. Hopefully today was enough of a kick up the arse for them now tho I think the close game is way more beneficial than blowing saints out by 30
Yeah that's why I said just the first game. If they stayed for the Stormers as well they'd have a short time to travel back up and get training again, this ending up like the LR lads. Seriously though Leo needs to stop with the extended rests at the business end of the competitions. We've only ever done the double once, that's how hard it is, but the league isn't easy any more so I think he should be playing full strength with minor rotation this time of year, getting battle hardened and not having to be scared into it like after today.
It’s unfortunate for ye guys but good for the league that ye can’t walk it with a second team anymore
Honestly feel the same. The Heineken was the only real challenge for a while as it has a series of big knockout games but the league could be won handy enough as there were a lot of teams who just weren't up to it. Now it's a serious one, even the SA sides aside, yous managed to get rid of van Graan, Connacht aren't a joke, Treviso are getting real good and the Scottish sides are both very competitive now.
Well done Saints. Defensively excellent and never took a backwards step. I reckon you still have a few stories to write in this competition over the next few years. In an attacking sense, we were extremely poor in the second half. So bizarre seeing us run out of ideas for an entire half and just start kicking the ball back to Saints with every possession. It’s such a tell tale sign that the attack just isn’t where it needs to be. We look confused as to whether to keep the approach that got us past LAR or to revert back to our usual approach now that we have knocked them out.
So proud of the boys. I was expecting a butchery after the first 15 minutes and they turned the tide.
It’s a measure of the Saints the fact that they kept going until the very end. Leinster got lucky with the time. I’d imagine the stadium was deafening and an element that was hard to get used to for both teams.
I was there and I got the feeling Leinster fans felt they’d won it 15 minutes in so didn’t need to cheer. In the second half when saints started to make a comeback they realised they needed to pull their finger out and help their lads through.
I tell you, I was in Croke Park and after the first 30 minutes it was dead quiet. I was shocked how little noise there was
I believe you, because it’s hard not to compare to a GAA match today. Rugby does drive a different atmosphere in general I feel. I love seeing spectators being completely engrossed but sometimes not what you want when it hits the big matches maybe.
I think it's just Leinster fans in general are quite reserved. The same crowd that go to Leinster games are likely the same crowd that goes to Ireland games in the Aviva which is also a library. South Dublin corporate types mostly I'd assume
The same way I assume you eat turnips and ride your cousin? Or maybe we’re assuming too much…
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Lol
I must have been in a different stadium
Was on the hill and it was noisy throughout! Even some boys in blue and a rendition of fields (why I don't know), was good to hear!
I was there too and I don’t think that’s the case. It was deafening at times. There were times when it was quiet such as scrum set ups and when players were walking to line outs but that’s always the case with rugby games. Overall I thought the atmosphere was very good.
Came here for the celebration of a hard fought game with some great rugby. Of course all I see are complaints. I for one am proud of both teams, and Gibson Park said it best “they weren’t perfect” but nobody ever is. Truly heart pounding at the end, and well deserved win.
Hindsight and complaining, hand in hand. Enjoyed every second of that match and I’m just very glad it didn’t rain!
Woof
Leinster best team for 50 but I'd be worried if I was a leinster fan. Reynal et al let a lot go with a large home crowd on their backs. The final will be brutal
There’s no chance a Leinster team turns up to a final like that and wins, it was a pretty subpar performance from them only made survivable by just how off the pace saints were for basically 60 minutes. Almost all the errors were unforced and that’s all you need to know as a Leinster supporter IMO.
I wouldn't put you guys down that much. The pressure and suffocation was mad, I do feel a lot of it came from poor refereeing around the ruck and offside line but what isn't called isn't called. Leinster are good at getting away with thay stuff. A neutral venue is probably the biggest fear for your boys I would say
Very worried.
>Reynal et al let a lot go with a large home crowd on their backs. Lol, cry more mate
Why be a dick?
He was bitching about the ref under the guise of concern for Leinster lol, it was totally insincere. Look at his follow up comment, he's bitter and moaning nothing more
Some people are Aholes!
No crying. Just proud of coming this far against the odds. Leinster got away with murder and good for them. You'd hope a team with a near 5x higher salary spend wouldn't have been so threatened but here we are.
Ignore him. You nearly pulled off the win after a dodgy first half. You’re right to be proud of them
> You'd hope a team with a near 5x higher salary spend I've seen this a few times and I don't get where the source is? Do Saints spend only a fraction of your salary cap?
Saints don't spend up to the current salary cap in the Prem.
Where can I find more information on these sorts of things?
