IRELAND OZ TOUR DOOMED
THE OUTLOOK for sport has grown gloomier following the lockdown announced by the Taoiseach on Friday night – and the effect will soon be felt by Irish stars in international competition.
With the domestic schedule wiped until at least April 19, but likely to remain so deep into the summer, the international one looks certain to follow suit – with reports from Australia yesterday claiming the summer tour Down Under for Andy Farrell’s Ireland is doomed.
With even the feasibility of individual training now impacted by the restrictions detailed by
Leo Varadkar in his address to the nation, sport is unlikely to be played for weeks and weeks to come. Domestically, this will have an enormous impact
but it will soon have a major effect on one of the country’s most successful international sides. The Irish rugby team are due to travel to Australia for a two-Test series (July 4 and July 11) and, while the tour has not been cancelled yet, it seems impossible for it to take place.
A senior Australian Rugby Union official has admitted that the matches are unlikely to go ahead, according to a report in the Sydney Morning
Herald, and also questioned if a November series – that includes a visit to Dublin by the Wallabies – would be played, either.
The Australian union are looking at a loss of over AUS$90 million if they don’t play a Test this year, while the world’s most successful Test nation, New Zealand, have announced pay cuts. It seems particularly gloomy to look ahead to an autumn schedule also wiped by Covid-19, but that it is being discussed reflects the nervousness sweeping world sport.
The English rugby union could be facing losses of £50 million, while Ireland is not immune, either. Pay cuts were announced by the IRFU last week, but the longer the crisis goes on, it increases the financial pressure on an organisation that has to pay wages without the support of Tests, its biggest financial instrument.