Rumour Mill

[Oldschool]

Medical research info on concussion.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-07- ... overy.html

[Dave Cahill]

In what seems like a highly speculative piece, Midol say that LOU are after Johnny Sexton. He's centrally contracted til 2021 but they think he could be bought out of his contract over the summer if Farrell decides to go with younger outhalves for Ireland.

[cormac]

In what seems like a highly speculative piece, Midol say that LOU are after Johnny Sexton. He's centrally contracted til 2021 but they think he could be bought out of his contract over the summer if Farrell decides to go with younger outhalves for Ireland.

That just makes so little sense from both sides of the deal.

[Oldschool]

In what seems like a highly speculative piece, Midol say that LOU are after Johnny Sexton. He's centrally contracted til 2021 but they think he could be bought out of his contract over the summer if Farrell decides to go with younger outhalves for Ireland.

More money than sense!

[curates_egg]

There could be various motivations for such kite flying.
I can't see any scenario where Sexton would want to move his family to eastern France for one year though.

[alanair]

Whereas Im sure is true- is a complete non-story
Sexton wont go anywhere at this stage- he had his stint in France - and Im quite sure is happy with his ( €750K PA till the end of next season) lot here...

[Serb]

Isn’t there also the tax rebate for finishing your career in Ireland? Can’t imagine Sexton moving on at this point regardless. He’ll finish at Leinster.

[neiliog93]

Isn’t there also the tax rebate for finishing your career in Ireland? Can’t imagine Sexton moving on at this point regardless. He’ll finish at Leinster.

You get the rebate from the ten highest-earning years of your career spent in Ireland if you finish anywhere in the EU.

[paddyor]

Isn’t there also the tax rebate for finishing your career in Ireland? Can’t imagine Sexton moving on at this point regardless. He’ll finish at Leinster.

You get the rebate from the ten highest-earning years of your career spent in Ireland if you finish anywhere in the EU.

10 best years in the previous 14 years before retirement. So in his case whatever he earned between 21 and 35 minus the 2 years in France. Earning 250k pa you get about 40k back on retirement. It's not actually worth a whole lot for a mid range player who could earn an extra 50k pa playing in France and any agent worth their salt will tell you to take the 25k now rather than 40k in 10 years time. It didn't seem to figure in the thinking of Cooney, Nordi or McGrath when they moved north. The benefit to the IRFU all but evaporated when the EU made us change the rules on where they could retire.

[Ruckedtobits]

Word has it that the FAI disaster came about three months too late for the IRFU. Apparently that's when the IRFU spent approximately €28.5m of their windfall from the disposal of lands at Newlands Cross on buying the Office block which the IRFU occupy on Lansdowne Road.

This money was originally ear-marked to support the 'grass-roots' of rugby according to CEO Philip Browne. However, rugby grass-roots will now get annual extra support of about €600-800k p.a. which will be the annual rent saved following the purchase of the Office Block.

What would they have done if the money had been available to purchase the residual share of AVIVA stadium, at a knock-down price? Who knows, but maybe somebody should ask Tom Grace, the money master in Lansdowne Road.

[ronk]

Would we want total ownership this early? Taking the FAIs share would increase the marginal cost of extra events by them so they might run less of them.

If the IRFU were going to significantly extend their usage it might make sense.

How hard will the FAI market 10 year tickets etc if they aren't making the profit.

[Ruckedtobits]

Would we want total ownership this early? Taking the FAIs share would increase the marginal cost of extra events by them so they might run less of them.

If the IRFU were going to significantly extend their usage it might make sense.

How hard will the FAI market 10 year tickets etc if they aren't making the profit.

Non-owner usage e.g. Leinster, comes at €400k per game for a 'clean' stadium. You would think that a 25-year lease to FAI for about €2m p.a. would represent a decent return on investment for the IRFU. Current, and foreseeable, interest rates on money on deposit are well below 0.5%.

As mentioned previously, only T Grace could give a real assessment of IRFU perspective.

[MadiganSquareGarden]

As a fan of Irish sport, I find the tone of this fairly nauseating. The current situation with the FAI and the threat to the future of Irish soccer is nothing any of us should be taking any glee from. Jobs are at stake and the future of one of Ireland’s four main field games is under huge threat. Irish rugby has been fortunate enough to have had generally honest and competent administrators in the almost quarter century since going professional. With one or two bad apples in the IRFU the boot could very easily now be on the other foot. I’d like to think the Irish rugby community as a whole would be high-minded enough to look at the desperate situation surrounding governance of Irish soccer with the graciousness it would hope for in return.

