IRFU mustn’t match ‘big sugar daddies’

One of European rugby’s top administrators has warned that professional rugby would cease to exist in this country if the IRFU tries to compete with cash rich French clubs in the battle for Irish players.

Six Nations chief executive John Feehan believes Lansdowne Road officials were correct in not trying to break the bank to keep Jonathan Sexton on these shores.

Leinster and Ireland out-half, Sexton is reported to have been offered €1.5m over two years to join Paris-based Top 14 outfit, Racing Metro at the end of the current season with IRFU chief executive Philip Browne admitting “the gap was too much to bridge” between the French and the Irish offers. Browne continued: “We try to retain our best players here in Ireland to the best of our ability. It obviously has to be within a budget.”