Declan Rice ‘overwhelmed’ by England vs Ireland dilemma as Mick McCarthy holds talks with West Ham star’s father

McCarthy hopeful 'positive' talks will see Rice (above) chose Ireland over England
Getty Images
Tony Mogan26 November 2018

Mick McCarthy remains hopeful Declan Rice will declare for Republic of Ireland after having a “good conversation” with the midfielder’s father, and admits that the West Ham star is 'overwhelmed' by the international tug of war with England.

London-born Rice has represented Ireland at every youth level having also made three appearances for the senior side.

None of those have come in competitive competition however with the 19-year-old West Ham starlet still eligible to represent England.

Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate has approached Rice over declaring for the country of his birth and McCarthy, who was unveiled as the new Ireland boss at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, has suggested a final decision could come next month.

"I spoke to Declan’s father, Sean, and I had a really good conversation with him.

"Just to clear up a few things, Declan wasn’t here for the games because he had a fall out with Roy or Martin, He has the utmost respect for those guys.

"But he was asked by Gareth Southgate to go up and see St George’s Park and to see whether he could be enticed to play with them.

"Of course, there was a hue and cry then that he shouldn’t play and lots of different opinions.

"And he didn’t say he wanted to or didn’t want to, but he found it overwhelming."

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