If you had been asked a couple of months back to wager on the identity of Ireland’s second-choice tighthead for the summer tour to New Zealand, chances are you would have plumped for Jamie Hagan, given he was working at Leinster under Ireland’s scrum coach, Greg Feek, as well receiving tutelage from Mike Ross.
As it turns out, Declan Fitzpatrick was aboard the flight out of Heathrow last Thursday, on the strength of two performances for Ulster in the Heineken Cup. Meanwhile, Hagan has been deliberating over a return to Connacht — though as things stand, he will remain under contract to the European champions next season.
Hagan’s humdrum season with Leinster, which saw him starting just nine games, only one of which was in the Heineken Cup makes us wonder whether the quartet of Connacht players who moved provinces last season have advanced their careers in the process.
One rationale for Ian Keatley’s move to Munster was that he would benefit from playing under Ronan O’Gara but instead, he has been usurped as Ireland’s third-choice fly-half by Ian Madigan. The 25-year-old made 16 starts this season, but only two brief appearances off the bench in the Heineken Cup. His place-kicking has been inconsistent and only occasionally have we seen the spark which characterised his Connacht performances.
Sean Cronin, who was already an international when he moved to Leinster, made 23 appearances, including last week’s Pro12 grand final, though 12 of those were off the bench, with only two starts in Europe.
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Richardt Strauss asserted himself as Leinster’s first-choice hooker and qualifies as Irish in September too. At some stage Cronin may have a decision to make.
Fionn Carr was involved in 20 games, 15 of those as a starter, scoring five tries in all. He could argue that merely by working with Joe Schmidt, Brian O’Driscoll, et al, that he has become a better rugby player. Yet the fact that the 26-year-old saw less than 40 minutes of Heineken Cup action must give him pause for thought.
Meanwhile, Connacht have again qualified for the Heineken Cup next season. When this quartet departed Galway, they were not to know their old teammates would be playing so much high-profile rugby. But how many of them now regret moving on?