Clubs accepting league realities

Last Sunday week in Leitrim the St Mary's forwards practised lineout calls in advance of their first AIB League game of the season. By Saturday lunch-time, they were going through newly amended line-out calls for the fifth time that week, on an asphalt surface in a pub car park.

Aside from the daily amendments to their pack and hence their line-out calls, the constant changes to their under-strength pack ultimately left them with one semi-retired prop, Richie Cranfield, and another, Jock O'Connor, promoted up the club's ladder. Both of them were making their AIL first division debuts, as were two second-rows from their under20s, Mark Donnellan and Dave Griffin, while flankers Frank Fitzgerald and Karl Jennings were making their first AIL appearances for the club in 12 and 20 months respectively.

It's also worth noting that hooker Peter Smyth was starting only his second full game of the season. There were a host of contracted players up and down the country, heretofore on the fringes of their provincial sides, who were in similar positions last Saturday - itching for an all too rare game. Clearly therefore, the system is flawed.

Yet, no matter how the season is structured and AIB league format is modified, it will never be perfect again. The die was cast by Ulster and Munster's

European Cup runs over the last couple of seasons, and now the Irish and provincial managements are able to flex their muscles about who's who in the pecking order.

However, players who are not first-choice with their provinces need more games than they are currently getting. If, say, a player gets a run as a replacement for his province on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon for less than 40 minutes, ideally he should be playing for his club the next day.

There is at least a willingness among the clubs to accept change, primarily the principle of being without their contracted players some of the time, and to start the AIB League campaign earlier. St Mary's, who will be hit as hard as anybody, are broadly in favour of these developments.

Indeed, last Friday's meeting of the IRFU committee to discuss the league's future was largely constructive and will lead to a further round-table discussion within the full committee next Thursday, and a decision regarding next season's formula is anticipated.

The likeliest outcome is a retention of the status quo, a 16-team top flight, or possibly a 12-team first division, which also raises the possibility of a 22-game, home-and-away format. The least favoured option is a more elitist, eight-club format. However, this wouldn't spread the net much beyond the current layer of 120 or so contracted players. Nor would it serve to underpin the provinces.

Part of the fun in last Saturday's generally uplifting opening round of matches was the hat-load of new names and new talents which set about making their mark, from the likes of Kieran Gallagher, Bevan Cantrell and Dave Griffin at Templeville Road, to Frank Roche at Thomond Park, Luke O'Brien at Lansdowne Road, Andrew Maxwell and Scott Young at Eaton Park, Ronan O'Donovan at Temple Hill, Gavin Duffy at Crowley Park and many others.

By my calculations, there were 64 AIL debutants in Saturday's first division programme alone, and all told around 96 players who were making their debuts in the first division. Dating back to the opening Saturday of the AIL a decade ago, this is assuredly a record.

Alas, we may never again have the likes of 6,000 at Templeville Road for St Mary's v Young Munster or Greystones, or the close-on 10,000 crowds that were commonplace in Limerick. Nonetheless, attendances from 1,000 to 3,000, especially if accompanied by varying appearances from contracted players and a continual infusion of new ones, can constitute a healthy future.

Saturday's opening salvos lent credence to Andre Bester's assertion that "there is a huge depth of quality players in Ireland." Ballymena's South African coach also believes that Ireland's three-tier system is "the best in the world." Without a vibrant club system acting as conduit between junior/schools/underage rugby and the provincial tier, "all your late developers, the 22-year-olds or more who aren't included in the academy or the provincial structures, miss the net.

"Even if a professional player only appears five times or so for his club first team in a season, he plays an invaluable role in the whole process, by encouraging those around him and by bringing a professional attitude," said Bester.

He cites the examples of New Zealand and his native South Africa especially, where Bester believes the roots of South Africa's recent decline lie in the decision to take professionals out of the club game.

"I'm not 100 per cent sure of my figures, but in Free State University - the second biggest club in South Africa - they had 127 teams playing five years ago, and currently they only have something like 49. The decline in the numbers playing the game and supporting the game has dropped sharply and this is because the professionals have been taken from the club game. What will happen with us if we go down the same route? That is why our system is so good."

And that is why - despite changed priorities - somehow the delicate juggling act has to be maintained.

gthornleyirish-times.ie