With Ireland have a relatively limited playing pool at their disposal, the IRFU are always keen to add Irish qualified players to the club game in this country.

Quite a few of those players have gone on to be capped at test level, with Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham the prime examples. In saying that, not every signing has worked out in such a manner.

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France International Had Interesting Take On Being Snubbed By Ireland

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Antoine Frisch signed for Munster in 2022, with the French-born centre being brought in as a potential future Ireland international. He qualified to wear green via his Dublin-born grandmother.

Frisch would soon be called up to play for Emerging Ireland, although he would never be capped at test level despite some excellent performance for Munster. The 29-year old would go on to make his France debut in 2024, having also signed for Toulon that summer.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Antoine Frisch said that he has no regrets over how his time in Irish rugby played out.

I could have played for Ireland but that didn’t happen. My dream was always to play for France initially so when the opportunity came up it was a no-brainer for me…

I remember having a call with Andy Farrell on the phone but I wasn’t in the [Ireland] mix at that time. I didn’t get the call up. That’s all I can say. I don’t really have the answers there. It wasn’t on me. I was just playing my absolute best with Munster…

I really had faith that whatever happened I was going to play internationally and get capped. That was my only ambition and goal. I just trusted that by putting the performances in with Munster that things were going to play out the way they’re supposed to and that’s what happened.

Frisch was a quality operator for Munster during his time at the province, although he was perhaps unfortunate to play in a position where Ireland already have quite a bit of depth.

The player has struggled with injury since his move to Toulon, so far failing to add to the two caps he won for France during their tour to Argentina in 2024.

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