Leinster's attempts to land Giteau foiled

Leinster's attempts to bring Australian out-half Matt Giteau in as an emergency replacement for Jonathan Sexton have failed.

According to a report in today's Irish Independent, the Heineken Cup champions are believed to have attempted to lure the Brumbies star to cover the injured Sexton, but their ambition was foiled by the IRFU's attempts to place restrictions on the deal.

Sexton, who suffered broken fingers in Ireland's win over South Africa on Saturday, will miss the province's upcoming Heineken Cup double-header with Llanelli, and Leinster will now turn to Shaun Berne to fill the void left by his absence.

However, a Leinster source has since confirmed to RTÉ Sport that their failure to land Giteau had nothing to do with the IRFU, and instead said that the Australian Rugby Union were the ones to block the move.