IRFU PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR David Humphreys said he is “very disappointed” that James Lowe is leaving Irish rugby.

Humphreys said that the IRFU did provide support to Leinster in making an offer to Lowe, although he was unwilling to go into detail on the particulars of the contract. 

Former Ireland and Leinster wing Lowe had hoped to stay through until the 2027 World Cup, but contract negotiations didn’t lead to him extending his Leinster deal, and he has now signed for Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath in Japan on a two-year contract.

“I’ve said anytime I’ve been asked about it that we are very disappointed to see James leave the Irish system,” said Humphreys. “He has been an unbelievable player for both Leinster and Ireland since he arrived.

“He has been on a provincial contract. He has never been on a national contract, and the negotiations to extend around his current contract were with Leinster.

“From an IRFU point of view, there has been a lot of reporting which has been inaccurate around the fact that we did support the contract with a PONI [player of national interest] payment, but details beyond that, it’s inappropriate in the same way we have 40-odd players leaving the Irish system this year. We don’t talk about them, we don’t talk about the detail behind them.

“So while we’re disappointed to see James leave, it’s about making sure the next person coming in gets the opportunity to become as good a player as he was, and that’s where we’ve got to.”

Lowe is believed to have been left unhappy with the negotiation process.

It initially seemed that the ‘+1′ optional year in Lowe’s original contract would be activated to cover next season, given that Ireland boss Andy Farrell had underlined during the Six Nations that the wing was still in his World Cup plans.

But that +1 was not triggered. It’s understood that Lowe was notified of this by Leinster in late March.

It’s thought that Lowe was subsequently offered a new one-year contract to cover next season but on significantly reduced terms.

It’s believed that the gap between the previous remuneration and the new terms was to be made up of performance-related incentives that would require Lowe to be available to play a certain number of games for Leinster and Ireland.

It’s believed that the IRFU’s contribution was performance-related, whereas the previous PONI payment was guaranteed.

While Humphreys was not willing to discuss the details of the contract proposal, he was asked if he believes that Lowe was made a fair offer.

“I think again, rather than to talk about it now… James was made an offer. It was a provincial contract, it was always a provincial contract,” said Humphreys.

“There are a number of other similar provincial contracts which are supported by PONI payments throughout the Irish system.

“This was a very similar contract to that, but outside of that, the details are confidential.”

Humphreys also suggested that there aren’t many other players in Irish rugby on deals that involve an optional +1, which the player or the province/IRFU can opt out of by a pre-agreed date.

“Contracts, the same as they are in every sport, are often unique very much to the person and to the situation that they’re in,” said Humphreys.

“So the James Lowe one in the Irish system was, I’m not sure if there’s any others of a similar nature.”

Humphreys said he believes there are enough good wings in Ireland to compensate for the departure of Lowe.

With Mack Hansen and Tommy O’Brien currently injured, Jamie Osborne started on the left wing for Ireland last weekend against Australia.

“He has had a point of difference for the last number of years, but the only way I can answer that is by looking back to the Six Nations when we lost him after 18 minutes of the England game, and the impact that Tommy O’Brien and Robert Baloucoune had over the last three weeks gives us the confidence,” said Humphreys.

“When Mack Hansen is there and you look around, there are other players in our system who have played and performed very well at international level over the course of the last few years.

“So yes, losing a player like James has been a disappointment for us all, but I have no doubt that the players are coming through.

“The challenge for them coming through is about how do they get themselves, because there will be five or six players competing for that place now, and making sure that Ireland continue to compete at the top.”