McCarter is staying

The talented number ten has reportedly attracted interest from English clubs, but Lynch is confident the former Foyle & Londonderry student will remain at Judges Road.

"There has been some talk about an agent looking for an out-half for a club in England, but that is as far it has gone," admitted Lynch.

The Kiwi coach, who also confirmed that preparation for their forthcoming season in AIL Division Three rugby gets underway tomorrow (Thursday) night, is frustrated that a number of fellow senior clubs have been trying to sign his players.

"There has been a few clubs who didn't go through the proper channels in regards trying to talk to some of our players, but we got that sorted," he said.

"However I have to admit I was disappointed by the lack of professionalism they showed.

"Thankfully that now looks to be behind us now and we can start concentrating for life in AIL Three. We have lost Mark O'Connor to Rainey, but that move was very amicable

"We are obviously disappointed that Mark has left us because he has played a major role in our success over the last few years.

"To be fair to Mark he wanted to have more minutes at number ten, but we have Richard in that position, so we decided it was better for him to move on, but I have told him that the door is always open, in fact he'll be doing pre-season training with us because he is working in the city.

"At this stage Mark is the only player who has left the club and at the minute I'm still scouting and trying to recruit some new local players.

"In fact all the players have their pre-season fitness training session over the next few weeks, starting tomorrow night."