Rugby: Peter Smyth, the 25-year-old Leinster hooker, has become the latest to join the exodus of provincial players after agreeing to sign for newly promoted English Premiership outfit Rotherham on a one-year deal.
Smyth, released at the end of this season by the province, had been offered a position as a development officer with the IRFU but the desire to continue playing was too strong, and after meeting with Rotherham owner Mike Whately and the Yorkshire club's chief executive, Jim Kilfoyle, on Thursday, Smyth has decided to join the English First Division champions.
Smyth made a courageous and remarkable return to the game after effectively missing all of last season when recovering from a brain tumour, and had been troubled by neck and shoulder injuries this season before recently receiving a clean bill of health.
"I was impressed by the attitude and ambitions of the club, and the facilities are excellent. The Institute of Sport in England has been built beside Sheffield, which is used by Rotherham.
"We're only 40 or 50 miles from Leicester, where my mother came from, and I still have a grandmother living there," Smyth said, "so my parents will be able to travel over for most of the games."
Rotherham are recruiting heavily to stiffen their squad for the Premiership, and Kilfoyle has revealed they have had talks with Llanelli's Irish reserve scrumhalf Guy Easterby, Newport's Wales A centre Jon Pritchard and the Pontypridd number 8 Geraint Lewis, none of whom have had their contracts renewed as part of the new, streamlined Welsh system of five regionalised clubs.
Leinster have confirmed that Smyth's erstwhile team-mates David Quinlan and Gordon D'Arcy have re-signed with the province prior to flying out with the 40-man Irish squad for the forthcoming Tests against Australia, Tonga and Samoa.
This takes Leinster's contracted squad up to 31, leaving them only seeking additional cover at scrumhalf and prop.
However, the two additional full-time contracts promised to the provinces by the IRFU scarcely seem adequate given the agreed expansion of the Celtic League. The new 22-game format effectively means the provinces will have a minimum of 29 games next season, rising to a maximum of 35 , whereas last season's tally was a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 21.
The intensified demands on both playing and management resources (with anywhere between 14 to 20 away games those demands will be too great for voluntary/part-time staff) will be compounded by next season being a World Cup year.
It is believed all of these concerns and more were expressed by the provinces, with Munster outlining them in a written presentation to the IRFU before the union eventually succumbed to Welsh demands for an expanded Celtic League.
Munster's most pressing need is for additional cover at prop, although they remain on the lookout for a game-breaking, pacy outside back - as evidenced by their recent unsuccessful pursuit of Queensland Reds and Wallabies full back Chris Latham.
Christian Cullen is the latest name to be linked with Munster, though it is probably more a case of wishful thinking after he was recently omitted from John Mitchell's first squad of the year. The odds on Cullen appearing in his third World Cup are thus receding and were he to miss out it's possible he could come on the market sooner rather than later.
However, speaking from Australia yesterday, Alan Gaffney confirmed there had been no contact between him and any agent for Cullen. "However, if Christian Cullen were to come on the market we definitely would be interested."
Gaffney did confirm that Munster would be seeded second again next season by the IRFU behind Leinster when the Union submits its three entries to the ERC for the draw for next season's Heineken Cup. Each side having reached the semi-finals of this season's competition, it had been widely presumed that Munster would be top sides after winning Leinster's Celtic League trophy but the IRFU have applied the provinces' win-loss records in this season's competition as the sole criteria.
