Bitter infighting is threatening future well-being of national side
THE ALL-IRELAND League is back, baby...
Hold on everyone, don’t get too excited; not back in terms of profile and frontline relevance, but in the sense that it kicked off this weekend in the lower divisions, with divisions 1A and 1B getting underway next weekend.
The reality is the vast majority of Irish rugby followers are either unaware or unbothered by that fact. While thousands turned out in The Sportsground and Thomond Park yesterday, with many more tuning in on television, the AIL grounds were spattered by the usual die-hards and if an audience breaks the 200 mark it’s high-five time.
It is impossible to talk about the AIL without harking back to the halcyon days of the 1990s, when the reverse situation applied and clubs were the big draw.
In those days, AIL previews involved special supplements in newspapers with team-by-team breakdowns, ins and outs, interviews, profiles and predictions.
Nowadays, despite a huge increase in rugby coverage across the various platforms, the AIL barely warrants a mention – with the worthy exception of a new podcast The Club Scene (@theclubscenepod) launched last week. There is little use complaining. Publicity is driven by the revenue derived from punter interest and the All-Ireland league barely registers.
However, with Ireland hitting unprecedented highs this year, the AIL’s contribution to that rise should never be dismissed.
Led by the likes of Ronan O’Gara (Cork Con) and Paul O’Connell (Young Munster), Ireland teams through the 2000s were driven by players forged in ultra-competitive AIL combat. And, even though the profile of the league reduces each year, it is still a significant source of talent.
With the exception of imports Bundee Aki, CJ Stander and Kieran Marmion, every player in the 23 that beat England on that glorious Grand Slam-claiming day in Twickenham last March did time in the club game.
Johnny Sexton was playing for St Mary’s the same year he broke through for Leinster, and then Ireland, in 2009.
Conor Murray’s performances for Garryowen brought him to Munster and Ireland prominence over a matter of months in 2011. Peter O’Mahony was captaining Con when barely out of school and was made Munster captain not long after and then you have Joey Carbery, who went from inspiring Clontarf to AIL glory in May 2016 to helping Ireland beat the All Blacks for the first time five months later.
So, while the league’s decline in prominence cannot be disputed, dismissing its relevance is an exercise in ignorance. The IRFU recognise the importance of the AIL as a feeder mechanism to the professional game and their plan to remodel the league got some airplay in recent weeks.
Without getting mired in the intricacies, the summary was a condensed top tier, two divisions of eight clubs organised regionally to cut down on travel costs and unlimited access to contracted players in those divisions with no relegation for two years.
The goal was for Academy and fringe players in the four provinces to get regular game time in a competitive environment rather than intermittent outings in thrown-together ‘A’ team competitions like this season’s unloved Celtic Cup.
With the IRFU pledging conditioning and coaching support to improve standards and bring the AIL as close as possible to the professional game, it was a worthwhile effort to safeguard strength at the top level. Then the squabbling started. The clubs reared up and the accusations rained down – some clubs would have access to more contracted players; there would be less home games leading to less bar takings; what about clubs shut out of the top two tiers?
The blazers were out in force and the union’s offer to be flexible in terms of ironing out various issues barely registered - their plan was lynched by committee.
Leinster’s lack of enthusiasm was another factor. It is understood that Ireland’s most successful province would prefer to keep contracted players predominantly in-house through an extended Celtic Cup competition, rather than farm them out to the AIL clubs. There were suggestions the Leinster branch leaned on their constituent clubs to reject the IRFU plan.
Either way, Irish club rugby is in no-man’s land, lacking even a sponsor since Ulster Bank bolted.
With the insipid Celtic Cup only running for seven weeks and providing dubious development worth for Academy players, this is far from a healthy scenario.
There are players on show in the AIL this weekend, and next, with the potential to play for their country down the line but until a more focused competition is in place there is a risk of talented youngsters and late developers falling through the cracks.
The IRFU have not abandoned hope, claiming that ‘nothing is dead in the water, there has to be an appetite to find a solution in the best interests of everyone, from the clubs up to national level’.
That appetite is not apparent elsewhere and, while Irish rugby is feasting at present, the fear is that this impasse will lead to hunger down the line.