Tadhg Furlong’s three-year contract, one of 21 contracts announced by Leinster on Wednesday, puts the 25-year-old in Irish rugby’s high earner bracket.

Having featured prominently during the Lions series in New Zealand last summer, the Wexford tighthead prop was able to command a salary of €500,000-plus, which only leaves him behind deals negotiated by Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton in recent seasons.

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Furlong’s soaring market value forced the IRFU to offer a significant pay increase, while still way short of the figures an international tighthead prop commands in the English Premiership or French Top 14.

“I can’t say I seriously looked away but you poke your head out to look at your value,” Furlong said last December. “It might be the case after this contract that I might move away and look at different experiences, a different rugby culture outside the bubble. It’s more lucrative to move away but I had to look at the pros and cons of such a move.

The Campile native and New Ross clubman has soared to amazing heights in just a few seasons of elite rugby.

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Courtesy of Irish Times.