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Is Kane Douglas off to Leinster?

Roar Guru
4th May, 2014
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Douglas returns to Australian Rugby. (Paul Barkley, LookPro)
Roar Guru
4th May, 2014
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Word is filtering through in media that Kane Douglas, the 24-year-old Wallaby lock, is heading to Dublin next season to don the famous Leinster blue colours.

Douglas will be coached by fellow-Australian, Matt O’Connor, who is seeking to steady the ship at Leinster after a mixed season in cup and league so far.

Leinster sill sit at the top of the Pro12 standings with one game to go before the play-offs. However, even their most ardent fans will admit that they haven’t really set the house on fire in O’Connor’s first season in charge, having taken over the mantle from new Ireland coach Joe Schmidt.

Leinster have always benefited from having a strong lock combination in their winning seasons (think Brad Thorn). With the departure of three-time H Cup winner and club captain Leo Cullen, their need to have someone partner 6’9′ Devin Toner in the second-row department is strong.

At 6′ 7″, and 19 stone, he will form a daunting partnership with Toner, making them likely the tallest second-row combo in the Pro 12 and possibly in European club rugby.

Douglas’ decision to move is remarkable for a couple of reasons – he’s only 24, and he’s already qualified to play for Australia, and can’t play for another Test nation.

Ireland has had a strategy of selecting young players, who haven’t qualified to play for their birth country, and after a three-year residency become eligible to play for Ireland. It’s a strategy that has been queried on a number of levels, both for its perversion of the residency rules but also for whether its stated intent is actually true.

Richardt Strauss is the only player to have gained residency status and a couple of caps for Ireland. He’s competing for his position with Irish players, Rory Best and Sean Cronin, as well as the likes of Damian Varley in Munster.

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Some of the other possible residency players or “project players” as they’ve been dubbed, haven’t really cut the mustard. A number of them have been ditched by their provincial clubs before they reach the three-year residency target, or else they have been left waiting in the wings while an Irish-born player gets ahead.

But Douglas is not up for grabs, and for the young lock to make a decision to up sticks and move north is remarkable at his age. There’s also a certain irony as he says good bye to his current coach, Michael Cheika, who helped build Leinster into the powerhouse force it is now.

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