Elsom confirms Leinster departure

Rocky Elsom has confirmed he will return to Australia to resume his career with the Wallabies. Leinster were desperate to keep the all-action backrow, whose bulldozing runs and ferocious tackling proved instrumental in their Heineken Cup success.

But Elsom, who has been in regular contact with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), insists the lure of adding to his 58 Wallaby caps has persuaded him to conclude his one-year stay in Europe.

“I’ve really enjoyed this season,” said Elsom, who starts for the Barbarians in Saturday’s clash with England at Twickenham.

“I already liked Dublin before playing for Leinster and obviously enjoyed the rugby.

“I didn’t expect to like it as much as I have done but ultimately I’m Australian and I want to play for Australia.

“You don’t always have the opportunity to do that but I do now so I want to take advantage of it.

“My contract with Leinster is over so I’m going to try and head back to Australia.

“I want to play for a Super 14 team because my first priority has always been the Wallabies. That’s what I want to do.

“I’ve spoken at length with the Australian management about moving back, it’s not something I’ve only just decided to do.

“It’s just about finalising things now.”

Man of the match in the Heineken Cup quarter-final and final, skipper Brian O’Driscoll even went as far as to state Leinster could not have won the competition without Elsom.

Such a formidable presence will be impossible to replace and his decision to decline taking a one-year option on his contract is a huge blow to the new European champions.

“The experience of playing European rugby has been great,” said Elsom. “We have two sprints in Australia - the Super 14 is over three months and the Test season is similar in length.

“That’s it, whereas here it’s a lot longer and there are more chances in multiple competitions.

“We’re spoilt a bit in the southern hemisphere in terms of the level of the competition.

“This season has gone a lot better than I expected. I didn’t expect it not to be a success, but the way it has turned has been great.

“We had a team that struggled at times but we fought really hard.

“That doesn’t always look good in the middle of the season but it’s handy when you play the big matches. You need that spirit - it’s all we had at times.

“We had the final and won that which was fantastic, but a couple of weeks earlier we had what was almost a bigger game in Munster at Croke Park.”