David Nucifora ‘delighted’ as Cian Healy staying at Leinster

Ireland prop Cian Healy is on the IRFU books until after the 2019 World Cup as David Nucifora, the union’s deal maker, continued his impressive record of ensuring that all of the national team’s front-line players will be based at home next season.

Of the starting XVs that took to the field in the first two rounds of the Six Nations only Jared Payne, the Ulster centre, remains as outstanding contract business. Beyond that injured players like Peter O’Mahony and Iain Henderson are also tied up until next year at least, as are a whole host of men who see themselves vying to make the match-day squad and apply pressure on some of Joe Schmidt’s regulars.

Whether Healy, who signed his new contract yesterday, is still the number one loosehead in the Irish coach’s mind right now is yet to be seen given the toll injury has taken on his body in recent seasons.

In Healy’s place Jack McGrath, his Leinster team-mate, has been outstanding and although he may not boast the eye-catching carrying ability of his more senior colleague, nobody can say when we will see that dam-buster running from Healy again.

As for Nucifora, the IRFU performance director, there are no doubts that Healy will be worth the money, the player will reportedly earn around €580,000 a season, despite serious neck, ankle and hamstring injuries that have required surgery in the past three years.

“Cian is one of the most explosive athletes in world rugby and has proven for both Ireland and Leinster his ability to compete at the highest levels of the game,” said Nucifora.

The threats to the union and the provinces ability to retain their players have never been greater thanks to the television money which is pouring into the pockets of clubs in England and France. That alone must have Nucifora, Philip Browne, the IRFU chief executive, and the provincial chiefs feeling quite satisfied, even if Irish rugby is struggling to attract marquee names from the upper echelons of the world game.

The only losses suffered by the provinces are the shape of Ian Madigan, who will get the game time he needs at Bordeaux, and Marty Moore, who despite trying to pull out of his deal with Wasps at the last minute, will benefit greatly from the facing the type of scrummaging talent which resides in the English Premiership.

As mentioned previously, Payne is the last remaining first-choice Ireland player to be signed up to a new deal and the New Zealander refused to be drawn on his future last week, saying only that it would be sorted soon. If there is money left in the union’s coffers (with a little help from those with deep pockets in Ulster) for Payne, then Nucifora will truly have handled a remarkable piece of business. However, there is an argument for allowing Payne to move on given the plethora of potential centre talent that is starting to emerge in the post O’Driscoll-D’Arcy era.

At Leinster, Robbie Henshaw is likely to form a potential international combination alongside Garry Ringrose next season, Connacht’s Bundee Aki will be one year removed from qualifying for Ireland, Munster have nabbed a bright prospect in Ulster’s Sammy Arnold while the northern province have Stuart McCloskey, Luke Marshall and Stuart Olding all clamouring for starting positions.