RUGBY:For several seasons the clubs have been edged out of the IRFU lexicon, and with that may follow potential ruin, writes LIAM TOLAND
SHOULD HE stay or should he go? Ospreys’ managing director Mike Cuddy has done the decent thing and set Gavin Henson free. With no transfer window open in November, Henson has found his new South African home in Saracens. Many will question his motives, and, in a week when Wayne Rooney arranged for a weekly lottery cheque to pop into his bank account, I began to wonder.
Was it Rooney’s agent, Paul Stretford, who drove the negotiations, or was it one last-ditch effort by the local bank manager in Prestbury to keep Nama from striking at his door?
Rooney’s €15 million a year would keep his bank ticking over nicely. Who knows?
But, apart from Henson, it raises the question: are rugby players ready to want to move? Traditionally they remain loyal to the jersey, but, post-World Cup, that may change and along with it may be a potential exodus.
Either way, if you asked the 140-plus professionals plying their trade in Ireland to move club mid-season and head to pastures new, there’s no doubt they’d stay loyal. But if you introduced €250,000 per week, then they’d be off.
We should not fool ourselves into remaining unconcerned. It’s crazy money on offer for above average soccer players. What must elite rugby players be tempted by? Just look at the trouble Pakistani teenage cricket sensation bowler Mohammad Amir got himself in to. Money can change cultures. And money is the topic of today’s piece.
The Home Nations will take on the cream of the world over the coming weeks. Ironically, Ireland’s opening opponents at the end of a long and unsuccessful season appear in better health than the home team only weeks into the season.
The Springboks will be missing quite a few for the opener, but why so many injuries have hit the Irish camp is open to much debate. It does, however, throw enormous pressure on the meagre resources available to Declan Kidney, a point that has not been lost on the third tier of our game, the club.
For several seasons the clubs have been edged out of the IRFU lexicon, and with that may follow potential ruin. The union have long since argued the merits of their big brother Sky in their financial future. Clubs, the life blood of our international success, will this November be asked, in the absence of Sky’s coverage, to carry the burden of the Aviva Stadium.
Plenty of tickets are floating about for the fitting rugby international opening of this magnificent stadium. For the first time in my memory sourcing tickets is easy. Originally the union matched all four tickets for the autumn. When the clubs baulked, the goalposts moved to pair the tickets.
According to Johnny Watterson’s article on Wednesday, Limerick was a pressurised spot all week. Ireland manager Paul McNaughton admitted that, yes, the lack of bodies this week before Ireland’s first Test against South Africa on Saturday week was putting Kidney under pressure, causing management stress, and was inconvenient.
They’re not the only ones under pressure, but of a different kind: survival.
The segue isn’t quite seamless but, according to the IRFU website, tickets for the November internationals will be distributed through the provincial branches to clubs and schools. Clubs will receive their quota of tickets for all four matches in the series as a single package, but have the option to break up their allocation into two separate, linked packages, South Africa/Samoa and New Zealand/Argentina.
This, as you may have guessed, is placing enormous pressure on the club treasurer trying to balance the books. For some it is proving almost impossible to shift the South Africa/Samoa combination. Consequently, they’re already suffering the loss of a €50 Samoa ticket to shift the €100 Springbok opener. Over 200 Samoan tickets binned equals €10,000 which clubs will have to carry.
Most clubs will also struggle to sell the Springbok game: more cost.
Tough times indeed. But it is the clubs who run fashion shows, tea parties, fancy dress nights, car draws, golf outings, club lottos and many more ingenious ideas to keep their teams from underage through to senior grade on the road. Now they will have to dig deep once again just to get through the autumn.
Why don’t the clubs revolt? Well, the clubs are the IRFU. The union’s carrot or stick is the Six Nations, and with France and England on the way whatever clubs hand back will be taken from them come February. The offence: what the union charges for the ticket; the penalty: the clubs carry the can.
The irony, of course, is individual tickets can be sourced directly from the IRFU website and what appear to be better seats. Browsing the other union websites suggest a 20 per cent saving in watching them play against our opposition.
Just when the All-Ireland League, without a sponsor, is finding its feet and playing some great rugby, they could be forced to shift valuable funds into the Aviva Stadium budget. As all four provinces struggle to fill squads for the weekend and the Irish team utilise child labour for opposition, it is a timely reminder of the constant weekly struggle the lower levels have filling club seconds teams on Sundays.
I’m excited by tonight’s Ravenhill clash when Ulster entertain Munster in a game much more important to the home side. For all the changes both teams have endured this week, there’s still the spine of experience in both sides to afford the “young lads” a real opportunity. The bookies have Ulster, but, apart from their bench, a first Munster win since 2007 is not beyond them.
In a week when Saracens director Brendan Venter has been hit with a misconduct charge for rubbishing rugby and its laws, it’s important to note that in that second weekend of the Heineken Cup the Celtic clubs proved modern rugby is within their grasp. The scorelines prove we have the ability to exploit space: 12 matches were played in round two, with an average total score of 49.1 points per match.
