One off it's okay. But if all the provinces had a feeding frenzy the Leinster academy would be in trouble.hugonaut wrote: ↑July 30th, 2021, 4:02 pm100%. I have no problem with that happening, I think it's sort of good in this case. DC wasn't wrong about a congested pathway for Illo at Leinster.LeinsterLeader wrote: ↑July 30th, 2021, 3:04 pmWell I don't think Leinster were ever gonna match that deal, so that's that I suppose.mildlyinterested wrote: ↑July 30th, 2021, 2:10 pm Sam Illo joining Connachts senior squad and skipping academy.
Connacht have shown that they want Illo more than Leinster wanted him, and have taken a punt on him. When you put somebody on senior deal, you're paying them to play, not to develop. There's no doubt in my mind that he will have some tough days, as he is still going to be at the same level physically and tactically as he would have been as a Year 1 Academy player at Leinster. But it will be an interesting case study to see how much difference a significant block of gametime makes to development at a young age.
And if they don't play him, then they've simply overreached for him. That's Connacht's business.
It has worked out well for Sam, who has gone from not even being in an academy to a pro deal – so €0 p.a. to €24-40k p.a. depending on whether he has signed a development contract for his first year or a basic senior contract. Good work from him and his agent.
And this is 3 tightheads in 2 years.