Coaches pose remedies for ailing AIL

All-Ireland League Division One semi-finals:Today's media focus will be a rare tonic for the ailing club game, but coaches claim a little intensive care could revive the patient. Gavin Cummiskey reports

Brunch time was fast approaching in the Sports Department last Wednesday when a disgruntled caller came on the line. Memories of that Carlsberg ad came flooding back.

The anonymous complainer noted the lack of coverage afforded to the club game. A traditionalist clinging to the past?

Realists, in this instance the IRFU, eventually moved with the times to provide a structure appropriate to the current tsunami of talent in Irish rugby. The union are not progressive enough, however, to satisfy the appetites of club coaches.

The AIL is adorned with former players, including the two-time Lions tourist Jeremy Davidson at Dungannon, who have taken up director-of-rugby roles. It is the natural proving ground in the nuances of coaching for those without IRFU development roles.

The AIB League semi-finals take place this afternoon. Garryowen travel to Clontarf while table-toppers Cork Constitution host the ultra-progressive UL-Bohemians (the game to be shown live on RTÉ 2) - a club that have proved it is possible to shake up the traditional Munster cartel. Three-time champions Shannon missed the cut on the last day of the regular season.

With the Heineken European Cup semi-finals devoid of an Irish side and the Magners Celtic League merely soldiering on, with Ulster and Leinster still in contention, this weekend represents a high watermark in the club season - at least in terms of coverage.

Long gone are the days when the AIL was Irish rugby's premier competition. Not too many people are complaining either as the switching of focus to the provinces has yielded some great trips around Europe.

It is, by the way, a telling illustration of why professionalism would be detrimental to the GAA ethos. Clubs are no longer the bedrock of the IRFU; they became dispensable for the greater good.

The coaches presiding over today's semi-finals all propose a similar solution to regenerate the club scene: replace the current 16-team division one with a compact format that would provide a more efficient "pathway" to and from the professional ranks.

This proposal was tabled last year by the All-Ireland Senior Rugby Clubs Association (AISRCA), only to be shelved by the IRFU after the division two and three clubs kicked up a fuss. Recently, 77 percent of the 48 AIL clubs voted for a retention of three divisions of 16 teams.

"Division two and three clubs are understandably thinking of their own skin ahead of what's best for Irish rugby in general," said the AISRCA chairman, John Dickson.

A 10-team, or even 12-team, division one would immediately raise standards and provide an ideal understudy environment to the professional ranks: a baptism of fire for underage talent; a place for provincial squaddies to keep ticking over; better matches to entice sports editors into providing more column inches.

With an improved package comes coverage. The people would eventually start to trickle back for Saturday afternoon action. A tradition could be revived.

It was widely accepted club rugby would suffer most from the IRFU's pyramid model, where the national team was the priority, but an opportunity now exists to stall this seemingly incessant decline.

Cork Constitution's director of rugby, Brian Walsh: "Ideally, the league would be run off in a 12- or 14-week period with division one reduced down to 12 teams. Hopefully then the better players can get involved in a series of provincial A games that would lead in to the Heineken Cup or Magners League.

"What's going to happen next season, with the World Cup on, is the provincial sides will be without players and the first place they'll come looking is the clubs. They'll be taking players who don't have the experience of the higher level.

"I'm sure we could structure the pathway a little bit better."

Garryowen's director of rugby, Paul Cunningham, concurs.

"Sixteen teams in the first division is too many. I think you could structure it in such a way where the provincial squad guys not in the first 22 get regular games at a competitive level.

"Restructure the league altogether to a 10- or 12-team first division. It means way more high-level games.

"You don't have to call them clubs. Call them franchises, whatever, but put the best of the club players into the format. It means a few extra guys will be discovered and can then graduate to professional level."

This idea is already in place in Australia. Can the outgoing Garryowen coach envisage it materialising here?

"No. It will be seen as an elitist league. People can just look and say he is a Garryowen fella so he knows his club will be in it. I understand that but if you are asking me what is the best format for producing better rugby players in Ireland, I think that is the structure which would assist the provincial squads and then, hopefully Ireland.

