Greening of Exiles a multiracial project

Gavin Cummiskeyon why ethnic diversity has not erased the founding ethos of London Irish.

Just how green are London Irish? A glance through the squad reveals 12 nationalities, albeit with Kildare and Tipperary twangs thrown into the mix, but closer inspection of the boardroom reveals a club very much in touch with the roots put down in 1898 when they imitated their Welsh and Scottish neighbours by forming a home from home in the English capital.

Despite this being the age of professionalism, evidently the "Irish" brand still matters.

John Conlon replaced Brendan Mullin as club chairman in January. Mullin remains a shareholder and club director, as does Declan Ryan, the son of Ryanair founder Tony.

"There are a number of aspects that ensure the club ethos is preserved," says Conlon. "Firstly, the priority holding within the club is Irish - 25 per cent of the shareholders actually live in Ireland and a vast majority of the rest are held by Irish people based in England.

"Also, we are unique as the only club in the Guinness Premiership to have retained full amateur structures since the turn of professionalism. This is still run by our amateur committee from our spiritual home in Sunbury."

Some 300 playing members span 20 teams from under-seven to senior (of which there are four). Most are second- and third-generation Irish.

"The professional players may not be Irish anymore but the ethos and spirit of the club will never change. We promised to maintain this when we stepped in to address the financial problems that were afflicting the club, like all clubs in England, just after the advent of the professional game."

In 1996, eight Irish businessmen based in London took over a £750,000 debt.

"This ownership group remains largely intact," continues Conlon. "Of course, new shareholders have come in as we refinanced the club but in the main they are of Irish descent. In short, London Irish remains an Irish-owned club."

A total of £150 million has been spent by English clubs over the last 10 years to create the multinational league they have today. Only now are these investments yielding a profit.

Off the back of last season's third-place finish in the Premiership, London Irish signed a three-year sponsorship deal worth £3 million with Grupo Llanera. They also boast the fourth-best attendance record in the Premiership - helped by a guaranteed bumper crowd every St Patrick's weekend. Today, 20,000-plus are expected at the Madejski Stadium for the visit of Ulster.

Irish players? Six of the current 38-strong senior squad (Leicester have 59 senior players, Sale 52) are qualified to play for Ireland but this seems destined to become five soon, when 20-year-old Shane Geraghty - whose family hail from Castlebar - is capped by England at Sevens. Even in times of rude health, it is a pity to lose a centre-cum-outhalf of such vast potential.

Aidan McCullen, Bob Casey and Barry Everitt remain the only true exiles, while Justin Bishop is an English-born Irishman. The former Leinster scrumhalf Ben Willis is a Kiwi who qualified for Ireland via residency.

Nick Kennedy and Declan Danagher have already been roped in by the Red Rose to rule out the option of ever donning the green of Ireland. Danagher sparked a tug of war a few years back but Eddie O'Sullivan stood by as Clive Woodward capped the young flanker at A level. No representative honours have come his way since.

Recruitment of Irish players remains a priority but the tax incentives introduced by the Minister for Sport John O'Donoghue and impressive player welfare in the Irish provinces have reduced the flood of quality players - such as Conor O'Shea, Niall Woods, Jeremy Davidson and Malcolm O'Kelly - who drifted across the water before the IRFU got their house in order. The flood has been reduced to a trickle.

"Signing Irish players is something we are very keen to do," says the club's director of rugby, Brian Smith (the former Ireland and Wallaby outhalf).

"We missed Shane Jennings last year when he opted to join Leicester but we are actively approaching players and agents who are disillusioned with the Irish provincial set-up.

"Regarding Shane, we weren't in the Heineken Cup last year, which made us an unattractive option, but we want Irish players to know the lights are on here.

"We have half-a-dozen Irish players but Declan Danagher, Nick Kennedy and Shane Geraghty have all been grabbed by England just to stop Ireland claiming them."

There is an attraction to playing for London Irish that other English clubs can never replicate: an "us against the world" mentality fostered by the team leaders.

"It's not so much about being Irish anymore but rather not being English," says Casey, who has become one of the most respected locks in the Premiership over these last four seasons (bafflingly, O'Sullivan refuses to include him in international plans).

"There are 12 different nationalities playing at the club, and while, yes, there are English players, it is more a case of us bonding together, an 'us against them' mentality, you could say."

The leading Englishman at the club is captain Mike Catt, but there's a distinctly South African sound to the World Cup winner's accent.

"It's a numbers thing," continues Casey. "It's a pity that more guys - like Dave Quinlan, Leo Cullen and Shane Jennings - didn't come to London Irish when they moved to England.

"A lot of our fans are Irish but I would say there is about a 50-50 spread now with English supporters. Many people who come to our games simply live in Reading and like rugby so we are their team."

It has become fashionable to be Irish in London these days.

"Promoting the brand of the club is interconnected with the Irish element," says Ian Taylor, a gold medallist at the 1988 Olympics as goalkeeper for the British hockey team. Taylor succeeded O'Shea as chief executive when the former Ireland fullback became director of the English union's regional academy last year.

"I'm English but the board, shareholders, manager and even the girl on reception are Irish," says Taylor. "You don't have to be Irish, hence they have me running the club, but if we lose sight of that aspect of our identity then we just become exiles - not Irish exiles."

The tax incentives in Ireland forced Taylor to attempt a fairly inventive approach to entice Irish talent to the club.

"I formally approached the IRFU to form an Irish academy at London Irish that would supply players back to Ireland but it was turned down," he says.

"At present our academy is known as the London Irish (English) academy . . . and as part of the Premiership we are, of course, an English club. But we were hoping to set up a parallel academy for Ireland with no division of player but different coaches for each academy. We probably could have funded it ourselves but they said 'thanks, but no thanks'."

The response of the IRFU director of rugby, Eddie Wigglesworth, indicates the powerbrokers in Hume House view London Irish as just another English club.

"It was not turned down," said Wigglesworth. "London Irish play in the Premiership, while we have our own structure in place with the Exiles branch of the IRFU. Getting locked into one academy wouldn't be productive.

"We have an Exiles manager, John Hunter, who is a professional employee of the union who identifies Irish players in the UK for underage representative sides. There is then an outlet for these players to come over here and integrate into the provincial structures.

"A lot of players want to stay at home where their friends, family and social structures are in place. That's fine, too. As long as they are playing first-team rugby, be it in England or France, they will be monitored."

Of course, if they are not playing in the European Cup, they are hardly going to make the next step up.

"England remains an important constituency for us in recruitment terms," adds Wigglesworth.

This is borne out by the five exiles involved in last season's Irish under-21 squad.

London Irish have just come off one of the best seasons in their history, but this second taste of European Cup competition has been bitter, with early defeats to Llanelli and Toulouse. Only a bonus-point victory today would keep alive quarter-final hopes.

Ulster flanker Kieron Dawson returns today to the club who sustained him through a decade of professional sport. Now finally back with his native province, he is ideally placed to define London Irish.

"In many ways it's like the foreigners who come to play with Ulster. They immediately notice how much we care about the jersey. Unlike a club like, say, Saracens, who have invested millions in players but lack the identity. It's worth that extra five per cent when the real pressures come on in a big game."

It may not be of benefit today but when Irish return to the grind of the Premiership this spirit will need to be fostered. If they don't kick-start a climb up the table there will be no European Cup slot to entice sponsors and players. No Europe damages the profile. Cuts into merchandising. Smaller crowds. Fewer Irish players.

Now that would be a shame.