Ulster set for Rush pay-off

CARDIFF BLUES are set to pay as much as €100,000 compensation to Ulster after Xavier Rush completed his transfer U-turn. The former All Black signed a two-year contract with the Irish province back in February but has now opted to stay at Cardiff.

Ulster are furious at the player’s late change of heart after planning a back-row around Rush next season and have demanded a sizeable pay-off. The case is a carbon copy of the case involving Northampton’s Tongan prop Soane Tonga’uiha, who had agreed a move to Saracens.

Rush said: “Ulster are a great team with a bright future, but a change in my personal circumstances has resulted in me deciding to recommit with what has become my home from home, with the Cardiff Blues, where I am very happy.”