There's a rapidly dwindling appetite for further conjecture on where Jonathan Sexton will be playing his rugby next season. Leinster, in conjunction with the IRFU, have made him an offer; Racing Metro want him to sign a four-year contract extension, while Toulon are reputed to have been waving a cheque book
. Sexton has already stated he’s made a decision but declined for the moment to reveal it publicly.
Leinster's chief executive Mick Dawson, speaking at a press conference to confirm a five-year extension of the Bank of Ireland sponsorship deal, confirmed that, in tandem with the IRFU's Philip Browne, he recently met Sexton to offer him a contract to resume playing with the province.
Tribalism
Dawson admitted: “It’s no secret that we’d be delighted to get him back. We think we have created an environment, where players, coaches, staff are happy where they are and given the kind of tribalism that has evolved in Irish rugby, people like to play where they’re from.”
Dawson expects an answer within the next week to fortnight; Racing Metro are demanding one before September 12th. But Sexton is not the only one who’ll pull a chair up to the negotiating table to discuss contract extensions.
Out of contract
Mike Ross
,
Richardt Strauss
,
Sean Cronin
,
Martin Moore
,
Devin Toner
,
Jordi Murphy
,
Kevin McLaughlin
,
Isaac Boss
,
Eoin Reddan
, Gordon D’Arcy, Fergus McFadden and
Luke Fitzgerald
are just some of the established players out of contract at the end of the season.
Rob Kearney is too. Dawson said of the latter: "We've spoken to Rob and we want Robert to stay, and we'll be dealing with it in the next month. Hopefully we can wrap up that situation. That's our plan."
The player is certainly amenable in principle. “I will probably start (negotiations) soon (as) the sooner the better these things are done.
“From an IRFU perspective, why wait four or five months for French clubs to start sniffing around and then making it a bone of contention for players. Just get them done early, get everyone signed up.
“The key for the IRFU is to make sure non-financial incentives outweigh the other side: your facilities, the fact you are playing at a competitive club, you’re playing for silverware every year, you’re at home, you’re with friends, and that you’ve got your family here. Provided you put all those things really strongly to one side, more often than not they may outweigh the couple of hundred grand bonus on the other side”.
So will he be re-signing? Kearney smiled: "I'm not going down to Limerick just yet".
