Exodus
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Would have been funny to see what would have happened if the NZRU relaxed the selection rules and picked Aki in his fourth year of Irish qualification. If Aki accepted selection Connacht would be duty bound to release him (like us with Shields and Francis)... then what?
I wonder if his contract stated he had to maintain non-capped status?
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@rotated said in Exodus 2019:
@Derm-McCrum said in Exodus 2019:
@rotated said in Exodus 2019:
@MajorRage said in Exodus 2019:
@Derm-McCrum You can summarise the poach question as would the player have been bought if they couldn't qualify for Ireland in the future?
You don't even need to ask the question. The designated "project player" is just a "proactively poached player". This is fine and was allowed under the rules at the time, but let's be honest about it.
So any uncapped player who is approached or via agent and chooses to move to another club/country to play is a poach then.
If you are selecting them purely on the basis of if they can be qualified for Ireland at some point in the future (but are not currently) - yes. The slot was created entirely to incentivise the teams to recruit the best foreign players they could that hadn't been nation-tied. This is the literal dictionary definition of poaching - taking or acquiring something in an unfair or clandestine way - with the IRFU qualifying players for national rugby indirectly through the club system.
There is perhaps and argument that guys like JGP who at least had links to Ireland aren't poaches and found their way there "naturally". But if you are thinking a bank teller from South Auckland with Tongan roots ends up playing for Ireland normally then I don't really know what to say...
Even think about the term "project player", what is the "project"?
Yes of course, the term project player is used to describe a player who could eventually qualify to be selected for Ireland - or Scotland, Wales, England, NZ, SA, etc, etc.on the basis that a) they are good enough and b) they want to.
A player is either capped or uncapped to state the obvious. It's neither unfair nor clandestine. Nor is hiring them for a period of time to avail of their skill or experience. They're not being selected purely or only on the basis of if they can qualify at some point in future. Players are selected on a number of criteria if the club is Leinster, Munster and Ulster:
a) Are they needed or could the position be filled domestically now?
b) Are they capped - in which case not likely to be called up for test duty
c) What age are they and what experience?
d) How expensive are they - capped is more expensive than uncapped?
e) What position do they play - only 1 per position allowed?
f) Can the team afford to pay the salary?
g) What length contract are you offering/playing is looking for?If you're Pat Lam in Connacht in 2013/14 starting your first season of a club that has been living in the cellar of the PRO12 since it started, then you're faced with some basic realities:
- I don't have to follow the recruitment guidelines of the other 3 provinces
- I do have to boost the playing stocks and get more skill and experience in - but
- I only have half the playing budget of the other three provinces.
- I've just lost two of the stalwarts of the team and need to bring in more leadership
- I need to find the cheapest skill value that I can. Experienced Irish players are reluctant to move to Connacht unless they're raw recruits.
- I've already blown a big part of the budget on a big name - Muliana - so cheaper uncapped players is the best way to go.
- I need an experienced hooker, backrower, midfielder and wing/utility back.
- I know some players from my time in Blues, XX - Jake Heenan, Craig Clarke, Tom McCartney, Bundee Aki, etc - I'll go after them over next couple of seasons.
I completely agree with you that some of the NZ players here had Ireland links already - like McCartney's wife, Bent's sister and brother, McCoy's grandparents, etc and that Aki is an odd man out in that regard, but so are/were Marshall, Bleyendaal, Heenan, Borlase, etc, .
All of the players were aware that they could qualify for selection by residency - it's not a secret - if they got a second contract as a three season contract would not be enough. There were no guarantees - contractually or financially. If you're playing in Connacht, you're going to be earning less than the other three provinces, and a lot less than playing in England or France. ( As a by-the-by , oddly enough, very few of the NZ/Aus seem to be aware of the non-EU foreign player rule restrictions even though it limits their playing time and match fee earnings).
I admire Aki greatly. Despite no country or cultural links, he has endeared himself to his team-mates, his community and to Irish fans generally with his vibrancy, his willingness to get involved, integration with local culture and humbleness are a massive credit to the man.
This video from the Connacht plane returning home after winning the PRO12 title speaks volume for the guy -
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@rotated said in Exodus 2019:
Would have been funny to see what would have happened if the NZRU relaxed the selection rules and picked Aki in his fourth year of Irish qualification. If Aki accepted selection Connacht would be duty bound to release him (like us with Shields and Francis)... then what?
I wonder if his contract stated he had to maintain non-capped status?
No it can't state that. I remember that question came up somewhere else. Aki's first three-season contract was five months short of him having three year residency. All players have to get a second contract that takes them beyond three-year (now five) in order to residency qualify. With five-year, the project player has largely disappeared thought few uncapped foreign players remain in the system - Gibson-Park (June 2019), McCartney (already qualified), Marshall, (Nov 2019), Kleyn, (Aug 2019), Cloete (June 2020), Lowe (Dec 2020)
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@MajorRage said in Exodus 2019:
@Derm-McCrum said in Exodus 2019:
@MajorRage said in Exodus 2019:
@Derm-McCrum You can summarise the poach question as would the player have been bought if they couldn't qualify for Ireland in the future?
Yes. They were allowed 4 NIE players. In Connacht, they didn’t have any restrictions so it didn’t matter if they were NIE or NIQ.
What's the difference between NIE and NIQ? What do those acronyms actually stand for?
