{"id":129837,"date":"2025-05-25T05:13:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T05:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/129837\/"},"modified":"2025-05-25T05:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T05:13:13","slug":"why-are-so-many-young-irish-rugby-players-moving-to-france-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/129837\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are so many young Irish rugby players moving to France? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDid you hear Richie Whelan has signed for La Rochelle?<\/a>\u201d You never know when a sliver of transfer gossip will fall into your lap. This one came from overhearing punters taking in the annual fixture between Ireland U20s and a Leinster Development XV. <\/p>\n

The name of the club was familiar. That of the player less so. Who is Richie Whelan, and why has Ronan O\u2019Gara taken him on?<\/p>\n

Whelan played for Leinster in the 2024 edition of this fixture in Donnybrook. Injury and a competitive backrow saw him miss out on Ireland U20s. He didn\u2019t earn a Leinster academy offer, playing instead for Clontarf in the AIL. Despite captaining Roscrea in the Senior Cup back in 2023, he would be unfamiliar to all bar the most stringent of rugby fans \u2013 those of the sort to take in an underage trial match on a Baltic January evening. <\/p>\n

French rugby has a long history of padding their academies with foreign talent. Irish provinces have had their difficult days against Georgian props and flying Fijians. Such is the frequency of Australian youngsters signing for French clubs \u2013 Emmanuel Meafou a prominent example, 16-year-old 147kg giant Visesio Kite the latest case \u2013 Rugby Australia chairman Daniel Herbert has cried poaching to World Rugby. <\/p>\n

But now we\u2019re hearing of provincial castaways making the journey. There are a handful of Irish players already in France, predominantly in second-tier clubs. They are small in number for now, but plenty are convinced that more will join. <\/p>\n

There is a catch. French rugby has its now infamous JIFF regulations \u2013 short for joueurs issus des fili\u00e8res de formation. This quota mandates a certain number of home-grown players in each match day squad, limiting foreign imports. Financial incentives are attached to giving JIFFs game time. Penalties are handed out for not fulfilling the requirements. To earn JIFF status, players need to spend three years in a French academy before turning 23. <\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Ronan Loughnane in action against France in a U20 Six Nations match in July 2021. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Moving to France at a young age is a necessity. Ronan Loughnane, another former Roscrea man currently at Aurillac in the second-tier Pro D2, dropped out of college to take up an offer after attempts to impress Leinster and Munster fell through. \u201cAll my mates told me you\u2019ve some balls to go over there and drop everything,\u201d says the former Ireland U20 hooker. \u201cI signed a three-year deal. For me, it was the obvious next move when nothing was coming back home. I just had to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The influence of Irish coaches in France is undoubtedly a factor. La Rochelle\u2019s assistant coach Donnacha Ryan used his connections back home when scouting for an academy backrow. Pat Whelan, based close to Roscrea in Nenagh, coached both Ryan and Richie Whelan. He helped make the link. <\/p>\n

\"JamesJames Coughlan, who is now director of rugby at Biarritz. Photograph: Dave Winter\/Inpho <\/p>\n

James Coughlan, the former Munster backrow, is the current director of rugby at Biarritz. Speaking to Off the Ball earlier this year, he explained his desire to offer more Irish players a pathway to professional rugby. <\/p>\n

Coughlan has history when it comes to recruiting from Ireland. When previously coaching at Pau, he signed a pair of youngsters out of his old school, CBC Cork. Eoghan Barrett and Ben Roche were immediately given three-year deals with a view to earning JIFF status. Roche struggled with injury and returned home, but Barrett, who was never seriously on Munster\u2019s radar, is still playing in France, now at Soyaux-Angoul\u00eame. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotten seven years of rugby as opposed to getting none at home,\u201d he says. \u201cI struggle to think I\u2019d even play AIL, but here I am now in the Pro D2 having played in the Top 14 and the Challenge Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coughlan emphasised his wish to sign only those who don\u2019t make it provincially. \u201cWe\u2019re not looking to take any Irish players who will go on to play for Ireland,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to give guys who are a bit outside the academy bracket that we see have potential, we could do something with them here.\u201d<\/p>\n

