Johne Murphy released to Ireland 'A'

[Bill W (2)]

Surely this game is just as 'meaningless' as any of the AI's, and we didn't mind loosing Croft, Hipkiss et al for the England matchs, so why complain about letting Johne represent his country?
Hopefully he will play a blinder and force his way into the frame for the full Ireland squad for the 6N

Ah but we (well the GP Clubs) received much RFU gold for releasing Croft et al. The IRU give us diddly squat.

I too hope he plays a blinder.

[Tiger Eye]

Am I right in reading that Johne Murphy will be playing for Ireland 'A' side on Friday night? And does this then rule him out of the Leeds game on Saturday?

Are we contractually obliged to release him for a friendly reserves game? If this is the case, it is utter nonsense.

Sure we have Tuqiri and Smith both fit and potentially Tuilagi on his way back, but why release Johne for a totally meaningless match?

http://www.leicestertigers.com/news/14125.php

Not meaningless to him - he is Irish mate. if it was Crane or Croft playing for Saxons - it wouldn't really be meaningless to them. A bit of respect goes a long way in the world.

[POSTIGER]

Great for Johne but really bad timing for Tigers IMHO, particularly as Super Scotty desperately needs and deserves a break and our next best FB is unavailable.

[Gate]

Other than its timing clearly being geared to Magners League lack of matches, it does seem a moderately unnecessary game just at this point. Is anyone other than Ireland playing more than one A international in this window?