Sorry, I'm not having a pop or anything, I'm just curious if Bleyendaal was a "tactical" choice for potential Ireland selection (like Payne, Aki), or really there to bolster the ranks of the club only (Fardy).
Sorry - should have explained. Non-Irish Eligible (already capped) and Non-Irish Qualified (uncapped).
From the IRFU Player Succession Contract Policy issued in 2011:
*"The following principles are designed to deliver at least two suitably experienced Irish players in all 15 field positions for national team selection:- One non-Irish eligible (NIE) player only in each of the 15 field positions across the provinces of Leinster, Munster and Ulster e.g. one foreign player allowed across all three teams per position.*
- For the 2013/14 season and onwards, for any given position involving a contracted NIE player, a province will not be permitted to renew that NIE player contract or bring in a new NIE player into that same position in its squad.
- All future provincial injury replacement players must be eligible for selection for Ireland.
- All future provincial non-Irish eligible player contracts will be position specific.
- The Connacht professional side is external to this process as it has recently commenced a new programme of structural and performance development agreed with the IRFU."*
On Bleyendaal, Munster needed a 10, but the 10 NIE slot was already taken by Gopperth I think, so Munster nominated him as a 12 (who could play 10).
Munster sign Tyler Bleyendaal from Crusaders
The 23 year old outhalf cum centre will join up with the Irish province on November 1st
Munster had their project player nominee already - Gerhard van den Heever who didn't work out and went to Japan.
Good interview published today with Bleyendaal here:
Bleyendaal determined to make pitch for role in Edinburgh showdown
Tyler Bleyendaal is looking to the Six Nations window as the opportunity to chalk up some game-time with Munster and get his career back on track with the ...
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Dane Coles has signed for..............
THE HURRICANES and NZR
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Auckland tighthead prop Marco Fepulea’i has signed with the Glendale Raptors for the 2019 American Major League Rugby season.
Season ends in time for Mitre 10 Cup.
Glendale sign Auckland prop Marco Fepulea’i - Americas Rugby News
The Glendale Raptors have boosted their front row stocks with the signing of Marco Fepulea’i from New Zealand provincial champions Auckland. The tighthead prop played 10 matches during the Mitre 10 Cup campaign, including suiting up as a replacement in the Premiership Final win over Canterbury....
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@sparky said in Exodus 2019:
Dane Coles has signed for..............
THE HURRICANES and NZR
An indicator to potential 'promises' of captaincy?
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@Crucial said in Exodus 2019:
@sparky said in Exodus 2019:
Dane Coles has signed for..............
THE HURRICANES and NZR
An indicator to potential 'promises' of captaincy?
I think the days of a front row captain are over given the 8 man bench.
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@TeWaio said in Exodus 2019:
@Crucial said in Exodus 2019:
@sparky said in Exodus 2019:
Dane Coles has signed for..............
THE HURRICANES and NZR
An indicator to potential 'promises' of captaincy?
I think the days of a front row captain are over given the 8 man bench.
As much as I don't agree with the approach Oz and England took with Moore and Hartley it is hardly a non starter. Captaincies are being shared more and more as leadership is spread through the team. Co-captains are becoming almost more the norm than a single one.
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@Crucial The only time I've ever seen Co-Captain, co=leaders etc working is for the Chiefs when they had Craig Clarke (on field) and Messam (club). And for the most part, that only worked as I think they had a clear pecking order.
At no other point, work, sport anything, have I ever seen two-heads work.
It's a woeful idea IMO.
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@MajorRage said in Exodus 2019:
@Crucial The only time I've ever seen Co-Captain, co=leaders etc working is for the Chiefs when they had Craig Clarke (on field) and Messam (club). And for the most part, that only worked as I think they had a clear pecking order.
At no other point, work, sport anything, have I ever seen two-heads work.
It's a woeful idea IMO.
Done properly (and the Chiefs have done with a few combos) there is a clear pecking order but the second wheel is better placed with the ref to continue if/when the first wheel leaves the field. They already have status with the ref and have interacted with him during the game.
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@MajorRage Haven't the Highlanders used two captains for several years?
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Players are going to the strangest places. Bas Visinia is now playing in Hong Kong for Hong Kong FC Rugby in their domestic Premiership competition. Former Magpie Tom Stanley is playing for the same club. Visinia made his debut last weekend and scored two tries.
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@Stargazer said in Exodus 2019:
Players are going to the strangest places. Bas Visinia is now playing in Hong Kong for Hong Kong FC Rugby in their domestic Premiership competition. Former Magpie Tom Stanley is playing for the same club. Visinia made his debut last weekend and scored two tries.
Tom Stanley didn't go there for rugby. He now works for a US bank who shipped him out there.
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@MajorRage He plays for them, nevertheless.
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@MajorRage said in Exodus 2019:
At no other point, work, sport anything, have I ever seen two-heads work.
Yeah it is almost always a recipie for disaster. Massively clutching at straws, but because I have a passing interest in it only two NHL teams have won the Stanley Cup without a captain, both were early 70's Boston Bruin teams (and while there wasn't an official captain having one of the top 5 players of all time essentially gives you a de facto captain). Currently 6/31 teams don't have one - which is about the norm historically, generally if there is a vacuum they will leave it vacant until an obvious choice surfaces.
