Deal or no deal? Contract talks a delicate dance

The recent back and forth about Jamie Heaslip and Seán O’Brien’s professional rugby futures led us to consider an obvious question. How exactly are these contracts negotiated?

It was a little surprising to find that some of the agents who negotiate professional rugby contracts were perfectly willing to talk about that process.

It wasn’t surprising at all to learn that it was under the condition of anonymity, though. With that in mind, we threw out the traditional set of questions.