While it would've been rare in the past, nowadays a good number of Irish-based players switch between the four provinces. Just this summer gone RG Snyman swapped Munster for Leinster, Tom Farrell went from Connacht to Munster and Ben Murphy left Leinster to move out west to Connacht.
When before you would've signed with your home province and play there or move abroad, more and more players are being moved about among the provinces.
Most Irish internationals these days don't venture beyond these shores, with the odd player like Joey Carbery or Ultan Dillane moving to France only after their national team spot is gone or not secured. However one player that had a unique career path was Tommy Bowe.
Bowe, unlike most Irish internationals actually spent a decent amount of his career away from Ireland. At just 23 and already a full Ireland International Bowe left his home province of Ulster to join Welsh outfit Ospreys back in 2008. He spent 4 years in Swansea where won 2 Celtic League titles before returning to his home province of Ulster in 2012.
When asked a question on his new The Offload Podcast about could he ever play for a different province, Tommy Bowe gave an interesting insight in how his career could've been very different.
Around the 2011 World Cup was always anticipated that Bowe would return home, especially after player a major part in the 2009 Grand Slam and Bowe spoke to O'Callaghan about how a certain Irish teammate tried to convince him to move to Limerick.
When I was at the Ospreys at the World Cup, I remember that Paul O'Connell asked me to go on a walk one day. Now, Paulie never wants to hang out with me.
He sat me down and we were just chatting and he goes 'listen kid, I believe you might be coming home next year and we'd love you to consider coming to Munster.' And I was like 'ah jeez Paulie, I don't think so I just signed a contract at the Ospreys, I'm there for another couple of years.'
And he said 'well listen, if you did want to come, I've heard on the grapevine that you might be coming back to Ireland, we'd love to have you.'
Bowe was under contract at Ospreys at the time but the Welsh side were looking to get out of the deal due to financial troubles. However Bowe explained that upon returning to Ireland after the World Cup, he received the news from his father that Ospreys were looking to move him on.
And he goes 'The Ospreys, they're talking about cutting your contract, there are financial issues.'
And I go 'This is why Paul O'Connell hen all of the sudden a call came in from [Michael] Cheika from Leinster trying to get me as well.
Now the timelines Bowe gives a bit messy as by the time he was at the 2011 World Cup Michael Cheika was already gone from Leinster and at Stade Francais but nonetheless the Monaghan man said there was Leinster interest.
Just imagine an alternate reality where Tommy Bowe came into the Munster side boasting Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara and Doug Howlett just a couple years removed from winning the 2008 Heineken Cup. Or Bowe in a blue Leinster jersey with Brian O'Driscoll, Isa Nacewa and a young Johnny Sexton.
However Bowe made the homecoming to Ulster where he cemented his legacy as an Ulster legend with 5 more years of service before retiring in 2018.
