DECISION TO CUT ZEBO FROM IRELAND SQUAD REEKS OF DOUBLE STANDARDS

THE news of Simon Zebo’s departure to pastures new at the season’s end is bitterly disappointing. That said, I wish him nothing but the best in making what is clearly the best decision for him and family at this point in his still-developing career.

However, the decision to axe Zebo (right) from the Ireland squad with immediate effect is a lot more difficult to stomach. It reeks of double standards.

Were it Tadhg Furlong or Conor Murray making that announcement would they be treated with such obvious disdain by the powers that be? I don’t think so. Of course, I comprehend the contractual and practical difficulties in terms of national selection when a player decides to move abroad.

I don’t agree with the IRFU stance but I do get where they are coming from. Rugby Union is still a relatively new kid on the professional block.

We desist from using Rugby League as an example because of the antipathy it engenders in Union circles but football is the grand old master of pay for play.

Can you imagine if it applied similar Draconian principles? There would be no World Cup, no European or South American Championships, no international game.

Union is in a position of strength right now given that there are precious few breaking the mould but if the drip becomes a flood then watch how quickly attitudes and rules change. I admire players, particularly those failing to make Academies, moving abroad. ‘Shut the door after you’ is not the message they should be hearing.