With the news that Ian Madigan is seriously considering the possibility of moving to England in the hope of first team rugby, we have compiled a XV of Irish players who have made the switch to England.
15. Geordan Murphy
Leicester
Murphy spent his entire professional career at Leicester, winning a couple of Heineken Cups and a whopping eight Premiership titles. He scored the opening try against Munster in the 2002 Heineken Cup Final.
That he played his club rugby in England probably inhibited his Ireland career. He spent most of his international career as a replacement full back.
14. Simon Geoghegan
London Irish & Bath
Forced to retire before the League was renamed the Premiership but still cannot be ignored. As has been pointed out numerous times, he was one of the greatest Irish players of all with the misfortune to arrive in the wrong era. Played internationally at a time when Irish forwards and half backs were ideologically opposed to wingers touching the ball.
13. Johne Murphy
Leicester
The versatile Murphy will have to drift into the outside centre to make up for a dearth of options in this area. He won Premiership titles with Leicester in 2007, 2009 and 2010.
12. Kevin Maggs
Bristol, Bath, Rotherham & Moseley
The wikipedia page of Kevin 'Crash Ball' Maggs makes some interesting claims about his pre-eminence. It proudly reports that he is especially revered in the south of France. So much so that the Paris-Marseille TGV line was renamed in his honour. At the renaming ceremony, former French President Francois Mitterand (who died in 1996) compared the TGV with the early 2000s Kevin Maggs.
11. Niall Morris
Leicester
Morris joined Leicester in 2011, winning the 2012-13 Aviva Premiership title with his new club. He scored the only try in the controversial final against Northampton.
The game is mainly remembered now for Wayne Barnes sending off Dylan Hartley after hearing the words 'fucking cheat' emanating from the losing scrum.
10. JJ Hanrahan
Northampton
There was much hand-wringing at home after it was announced that Hanrahan had grown tired waiting at Munster and was offing to Northampton Saints.
His biggest impact thus far was kicking the team to victory over Scarlets in the European Champions Cup.
9. Eoin Reddan
Wasps
Reddan enjoyed a massively successful period at Wasps, one which not only added to his trophy haul but served to remind the Irish coach of his existence.
Sandwiched between Munster's European triumphs, the all-English 2007 Heineken Cup final was widely ignored in Ireland and is now little remembered. But the Wasps-Leicester game contained a big Irish interest with no fewer than seven Irish players named across both squads.
Reddan scored the second and last try of the game as Wasps soundly beat Leicester 25-9 in the Twickenham decider. He would win a Premiership medal with Wasps in 2008.
Read more: 7 Irish Players Who've Won Heineken Cups With Non-Irish Clubs
1. Paul Wallace
Saracens
Playing for Saracens between 1996 and 2001, he still travelled home to play for Leinster in the 1996-97 Heineken Cup. It was that curious period when the provinces still occupied a strange halfway house between outright club teams and representative sides that played infrequently.
2. Keith Wood
Harlequins
For most Irish fans, the primary memory they have of Wood at club level is his sole year back at Munster for the 1999/2000 season. They lost narrowly to Northampton in the final but Wood promptly returned from where he came - Harlequins.
Wood was only back in Munster because Harlequins were forced to cut costs in 1999 and they told Wood they couldn't afford his hefty wages.
He played for Harlequins between 1995 and 1999 and then again between 2000 and 2002. Ronan O'Gara observed in his autobiography that Wood was never really a Munster man. His emergence pre-dated the Munster revolution. In terms of Irish club rugby, Wood is more associated with Garryowen, with whom he won two AIL titles in 1992 and 1994.
3. Mike Ross
Harlequins
Unable to earn a spot on the Munster starting XV, Ross left for Harlequins in 2006, spending three worthwhile years at the Stoop. Ross played in the infamous bloodgate match between Harlequins and Leinster in the 2009 Heineken Cup quarter-final. Later that year he would move from Quins to Leinster.
4. Bob Casey
London Irish
His decision to move to London Irish resulted in a fruitful club career but hampered his prospects of breaking into the Irish team. He only played one Six Nations game for Ireland against England in the opener in 2000. Ireland were hammered and Casey was one of those culled before the Scotland tie, the game that would kick-start Ireland's renaissance. He would never get a run in a serious international again.
5. Leo Cullen
Leicester
Won a Guinness Premiership with Leicester in 2007 and was part of the match-day squad for the Heineken Cup Final that year. They lost to Wasps. Cullen returned to Leinster in 2007 having spent two years in England.
6. Johnny O'Connor
Wasps
Typically a no.7, O'Connor spent four years at Wasps between 2003 and 2007, winning three straight Premierships and a Heineken Cup in Warren Gatland's tenure. He hung around Wasps long enough to see the club winning another European Cup in 2007 but was not part of the matchday squad.
7. Shane Jennings
Leicester
Played for Leicester during the exact same period as Leo Cullen. Jennings won the '07 Premiership and started the 2007 Heineken Cup Final against Wasps. Leicester lost but Jennings would start and win a Heineken Cup Final two years later in Murrayfield.
8. Victor Costello
London Irish
Ireland's greatest shot-putter/professional rugby player, Costello was part of the large exodus to England before the start of the 1996-97 season. With the arrival of professionalism and the bleak state of Irish rugby it was anticipated that practically all top Irish players would be playing club rugby in England.
Read more: Ian Madigan Has Given A Very Honest Take On Where His Future Lies
