Shane Byrne

Santa Claus

Anyone know whats happening with the Mullet ?

Saw him driving round in a UK reg range rover yesterday. Didn't realise he had left Saracens until I read the Blackrock got thrown out of the Leddin finance cup for playing him against lansdowne when he wasn't eligible.

Has he retired from top level rugby or did Leinster not offer him a new contract ?

bugler

Don't think Leinster/IRFU were interested in him.

Saracens turned out to be a bad move, but hindsight is everything I suppose.

Stev_o

Terrible player, choked BIG TIME with the lions and did nothing with Scarries. Just let him retire and be down with

maxi-twist

I assume he's only back as he gets his tax back if he plays his last 3 years in reland.

Brian Capture

he deserves to be pilloried for his hairstyle alone - leaving aside his inept and watery performances on the field.

Santa Claus

Brian Capture wrote:

leaving aside his inept and watery performances on the field.

Bit harsh....He's 2nd most capped Leinster player after Reggie...you don't get that with watery performances !

dc69

hes playing for blackrock,his front row teammates are cian culletan and steven verso,2 future irish internationals!

Catcher86

I hear he is pretty pissed off with Leinster for not taking him back. Maybe Connacht will take him.

Santa Claus

dc69 wrote:

hes playing for blackrock,his front row teammates are cian culletan and steven verso,2 future irish internationals!

But Blackrock didn't register him and hence they were disqualified from the Leddin Cup !

dc69

didnt know that

RugBeir

I thought he did well for Ireland after Keith Wood retired. It was a very hard act to follow, but he did extremely well and deserves credit for that.

dc69

i also think people are being a bit harsh on him,he never really got a chance,he was just around at the wrong time

cgarvey

Catcher86 wrote:

I hear he is pretty pissed off with Leinster for not taking him back.

Well he was openly "disappointed" in interviews he gave around the time of the You're A Star thing on RTE.

Linford

Shane Byrne was a great player for Ireland after Keith Wood. He was clearly Ireland's number two hooker behind Wood for years but was treated appalingly during the 90s while a whole litany of far inferior hookers were selected ahead of him for Ireland.

One of Ireland's best and most consistent hookers when it came to the line-out, so much so that he sealed the hooker position ahead of Frankie Sheahan in 2003 (while Wood was injured) and 2004.

He was made a scape goat for the line out with the Lions in the first test, when it was clearly O'Connell's fault.

Apparently he got a little greedy when looking for a new Leinster contract in 2004 and hence the move to Saracens.

He is now back in Blackrock in order to finish off his professional career in Ireland (he has to finish his professional career in Ireland to avail of some pro sports player tax back thing).

The Munch is a legend!!!!

tampopo

Linford wrote:

(he has to finish his professional career in Ireland to avail of some pro sports player tax back thing).
QUOTE]

this bit is the reasoning behind him playing at home now.