On Rugby: At an annual club dinner toward the end of last season, a leading IRFU official played down the apparent resistance to the Union's move to disband Connacht. It was, he suggested, really only one man who opposed them, which rather overlooked the presence of up to 2,000 people at a hastily arranged march to 62 Lansdowne Road in opposition to the Union's proposal.
The comments angered some former Connacht players present, but left them and others with the distinct impression the province's proposed extinction was still on the agenda of the IRFU powerbrokers.
That some Union figures are still gunning for the province is made abundantly clear in the weighty tome produce on behalf of the IRFU's Strategic Planning Group, entitled Taking Irish Rugby Forward. The 68-page document is presented as a starting point for a consultative process which has invited the rugby public to make submissions over a four-month period concluding at the end of next month, by dint of written proposals, consultative meetings in all four provinces, a dedicated section of the IRFU's website (www.irfu.ie) and by e-mail.
Addressing the key issues in the competitive game, the document outlines six options on the way forward, with Option 3 being "to reduce to three professional teams and some reduction in domestic game structure". Otherwise, keeping professional teams alive in each of the four provinces would result in a "30-50 per cent cut on the budget" for the professional game, as well as "a substantial reduction of IRFU support for clubs and schools". Dreaded scenarios such as reduced funding for the national team, leading to its "decline" are also presented.
Certainly, officials in Connacht believe their demise is a hidden subtext in Taking Irish Rugby Forward. Perhaps, after the events of last season, they've become paranoid, but then again they've probably every right to be.
That tired old chestnut of comparing Irish rugby structures to Australia's is also brought out again. Australia, double world champions, has just three professional teams from a playing base of 46,000. Ireland, with a base of 15,700, has four. Geddit? Yet this blithely ignores the fact that Australia are actively seeking to activate a fourth professional outlet in Perth. Spreading rugby, as opposed to reducing it, is actually the duty of the game's governing body.
Besides, more valid comparisons can be made with our fellow Celts. The impoverished Welsh, scarcely able to meet the interest repayments on the Millennium Stadium and with a playing base of 18,300, have five professional teams. The Scots, with 10,500 players, have three but, again, have a stated aim of creating a fourth.
There are other tell-tale signs. Why was Michael Bradley only employed as Connacht's Director of Rugby for one year? No-one in Connacht doubts the Union have given them an excellent young coach in the making, who is fully committed to the job, but the fear is that rather than making plans for Michael in a year's time, the IRFU are hatching plans for Connacht.
Then there was the embarrassment the IRFU effectively heaped upon the Celtic League, when the latter's newly appointed CEO, Keith Grainger, announced during the summer the troubled competition had been boosted by the decision of the Welsh and Scottish Unions to use the Celtic League as the qualifying process for the ensuing season's European Heineken Cup.
The IRFU though, would be using the Celtic League "as one of the key indicators of their European ratings", with IRFU chief executive Philip Browne quoted as saying: "we will be looking to take account of the performances of our four teams . . . in both the Celtic League and Celtic Cup competitions in our system of ranking, along with their performances in the European competitions." How is not explained.
Of course, this enables the Union to maintain the cosy cartel of the other three provinces competing in the European Cup, with Connacht banished to the Parker Pen European Challenge Cup for ever more.
Ironically, on and off the pitch, Connacht have never had better facilities. Bradley's first game as coach this evening, a pre-season friendly against London Irish (kick-off 6.30), will mark the official opening of Connacht's new headquarters at the ground, built for €1.5 million with the help of the Government and the IRFU. The new headquarters includes dressing-rooms, a gym, medical room, and the administrative offices for the professional and development sides of the game in the West.
Given this development and its cost, it hardly makes sense to disband Connacht without at least giving them a four- to five-year timespan to maximise their new-found potential, all the more so as Bord na gCon's impressive, new €4.5 million stand (which incorporates two large corporate boxes as well as three bars and covered terracing for 1,200 supporters) will also be in use for the first time this evening.
It thus behoves the Friends of Connacht to generate the same support for their team this season as when threatened with the axe last season. To that end they have remained active, holding a stall at the Galway races, and the advent of a Connacht Supporters Club, Connacht season-ticket scheme, and a merchandising outlet, are all encouraging signs.
You hope, for their sake and the future of rugby in the province, the new-found momentum behind Connacht is maintained throughout the season, and that results hold up.
For it's clear if some figures within the IRFU do press again for Connacht's removal, this time they want to be seen to have done so democratically and openly, thereby justifying a decision that would see them abrogate their responsibilities to the game in this country.
gthornley@irish-times.ie
