Nagle part of Munster future, says McGahan

TONY McGAHAN has insisted rising second-row star Ian Nagle is an integral part of Munster’s future.

A day after promoting the lock as the additional player to their Heineken Cup squad for Saturday’s final pool game against London Irish, the provincial head coach moved to head off speculation linking the 22-year-old from Buttevant with a move to English high-fliers Northampton Saints.

McGahan said: “Ian’s a very important part of our plans at this point in time and going forward. With the day and age of managers looking out for their players and putting them forward to English clubs and French clubs at the same time. That’s part and parcel of their job. From our perspective, we’d be very keen to keep Ian because we certainly think he’s got a very big future. What he’s displayed with us over the last two years and, more importantly, currently, what he’s done with the squad, so far, has been really impressive.”