Time right to leave Ulster, says Court

The lure of a three-year contract offer from London Irish was plenty enough to convince Tom Court it was time to leave Ulster and potentially international rugby with Ireland behind.

At the age of 33 and with his two-year Ulster deal up at the end of this season, Court, pictured, could not be blamed for signing up with the Aviva Premiership outfit, also home to former Ulster fly-half Ian Humphreys, ex-Leinster front rower Jamie Hagan and former Munster scrum-half Tomás O’Leary.

Having been left out of successive Ireland squads by Declan Kidney following the Irish front-row capitulation at Twickenham in March 2012, when the loosehead was asked to cover for injured tighthead Mike Ross, Court has earned his place back in the international set-up under new national head coach Joe Schmidt.