Frustrating.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has expressed his frustration at the media talk that has surrounded the contract negotiations of some of his top international stars.

Schmidt says some of what has been printed has been inaccurate and that most of the conversations the IRFU have had with players have been positive.

Speaking at the RTÉ Sports Awards last night, Schmidt said:

“It’s a frustrating time for us because we know how positive the conversations are most of the time and you get things thrown up in print sometimes that you know are inaccurate,”

“Those sort of things, while they are frustrating at the time, as long as it works out okay in the end (it’s okay).

“We were confident but we were never sure because you know there are opportunities abroad and they may offer more opportunity financially and also Peter is an intelligent man and he’s going to look to broaden his horizons at some stage and Jess his wife is very intelligent too. They are fantastic people and we want to keep them in the country.

“I just know what it means to him to play for Munster and to play for Ireland and we’re delighted that he’s going to continue to do that.”

So far Ireland has secured new deals for the likes of Peter O’Mahony and Tadhg Furlong, with deals still yet to be struck with Iain Henderson and CJ Stander.