'There aren’t many clubs in world rugby have a fan base that big'

Not sure where you would get that information, JW. But your question piqued my interest, and I looked at the background of some Ulster players. If you are interested/have the time, look at the Wiki site for Ulster rugby, and scroll down to the current squad, where you can then click on the individual players, and often there is good info. on their pathway to Ulster squad.

Not many come in from the AIL teams directly. Robert Baloucoune came from Enniskillen into the Ulster setup, but that was after he played Sevens for Ireland. Big standout missed in his school years is Stuart McCloskey, who never played for an age group team, and it was only after he showed good form playing for AIL team Dungannon, that he was eventually added late to Ulster Academy.

“I’m just thinking ahead. You know Ireland is going to come into the same predicament Aus is at where that next group of youngsters waiting to come into programmes get picked off by the French”

That is not happening with top young players in Ireland. I can’t think of a single example of one that has gone to a French club, or to any other country. But as you say, it could happen in the future.

What has happened to a limited extent is established Irish players moving offshore, but they are few. Jonathan Sexton had a spell with Racing in France…not very successful. Simon Zebo also went over to Racing. Trevor Brennan went to Toulouse, stayed there too, with his sons now playing in France, one at Toulouse, one at Toulon. And more recently the two tens, Joey Carbery to Bordueax, and Ben Healy to Edinburgh.

“I see they’ve near completed a double round robin worth of games, does that mean theres not much left in their season?”

The season finishes around mid April. Schools finish on St Patrick’s Day, 17 th Match. When I lived in Ireland, we had a few Sevens tournaments post season. But never as big a thing as in the Scottish Borders, where the short game was “invented”.

Yeah, the new govn body purposefully skewed the draw just to get a better hype to the season. I thought that was common knowledge/understanding?

Would say POC will get the line out.

Cant see who is going on defence or attack but maybe 1 Scot between the two. Think Wales troubles might mean no coaches.

Wiggy has been called already and I’d say he's for the kicking.

The head to head stats where we thrashed the Reds are more specific. Quite even actually, but 2 clear differences are Canham lost 3 turnovers to Barretts 1 turnover, & the Saders won 90% lineouts to Reds 76% lineout win rate. Blah blah blah . . .

I would hope that the definition of foul play is clear enough that they can say “that wasn’t foul play - even though it resulted in a serious injury - because although player A did not wrap with the right arm, he entered the ruck through the gate and from a legal angle at a legal height, and was supporting his own weight until player B entered the ruck behind him and pushed him onto player C’s leg” or “that wasn’t foul play although players D and E picked player F out of a ruck, tipped him upside down and dropped him on his shoulder because reasons.”

Referees sometimes offer a clear explanation, especially when in discussion with the TMO, but they don’t always, especially for incidents that aren’t reviewed on field. It’s also a recognised flaw in the bunker system that there isn’t an explanation of the card decisions - I’d personally prefer the bunker to prepare a short package of the best angles and play back to the ref their reasoning, with the ref having the final say, like an enhanced TMO. It would cost a few more seconds, but would help the crowd to understand.

Greater clarity carries with it risks - not least that if the subsequent feedback is at odds with the ref’s decision they run the risk of harassment on social media - but rugby is really struggling to show that it can manage these decisions consistently, and offering a clear explanation after the fact would help to ensure better consistency in officiating in future.