LeinsterSquad2007/2008:As Leinster head coach Michael Cheika flies home to Australia today on holidays, he leaves behind a finalised squad that he hopes will take the province a step closer to Heineken European Cup success next season.
Stephen Knoop (27), the Connacht tighhead prop, and Connacht scrumhalf Chris Keane will be joining Leinster in the close season along with the other previously flagged players, Leo Cullen and Shane Jennings from the Leicester Tigers, Argentina prop Juan Francisco Gomez and South African international frontrow veteran Andre-Henri "Ollie" le Roux. Le Roux will be 35 when he arrives.
Knoop, the 6ft 2ins South African-born prop, is now Irish qualified and brings the influx of frontrow players to three, with Reggie Corrigan, Harry Vermass and former England international Will Green all departing. Knoop joins from Connacht on a two-year deal, while several players who have been developing in the squad, Devin Toner, Kevin McLaughlin, Ross McCarron, Jonathan Sexton, Cillian Willis and Richie Leyden, have also been offered senior professional contracts for the 2007-08 season.
Of all the "upgraded" contracts, the Old Belvederian Leyden is the only player not to have yet played a senior match.
Keane comes in to take the scrumhalf count to three with Willis and Aussie Chris Whitaker all vying for the position. Originally from the north Dublin town of Skerries, Keane also joins on a two-year contract.
Gomez, who had a spell on loan with Stade Français last season, joins from Los Matreros and has signed a two-year deal, while the 54-times internationally capped Le Roux has signed a one-year deal from Super 14 side the Cheetahs.
In addition, all 12 of the players who featured on the Ireland Under-20 Grand Slam-winning squad, have been signed up in the Leinster Academy for next season: Cian Healy, Richard Sweeney, Jamie Hagan, Ruaidhri Murphy, Conor McInerney, Kevin Sheahan, Sean O'Brien, Paul O'Donohoe, Ian Keatley, Shane Monahan, Felix Jones and Kyle Tonetti all take a step up on to the next rung of the ladder.
Meanwhile, Roly Meates has stepped down as coach to the Leinster senior squad after long service. Meates' position was taken over by Cheika and Mike Brewer this season, which leaves the province without a specialist scrum coach. A former Leinster prop, he was involved in the inaugural coaching seminars in Mosney, Co Meath in the early 1960s before taking up the position of head coach with Dublin University, a position he held for 30 years (1966-1996). He has been Leinster 's specialist scrum coach since 2000 (seven seasons).
"On behalf of his many friends in the Leinster Branch, I would like to thank Roly for his outstanding contribution to both Leinster and Irish rugby," said Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson. "Roly has been one of the foremost scrummaging coaches in world rugby and I know that he has been an enormous help not just to his colleagues in the backroom teams over the years, but also to a multitude of players who have developed over the years under his expert eye."
Work on the new stand in Donnybrook started this week while the move to the RDS is expected to be formally announced in the coming days.
BACKS:C Whitaker, C Willis, C Keane*, F Contepomi, J Sexton, G D'Arcy, B O'Driscoll, C Warner, M Berne, S Horgan, D Hickie, R Kearney, G Brown, G Dempsey, L Fitzgerald, R McCarron.
FORWARDS:R McCormack, S Wright, B Jackman, B Blaney, O le Roux*, S Knoop*, J Francisco Gomez*, T Hogan, L Cullen*, M O'Kelly, D Toner, D Dillon, S Keogh, C Jowitt, R Leyden, S Jennings*, K Gleeson, K McLaughlin, J Heaslip.
TRANSFERS OUT:A Dunne, J Lyne (both Connacht), K Lewis, N Ronan (both Munster), O Finegan (Leicester Tigers), R Sweeney, S Grissing (both Rotherham), A Byrnes, H Vermaas (undisclosed), R Corrigan, G Easterby, W Green, C Potts (all retired)
* Denotes new signing
