Leinster vs Ulster, RDS, 27/11/21, 8pm

[mildlyinterested]

Mike A on the bench for Samoa

[Flash Gordon]

Mike A on the bench for Samoa

That's a bit much. Benching in a friendly knock about vs playing in a crucial league derby seems an odd one.

[neill_m]

Samoa v Barbarians part of the 4 week International Window so if his country wants him, fair enough. The home countries don't tend to play on this weekend. The out of test window test match has become a thing with them.

[the spoofer]

Mike A on the bench for Samoa

That's a bit much. Benching in a friendly knock about vs playing in a crucial league derby seems an odd one.

Really? He's getting to play for his country. Best of luck to him.

[Barry]

Mike A on the bench for Samoa

That's a bit much. Benching in a friendly knock about vs playing in a crucial league derby seems an odd one.

Vermeulen is playing for the Barbarians so both teams impacted.

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

[mildlyinterested]

big game for Vakh, 1st start for Leinster presumably with Clarkson off the bench.

[the spoofer]

big game for Vakh, 1st start for Leinster presumably with Clarkson off the bench.

Could be a Cian Healy sized hole at 3?

[mildlyinterested]

big game for Vakh, 1st start for Leinster presumably with Clarkson off the bench.

Could be a Cian Healy sized hole at 3?

Healys off this week afaik

[curates_egg]

Mike A on the bench for Samoa

That's a bit much. Benching in a friendly knock about vs playing in a crucial league derby seems an odd one.

Really? He's getting to play for his country. Best of luck to him.

Isn't covering for the absence of the three frontline Leinster props able to play tighthead not the reason he was signed?

Against that background, benching for Samoa in an utterly meaningless match against a weak BaaBaas side on a weekend when we have an interpro, with none of the aforementioned props available, seems indeed a bit much.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

How can this Samoan guy have the temerity to want to play one game for Samoa? How dare he!

[mildlyinterested]

That's a bit much. Benching in a friendly knock about vs playing in a crucial league derby seems an odd one.

Really? He's getting to play for his country. Best of luck to him.

Isn't covering for the absence of the three frontline Leinster props able to play tighthead not the reason he was signed?

Against that background, benching for Samoa in an utterly meaningless match against a weak BaaBaas side on a weekend when we have an interpro, with none of the aforementioned props available, seems indeed a bit much.

the reason he was signed was to play tighthead off the bench in europe.

Leinster should be able to deal with him being absent for a week.

[Flash Gordon]

That's a bit much. Benching in a friendly knock about vs playing in a crucial league derby seems an odd one.

Really? He's getting to play for his country. Best of luck to him.

Isn't covering for the absence of the three frontline Leinster props able to play tighthead not the reason he was signed?

Against that background, benching for Samoa in an utterly meaningless match against a weak BaaBaas side on a weekend when we have an interpro, with none of the aforementioned props available, seems indeed a bit much.

That was my point. Absolutely no issue if it was a full test unless it was inserted into his contract when he was signed like Vermeulen. AS you say, he's was signed as cover for the internationals, our internationals have been absolutely flogged in the Autumn internationals and need a break - and this is a huge derby league match for us.

[curates_egg]

How can this Samoan guy have the temerity to want to play one game for Samoa? How dare he!

I'd have no problem with him playing a test match in an international window, I doubt anyone would, so you can stand your straw man down.

I think, given the context surrounding this, both the nature of the match he is playing in and the squad situation he is leaving behind, it is fair enough for eyebrows to be raised. Mine are.

It's possibly not as bad as Vermeulen lining out with the BaaBaas though, I'll grant you that.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

How can this Samoan guy have the temerity to want to play one game for Samoa? How dare he!

I'd have no problem with him playing a test match in an international window, I doubt anyone would, so you can stand your straw man down.

I think, given the context surrounding this, both the nature of the match he is playing in and the squad situation he is leaving behind, it is fair enough for eyebrows to be raised. Mine are.

