“I know we’re just kind of copying soccer with this, but I like the idea of that.”
Earlier in the week, Leinster announced that out-half Harry Byrne will be joining the Premiership’s Bristol Bears on a three-month loan deal.
The 25-year-old has struggled for game time at his province this season, and finds himself fourth in the pecking order, behind Sam Prendergast, his brother Ross, and Ciarán Frawley.
Byrne reportedly turned down a move to Connacht earlier in the year, and in the meant time the other Irish provinces secured reinforcements at the 10 position. With Bristol suffering an out-half injury crisis, the move makes sense and has been met with widespread praise.
On The Offload podcast with Donncha O’Callaghan, ex-Ireland winger Tommy Bowe echoed these thoughts:
It’ll only do Leinster a favour.
If you think about the five out-halves there, that’s one off the books, get him playing some good rugby.
And he could come back next season a completely changed man, could be a way better player again, and take the number one spot over there.
Leinster’s backlog of players in certain positions has become a topic of discussion in recent seasons, with quality operators stuck as third or fourth choice, while the other Irish provinces often struggle for depth.
Players are often content at their home club and would rather fight for their position than up and leave.
But Harry Byrne’s loan move shows a possible fix for these issues, and O’Callaghan went even further and offered an idea that could see these loan deals become more frequent.
He said: “The thing is though, I wonder are we at the point with rugby, that we might need a little bit of a transfer window. Is there room for a January transfer window?
“I know we’re just kind of copying soccer with this, but I like the idea of that. You could strengthen your squad. Now should there be a little window of trading within the systems to kind of go ‘listen, we’re badly down a hooker’.
“If you look at Welsh teams at the moment. If there was a young hooker knocking around that isn’t going to get any game time, is it better that their wages are rolled by someone else and it can free up more coin.”
As O’Callaghan mentions, this system could see provinces and the IRFU looking outside of Ireland for loan deals as well.
