IT HAS become a familiar routine:

a leading Irish player talks openly about their desire to seek a new challenge abroad, days before the IRFU confirm that they have signed a new contract to stay at their province. This time it was Peter O’Mahony who played the game of brinkmanship, just as Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip and Conor Murray have done in the past. Some move away, but Johnny Sexton tried that and soon came back. Ireland’s carefully managed leading men are understandably reluctant to give up home comforts.