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Premiership giants to battle Montpellier for Leinster's Ross Byrne
By Neil Fissler
Leicester are weighing up a move for out-of-favour Ireland fly-half Ross Byrne as they continue to make plans for life without two-time Rugby World Cup winner Handre Pollard.
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The 29-year-old Byrne has slipped down the pecking order with Leo Cullen’s runaway United Rugby Championship leaders, this season coming off the bench five times in the six games that he has played since the start of the campaign.
He scored a try in his only start, the win over the Dragons in September, and is now considered the third choice for Leinster, with Ciaran Frawley starting all three of the games that he has played.
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Sam Prendergast, the 21-year-old who is tipped as a future Ireland star, has started twice for the province this season, including last time out against the Lions, while Byrne’s younger brother Harry is also pushing for his place in the squad.
It has left the Dublin-born No10, who has played 175 games for Leinster, to seriously consider his future, which has already brought him to the attention of big-spending Top 14 outfit Montpellier.
Bernard Laporte is keen to acquire Byrne, who has won 23 Test caps but hasn’t featured for Andy Farrell’s side since the World Cup. As things stand, his prospects for a recall are looking bleak.
Tigers boss Michael Cheika has asked for a list of available players, with Pollard looking likely for a move to Japan unless he accepts a large pay cut to remain at Welford Road next season.
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The Tigers were linked in the French media with Owen Farrell, who also claimed that they were interested in signing Marcus Smith before he agreed to remain at Harlequins after rejecting a huge contract offer from Bristol Bears.
Byrne, who started last season’s Champions Cup final defeat at the hands of Toulouse, is a much more realistic target for them if he decides to leave Ireland and fancies a move a lot closer to home.
