More big Irish central contract news that will infuriate some fans

Another one.

It’s been quite the week in Irish Rugby, well at least for one of the provinces, with Leinster announcing some pretty big deals.

First, they announced that All Black Jordie Barrett will be joining them on a short-term deal next season, before revealing that they had recruited former Munster outhalf Tyler Bleyendaal to join their coaching ranks next season.

This comes on the back of a deal for RG Snyman and a huge win over La Rochelle in the Champions Cup last week to march into the semi-finals. Leinster also lead the URC table.

Now, Gerry Thornley of the Irish Times is reporting that Jamison Gibson-Park is set to be offered a central contract at the end of the season.

That would mean 10 of the 13 centrally contracted Irish players would be at Leinster (Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris, Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose and Hugo Keenan), with Munster’s Tadgh Beirne, Ulster’s Iain Henderson and Connacht’s Bundee Aki being the other three.

Interestingly, Peter O’Mahony’s recent deal is not a central contract despite him being the current Irish captain, while Johnny Sexton was afforded one as skipper despite being older than the flanker is now.

The report also adds that a review of the system is set to take place by the IRFU over the coming months, ahead of the arrival of David Humphreys, who is set to replace David Nucifora as Performance Director.

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