Eoin Reddan: Champions Cup results not all about the money

In the changing landscape, it is easy to absolve Leinster of their pre-Christmas European gloom because the IRFU wallet isn't big enough.

Toulon (Mourad Boudjellal), Wasps (Derek Richardson), Bath (Bruce Craig) among others, and emerging now in England, Bristol (Steve Lansdown, worth over €1 billion), are setting trends in the European market of buying big and winning big. There Bristol, one of Ian Madigan's suitors, is a club to watch.

It could seem counter-intuitive for Eoin Reddan to argue the case for Leinster, after Toulon, Bath and Wasps have holed the ship and sunk hopes of a money-making home quarter- final.

But there’s a danger in players now believing that because the financial muscle in Leinster isn’t equal to some of their opponents, pressing home their case is becoming fraught.

Reddan disapprovingly points to Leinster’s second-half penalty count against Toulon. At pitch level it wasn’t money that lost them the game, but course management in the second 40 minutes.

It’s thrown back at him. Toulon, surely made fewer errors because they’re a conglomerate of the best players in the world. Money?

“And they give away fewer penalties, yeah,” he says.

“Look, I’m not going to admit to you that we can’t beat Toulon. I think we could have beaten them, and if we’d played like we did in the first half for 80 minutes then ye’d all be coming in and asking ‘what’s different?, what’s changed?’ and I’d probably say ‘we gave away less penalties’.

Objective

Reddan’s logic makes sense and he points to different outcomes that would spark different opinions. When Leinster were winning trophies, it was because they were well managed, played less, targeted Europe.

Look at Ulster, he says, after two wins against Toulouse. Look at the first half of Leinster's performance against the French giants and then make the case that Irish teams cannot be competitive because of super squads.

“When we were doing well in the Heineken Cup a few years ago, everyone was coming up with all the other reasons why we were playing well, that we could target the tournament, that we didn’t have to play week in, week out.

“Now, you’re playing against a Toulon team who are probably playing more together than we have in the last few weeks. Now people are saying: ‘No, no, no,’ it’s because they play a lot.”

But is the reality not that some clubs have greater resources and like Bristol are getting stronger, not weaker?

“External comments that ‘You can’t do it, you can’t do it, you don’t have enough’ – they don’t work. They’re not helping,” he says.

Stealth in market

The other reality is that money washing into clubs has changed the way Leinster must do business. Now stealth in the market, early identification of overseas players and striking quickly is critical.

The offer of good local schooling and a family environment for players with young children as well as the ethos of winning add up. A selling point is the last five years more than the last five months.

“The reality is obviously that the money that’s going into the English and French games at the moment, they’re single sorts of people who are investing heavily in the game,” says Leinster manager Guy Easterby.

“I think the Bristol guy (Lansdown) . . . they’re saying he’s the richest of the lot, having bought Bristol City as well, and they’re trying to go up. So that’s what you’re fighting against.”

Reddan knows it. He's seen change before in a career spanning Munster, Wasps and Leinster.

But at 35 years of age he’s defiant, not throwing in any towels.

“People just make arguments to suit results a lot of the time,” he says.

“You go in and look at the video and say: ‘Okay, we gave away twice as many penalties in the second half as we did the first’, let’s sort that out before we start wondering who’s getting paid what.”