Joe Schmidt reacted strongly when asked about an “exodus” of Irish players

Head in the sand or privy to information we don't yet know?

Joe Schmidt gave short shrift to a question, at this morning's Six Nations launch, about a potential player exodus from Irish shores. With contract negotiations ongoing with a number of provincial stars, the IRFU have been hit by the confirmed departures of Ian Madigan [Bordeaux] and Marty Moore [Wasps]. Added to that are strong rumours linking Keith Earls [Saracens] and Simon Zebo [Toulouse] abroad and there are definite grounds for concern. One suspects that Schmidt was prepared for the query as he had a rapid-fire response. The Kiwi maintained that Madigan is the only player in his 35-man Six Nations squad that is confirmed as leaving his club. Moore was in the Irish squad until he picked up an injury at the weekend and both Earls and Zebo are in line for starts against Wales on February 7. He said:

"I've seen the word 'exodus' used a number of times, I've read the book by Leon Uris along with another Leon Uris titles. "It defies the dictionary definition of 'exodus'. "There's always concern when we lose the opportunity to manage that player. We get the training volume from the provinces, we know their strength and conditioning programmes, their total training minutes."

Schmidt did cast doubts on whether Madigan made the right decision in opting to play his rugby in France's Top 14 next season. He also made a damning statement about his commitment to Leinster. He commented, "When I arrived in Leinster, Ian was (already) learning French. So there was an uneasy feeling at that stage." One wonders what Schmidt will say if and when the departures of Munster's two talented wingers are confirmed.