QuoteCould he not just be on holidays?Originally Posted by finlma
I heard Brian O'Driscoll was spotted in the south of France and is set to join Biarritz after recovering from his shoulder injury. Can't say I blame him - Leinster are the biggest under-achievers.
Could he not just be on holidays?
If you attack me with stupidity, I'll be forced to defend myself with sarcasm.
does anyone else think he should stay with leinster ?
A mate told me that there is an article in todays Times about it - haven't seen it myself.
He's always made it pretty clear that he's going to go to France once the Leinster contract expires, purely for financial reasons. I'd imagine he's agreed a pre-contract with Biarritz (why else would the club president introduce him to the crowd before a game??).
What will be interesting is Eddie O'Sullivans reaction and whether or not he will condemn O''Driscoll as he did all the others who departed. He did warn Shane Byrne that his international place is in severe jeapordy as a result of moving abroad.
Infairness it should be - it's money above health and fitness. For example, Woods - you'd have to wonder if he could've stretched his career by several years if he'd stayed with Munster rather than the week in week out intensity of the Premiership. I can understand the likes of Byrne wanting a big pay day before retiring, but lads like BOD and O'Driscoll have been well looked after both pay wise and burn out wise their entire career...
If you attack me with stupidity, I'll be forced to defend myself with sarcasm.
Aren't BOD and O'Driscoll the same person?
From a purely financial perspective I think O'Driscoll is wrong to move at this stage. He won't be able to do as many PR appearances over here and he'll play more games causing more damage to his body and shortening his career.
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Meant O'Gara....
If you attack me with stupidity, I'll be forced to defend myself with sarcasm.
French rugby is a bottomless pit....O'Driscoll will command the highest of high salaries, and that alone will top €1m a season. I think its a great move from the financial perspective, but agree with you about the damage and shortening his career..
Joesoap, don't get me wrong the money there is great but he will limit his total career earning power if he goes this early. Financially the ideal time would be around the World Cup as he could still capitalise on domestic PR to the full extent.
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Agreed...I wonder if it is all spin however, to secure a mega deal for him to stsy at home?...........or am I just a cynic??
O'Driscoll moving abroad would be great for ther IRFU as they can't afford the money they already paying him. With basically only 3 domestic teams to choose the international team from O'Driscolls place at Lenister will stop any hope young centre has of progressing.
I think you'll find that they can afford to keep him here, and should break the bank trying to if necessary.
Its not Leinsters fault O'Driscoll is so good, and because he is, thats certainly no reason to let him go. If an upcoming player is good enough to make his mark at Leinster or Ireland, then he will have to depose the likes of O'Driscoll and prove his worth, surely not have them move aside for him to get his chance. The Celtic League is offering these guys the chance and they are getting it, Gary Brown, Ronan Kearney, etc at Leinster. In the past the likes of David Quinlan were much hyped and given the chance, but failed to cut the mustard, so he's gone off to Northampton.
He (Quinlan) is a fine player, but certainly no O'Driscoll, D'arcy, or Horgan so in my opinion let players like him go abroad to make their living...keep the best at home!!
Young players from Leinster have already jumped ship to England because they can't get regualr games. The IRFU should not break the bank for O'Driscoll - if Leinster want to fund themselves then fair enough.
So, by your rationale, we should let the best players go to keep costs down, and give young blood a chance??
Admirable, but quite senseless. The provincial teams would get hockeyed in Heineken Cup games without the O'Driscolls and O'Garas of this world.And you'd be sending out the message that the IRFU don't want to reward or keep its prime talent, that they're prepared to let other clubs abroad do that for them. Can't agree with you on this one Pete.
FACT: The IRFU cannot pay the current wage levels! Sure they almost made Connacht the sarcraficial lamb to cut costs. The IRFU did not cut costs so just delayed judgement day for another time. The IRFU could never pay O'Driscoll in particular the wages he can get elsewhere so foolish to compete with that.
Are you suggesting the IRFU ignore reality & pay unaffordable wages? Surely better to pay what you can afford?
My amin concern is that while the system has worked for the most part there have been a couple of big problems caused by it.
In Leinster BOMmer's kicking (which was poor but it sure as hell wasn't as bad as his open play) kept Brian O'Riordan out of the squad for too long, stunting his development big time. By the time Contepomi was both fit and eligible (oh we all remember that), the damage was done and Easterby was brought home to replace the hapless O'Meara bumping O'Riordan down again.
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O'Driscoll says he is committed to Leinster contract
13:54 Wednesday September 21st 2005
Irish international Brian O'Driscoll has insisted that he is committed to his contract with Leinster.
The player was photographed meeting the Biarritz captain and club president over the weekend, fuelling speculation that he may be set to join the French club.
However, he insisted today that he was merely enjoying a weekend away at the invitation of Biarritz, but also said he would consider a move to France when his current contract expired.
"I was just there to watch a game," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm contracted to the Irish Rugby Union for another nine months."
When asked what would happen after that, he said a move to France was a possibility, but only time would tell.
I would say that this story got out because he wants a new contract from Leinster and he wants big money. The IRFU will brake the bank to keep him in Ireland, and Lienster will certainly need to if they expect to fill the RDS for their group games and aspire to playing in Landsdowne.
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