It's possibly not as bad as Vermeulen lining out with the BaaBaas though, I'll grant you that.

No I have it right, it’s treating Samoa and our Samoan player extremely disrespectfully to have any issue with this.

If his country comes calling and he wants to play with them then there shouldn’t really be an issue. And certainly the issue shouldn’t be with him, it should be with the game being organised for now.

[Flash Gordon]

How can this Samoan guy have the temerity to want to play one game for Samoa? How dare he!

I'd have no problem with him playing a test match in an international window, I doubt anyone would, so you can stand your straw man down.

I think, given the context surrounding this, both the nature of the match he is playing in and the squad situation he is leaving behind, it is fair enough for eyebrows to be raised. Mine are.

It's possibly not as bad as Vermeulen lining out with the BaaBaas though, I'll grant you that.

Vermeulen had that built into his contract when it was negotiated so Ulster were aware of it. Maybe Mike did too but it's an odd one given the circumstances.

[wixfjord]

I think it's fair enough to raise eyebrows too.

For him to play for (and maybe captain) Samoa in an Autumn International when there are no URC games on is clearly a good thing (assuming it's not written into his contract that he can't).

For him to bench for Samoa against the BaaBaas in an out of window test when we're playing a top of table clash that he'd be starting in is clearly eyebrow raising as CE has said.

Similar scenarios have caused rows in both France and England iirc.

Now obviously Leinster have either given the ok to him or can't do anything about it.

But it does leave us in the lurch at TH a bit.

He was signed to replace Bent and act as support for Tadhg as Porter was moved across. So basically he was signed to start games like this!

[ronk]

He was signed for a big picture. He's doing it. It's a game we want him for but only so we can rest 3 internationals.

He's their captain, we knew what we were getting and we made the call anyway. We got Hines because of international release. 1 game is light and we actually needed to give gametime to other players.

No big deal, we're just a bit spoiled because we haven't missed NIQs with internationals for a while.

[wixfjord]

He was signed for a big picture. He's doing it. It's a game we want him for but only so we can rest 3 internationals.

He's their captain, we knew what we were getting and we made the call anyway. We got Hines because of international release. 1 game is light and we actually needed to give gametime to other players.

No big deal, we're just a bit spoiled because we haven't missed NIQs with internationals for a while.

Look at it whatever way you want, but it's the exact type of game we need an NIQ like him for, so yes, it is clearly surprising that he's benching for Samoa against the Barbarians!

[LeRouxIsPHat]

This might be coloured by my interest in the URC but it seems like there’s never been a better time to have a four week international window considering the break in the URC and the European games not starting until December. Particularly when you factor in that the international game is the cash cow and unions are desperate for money, which I’d imagine is a big part of the reason the Samoa game is happening. I know some people will kick up a fuss and I don’t want players being flogged but it does seem a simple enough solution right now.

[curates_egg]

How can this Samoan guy have the temerity to want to play one game for Samoa? How dare he!

I'd have no problem with him playing a test match in an international window, I doubt anyone would, so you can stand your straw man down.

I think, given the context surrounding this, both the nature of the match he is playing in and the squad situation he is leaving behind, it is fair enough for eyebrows to be raised. Mine are.

It's possibly not as bad as Vermeulen lining out with the BaaBaas though, I'll grant you that.

No I have it right, it’s treating Samoa and our Samoan player extremely disrespectfully to have any issue with this.

If his country comes calling and he wants to play with them then there shouldn’t really be an issue. And certainly the issue shouldn’t be with him, it should be with the game being organised for now.

Another straw man. It doesn't matter what country he is from: it's not a test match. It's fluff. It's a half-assed BaaBaas team.
I am very happy if the match gets Samoa some badly-needed finance. I'd have no problem with him sitting on the bench if it were held within the test window.

You are deliberately twisting the legitimate points that people have raised and are now veering towards Godwin's law with your straw men.