Bulls Coach Plays Down Connacht’s Rugby Standing

This won’t be a typical article for a few reasons. Firstly, I’m talking about Connacht, secondly I’m not really reporting what happened in a game but rather before and after. I’m also talking about some disrespect in the rugby community that I think is quite misguided.

I don’t have rose-tinted glasses when it comes to the rugby community; it has a long way to go. However, I don’t know about you but I expect players and coaches to lead the way with respect and integrity as they are, after all, the authority figures, the figures of interest. Not in this case, however. The Bulls Director of Rugby, Jake White, said this about Connacht:

“A lot of Leinster players who come down from Leinster, obviously the guys that didn't get contracts there come down here.”

“It’s very similar to a couple of franchises we have in South Africa. When they don’t get contracted by the big unions they go down to the small provinces and then obviously find a way in which they can get noticed by the bigger provinces."

I’m not going to rant all day but I think there are a few things worth saying about these comments. Firstly, although I know that the four teams in Ireland are named after locations on this wee island, but they are not international teams! You don’t have to qualify by living in Dublin for three years to play for Leinster nor do you have to enjoy three years in sunny Belfast before you can run out at Kingspan. So personally, I think the idea that “Leinster players” go to play for Connacht is silly. Players in Ireland have always swapped between teams for more time on the pitch, for better facilities, for a long list of reasons. That’s because the four provinces offer so much for the players to keep things competitive. As Andy Friend, Connacht head coach, concisely said:

"Yes, we have Leinster players, as does every team in the country. If you check out Ulster, Munster, they've got Leinster players too because that's where the bulk of the population is in Ireland, it's in Dublin, so you can only fit a certain amount of players into their squad."

Any one team can only have 15 players on the pitch and 8 in reserve. So of course players are competing for those 60 starting positions in Ireland and with such a large population in Dublin not every fantastic player is going to get on that pitch for Leinster. For Jake White to look down his nose at a team as a stopgap in rugby rather than an historic and proud province in Ireland, and then get beat by that team, hopefully makes him stop and think next time.