Donnacha Ryan looks set to leave Munster and Ireland, and everyone’s trying to figure out how this came to pass.
Although the second row’s departure to Racing 92 has yet to be confirmed, all the signs are pointing to the Munster stalwart playing his rugby in France from the next season onwards.
The pill is a particularly bitter one to swallow because of Ryan shining in the recent Six Nations campaign. With the national team’s policy on calling up foreign-based players, signing for the Top 14 side would likely mean losing him from the Ireland team.
Former Ireland international Stephen Ferris criticised the IRFU for not offering Ryan a contract on the Hard Yards podcast. This move could have been enough to ensure he stayed at Thomond Park and therefore, remained in the Irish set-up.
“Why was he not given an Irish contract? Why was there nothing on the table? Was this decision made six months ago? It would be pretty foolish for the IRFU to make a decision on somebody’s contract before a Six Nations when a guy can easily change their mind and put a contract in front of them.”
A lot of people were crying 'Heaslip' https://t.co/IE6lecMfJL
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 28, 2017
Ferris also brought up the whole issue of Jamie Heaslip being on a rather lucrative contract, despite being a lot more battle-worn than Ryan. In his eyes, there is no debate that the Munster man is the fresher of the two and has more to offer.
“A point was made on (SportsJOE) Live that Jamie Heaslip’s only four days younger than Donnacha Ryan, yet Jamie Heaslip has a pretty hefty national contract that is paying good wages. Donnacha Ryan’s made out to be this old guy who’s now moving to France for the last couple of years of his career and everything else, but Kev’s completely right, he doesn’t have a lot of miles on the clock, he has so much more to offer.”
“The IRFU might have made the decision six months ago that maybe going forward Donnacha Ryan isn’t part of the plan, but when he has a Six Nations like he did, why didn’t they change their mind and put something in front of him? I’d say that’s frustrating. Donnacha Ryan, I’m sure, is a bit pee’d off that nothing was put in front of him, but you have to look after number one.”
To listen to the whole Donnacha Ryan discussion, you can do so from about the 33-minute mark below.
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