Over the past number of years more and more Irish players have made the move to France. This summer just gone Joey Carbery left Munster to join up with Noel McNamara at Bordeaux Bègles while Ultan Dillane has been a success over at Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle, playing a part in a Champions Cup triumph in 2023.
The offer of a new lifestyle, playing in a league that's littered with some of the most talented and exciting players in the world on top of a very handsome pay package is hard to turn down for a lot of players in Ireland, especially those not on central contracts.
With the likes of Munster and Ulster having to scale back their finances over the past year it's likely that more and more players will have to leave these shores to play their rugby and the latest report out of France indicates that a big name could be on his way there.
Report: Ireland International Winger On The Move To France
Vincent Bissonnet and Nicolas Augot of Midi Olympique have reported that Ulster and Ireland winger Jacob Stockdale could be on his way to France, with Racing 92 and Lyon fighting it out for his signature.
Stockdale, who's still only 28, has his contract with Ulster set to expire at the end of the season. He had just earned his spot back onto Andy Farrell's panel for the Autumn Nation Series after a blistering start to the URC campaign and he even got the start against Fiji, his first start since the final warm-up match for the 2023 World Cup against Samoa.
Jacob Stockdale, was very impressive in his Fiji cameo but was subbed off with an injury after just 49 minutes. It's yet another injury setback for the Ulsterman who's been plagued with injuries for several years, so much so that he lost his spot in the Ireland team and his IRFU central contract.
With Richie Murphy being given the long term reigns up in Belfast this summer it looked like the former Ireland U20s coach had reignited Stockdale's flame as he scored 3 tries in Ulster's first 5 matches in the URC and perhaps more importantly, played a full 80 minutes in 4 of those matches.
However if Midi Olympique's report is to be believed Stockdale could be set to wave goodbye to his Ireland career with a lucrative move to France, but he won't be making the move alone.
The report also speculated that Stockdale's Ulster teammate and Ireland International John Cooney might be on the move to France too, this time to Bordeaux Bègles.
Cooney, who's been one of Ulster and Irish club rugby's best players since moving to Belfast in 2017, has been overlooked consistently in Irish squads, only winning 11 caps with his last one coming in 2020. He's just turned 34 so winding down his career in Bordeaux is a very tempting offer, especially with Nathan Doak in the ranks to take his starting spot at Ulster.
Ulster have seen a lot of turnover this year with the likes of Billy Burns, Will Addison and Steven Kitshoff leaving Belfast and with pressure to tighten the pursestrings yet again, Richie Murphy is having to turn to youth to help keep Ulster competitive.
Time will tell is this will work out financially and on the pitch at Ulster but losing such an exciting talent like Jacob Stockdale will be sad for Irish rugby. He's given us some special memories down the years and still has something to offer, especially off his current form.
