Preparations a concern for three Irish provinces

THE game of rugby expands, and seeks to entertain like never before, from next Friday.

We will witness the dawn of a Pro14 tournament but as we showcase elsewhere in The Title this morning, our provinces appear unfit to meet this historic date on the front foot.

The loss of Pat Lam in Connacht and the departure of Rassie Erasmus back home to South Africa sooner rather than later – the Munster coach mentioned this week that he is willing to leave as soon as his employers give him the nod to go – have left two of our four teams on the European stage at sixes and sevens.

Ulster’s Les Kiss does not have the look or the sparkle of a man who will lead them to the top of the Pro14 ladder, and only Leinster have the appearance of a settled outfit determined to become the very best team in Europe once again. Irish teams have never looked more unprepared as they face into a whole new season. But we must cross our fingers and hope only the best for them. Though mostly we fear for three of them. Erasmus (below) is sticking around, even though his intentions as a professional coach to do his job to the best of his ability while he is here, is no great help. We need to see him gone, and we need to see Munster getting their coaching house in a working order that lives up to the heady days of Declan Kidney’s reign.