David Humphreys

With the success that Ulster started, then Munster in particular, and then on to Leinster, when we were playing in that team with the Munster and Leinster guys who were winning European Cups, who were beating those English and French teams week in, week out, it was such a different mindset.

So that's why we need provincial success.

How do we get that provincial success?

That's one of the questions we're looking at at the minute.

So if you look back over the last 12 months, what we've tried to do is put really good coaching teams in place in each of the provinces.

How do we make players better?

As we said, we've got a limited pool.

We make them better by having really good competition and really good coaching.

We feel we've got that in place now.

And then all the smaller pieces are around what does the squad look like?

What is the makeup of non-Irish qualified players?

It's a smaller number than it was a number of years ago.

But again, if you go back to the number one priority, which is protecting the performance of the men's national team, we need Irish players playing a top level competition in the provinces week in, week out, so that when they step into the international arena on the international pitch, they're ready to perform.

As you said, Donoghue, James Lowe has been an unbelievable servant for Irish rugby and for Leinster rugby.

And the success that he's brought, I think, as an Irish supporter who wasn't involved.

I've loved watching him wearing blue and green over the last number of years.

And we're all very, very disappointed to see him move on.

But as you said, the nature of professional sport is that contract offers are made throughout the course of the year.

And unfortunately, in this case...

In James' case, an offer came in towards the end of the season that was better than the offer that he had within the Irish system.