RUGBY: As expected, Brian O'Driscoll has confirmed his intention to remain in Ireland after agreeing in principle to sign a two-year extension to his current contract with the IRFU, which expires at the end of this season, after a protracted round of negotiations.
In conjunction with his father and agent Frank, the 25-year-old Irish centre, who recently captained his country to a first Triple Crown success in 19 years when winning his 50th cap against Scotland, had also held exploratory talks with Stade Toulouse and Biarritz Olympique.
In his discussions with the union, which resumed after the Six Nations four weeks ago and were completed on Tuesday night, it is believed O'Driscoll was seeking a one-year deal, leaving him with the option of moving abroad after the Lions' tour to New Zealand next year.
"I went home with my dad (on Wednesday) and we had a long chat about it, and although pen hasn't been put to paper yet I've decided to sign for another two years," he said yesterday. "The more thought I put into it, the more I realised that it was better to sign for two years. If I'd signed for just one more year then pretty soon we'd have been back in negotiations again. I'm glad it's done and dusted."
Not surprisingly, the union were keener on the player agreeing to a longer-term deal, not least because they would hardly have wanted to go through more negotiations in a year's time with O'Driscoll's value having potentially increased further after a Lions tour.
Viewed in that light, this is something of a coup for the IRFU, who have now succeeded in retaining the services of 12 frontline players who were out of contract at the end of this World Cup season. O'Driscoll is very much their prized asset with a view to the continuing growth and marketing appeal of the game here.
Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan will be relieved his star turn has committed to remaining in Ireland for the next two years.
Aside from the potentially greater workload and risk of injury abroad, O'Driscoll will also be part of the IRFU's redesigned training programmes next season which entails a longer pre-season.
"I'm glad I'm staying for another two years. It's hard to be talking to Liam Hennessy (the IRFU's director of fitness) about pre-season when you don't know what the future holds," admitted O'Driscoll.
Even though his appearance for Leinster tomorrow night against the Neath-Swansea Ospreys will be his 50th for his province, it will only be his sixth this season due to World Cup commitments and injuries.
Leinster will be relieved as losing O'Driscoll would have completed a miserable European Cup campaign which culminated in a 51-20 defeat to Llanelli - the first time they've conceded a 50 points in five years. This prompted rumours of discontent within the senior camp and representations from senior players that all is not well in the camp. Leinster CEO Mick Dawson was moved to hold separate meetings with head coach Gary Ella and his assistant Willie Anderson, as well as captain Reggie Corrigan.
Whatever about Toulouse or Biarritz meeting O'Driscoll's valuation, believed to be about €350,000, commercially he would seem to have more opportunities while based in Ireland. In addition to endorsements with products here such as O2, Powerade and Adidas, he has also just signed a deal with Lexus.
In confirming he had held talks with Toulouse and Biarritz, O'Driscoll commented: "I don't think they really thought I was coming this year."
Yet again though, the impression is a move to France will be too enticing to resist one day, most likely after the 2005-06 season.
