Ronan O’Gara believes Tadhg Furlong is the one player Ireland can’t afford to lose

Of all the players coming out of contract with the IRFU next summer, two stand out as men Ireland must, at all costs, keep.

Tadhg Furlong and Iain Henderson's contract talks are not generating near as many headlines as Munster's Peter O'Mahony or CJ Stander but they must be the union's priorities. Deals for Rory Best and Garry Ringrose are almost over the line and Tommy Bowe must decide if he wants to take a provincial contract with Ulster or see out his career abroad. Jared Payne's contract talks are on hold until he gets back playing. Ronan O'Gara was at the Aviva Stadium for TV3's launch of their 2018 Six Nations coverage and he remarked upon how Ireland's decision to axe the departing Simon Zebo from the Ireland squad took many by surprise in France. Ask if the prospect of signing an Irish player, who won't be picked for Test duty, has been suddenly made more attractive, O'Gara replies:

"Massively, yep. There's huge value in that because there is a game every weekend. There's no travel. It's hugely attractive to Top 14 coaches. "But I think it took everyone by shock in France, that Irish players [like Zebo] would go because they don't think Irish players would go."

The IRFU only has so much money to spread around and the number of central contracts has dropped from close to 20, a couple of seasons ago, to around a dozen. O'Gara feels the tactic of ignoring Irish players plying their trade abroad may only work for so long. "Figures have to add up for players," he noted. "If they don’t add up, they will be gone."