Walking into the Sports Bar at University of Limerick and some of Munster's injured [re-habbing] players are having a spot of breakfast.
Stopping over to say 'good morning', I check with Chris Farrell on when he'll be back in action. Not long to go.
Before I head off, I tell Farrell that I am down to interview his Munster teammate Dave Kilcoyne.
"Ah," he replies with an eyebrow raise, "that should be fun."
'Killer' is in top form this season and his normal, cheery demeanour is helped by the fact that Christmas is dangerously close.
Added to that is the news that CJ Stander has joined Munster captain Peter O'Mahony in signing on for another three seasons with the club.
"I'm delighted for them," says Kilcoyne. "I just hope they left some money for me."
While O'Mahony signed up on December 15, Stander's deal dragged on an extra five days. On Tuesday, there were even well-sourced reports of a mammoth €840,000 per year salary offer from French side Montpellier, owned by billionaire Mohed Altrad. While the link caused flutters, it was one that we were not convinced was based on a rock-solid offer.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/943115807223156736
The Montpellier link may have been enough to give Stander a mini salary bump but we are not sure if the IRFU were buying it.
Kilcoyne certainly was not. The loose-head prop was never worried that Stander or O'Mahony would be upping sticks, not when the team feel they are on the cusp of something big. Kilcoyne declared:
"It's great that we've retained Pete and CJ.
"I was telling them that they'd better not let me do an interview beforehand as I'd tell their cards to the IRFU straight away. That they'll be here, they're going nowhere, and they can low-ball them away. But no. it's great that they're here now."
Asked how Kilcoyne learned the
official, definite news that Stander was sticking around, he said:
"There's an app, Huddle, that we're all part of. It's nice to let all the players know first what the story is with teammates. We found out that he's staying for three more years.
"Then we can say, 'Look, you don't have to keep going to the papers and go bluffing them all with these ridiculous offers from billionaires in France when you're here for the next few years'. Happy days."
Kilcoyne doesn't disappoint. The chief driver of craic in a Munster squad on the up, he has the lads on this one.
*The full Dave Kilcoyne interview will feature in the December 28 episode of The Hard Yards podcast
