Byrne fears French will be back for our other stars

Former Leinster and Ireland hooker Shane Byrne fears “the floodgates could open” following news that Jonathan Sexton will be moving to France in the summer.

Byrne spent three seasons with Saracens in England following a move from Leinster in 2005 and claims it was not a big surprise to learn of Sexton’s impending move to the Top 14.

“This is the first high profile Irish player to move to France in a long time,” he said. “The big danger now is that it has alerted the French clubs to the fact that Irish players are now fair game. They have been poaching off the Welsh and English clubs for a while but the Irish market, until now, was closed.

“The beauty of the IRFU central contract is that you have bargaining power. The downside is when privately backed and funded clubs come in for your player, you can’t compete.

“From a business point of view, you have to say that Racing played it very well. They were talking about the deal being dead in the water and came in, out of nowhere, at the last minute with an offer Jonny could not refuse.

“If the figures that are being bandied about are true, it is a fantastic offer for a young man and one that will secure his financial future. For Leinster, it is a terrible blow. This is a player who was a stalwart of three Heineken Cup wins.”

However, Munster legend Mick Galwey believes most Irish players will stay in the country.

“It’s a professional game and the one thing about Ireland is that our top players have always been very loyal, we have been blessed to have them but it was really only a matter of time before one player would stand out and one club would stand out to offer serious money that couldn’t be matched at home.”

Simon Easterby, former Ireland flanker and current Llanelli Scarlets coach, has witnessed some of Wales’ brightest talents absconding for lucrative contracts in France but believes an able Leinster deputy exists in the form of Ian Madigan.

“The acceleration of the young players into the starting line-up is occasionally by default rather than design,” he said.

“They have a fine player there in Madigan and he has shown already this season he is not fazed when asked to step in for a big name [Rob Kearney].”

Leinster’s Cian Healy (@ProperChurch) raised his head above the Twitter parapet. He tweeted a picture of a smiling Madigan together with the phrase: “Chill out, I got this.”