In theory, everyone wins. Irish rugby doesn\u2019t need to be worried about losing its best prospects. Though it\u2019s difficult to see Messrs Coughlan and Ryan saying no on the off-chance a young star can be convinced to give up on the Irish dream. O\u2019Gara did try to sign Jack Crowley for La Rochelle<\/a>, after all. <\/p>\n

The players clearly benefit, enjoying the better odds offered by the size of France\u2019s professional structure. \u201cIn Ireland there\u2019s only four provinces, there\u2019s 30 teams in France,\u201d explains Karl Martin, who chose to leave Leinster for Montpellier in order to see more game time during the pandemic. \u201cYou have more opportunity, more games as a young guy. It will get you noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also the chance, however slim, of late bloomers. The French equivalent of Tadhg Beirne, someone who finds a different pathway to professional rugby and later turns the IRFU\u2019s head. Irish coaches could never acknowledge using France as another development pathway on the sly. Yet, given the backlog of schools talent, it\u2019s not the worst idea to answer the phone when French clubs ask for recommendations.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in it for the French? The simple answer is Ireland\u2019s school system. Aged 18\/19, Irish players are not necessarily more talented than France\u2019s equivalent, but they appear better prepared for the pros. <\/p>\n

\"CBC'sCBC’s Eoghan Barrett on his way to scoring a try in the Munster Schools Senior Cup quarter-final against St Clement’s College in February 2018. Photograph: Oisin Keniry\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I explain the schools set-up to the lads in France, they find it really bizarre,\u201d explains Barrett. \u201cJust how positive it is at creating professional young players. I\u2019ve often said to my team-mates here that I could name six or seven guys way better than me in school who would have what it takes to make it in France. They just weren\u2019t given the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say the basics would be nailed on in Ireland from a very young age,\u201d says Martin. <\/p>\n

\u201cAn 18-year-old in France vs Ireland, their senior cup year; knowledge of the game, physicality, fitness, the Irish player would be superior,\u201d explains Loughnane. <\/p>\n

Money is inevitably another factor. If a Pro D2 club develops a JIFF player only to then lose him to the Top 14, they could be in line for around \u20ac250,000 in compensation. The more JIFFs you develop, irrespective of birthplace, the better the odds for smaller clubs of earning big pay-days.<\/p>\n

\"StadeStade Rochelais’ head coach Ronan O’Gara before the Champions Cup match between La Rochelle and Munster. Photograph: Billy Stickland\/Inpho <\/p>\n

If all these boxes can be ticked, positives gleaned for everyone involved, why are there only a handful of current Irish JIFFs? \u201cIt\u2019s beginning to happen,\u201d says Peter Lydon, the former Kilkenny College pupil now at Angoul\u00eame. Lydon is not JIFF qualified but has been on the lookout for those who have potential. \u201cOur backs coach asked me if I knew any Irish guys coming through who I could recommend for them to bring into the academy here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur head of recruitment has come to me and asked if I know of players in certain positions that would still be eligible for JIFF,\u201d says Loughnane. \u201cWhen I go back home to Birr or Nenagh, I\u2019ll ask if there are any boys playing outhalf aged 17 who might want to come across and get their JIFF.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, the recruitment pathway is still reliant on old-fashioned connections. Word of mouth. Taps on the shoulder. A nod and a wink. By contrast, some French clubs have academies in Fiji, built with the sole purpose of creating a conveyor belt of young athletes who can earn JIFF status. <\/p>\n

While Coughlan wants to improve links with provincial coaches, there won\u2019t be an Irish branch of a French academy any time soon. The combination of luck and individual belligerence which sent the current crop across still remains key. O\u2019Gara says his experience working with Whelan has left him open to hearing from Irish players, but they have to do some legwork. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s come in, he\u2019s represented what he stands for and what the people of Ireland stand for,\u201d says the La Rochelle boss. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of him, I need to just sort out what the best thing for him and his future is. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt works both ways. Some people have reached out, some haven\u2019t. If there are young kids frustrated, I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cDid you hear Richie Whelan has signed for La Rochelle?\u201d You never know when a sliver of transfer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,4206,4207,57266,57267,57268],"class_list":{"0":"post-129837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-france-rugby","12":"tag-ireland-rugby","13":"tag-ireland-rugby-u20s","14":"tag-la-rochelle-rugby","15":"tag-ronan-ogara"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114566765523893892","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}