[ronk]

Who's taken any glee? I think you are misreading the tone.

[Oldschool]

€55m.
Why should I (as a taxpayer) contribute one cent to bailing out the FAI.
Make the business case.
Too often bad behaviour is encouraged by bailouts.
Until people are brought to book and serve jail time or have to cough up their ill gotten gains then non.
Before you all start to feel compassion etc.
Think back who was brought to book for the 2008 crash that nobody saw coming, my b*%&!cks.
This FAI thing has been going on for a long time and nobody said stop.
Then what about the long term approach.
Regardless of an organisation's status, officers should not be allowed to hold office for a maximum number of years, 8 maybe. Trump haters at least have the comfort of knowing that he'll be gone in five years time at worst whereas Boris no limit.
This should apply to the Taoiseach's position also.
Yeah, I know, this should be in the rant thread

[olaf the fat]

As a fan of Irish sport, I find the tone of this fairly nauseating. The current situation with the FAI and the threat to the future of Irish soccer is nothing any of us should be taking any glee from. Jobs are at stake and the future of one of Ireland’s four main field games is under huge threat. Irish rugby has been fortunate enough to have had generally honest and competent administrators in the almost quarter century since going professional. With one or two bad apples in the IRFU the boot could very easily now be on the other foot. I’d like to think the Irish rugby community as a whole would be high-minded enough to look at the desperate situation surrounding governance of Irish soccer with the graciousness it would hope for in return.

I see it a little bit differently, this is the greatest opportunity soccer in Ireland will have. Its really not about safe jobs, but first and foremost kids and adults playing a sport and being afforded all the supports to develop. Let the current administrators and failed structures be wiped out, hopefully a new body and a new structures for the sport be put in place to step into the space. One that is for the players not the administrators. Bailing the same regime out to "save soccer" will have the opposite effect.

Development officers can be employed again in any new structure. Remember we are talking about an organisation that happily gave their CEO a half Million handshake, knowing that they would have to go to the government a few weeks later looking for a bail out of 18M.

[fourthirtythree]

They can get rid of the embarrassingly inaccurate name of the national team for a start "Republic of Ireland". The name of the country is Ireland.

Burn the FAI with fire. The original FAI were more organised and competent than them. And less corrupt.

[Dave Cahill]

They can get rid of the embarrassingly inaccurate name of the national team for a start "Republic of Ireland". The name of the country is Ireland.

No choice in the matter there - FIFA edict to stop the FAI and the IFA acting the dick

[Dave Cahill]

As a fan of Irish sport, I find the tone of this fairly nauseating. The current situation with the FAI and the threat to the future of Irish soccer is nothing any of us should be taking any glee from. Jobs are at stake and the future of one of Ireland’s four main field games is under huge threat. Irish rugby has been fortunate enough to have had generally honest and competent administrators in the almost quarter century since going professional. With one or two bad apples in the IRFU the boot could very easily now be on the other foot. I’d like to think the Irish rugby community as a whole would be high-minded enough to look at the desperate situation surrounding governance of Irish soccer with the graciousness it would hope for in return.

I see it a little bit differently, this is the greatest opportunity soccer in Ireland will have. Its really not about safe jobs, but first and foremost kids and adults playing a sport and being afforded all the supports to develop. Let the current administrators and failed structures be wiped out, hopefully a new body and a new structures for the sport be put in place to step into the space. One that is for the players not the administrators. Bailing the same regime out to "save soccer" will have the opposite effect.

Development officers can be employed again in any new structure. Remember we are talking about an organisation that happily gave their CEO a half Million handshake, knowing that they would have to go to the government a few weeks later looking for a bail out of 18M.

The FAI will have to be bailed out in some form - that much is clear. What form that bailout takes is the crux of the matter. If the FAI goes into liquidation, then organised football in Ireland ends until a new NGB organisation is admitted to UEFA/FIFA - which would have consequences for the IRFU as well, no organised football means losing the revenue that international football generates for the Aviva Stadium

[fourthirtythree]

They can get rid of the embarrassingly inaccurate name of the national team for a start "Republic of Ireland". The name of the country is Ireland.

No choice in the matter there - FIFA edict to stop the FAI and the IFA acting the dick

It was in a different time when Ireland maintained a territorial claim over Northern Ireland in the constitution. While FIFA are an incredibly corrupt organisation they are capable of moving with the times and changing the names of countries and their teams when those countries and teams do.