O’Connor confident Leinster’s big guns will resist lure of Top 14 clubs

Matt O’Connor is confident that the financial rewards on offer from mega-rich Top 14 clubs will fail to match the allure of Leinster when players like Jamie Heaslip and Sean O’Brien come to sign their next contracts.

Both Ireland international back-rows are in the last season of their current IRFU deals and have been linked with moves to France and the fear is that Jonathan Sexton’s loss to Racing Metro could precipitate a number of similar moves.

“You can never be too confident until it’s signed but I would be very disappointed if they chose to move on,” said the Leinster head coach. “I certainly understand those decisions but we’ll back our environment to keep them here and make sure we are continuing to add value to them and they are continuing to add value to us.”

Unlike Sexton, who has played seven games in six weeks for Racing so far, Heaslip and O’Brien are afforded more languorous openings to the campaign by the IRFU and that remains one of their trump cards.

However, there was also an acceptance that it would be in everyone’s best interests if contract negotiations did not drag on to the extent Sexton’s and Rob Kearney’s did last season when they coincided with Ireland’s Six Nations preparations.

What is abundantly clear is that, with Sexton and Isa Nacewa departed and Brian O’Driscoll, Leo Cullen and Shane Jennings approaching the end of their careers, Leinster can ill-afford the loss of more key men.

“One hundred per cent. You cannot replace world-class players overnight, that is the reality of it. You can’t go to the market place and replace Brian O’Driscoll, or Jamie Heaslip or Sean O’Brien because those players don’t exist in the market.”

Leinster have so far had to do without a host of star names due to the union’s softly-softly approach to the season’s early phases but O’Connor should be boosted by the return of some significant names this week at home to Cardiff Blues.

Cian Healy and Rob Kearney featured last week in Glasgow while O’Driscoll and Heaslip are in the mix now too. Luke Fitzgerald is borderline for this week while O’Brien, Fergus McFadden and Lote Tuqiri may make the Munster game next week.

Shane Jennings may be out longer, however, having fractured his arm in the defeat to Glasgow, a game in which Ian Madigan featured at full-back as Jimmy Gopperth once again wore the number ten jersey.

Shane Jennings is, however, out with a fractured arm.

Madigan has yet to start at out-half with just two more PRO12 rounds to play before the Heineken Cup returns. Not ideal for Ireland, perhaps, and O’Connor was giving little away about his future plans.

“It’s a matter of horses for courses. It’s what we think, week on week, will get us the best result at the weekend. If we need a little bit more experience and need to look at using Jimmy, depending on who we’re playing, we’ll do that. If we think there is an opportunity for Ian’s skillset to give us a better opportunity to win the game we will probably go with that. ”