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The ProD2 new arrivals selection that illustrates its increasing financial clout

Henry Speight. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

If you need convincing with regards to the financial clout of the ProD2, then look no further than the list of new arrivals into the competition ahead of next term.

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While the RFU Championship is seemingly edging closer to semi-professional status, the ProD2 appears to be going in the opposite direction, gaining in spending power with each passing season.

Technically the ProD2 shares the same €11.3m (£10.1m) LNR imposed salary cap as their Top 14 colleagues, and while few can spend to that limit, it allows those with funds to compete with the PRO14, Gallagher Premiership and Super Rugby for player resources, and easily blow the likes of the RFU Championship and the MLR out of the water.  Beziers are a case in point. The former French champions who are in the throes of being taken over by billionaire UAE investors andcand even wield financial resources that would make the most liquid of Premiership side’s blush.

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Increasingly players who could still be mixing it in top-flight rugby competitions are having their heads turned by the money on offer, the French mode de vie and – for veterans – the potential draw of the country’s generous unemployment benefit system.

This year’s new arrivals include high profile signing like Wallaby Henry Speight, Fijian try machine Vereniki Goneva, former European Player of the Season Nick Abendanon and blockbusting No.8 Carl Fearns. But there are also younger stars like Munster’s Darren O’Shea, Racing’s Ben Volavola and Bristol Bears Nik Stirzaker.

PROD2 NEW ARRIVALS XV
1 Ushangi Tcheishvili – Biarritz via Montpellier
2 Jody Jenneker – Vannes via Castres
3 Siua Halanukonuka – Perpignan via Glasgow Warriors
4 Darren O’Shea – Vannes via Munster
5 Robin Copeland – SA XV via Connacht
6 Alex Tulou – Beziers via Castres
7 Luke Hamilton – Oyonnax via Bristol Bears
8 Carl Fearns – Rouen via Lyon
9 Nic Stirzaker – Montauban via Bristol Bears
10 Ben Volavola – Perpignan via Racing 92
11 Vereniki Goneva – Mont-de-marsan via Harlequins
12 Francis Saili – Biarritz via Harlequins
13 Jackson Willison – Soyaux-Angoulême via Bath
14 Henry Speight – Biarritz via Reds
15 Nick Abendanon – Vannes via Clermont

16 Francois Da Ros – Biarritz via Brive
17 Beka Kakabadze – Oyonnax via Clermont
18 James Johnston – Rouen via Brive
19 Marvin Woki – Rouen via Tarbes
20 Dan Baker – Mont-de-Marsan via Ospreys
21 Ludovic Radosavljevic – Aix-en-Provence via Castres
22 Shaun Reynolds – Nevers via Lions
23 Alexis Palisson – Colomiers via Stade Francais

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f
fl 46 minutes ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

I ultimately don’t care who the best club team in the world is, so yeah, lets agree to disagree on that.


I would appreciate clarity on a couple of things though:

Where did I contradict myself?

Saying “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” is entirely compatible with ranking a team as the best - over an extended period - when they have won more games and made more finals than other comparable teams. It would be contradictory for me to say “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” and then completely ignore Leinster record of winning games and making finals.


“You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself.”

What you said (that I think trophies matter) is true, in that I said “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.”. Do you understand that Leinster won more games and made more finals than any other (URC-based) team did under the period under consideration?


“Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.”

I really don’t understand why you would think that this is irrelevant. You seem to be saying that winning trophies is the only thing that matters when assessing who is the best, but doesn’t matter at all when assessing who is 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.


“What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.”

Well then we’ve just been talking at cross purposes. In that my position (that Leinster were the best team overall in 2022-2024) was pretty clear, and you just decided to respond to a different point (whether Leinster were the best team individually in particular years) essentially making the entire discussion completely pointless. I guess if you think that trophies are the only thing that matters then it makes sense to see the season as an individual event that culminates in a trophy (or not), whereas because I believe that trophies matter a lot, but that so does winning matches and making finals, it makes it easier for me to consider quality over an extended period.

24 Go to comments
M
MT 1 hour ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

As I said in one of my first replies to you - we can agree to disagree. If you want to leave it no problem. I completely disagree with your ranking of Leinster as the best team in the world. Now you have said you will change it if Bordeaux win the Top 14. Well as Leinster themselves prioritise the CC over the URC and Bordeaux won the CC, how are they not ranked higher by you? Are Leinster one of the best teams, yeah - never said they weren’t. But not the very best team, as the very best team have trophies to show for their seasons. They matter when you discuss the very best.


You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself. Just so we are clear, you said you would too on my statement that I would rather be a fan of a team that won a trophy over the three seasons, but end the paragraph saying you would rather be a fan of the team that won the most matches but didn’t win a trophy. Both cant be true. Thats one example of where you contradict yourself.


Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.


What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.

24 Go to comments
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