There are eyebrow-raising comments and then there are ones that set alarm bells off.
On Friday night, following Munster’s 20-16 loss to Connacht, Rassie Erasmus attempted to settle nerves about the futures of two of the provinces key men.
Both CJ Stander and Munster captain are out of contract at the end of the season. With Simon Zebo set to leave Munster for life in France’s Top 14 next summer, Erasmus was asked about O’Mahony and Stander.
These were the positive comments:
“I don’t think that’s a problem. I think Simon is an extraordinary talent which will fit into the French set-up. He’s a player that they have been targeting for years and he is extravagant and the way they do it in France is probably a perfect fit, you know.”
When a reporter asked if that ruled O’Mahony out, Erasmus remarked, “He’s not as extravagant.”
The comments that would surely cause Munster, and Ireland, fans to worry concern the sheer amount of money being offered by the Top 14 sides and the fact that they are not going away any time soon. The outgoing Munster director of rugby said:
“In any other job if you get a massive offer like and you can look after your family, he’ll probably earn in Racing in three years what he will earn in Munster in nine years. So it’s nobody’s fault you know. It’s the way the professional game goes.
“It’s sad. The boy’s cried. He’s one of our friends and he’s one of guys who’s not going to play with us next year but what can you do, you know.
“If he gets an offer like that from a massive club, I’m telling you he’d be stupid not to take it so nobody’s upset with him and he’s sad to go.”
Expect to see those words repeated and discussed at length in the coming hours, days, and weeks – Earn in Racing in three years what he will earn in Munster in nine years… Offer like that from a massive club…. He would be stupid not to take it.
Erasmus was then asked if Munster should be resigned to losing a top player or two, to big-spending clubs, every season. He did not dismiss the prospect and argued that privately owned, and financed, clubs are starting to call an awful lot of shots.
“I think all clubs are currently [resigned to losing players]. I think all clubs that don’t have private owners struggle because obviously there is restrictions and a lot of other things you know. Club players who are selected for Ireland must play in Ireland but it seems to be different when you are playing in France so I just think if you don’t have a club owner you won’t have those big bucks.
“But again, Racing is currently under us in the table, they’ve got an owner and the big names and massive guys in their team and Munster seem to find a way to beat them. It’s not the end of the world, you know. Sometimes the tightness of a team is more important than the names on the team. But I think it is going to become a trend with all clubs that don’t have owners.”
The lure of French clubs must be even higher for some Munster players as they know of so many former teammates now living, playing and coaching over there. It was a point raised by former Leinster and Ireland star Kevin McLaughlin on The Hard Yards podcast. He said:
“The slightly concerning thing for Munster is you’ve got Pau, with guys like Dave Foley, Sean Dougall, Paddy Butler and James Coughlan, who is coaching there. You’ve almost got a Munster community down there.
“And now at Racing, they’ve got Donners [Donnacha Ryan], ROG, [Ronan O’Gara] and now, potentially, they’ve got Zebo. You don’t want to make it too comfortable for guys to move… That definitely influences your decision. I presume when Dave Foley was making up his mind, you’ve got two Munster lads on the phone saying, ‘Man, the weather over here is class, we drink a glass of wine every night, the training isn’t too bad, we’ve got big matches every weekend.
“That definitely changes your psychologically. It’s the same way Zebo was probably on the phone to Donners saying, ‘What’s it like over there?'”
Munster and the IRFU, it must be said, are hopeful of getting deals for both O’Mahony and Stander over the line.
They were hopeful about Zebo signing a new deal too.
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