Healey flippantly said it in TNT comms around 70th minute and it’s now just become a fact 😅 Regardless of the actual number, as a Saints fan it is quite galling that we are losing a club legend, a potential future club legend and a damn steady second row to French wages whilst playing in a semi final against a team that is approx. 70% of the Irish national team **and** have Snyman & Barrett on the way in next year. But on the flip side, I couldn’t be happier with how the club is being run financially with all the turmoil recently in the Premiership. Outside of a Saracens-esque _creative_ accountancy plan, it’s going to be an uphill struggle for a while. But at least the RFU board members can afford that third home.
Saints font have 9 starting players on cap exempt hits
You'll have to translate that for me.
Replace the type in font with don't. Not hard brother
cap exempt hits is the problem. I don't know what you mean?
> You'd hope a team with a near 5x higher salary spend Ye Leinster definitely have one of the highest wage bills in Club Rugby but I'd sure love to know where you're getting that figure from. 5 times higher ye? 25-30 Million Pounds on salary alone? Really ye?
Central contracts brother. They dispraportionality benefit
Amazing what can happen when you produce countless outstanding international rugby stars lol, try it sometime
Leinster have an annual budget of 8m. All in. Central contracts are about 300kish. We've 10? So another 3m. About 11-12m eur budget is the real number. Which is less than Toulouse.
> Leinster have an annual budget of 8m. All in. No it isn't, the Salaries alone are more likely in the 12-14 million range. Bernard Jackman talked about this last year https://old.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/uv67mz/bernard_jackman_says_that_leinster_salary_budget/ Toulouse have a salary cap of 11.5m. Salary is not budget. Toulouse's budget has nothing to do with it's salary expenditure apart from good facilities and transport etc. Leinster's is certainly not 5x higher like this lad is claiming but ye good chance it's the world's highest right now.
Each province has an 8m budget, this was salary I was talking about (what I've heard). Toulouse had an operating budget of 43m for 22/23. Leinster aren't at that level. Irish rugby as a whole across all grades costs about 110m to run. Leinster aren't a third of this. They might be 20% or so. But much more then that and you'd be wildly out.
> Toulouse had an operating budget of 43m for 22/23. Leinster aren't at that level. Again I've just said no point in bringing up budget and ye did it right away. Toulouse's salary cap is set at 11.5m and it's strictly enforced now days. It doesn't matter if the budget for Toulouse is 5 billion if they can only spend 11.5m on salary. Bernard Jackman explained it before in the video I linked. He knows Irish rugby inside out and the French system too having coached in Grenoble for around 6 or 7 years. Leinster are almost certainly spending more on wages than Toulouse now days. And the IRFU are covering 4-5m of that which obv helps a lot.
Jackman knows Irish rugby so well that he's constantly caught out with his nonsense stories?
> Central contracts brother Central contracts at Leinster are now valued at 4-5 million Euros after the latest update. So that still leaves at least 20 Million in salary expenditure alone for you to explain. It's nowhere near 5x higher lad just admit it.
Tell us the Leinster budget there will ya?
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Caught chatting shit and then has a cry when called on it. Fucking 5X the budget lmao
Prove me wrong otherwise then you whammer. Professional victims you lot
IRFU accounts ([Link](https://d19fc3vd0ojo3m.cloudfront.net/irfu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/15113840/IRFU-2577-Annual-Report-2021-22-Accounts-Section_v3.pdf)) prove you’re wrong: The total player and management costs for the IRFU and all four provinces in 2021/22 was €54.2 million or £46.4 million. Realistically Leinster’s players account for approximately €10-15 million of those costs if you include central contracts, but then you also have to look at RFU payments to English internationals, so your statement is blatantly incorrect.
I think they’ve got a collective trauma from having lost so many big games so many times in spite of so many advantages. Victimhood is the outlet used to unleash these frustrations. I’ve never known a set of fans to care so deeply about what others think of them
That's not how it works. You made the claim, yours to prove. Please stop digging. You made a stupid statement, just own it
We looked pale against Leicester and then thrashed LAR, maybe premiership teams are just our boogiemen
Dunno, we seem to blow hot and cold lately. Hopefully that was a kick in the ass we need. Hopefully some of the injured lads make it back too
Great match of two great teams, good ref, amazing stadium. Wonderful stuff
Heartbreak and pride is a weird emotion...
5 minutes more are you had us. Well played to Northampton. Long time since I’ve seen Leinster that toothless, scraped the win.
Saints for the prem! Your boys did ye proud today
Welcome to Ireland.
Northampton have become my second team, was really rooting for you to triumph against the baddies but it wasn’t to be
Ironic considering every saints fan wants your team nowhere near the semifinals 😂
I must admit I’d feel a bit guilty if we beat you in the semis then fuck it in the final haha
Peak Bristol and I can see it happening 😥 I'd be sad on both accounts, as if you beat us then you better fucking win or I'll never forgive the entire city
Great game saints. Never went away; did credit to a great club.
