The IRFU want players to move more freely around the Irish provinces but what if the man is keen to leave but the club desperately want him to stay?
Connacht have been the unfortunate ones to find out how hard it can be, in recent years. Mike McCarthy and Robbie Henshaw have been two players to make the breakthrough to the Ireland team while at Connacht only to move to Leinster.
In light of the recent team reactions to the Ross Moriarty to Dragons [negative] and Scott Williams to Ospreys [positive], McCarthy joined The Hard Yards to discuss how tough it can be to move to a rival team [from 8:45 below].
McCarthy was originally due to move to Leinster in the summer of 2007, during Michael Cheika’s time with the province. He eventually transferred from Newcastle Falcons to Connacht and spent six seasons out in Galway.
In 2011, then-Leinster coach Joe Schmidt was eager to get McCarthy signed. He recalled:
“I nearly went the year Sean Cronin and Fionn Carr went. They left and I had been down to meet Joe, Jonno Gibbes and Guy Easterby. It was pretty much set that I was going at this time. Then I went back [to Connacht] and I got talked into staying. I finished that two year [deal] and then I thought the time was right.”
“When I left Connacht to go to Leinster” he continued, “I knew the coaches were very frustrated because they wanted to keep me. I remember having all the senior players calling me in for a meeting. They sat around me in a room and told me all the reasons not to go.
“To be fair, I have great memories of playing with Connacht. They were a fantastic bunch of lads but, for me, it was just time to go.”
McCarthy would have been in that room with fiercely competitive and proud Connacht players, such as Johnny O’Connor [pictured above], John Muldoon and Gavin Duffy. Telling them he was leaving, and leaving for Leinster, would have been tough.
If you can imagine how hard that would be, multiply it several times when it came to the conversations with coaches Eric Elwood and Dan McFarland. McCarthy commented:
“It’s really hard and little emotional because you have so much respect for these lads and the ones in the senior group.
“But it is hard for any player moving club. It’s emotionally draining. I had coaches crying in front of me.”
In an odd way, McCarthy’s move had positive repercussions for both teams. He won the Guinness PRO12 title with Leinster in 2013/14 and became a regular under Schmidt when he took over as Ireland coach.
Connacht were able to bring young players like Ultan Dillane and Sean O’Brien into the gap vacated by McCarthy and he was replaced by lock Aly Muldowney, in 2013, who was instrumental in the province winning the PRO12 title in 2015/16.
