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.”