In observing comments made by Leinster Rugby's Head Coach Joe Schmidt at this afternoon's press conference, Connacht Rugby CEO Tom Sears responded by saying:
"We have the utmost respect for Joe Schmidt and what he has achieved at Leinster. Joe is perfectly entitled to his views and we wouldn't expect him to say anything else. It is interesting to note that he sees these actions as good for Irish Rugby. We would take a very different view that the constant targeting of our senior players, if allowed to continue, will have a detrimental effect on the IRFU's desire to see four strong provinces representing Irish Rugby and producing players for the National Squad."
"Regarding comments made on the protocols to approach players from another province, we do not believe the protocols are sufficient or serve Irish Rugby well and I know the IRFU have recently discussed reviewing these in the near future".
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