LEINSTER MANAGER GUY EASTERBY has told TheScore.ie that there are no plans, at present, to extend Lote Tuqiri’s stay at the club.
Leinster signed the Australian back on short-term deal in September but have not been able to play him as much as they would have liked. The 34-year-old appeared off the bench in a 12 — 6 defeat to Glasgow Warriors before starting a 22 — 16 reversal to Munster at Thomond Park.
Tuqiri hobbled off with a hamstring injury in the final minutes of that interprovincial loss and has not featured since. Easterby was confident the 67-times capped back would feature in the club’s next three league fixtures.
He said, “We’re very hopeful he’ll be available next weekend [against Dragons] then there is Treviso and Scarlets games. His contract runs out at the end of November so we’ve got three games ahead of us there and hopefully he’ll play a very big part.
“We’re going to need him as we’ve 17 guys in the Ireland squad so we’re going to need everyone on deck.”
Asked if negotiations were taking place to extend the rugby league convert’s stay, Easterby replied, “I don’t know, is the honest answer. It is not something we have spoken about yet. With a lot of people in the Ireland squad — we’ve got Rob Kearney, Fergus McFadden, Dave Kearney and I’m sure that Luke Fitzgerald will be in the mix.
“You look at that and think ‘Jeez, we could do with somebody to give us a dig out’. I’m sure that there are a number of young guys that will put their hands up and look for that jersey as well.”
