Leinster have today confirmed that Darragh Fanning is to leave the club at the end of the month. The winger is quitting rugby to focus on pursuits outside of the game, and his contract will be terminated at the end of the month. Fanning has admitted that it will be difficult to quit the sport:
This wasn’t an easy decision to walk away from a sport and a job that I love but I think the timing is right and I want to give everything I have to the next chapter in my life.
Running out at the RDS in front of the home support is something that I will miss hugely and I am not walking away from it lightly. The Leinster supporters have always been very good to me and I will look back with great memories on a great two and a half years playing for them.
I’d like to thank everyone at Leinster Rugby for their support over the last number of years and for their understanding over the last few weeks as I came to a decision. But I am very excited about what’s in store and I can’t wait to get started.
Leo Cullen paid tribute to Fanning's contribution to Leinster, commending his part in Leinster winning the Pro12 in 2014. Elsewhere, Leinster backs coach Girvan Dempsey has remained coy on reports linking Leinster with a move for Hurricanes scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park. Dempsey confirmed that Leinster were eager to recruit ahead of a renewed assault on the Champions' Cup next season, but refused to be drawn on exactly whom would be part of that drive:
We are constantly looking at our squad and trying to recruit. I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago, we’re always looking at the profile of the squad and trying to recruit.
It’s something we can’t divulge at this moment in time as nothing has been finalised in any sort of signings.
We’ve got a lot of guys over the line in terms of contract negotiations over the last couple of weeks and I would imagine we’d be in a position to finalise new signings over the coming weeks.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Isaac Boss and Eoin Reddan [scrum halves, like Gibson-Park], their age profile, both are performing well for us, but there are contract negotiations going on and we want to see what they want to do.
If Leinster do eventually sign Jamison Gibson-Park, his will almost certainly be the Greatest Name In Irish Sport.
[Irish Times and The42.ie]
