WITH CONTRACT TALK swirling around Leinster’s training facilities on Monday, an inquisitive soul thought it best to ask Eoin Reddan about his future.
The scrum-half is out of contract at the end of the season but his negotiations have flown under the radar amid rumours of French moves for Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip. Reddan is a three-time Heineken Cup winner with two [or three] good seasons in him if he stays fit and firing.
“No update,” he said. “I don’t really speak about it and neither does anyone else. That is fine by me. Hopefully that will all be all sorted out. Of course, [I'd be happy to stay]. It’s a great place.”
By great place, the 33-year-old primarily means Leinster but he has strong views on the strength of the league in which he plies his trade. Having played for Wasps for four seasons, Reddan is well qualified to talk up the RaboDirect Pro12. He went one step further, though, in promoting the multi-country league ahead of the alluring Top 14 division.
“Having been away,” he said, “what I would say is, it is important for guys to do their contracts, get good contracts and to feel satisfied with what they are earning here.
“But as far as the rugby, the strength and conditioning, the level of coaching, as far as I’m concerned I’m in the best competition, I’m in the best place for getting better every year, getting stronger every year, being in a condition to play all the time.” He added:
As long as players can look after and sort out their affairs with the Union, then they are definitely in the best place. The Rabo is better. No matter what anyone thinks, I’ve played in both. It’s a better competition than the Premiership and it’s a better competition than the French league.
“The stars of the French league make it the market attraction but how many times to do see 6-3, 9-6 scorelines? I think the Rabo genuinely is a very tough competition… Sometimes it is batted down a bit which is a shame because I have definitely played in games where I have known how hard they are, I’ve played in a lot of tough games and I know how hard they are.”
The scrum-half says it is a shame the Pro12 is so often ‘batted down’ and feels much of that is ‘media driven’. He qualifies his arguments about the quality of the league by mentioning the strong performances of Pro12 teams — Cardiff beating Toulon, Connacht shocking Toulouse and Leinster winning away to Northampton — in the Heineken Cup this season.
Reddan will be hoping for the start at the weekend as he seeks to upstage’s Connacht’s talented young scrum-half Kieran Marmion. The Limerick native was dropped from the Ireland squad to face New Zealand in November and Marmion’s club performances mean he could miss out on Six Nations selection completely.
“It is a great encounter,” said Reddan. “There is always a serious amount of bite in the game. Sportsgrounds is one of the loudest places to play. Obviously they sell it out which is incredible every week, but it is still, 7,000 or 8,000 but it sounds like 20,000.
“They are one of the most passionate supporters in the Rabo. All that makes for an exciting weekend ahead but a tough weekend.”
