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As a number of players get set to leave the provinces, is Irish rugby reaching a tipping point?

With the news that Keith Earls looks set to depart Munster to head to Saracens, coupled with Mart...



As a number of players get set...
Rugby

As a number of players get set to leave the provinces, is Irish rugby reaching a tipping point?

With the news that Keith Earls looks set to depart Munster to head to Saracens, coupled with Marty Moore's confirmed departure for Wasps, it's proving to be a difficult time for the IRFU.

With Ian Madigan moving to France, and the loss of JJ Hanrahan to Northampton for this season, there have been some high-profile departures from the provinces as Irish players go abroad in search of game time, new experiences or better contracts. 

Ruaidhri O'Connor, who confirmed to us on Off The Ball that the deal for Keith Earls to move to Saracens is all but done, discussed the issue with Joe Molloy on the show, and just how things had come to this point. 

"It's two confirmed players and [Simon] Zebo a major flight risk, it's not a mass exodus, when you look at it," said O'Connor, but warned that "the momentum is going that direction".

O'Connor explained that "this year was always going to be a high risk year for the IRFU because it is that post World Cup cycle, where players can go away for two, maybe even three years and in their own minds think 'I can come back and be ready for the next World Cup', and I think there is a slightly perfect storm around that".

Joe highlighted that there is no one single common thing that has lead to the departures of these players, and that each case has been different, but O'Connor points out that "I think you could bracket the three younger guys [Hanrahan, Moore and Madigan] together as lads who didn't feel the love, Hanrahan in particular. You just wonder whether Anthony Foley backed the wrong horse that time when he went with Ian Keatley on a consistent basis".

Image: ©INPHO/James Crombie

"Marty Moore is a guy who clearly just didn't feel he was being valued by Leinster [...] and at the end of the day they've lost a 24-year-old with 10 caps for Ireland in a position where you can't afford to be losing players". 

O'Connor questioned the tactic of offering Moore a series of one-year deals, saying "the idea [was] in someone's mind that when Mike Ross goes he will get that national contract. That was the long game, so you keep mirroring Mike Ross' contracts and eventually he'll take over". 

Image: ©INPHO/Donall Farmer

Given that it has become a common bargaining chip for players to use the possibility of a move to leverage a better deal, Joe asked whether the money being offered by the IRFU is going down, or simply being blown out of the water by deals from France and England.

"I don't think they're going down, they're probably even going up compared to what they were four or five years ago, but I think the market is moving at such a rate that the IRFU and the provinces are not able to keep up as it stands. If you look at Jimmy Gopperth, for example [...] the money that he's getting from Wasps just sets the standard for what say, Ian Madigan is able to command on the international market".

However, it's not all doom and gloom for Ireland, as O'Connor points out that a number of key players are close to agreeing new deals, in particular ones that have been targeted by the IRFU. 

"I think most of the top names that they intended to hold on to, they're going to keep. Conor Murray has already indicated that he wants to stay and I think a move for him is very close. You have Sean O'Brien already done, Rory Best already done, I think they will keep the really top end guys". 

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