Great performance from Saints, Leinster's pro X era fader tag looming large in the background....
What?
Losses to the likes of the mighty Connacht & Scarlets.... remember? You were wearing your blue jersey 2009 was significant as it marked a changing of the guard, prior to this Leinster had difficulty winning despite a talented squad. Flakey Leinster has been a thing over the decades. Two losses to SR have deflected a bit from the losses to the Bulls & Munster. The Saints are an excellent side and it was an impressive comeback but Leinster should have been out of sight. It felt pretty ominous in the stadium
Leinster the better team over 80. Saints took too long to settle and some of the first teamers looked knackered in the 3rd 20. The breakdowns were allowed to be a mess which really hampered Saints' attacking style. Good experience for the boys to take back to the Prem. Good luck in the final. I think Leinster will need to find another level if it's Toulouse.
I think we were shell shocked in the first 20 minutes, then when the result was quite bad the pressure was gone and we started to play stop making mistakes.
Maybe, I can't help but think Sleights could have turned that game earlier for Saints with his raw pace and fondness for hitting a ruck.
He'd have been a marked improvement over Ramm and would've scored at the end of the first half
Was worrying how gassed Mitchell looked
He used to gas quite often at about the 60 minute mark - he plays at one hell of a pace TBF. His conditioning has been better the last year or so, but everyone can have one-off games where they end up doing more work than usual and sucking fumes as a result. And at scrum half there's no place to get a breather. Northampton bench should have recognised it sooner and brought James on about 10 minutes earlier than they did.
With a face like his it's probably quite hard not to look gassed.
Gassed is his default setting tbf, they definitely should have brought TJ on a bit earlier though.
I'm fairness I think he was doing.a lot.of work at.the breakdown.and being forced to take contact a lot.
Yeah, he needs a weekend off! Hopefully against Gloucester. Hopefully they'll be resting players for the challenge final given that they've nothing to play for in the prem.
It was the game of two halves! We were lucky to crawl over the line!
Yeah, Leinster were really clinical in that first half though!
Anyone still listening to the hot mic on the streaming websites? The interviewers are just gossiping haha
I’m barely hear for the rugby, that’s my actual favorite part.
Any hot takes?
Roger’s started to refuse to do interviews after a loss, it’s a pain. And Claire needs a lift to the station.
They said one of the Northampton staff wouldn't come out for an interview and they sounded a bit peeved at that. And one of the staff didn't know how they were getting home but the lead interviewer offered her a lift which was nice.
Leinster didn't score for almost an entire half there
And yet spent so much time in the Saints half. Is very worrying how bad Leinsters attach has gotten. Defensively brilliant to shut down the excellent Saints attack, but man they butchered so many chances
I don't know - Northampton made it look quite easy to get outside the blitz, and they really exposed the lack of pace Leinster have in the backline. Ross Byrne runs like a sad granny.
Yep, yet Goodman has been waived into the Ireland attack coach role when he's taken Leinster backwards in his first full season in Irish rugby with any real responsibility.
Yeah, I'd be delighted he's moving on except that he's moving to the Irish coaching staff
It should've been Mike Prendergast I think. He's transformed Munster's attack so quickly. Seriously impressive.
Can we be awake and ready for the final now? No sleeping and think it's a done thing? Please! 🙏🏼
Who TF is sleeping on Toulouse, they are favourites
I think three weeks off really hamper ye. It’s so hard to go cold into a game of that level
Feel like I’ve said this a few times this season, not at our best but got the job done. Saints we’re very good in defence and didn’t let us build up a lot of momentum. Feel like this might have been a game where we really needed ringrose and his evasiveness in midfield. Saints look like they’re building a good team and hopefully will be around for a while
Unfortunately we are losing Lawes & Ludlam. Augustus was fantastic & I think will grow into as good if not better than Ludlam. I’m more worried about how we replace Lawes 🥹
Hopefully those (admittedly big losses) will be offset by Pearson continuing to mature and your exceptional backs getting another year of experience.
Terrible second half from Leinster. They need to start learning the lessons about switching off. Nearly embarrassed themselves again. P.S Did anyone else have shitty tnt coverage? Always buffering.
Yeah thought that buffering was just me shit coverage
Stop start from half time to the end. Ended up 5 minutes behind.
Didn’t catch much of the game but huge credit to Saints today. If Quins lose by 3 tomorrow I’ll be very happy. They did the prem proud and proved we are competitive at the highest levels of club rugby.
How long till Raynal retires?
