The possibility of
Jamie Heaslip
joining Toulon next season appears to be moving a step closer
with the news that his agents are scheduled to meet with representatives of the Top 14 club tomorrow in Paris.
This follows a meeting between the Leinster and Irish number eight and the Toulon coach Bernard Laporte last month, which French sources say may have taken place in Dublin rather than Paris.
Heaslip and his agents had also been considering an offer from Montpellier as well as one from the IRFU to remain with Leinster, although this is said to be less remunerative than his existing three-year deal which reputedly made him the best paid Irish player on the union’s books.
Leinster remain hopeful that Heaslip, who has played 60 times for Ireland and is a two-time Lions tourist, will remain with them. But this must be in some doubt given recent developments with Toulon, even if Montpellier's interest may have cooled given they are believed to have signed the Wallabies' number eight and captain Ben Mowen.
Captain
Heaslip captained Leinster again in Sunday's comeback win in Castres and, given Leo Cullen's impending retirement and move to the Leinster coaching ticket, the province would have identified Heaslip as Cullen's successor as captain.
Similarly, with Brian O'Driscoll also set to retire at the end of the season, Leinster would have seen Seán O'Brien as the other senior figure to assume a leadership role over the next few campaigns. O'Brien is also coveted by Toulon, although rumours of his attendance at their Heineken Cup win over Cardiff in Nice on Saturday have not been substantiated.
Toulon are set to lose Joe van Niekerk and Virgile Bruni at the end of the season, while Chris Masoe is sidelined until August, so their battalion of backrowers needs replenishments.
Both the Heaslip and O’Brien sagas are unnervingly reminiscent of Johnny Sexton’s protracted negotiations with the IRFU last season which culminated in him joining Racing Metro.
Leinster believe Heaslip wants to remain with the province but then so too did Sexton.
At 30 years of age, if Heaslip is to make a move to France, now would appear the time.
Tax rebate
Significantly, a change in the tax rebate for Irish sportsmen and women– they do not have to be a tax resident in Ireland upon retirement – increases the risk of Irish rugby losing more of its leading lights.
The likes of Toulon and Racing Metro appear to have almost limitless budgets given the backing of their benefactors, the comic publisher Mourad Boudjellal and the property magnate Jacky Lorenzetti.
In addition to this the Top 14 clubs’ umbrella group, the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, have placed their next television deal for tender.
With beIN Sports entering the French market place as a rival to Canal+, it is estimated that Top 14 could treble or even quadruple their existing deal, which is worth €30 million per annum .
As the Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson told The Irish Times last Saturday: "You're not going to be able to match them euro for euro, that's the bottom line, and with their new television deal, the French clubs can put themselves into a different sphere from everyone else."
