This afternoon, I have no doubt, the stands and terraces of Thomond Park will be well populated to see Shannon play St Mary's College in what is termed the semi-final of the AIB All-Ireland League. Tomorrow afternoon, the thousands will also flock to Dooradoyle to see Garryowen play Young Munster in the second semi-final.
Those two matches are extremely attractive pairings and the clubs involved have earned their places at the penultimate stage of the competition by finishing in the top four and got financial reward from the IRFU for qualifying for the semi-finals. As an advocate, since the game went professional, of giving the clubs in all the divisions financial reward in the league, I welcome that. There is, of course, additional money available to the eventual winners and runners-up in the competition.
I readily acknowledge, too, that the fight for places in the top four and places in the knock-out stages has provided an incentive to the clubs; but exactly the same incentive could have been given by the IRFU without asking the club that finished top of the league, after playing every other club in the division, to go out to try to win the league twice. I would give support to a premiership among the top four clubs, as they have in rugby league. And exactly the same incentives, financial and otherwise, would have been available within the structure of the first division. But it should be a separate competition.
I would have even more enthusiasm for an All-Ireland Cup based on the league. Could that have been done? Of course it could, and what an incentive that would represent for the clubs, not alone in the first division, but right through all four divisions of the league. I have outlined the arguments on that issue before, and now, as we await the semi-finals of the league, I do so again: that the top four clubs in the first division, the top two in the second and the winners of the third and four divisions would qualify for the cup. That would give every senior club in the country the right and opportunity to qualify for the cup, and indeed to do so operating within their own divisions.
The possibilities of having an All-Ireland Cup based on an open draw and knock-out principle have been well explored, but the dates are just not available for such a competition. Thus, having an All-Ireland Cup based on the league offers a very viable alternative. The old All-Ireland Cup, the Bateman Cup, which was not resumed after the second World War, was contested between the four provincial cup winners. An All-Ireland Cup based on the league would be very more meaningful.
The four first division clubs could be seeded at the quarter-final stages. What an attraction, for instance, were the fourth division champions, Carlow, to be drawn at home to Shannon or indeed any of the first division clubs. No doubt there would be arguments put against such a competition, that the clubs in the lower divisions would not be strong enough to give their first division opponents a meaningful match. But for over 100 years the senior provincial cups have been open to all senior clubs in the respective provinces, and, in more recent times, in some cases, open as well to junior qualifiers. The elements of surprise and giant killing acts have long been part of the great romance of cup competitions in sport.
Nothing illustrates more forcibly the imbalance in the league as currently constituted than the fact that the teams which finished at the top of the second, third and fourth divisions have all won their respective leagues. They have not been asked to go out and prove, in knock-out competitions, against sides that finished below them in the divisions, they are league champions.
Yet we have the club which has won the first division by five points, Shannon, being told they must now do just that. The basic principle of a league is that it is a reward for consistency of performance; if it is not about that, what is it supposed to be about?
Shannon won 12 and lost just one of the 13 matches they played in the league. This afternoon they meet St Mary's, who finished six points behind Shannon in the league and lost four matches. If Shannon win today and lose the final, then it will mean the team which wins the championship, Garryowen or Young Munster, would, in fact, have lost three matches (which both did in the league, as well as drawing one), while a team that lost just two games does not. Cup and league competition are by their nature different.
In expressing those sentiments, I do not wish in any way to take anything from St Mary's, Garryowen or Young Munster. If one of those clubs wins the title, good luck to them. They did not create the present structure and they have earned the right under the system to compete for the title and will no doubt strain every muscle and nerve to win it. But the system is flawed. I fully accept that the league needed revision and that clubs needed an incentive as the league neared its end. But alternatives were available, as outlined above.
I do not have a problem with the relegation and promotion play-offs, especially as they are on a home and away basis. They give teams placed second in their divisions the right to earn promotion, and the teams, as in the case of Dungannon, who finished fourth from bottom in the first (a division now reduced to 12 clubs), a chance to maintain their divisional status. There is logic and some justice in that system: there is neither in the knock-out competition that will decide the premier domestic title.
Whether Shannon win the first division or not, their record over the past four seasons has been truly remarkable and reflects immense credit on their consistency, their ability and their great competitive spirit. Over four seasons, Shannon played 44 matches, won 40 and lost just four.
Galwegians' win in the second division, and they won it in some style with a 100 per cent record, means that, for the first time, Connacht will have a club in the first division and that is very welcome. Indeed if Buccaneers win their play-off series with Dungannon, then Connacht will have two clubs in the top division. It has been a really great year for Connacht rugby and that has to be good for the game in this country as well as being a reward for the work being done by so many dedicated people in the west.
Portadown, who won the fourth division title two years ago, have done extremely well to win the third division this season, while Carlow, the dominant force for so long in the Leinster Provincial Towns Cup, have won the fourth division championship in their first year in the national league. That is a splendid achievement for a very progressive club.
Nor have I any doubt that the two clubs who this season won promotion to the fourth division, Midleton and Banbridge, will prove worthy additions to the league scene. The Midleton club has enjoyed great success at junior level in recent seasons, now a new challenge awaits the East Cork team. Midleton will relish that.