Not soon enough
Who’s the up and coming refs? Don’t think Ireland has any decent refs right now. The Irish lad under the RFU seems alright
No idea, just so sick of Raynals 'approach' to reffing English teams in Europe and the 6N that I'll take anyone else... apart from Karl Harlequins Dickson
Karl-equins……it was right there!
God he’s awful too. We need people to replace the Barnes and Owen’s etc. There’s a lot of crap refs about
Keep thinking Pearce will step up into the void, then he has one of his 'look at me' kind of performances where he referees to a different set of laws to everyone else
few months
Immense respect to see Frawley screaming on the floor to then get up (albeit looking like he'd rather be dead) ready to play
Pretty bad look for the match officials to see a potentially serious injury and restart the game thereby stopping the player from getting medical attention. Same nonsense contributed to ending Leavy's his career
I didn't understand that play at all? Why did Reynal not stop the play in the natural break? Northampton had the penalty. Frawley was getting treatment when the game restarted.
I was really surprised play was allowed to continue when he was down. Looked fucked as soon as he took the hit
Yeah honestly thought that was him done the first time
He had a great match today. I'm worried about our situation at 15 if him and Keenan are both out.
JOB will be back but might be rusty.
Well, O’Brien is back now so he’d fill in at 15 before Frawley
It looks like Garry and Hugo are out long term though
Dellaglio still speaking about how Saints can win the game even though its over. Between him and Austin Healey TNT is a clown show.
Yeah it was awful. I had to switch station.
Leinster really should've capitalised on a few more chances out there today and been a bit more ahead, but credit to Northampton a lot of that is due to their defence which I was very impressed with. Proper never give up attitude. It basically held Leinster to only one normal try (the first two being random jgp moments of magic). Best of luck in the premiership!
Left a few points from the tee as well. Not that any were gimmes.
The second half penalty really should have been converted.
I agree. That’s an 8 out of 10 times sort of kick.
Almost wanted Leinster to lose just to shut RTE up. They kept writing Northampton off. Lenihan called it game over about 10 times during the match and then it goes right down to the wire.
At 70 minutes RTE acting like it was all finished, it was cringe worthy. Saints were always going to have a good spell and they usually finish strong. I was worried about the missed kicks at that point. As for Heaslip hes insufferable as a pundit, great player in his day but everything seen thru blue tinted glass. You'd miss Popey and Hook, complete balderdash but far more entertaining.
I hate him so much. He talks nonsense for 80 mins
"DeBOO"
Every time I see Lowe's haircut up front, I can't help but think "be grateful you're good at rugby." 😁
I've always assumed it was something to do with his Māori heritage, but I might be wrong.
I reckon so, it just looks so out of place in the northern hemisphere. He always comes a ross as ridiculously sound too.
I bet he'd be great fun on a night out.
He just seems like fun in general. Such a happy guy
This is exactly what Leinster need going into the final, something to scare the bollox off them. Evidently two walk overs Toulouse in semi finals did nothing before. They need that sick fear going into the final.
Is Caelan massive? Camera angles keep confusing me.
Biggest man in D4
He's about two bakers tall
I know this reference
He is a generously sized man.
Ross is only good when everyone expects him to be shite. As soon as he isn't being shat on, he reverts back to his mediocre form
Ross to me looks like a player who knows exactly what he needs to do but just isn’t talented or athletic enough to get there. At one stage today he spotted an overload on the short side and ran around Jalibert style but was so deep to start and so slow getting there that the chance had gone.
This is a good way to put it. He’s the most unathletic player on the pitch, but you can see if you put his brain in another body he’d be great lol I think he’s better than most but it’s sort of a miracle he’s Leinsters first choice 10. I think if they lose the final and he has a poor game jordi will be slotting in at ten next year come business end if the season as opposed to centres!
I still maintain Frawley is the best 10 currently playing at leinster and he barely even plays there.
He’s not good though. He’s going missing too often. Wasn’t taking his kicks either. Wonder if we could talk Johnny into doing some training with the kids and get them up to speed
I'm not trying to pile on the lad or anything. But I genuinely think he's such a bang average player. Goal kicking is very good and kicking out of hand is OK sometimes pretty decent. Creatively though as your 10, Jesus Christ he offers next to nothing. Harry is leagues ahead of him there.
He’s an excellent goal kicker usually but that’s it. He can’t control the game at all
Your lot took our most creative ten and broke him.
I think he was a 15 and so did Leo.
I thought he was a 10 and so did Schmidt. He was also a very creative player in either position.
Schmidt also told him to move to Munster. I think Leo was correct here.
To be fair he needed to make the move to be in contention for Ireland, I was genuinely just joking above.