Penney warns Muliaina signing may not be good for Irish rugby

Munster head coach Rob Penney has questioned whether Connacht’s signing of Mils Muliaina is in the best interests of Irish rugby.

A day after Connacht announced the biggest signing in their history, centurion All Black Muliaina’s fellow New Zealander Penney vented his frustration that Munster’s interprovincial rival was allowed to operate a recruitment policy different to the other three Irish teams.

Leinster, Munster and Ulster are, like Connacht, funded primarily by rugby’s governing body in Ireland but the trio are bound by the IRFU’s player succession policy, which is designed to limit Non-Irish Qualified (NIQ) players to one per position across those three provinces.