Munster head coach Anthony Foley has admitted that the constant rumours and speculation surrounding Paul O'Connell are having a knock on effect on his squad and their end-of-season run-in.

And Foley has told Toulon to stop their pursuit of the Ireland captain.

"I think it's important that we look after Paulie and this - I called it nonsense before - is a nuisance factor more than anything at the moment, in terms of talking about stuff that a fellow in the south of France is talking about. He can go after whatever he wants but we'd like him to leave our players alone," he stated. 

Recently on Off The Ball, Alan Quinlan told us that he does not expect his former Munster team-mate to make the switch to France, saying: "Being realistic, I don't know how it's going to happen. He's contracted until the end of 2015-16 season. He's going to be 36 then. I can't see him going."