Munster have reportedly joined the race to sign Ireland international out-half Joey Carbery from Leinster.
Ulster seemed the most likely destination for the young out-half as they try to fill a key position following the axing of Paddy Jackson.
Reports last week suggested neither Carbery nor his provincial team mate Ross Byrne were keen on a move north, it appears neither man will be relocating to Belfast.
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt met with Carbery in Dublin a fortnight ago to share his vision for the out-half's career.
Schmidt reportedly favours a move away from Leinster, as he feels it is important Carbery becomes a first choice 10. He has no hope of usurping Sexton at Leinster which leaves him between a rock and a hard place.
Staying would mean going against the wishes of Schmidt, that would not be the wisest move career wise and the risky gamble of moving to a club in crisis isn’t particularly appealing either.
A third option has emerged in recent days, and according to the Irish Independent it is at such an advanced stage that Carbey met with Munster head coach Johann van Graan to hear the sales pitch in person.
A decision on Carbery’s future is likely to be decided by the end of this week, former Leinster out-half Andy Dunne feels the best place for the 22-year-old is Leinster. He was a guest on Monday's OTB AM:
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“My own view is that he should stay in Leinster, even though he won’t get as much game time at 10 Johnny is not going to be playing every game.
“I think he’s got the capacity to do what he did on Saturday at a regular basis; his first European start was about two seasons ago.
“He beat eleven defenders in his first ever game starting as a 10 while that might not be your number one role, your job is to distribute to other if you’ve got a guy in that scenario can beat eleven players in a one on one basis you’re going to create so much for your team.
“He doesn’t just make line breaks that don’t result in anything; the play never breaks down after he makes a line break he almost always creates a link up or an assist for a try, the way defenses are so well tuned now, a guy who can do that is invaluable.”
