Payne has his eyes on Ireland caps

Ulster fullback Jared Payne, who signed a new three-year deal with the club that will see him remain at Ravenhill until at least the summer of 2016 admitted that the possibility of representing Ireland was a consideration in his decision to agree an extension.

“It’s a long way away and I’ll obviously have to do a lot of work if I want to make the Irish team but it definitely was a factor.” The 27-year-old New Zealand born player becomes Irish qualified on the residency rule next year, having joined the province from the Auckland Blues in 2011.

Payne, who was yesterday selected in the Barbarians squad to face England and the British & Irish Lions, snapped his Achilles tendon just three matches after arriving in Belfast. A beautifully balanced runner and fine footballer he’d added a game breaking dynamic to the Ulster backline.

Ulster have a number of injury concerns ahead of Friday night’s RaboDirect Pro12 semi-final against the Scarlets. John Afoa (hamstring) is rated as a 60/40 chance, Callum Black has a knee injury, Luke Marshall won’t play again this season but Rory Best has shrugged off a knock he picked up last weekend.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s Alain Rolland will referee this season’s Heineken Cup final between Clermont Auvergne and Toulon at the Aviva stadium on Saturday, May 18th, having previously refereed the 2004 decider between Wasps and Toulouse.

Nigel Owens will preside over his fifth European final in seven seasons when he takes charge of the Amlin Challenge Cup final between Leinster and Stade Francais at the RDS on May 17th.

Leicester Tigers captain and former Ireland international fullback Geordan Murphy has announced that he will retire from rugby at the end of the season. The 35-year-old has spent 16 years at Welford Road since making his debut against Rotherham in 1997 and during that time appeared in four Heineken Cup finals.

Murphy, who won 72 caps for Ireland, said it was “the right time” to stop but confirmed that he would stay on at the club in a coaching role.