No deal yet between IRFU and Tadhg Furlong

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has said he could provide ‘no clarity’ on negotiations between the IRFU and Tadhg Furlong to extend his contract.

The Ireland & Lions tighthead is in the final months of his existing contract and is the last pillar of strength for the IRFU to sign to an extension after reaching deals with a number of senior players in Andy Farrell’s plans in recent weeks.

Ronan Kelleher, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Hugo Keenan, Dan Leavy, Sean Cronin and Devin Toner are all amongst the names to have committed to the union.

But the lingering wait for 49-cap Furlong to follow suit will be a cause for concern ahead of this week’s Rainbow Cup kick-off.

“I can give you no clarity, no,” said Cullen. “I’m sorry, it’s a short answer!

“I’d love to say I can, but I can’t. Like all these things, these negotiations, they play out the way they do. I don’t have any clarity, unfortunately.”

It was reported that CJ Stander felt he was being undersold by the IRFU with their offers made to extend, with the Munster No.8 feeling the draw of a return to South Africa after failing to strike a deal.

But Cullen stated his hopefulness that a breakthrough in the talks would keep Furlong, 28, around beyond the summer.

“He’s such an important player in the group, Tadhg. You could see we missed him in the group, particularly that early part of the season.

“I think it was the same for Ireland, the national coaches would probably say something similar as well. He’s made a big impact since he’s come back just before the Six Nations.

“He had that 40 minutes against Scarlets and straight into the Six Nations and he had some big performances during the course of that tournament. But yeah, competition is good in that area.”

PRO14 champions Leinster open their Rainbow Cup campaign against Munster at the RDS on Saturday, and still have a Champions Cup semi-final to look forward to against La Rochelle on May 2.