SOCIAL media has been ablaze with reports from Australia that the IRFU are trying to secure the services of Massimo De Lutiis, a 22-year-old tighthead with a big reputation.
Dubbed Australia’s ‘strongest footballer’ on the back of some freakish stats in the gym (De Lutiis can bench-press more than 200kg, apparently), he is well regarded and attracting a lot of attention.
Indeed, current head coach Joe Schmidt drafted this young Australian prop into the Wallabies senior set-up before he’d even made his senior debut for the Queensland Reds.
Schmidt knows a good player when he sees one. After all, the New Zealander once handed a fresh-faced James Ryan his Ireland debut — against the US Eagles in the summer of 2017 — before the young Leinster lock had even played a senior game for his native province.
And there is a fair bit of buzz around De Lutiis in his native land. Australia, who will host next year’s World Cup, already have a decent stable of tightheads at the moment, with Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Zane Nonggor and Tom Robertson on board.
Massimo De Lutiis is a 22-year-old tighthead with a big reputation
But De Lutiis has been widely tipped to break into the Wallabies set-up sooner rather than later, and become a mainstay at Test level. Well, unless the IRFU — who have reportedly tabled a ‘life-changing’ offer — convince De Lutiis to pursue a new career path.
The fact he represented Australia ‘A’ in 2024 would muddy the waters a bit. De Lutiis would probably not be eligible for Ireland immediately, but in the near future, perhaps in time for next year’s World Cup.
From a pure business standpoint, it would be a smart move. Munster and Ulster are in dire need of reinforcements at tighthead.
Munster were forced to bring in former Leinster stalwart Michael Ala’alatoa from Clermont midway through this season to shore up their scrum. John Ryan, who is now 37, continues to provide cover in an area which looks desperately shallow. Oli Jager has struggled for fitness this season. Roman Salanoa, meanwhile, has been off the grid for the best part of three years.
Sending De Lutiis to Belfast would allow Ulster to redeploy Tom O’Toole at loosehead prop, which would please Ireland head coach Andy Farrell and David Humphreys, the IRFU’s performance director. O’Toole’s conversion from tighthead during the Six Nations was one of the big success stories during a galvanising campaign for Farrell and Co.
This is all conjecture for now, however. No doubt, it will cause divisive debate, here and down in Australia.
The Aussies could only watch on as Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham, two of their own who slipped through the system, arrived back home as part of Farrell’s Lions squad last summer.
Finlay Bealham, Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen have thrived for Connacht, Ireland and the Lions
It was fair game. Both players have Irish ancestry and neither felt they got a fair crack in the Australian system so they sought pastures new. And they have thrived at Connacht. Ireland and Lions recognition followed.
The IRFU pulled off another major coup when they convinced talented South African schoolboy Josh Neill to move to Leinster and hitch his international wagon to the Irish cause.
Neill was superb in the recent U20 Six Nations. The powerful flanker looks set for a brilliant career with Leinster and Ireland when he breaks into the senior ranks in the next few years.
Dan Kelly, who won a solitary cap for England before switching allegiance back to Ireland, was convinced to leave Leicester and join Munster last summer. Another smart piece of business.
Indeed, the IRFU are understood to be tracking Irish-qualified out-half Jamie Benson, who came through the Harlequins system. Again, it’s an area where Munster and Ulster need reinforcements.
Ulster, as it happens, have drafted Irish-qualified teenagers Paddy Woods, who plays at lock, and Rynard Gordon, a versatile outside back, from Australia and South Africa respectively, into their academy system recently. Munster head coach Clayton McMillan recently convinced 21-year-old New Zealander Ben O’Donovan to sign an 18-month deal. O’Donovan has lined out for the New Zealand U20s and Canterbury and is a highly-rated scrum-half.
This poaching of overseas talent or the ‘Project Player’ scheme has been a divisive topic for decades.
Wherever you stand on it, there is no doubting that it has strengthened Ireland’s hand at international level. Even when World Rugby amended the eligibility rule, increasing it from three years to five, the IRFU have still managed to find raw southern hemisphere prospects, naturalise them and nurture them into top-class Test players.
There have definitely been more hits than misses. Isaac Boss, Jared Payne, Hansen, James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park and Bundee Aki have been the big success stories.
Michael Bent (left) was one of the first project props to land on these shores, while Keynan Knox (right) spent six years at Munster, making 32 appearances, before leaving in 2024
Whether you like it or not, the IRFU see this as a major part of a masterplan, which ensures the national team continues to dine at international rugby’s top table.
When it comes to sourcing top-quality props from abroad, the jury is still out, however. Even if the signing of De Lutiis comes to pass, we’re going to approach this transfer with a healthy degree of scepticism. Because the IRFU don’t have the best track record when it comes to landing props from foreign lands.
Michael Bent was one of the first project props to land on these shores. The Taranaki prop was whisked off his long-haul flight from Dublin Airport and routed to Carton House for an ill-advised photo shoot in the autumn of 2012.
A picture of a bleary-eyed Bent, still jetlagged to the gills, holding a hurley, lives in infamy. Bent would make his Ireland debut, from the bench, against the Springboks a few days later.
The New Zealander, to be fair, went on to carve out a solid career for Leinster, representing the province on 155 occasions before he retired in 2021. But the whole affair left a sour taste.
Other naturalised props have come and gone. Does anyone remember Peter Borlase? The Irish-qualified tighthead from Canterbury who pitched up at Munster and was gone within a few years. Rodney Ah You is another failed project which springs to mind. Nathan White was a hardy Kiwi tighthead, but the Waikato prop was in the late stages of his career when he became eligible to represent Ireland.
Then there’s Keynan Knox, who was drafted into the Munster academy as an 18-year-old from the South African schoolboy system. Knox spent six years at the province, making just 32 appearances, before leaving in 2024. He was recently lining out for Bourgoin in France’s third division.
Bealham, a stalwart and fan favourite in Galway, is something of an outlier. A foreign prop sourced by the IRFU who has thrived at international level.
Is De Lutiis made of the same stuff? Time will tell, but we’re not holding our breath. The IRFU don’t have a great track record on this front.