"There is a role for every club in the country and an opportunity to graduate into the top league."

Promotion and relegation remain prerequisites.

Another nagging gripe is the current fixture layout. Of course, all the clubs signed off on this at the start of the season, but the constant gaps, including a complete break during the Six Nations, is clearly a problem for teams trying to generate sustained rhythm.

The UL-Bohs director of rugby, Mike Tewkesbury: "It makes it very difficult to generate and then sustain momentum. It's difficult to fill the spare weekends as the day of the friendly seems to have gone so it becomes difficult to motivate players unless they are on a cup run. Remember, they are all amateurs now."

Walsh: "Personally, I don't think the league structure we have at the moment does anything to develop players. It's an inefficient model. 16 teams in a first division means so many games aren't competitive.

"In the first 23 weekends of this season we have played competitive rugby in 21 of them. One weekend off was Christmas Day. And then we went into a stage where over the next 14 weeks we played six games."

Cunningham: "It could be structured better. In the winter, December/January, every club has a difficult time with so many players doing exams, so I'd look at a break during this time and play during the Six Nations. There is no real harm doing this as the Celtic League isn't on either so you are not losing any additional players."

Notably, three of the four teams in today's semi-finals arrive without a dependency on professional hand-me-downs. Cork Con, in particular, finished top of division one without fielding a fully contracted player this season. UL-Bohs link their remarkable progress through the ranks with a large emphasis on their academy system (see also UCD and Dublin University). Clontarf are Munsteresque in their community vibe.

Garryowen are the odd ones out, having used Munster reserve outhalf Eoghan Hickey, backrower John O'Sullivan and prop Eugene McGovern through the campaign.

An edict came down from Lansdowne Road this season stating contracted players needed to play at least three club games if they were to be eligible for selection in the latter stages. All three of the above qualify.

Hickey, before departing to London Irish, could well make a difference as Garryowen seek their first title since 1994.

And yet, Con remain the bookies' favourites to reap the rewards of several seasons developing a squad with a primary focus on players below the professional structures. Walsh sees the potential for backs Denis Hurley and Tom Gleeson to progress up the ladder.

"For the last few years we have tried to get away from a reliance on contracted players and it has taken us a while to do but that's a big positive for us as it means a consistency of selection now exists.

"They have been developing well, playing a nice brand of rugby, and we've been successful so far."

And that, folks, was the AIL coaches' soapbox. The recap sounds like a Jerry Maguire mission statement: fewer teams, a rhythmic fixture list and more concise player development all meshed together.

What did we say to the disgruntled caller?

Ourselves: "Regarding coverage of the club game, the fact is space is at a premium. We cover the AIL in a round-up every Monday, but the Celtic League, European Cup and Six Nations take precedence now. It's professional sport. A different game."

But maybe there is a cure for the current malaise of the club system. It's about achieving a consensus between the 48 clubs and then for the union to acquiesce.

"You are never going to get agreement between 48 clubs," says Cunningham. "It's impossible. Someone needs to turn around and say this is the best structure. Go on and do it."

The AISRCA initiative would seem to do just that. They meet with the IRFU next Wednesday to see can some form of agreement be reached.

"Our initial proposal seems to be permanently shelved," said Dickson. "However, the IRFU are aware that they are dealing with a moribund AIL. They seem keen to take a lead here. The most memorable point made by Eddie Wigglesworth (IRFU director of rugby) at a recent meeting was when he noted most clubs were also against an All-Ireland league 17 years ago but the union led them into it."

After Wednesday, the AISRCA go back to the clubs. For any change to occur ahead of the 2008/2009 season ratification is required at a special meeting of the IRFU executive on May 10th.

"The union reserves the right to adjust or modify league structures in the interest of the game," says Wigglesworth. "The AIB League provides game time for professional and academy players so while it plays an important role it is not the only pathway in player development."

Recent history has taught us not to expect radical change.