John Hayes looks set to remain at the heart of the Irish and Munster engine rooms for at least one more season after agreeing a new IRFU contract today. The 35-year-old prop was among four Munster forwards to extend their current deals.
Hayes and David Wallace both put pen to paper on one-year extensions that will take them both to the end of the 2009-10 season while Munster captain Paul O'Connell and Denis Leamy have signed new three-year contracts.
Wallace, who turned 32 in the summer, won his 50th Ireland cap against Argentina last weekend.
O'Connell and Leamy's contracts, due to run until the end of the 2011-12 season, will take them through the next World Cup in New Zealand and beyond.
"These new contracts indicate the continued desire of the IRFU to keep as many of our top professional players within the provincial structures," IRFU chief executive Philip Browne said today.
"With increasing market pressures on the retention of players, the IRFU is continually working with the provinces to provide the right facilities and support to ensure that the player's decision to stay in Ireland is an easier one to make."
