Paddy Jackson is expected to get a contract with a top French club after he was sacked by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and Ulster yesterday.

Clermont Auvergne, the French champions in 2017, are favourites to sign the outhalf, who was Ireland’s back-up to Johnny Sexton until he was suspended when he was charged with rape. Sources say that the French club has already made contact with the player’s agent.

Although Jackson and Stuart Olding, his fellow Ireland and Ulster player, were acquitted on all charges after a nine-week trial, their treatment of the 19-year-old complainant and the demeaning text messages they shared sparked widespread disgust.

This led sponsors of both Ulster and Ireland privately — and in some cases publicly — to let