At present, reigning Guinness Pro 12 champions Connacht have been forced to contend with a mounting injury crisis.
On Tuesday, head coach Pat Lam revealed that the IRFU turned down a request from the province that could have seen Lam's son Mitch (he has played for Connacht Eagles) play for free for the team as Connacht look to cope without a large number of players absent through injury.
Lam spoke about the matter this week: "It was just turned down by the IRFU because he is a foreigner. Mitch was going to cost nothing, he’s my son, so I wasn’t going to charge Connacht Rugby.
“We only needed somebody for three weeks because [Shane] O’Leary is not far around the corner. Craig Ronaldson is not far so it is just to cover off the injuries. All the new guys who have come in need three or four weeks to know our calls."
Former Ireland captain Keith Wood was on Off The Ball on Wednesday night and gave his take on the issue, feeling that the mitigating circumstances at Connacht this season warrant something to be done to help the province.
"At this instance something has to be done for Connacht," he said.
"You can't argue irrespective of how many players Connacht have or don't have for three months or six months or whatever it is to get them them out of the hole that they're in at the moment - and a totally depleted squad - you have to do something."
The Irish Times' rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley also gave his take on the matter on Off The Ball.
"Even John Muldoon is out of this week's game. That ought to confirm more than anything else that there's an injury crisis in Connacht and I don't see what could possibly have been lost by allowing Pat Lam's son to be a short term emergency signing for Connacht at no extra cost involved."
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