In what could be a decidedly embarrassing turn of events for the IRFU, the one-time Naas player Geordan Murphy is being encouraged to declare for England by his club Leicester.

Murphy and the West Hartlepool full back Emmet Farrell have been excluded from the Irish under-21 squad this season, Irish underage teams being made up of exclusively home-based players. Some interpret the home-based policy as victimisation of the players concerned.

In light of Murphy's exclusion from the under-21 squad, Leicester set about establishing whether the players had any English credentials. They discovered that one of his grandmothers holds an English passport. Leicester are now encouraging him to declare for England.

Presumably, Murphy would still prefer to throw in his lot with Ireland, but should the IRFU maintain their current stance, then Leicester may persuade him otherwise.