London Irish hope to keep Marland Yarde and James O'Connor as takeover edges closer Many of Smith's new targets are likely to be Irish qualified players, as one of the key tenets of the new consortium, which will lead to the appointment of a new six-man board to run the club, is that the club returns to its Irish roots. Ulster and Ireland prop Tom Court has already been signed for next season, while Munster and Ireland second row Donnacha Ryan is understood to be close to agreeing terms for next season. Moving the club back to London - Irish have played at the Madejksi Stadium in Reading since 2000 - is also likely to be explored by the new owners. The club are in the process of completing a state-of-the-art 57-acre training complex in Sunbury following the sale of their former ground The Avenue. Options likely to be under consideration are building a new stadium on a green or brown field site or a possible groundshare with AFC Wimbledon or Brentford football club. Meanwhile, Conor O'Shea, the Harlequins director of rugby, urged on Wednesday night for "someone to swallow their pride" in order to broker a deal to salvage the future of the Heineken Cup. O'Shea said he was encouraged by the call by Ian Ritchie, the Rugby Football Union chief executive, for another meeting in a bid to find a last-minute resolution to the row that has seen the English clubs leave the ERC-run tournament next season. "I really hope it is sorted," O'Shea said. I know there are other scenarios that are being explored and I know that there are things that we need to look at but the Heineken Cup is the ultimate competition for coaches, players and supporters. A crunch meeting between the Welsh Rugby Union and its four regions to discuss Welsh participation in Europe next season and the exodus of top players abroad broke up on Wednesday night without resolution. Further talks are planned. Wales captain Sam Warburton had set a deadline of Wednesday for the WRU to top up an offer from the Cardiff Blues, but Cardiff chairman Peter Thomas was unable to shed much light. "Hopefully Sam will be in Cardiff and Wales and we are still pursuing that," Thomas said.