Tadhg Furlong signs single year IRFU contract extension
The favourite to start the British and Irish Test series at tighthead - Tadhg Furlong - has extended his IRFU contract up to the end of the 2021/22 season.
Furlong's was one of the biggest contract question marks as the season comes to a close, but his new contract will only take the 28-year-old to the end of next season, a year short of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Furlong is regarded by many as the sport's premier tighthead. An effective scrummager who is equally adept at ball carrying, the Wexford man returned from injury earlier this year after a lengthy spell out of the game but soon found form for Leinster and Ireland.
"Tadhg was a long time out of the game but showed upon his return in January what a positive influence he can be for both Ireland and Leinster," David Nucifora, IRFU Performance Director, said in a statement. "He has grown as a senior voice in the Ireland squad and his recent performances reminded everyone why he is rated as one of the best tighthead’s in world rugby."
Furlong, who was named in the British and Irish Lions squad last week, said: "Happy to sign on for one more year. There has been some tough days of late but I believe the squads we have in both Leinster and Ireland are able to compete for trophies in the future. I look forward to hopefully playing at a packed out RDS or Aviva Stadium in the months ahead."
Furlong made his Ireland debut against Wales in a warm-up fixture ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. He has won 49 caps to date for Ireland and started all three Tests of the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand and was last week named in the touring party for this summer’s series against South Africa.
Tadhg has made 113 appearances for Leinster, winning a Heineken Cup in 2018 along with three Guinness PRO14 titles.
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I think we need to get innovative with the new laws.
Now red cards are only 20 minutes, Razor should send Finau on a head hunting mission to hospitalise their 10 with a shoulder to the chops.
Give the conspiracy theorists a win.
England played well enough to win but couldnt score when they needed to and couldnt defend a couple of X-Factor moments from Telea which was ultimately the difference. They needed to hold the ball more and make the AB's make more tackles. Territorially they were good for the first 60. Defending their lead and playing pragmatic rugby in the last 20 was silly. The AB's always had the potential to come back. England still have a long way to go, definite progress would have been shown had they won but it seems they are still stuck where they were shortly after the six nations and their tour to NZ
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