Ireland Under-20 fullback Noah Byrne has turned down a professional contract with Leinster having agreed a deal with an Australian rules (AFL) club. Byrne had been offered an academy rugby contract with the province, but after months of deliberation he has opted to pursue the Australian adventure and the challenge of a new sport. He will link up with his new club later this year.Leinster academy manager Peter Smyth confirmed Byrne had been offered a contract and, while disappointed to lose a player with the rare attribute of top-end pace, he said: “I understand his decision and my door will always be open.”Smyth recalled another player of massive potential who was lost to Aussie rules as a teenager, Conor Nash. A brilliant rugby prospect, he elected to go to Australia and has since played over 120 matches for Hawthorn. “He is definitely one that got away,” Smyth added. Several AFL clubs are understood to have made contact when Byrne was playing minor football for Dublin while in fifth year at Gonzaga College. He declined the initial overtures as he wanted to play Senior Cup rugby with the school.The Australian clubs got in touch again last year, but Byrne’s preference was to try and make the Ireland Under-20 rugby team. He accomplished that goal and was a mainstay in Andrew Browne’s side that won four out of five matches in the Six Nations. Byrne flew home from Georgia last week, where he played with Ireland in the Junior World Championship before injury curtailed his involvement. The 20-year-old suffered a shoulder dislocation in the final Six Nations game against Scotland and re-injured it during the opening World Championship game against England. He will have an operation to stabilise the shoulder in August and will then travel to Australia to take up his contract. Lightning-quick, the Trinity College student is a significant loss to Leinster as someone of his pace is a rarity in Irish rugby circles.