Grounds for some disquiet amid joy

GERRY THORNLEY / ON RUGBY: Heading into 2003, has Irish rugby ever had it so good on the pitch? It could all change in an instant, but the four proud provinces soldier on in Europe, Connacht ensuring all of them have plenty to play for in the New Year, while an expanded Irish squad bask in the glow of a record-equalling six-match winning run in Lanzarote this week.

There's a palpable feel-good factor about, yet the question, amid all the optimism, is: can Irish rugby cope?

Take Leinster as an example. With their flair and big-name game-breakers, they are becoming the sexy team to watch. Akin to Munster and their march to Twickenham in 2000, you sense Leinster might be on the cusp of something special. And there's something of a sporting void in the capital at this time of year.

Nonetheless, while it's great to see Donnybrook's 7,500 capacity almost filled, a 2,000 crowd in Connacht out of Galway's population of 45,000 is actually 10 times the achievement of a 7,000 crowd from a Greater Dublin area of 1.5 million. The Leinster Branch can just about contend with the demand as it is - and last Friday's ticketing fiasco suggests not always very well at that.

The branch's chief executive Mick Dawson admits that Leinster are not fulfilling their potential, and he believes a greater number of covered seats for Friday night games in mid-winter would help to draw bigger attendances.

The Munster and Ulster phenomena were quicker to take off, though as Dawson explains it, this was always likely to be the case. "Leinster supporters were bound to have greater difficulty identifying with an entity called Leinster. A Leinster supporter was always going to be much slower to jump up and down in a Leinster jersey than his Munster counterpart would in a red jersey. He'd need about 12 pints to do it, although he might wear a tie."

Pending the seal of approval from the Bective rugby and tennis clubs, and Old Wesley, planning application for a redeveloped 11,500 capacity Donnybrook is expected to be submitted in January. But it is, as Dawson admits, "a slow-burner" which is at least two or three years away from fruition.

In the short term, were Leinster to earn a quarter-final tie the dilemma will be whether to move it to Lansdowne Road. They will not need ERC dispensation for it to be played there. Indeed, they would not be debarred from playing a semi-final at this "neutral" venue if drawn first out of the hat in the last four.

There would be a rugby argument for playing a quarter-final in Donnybrook, where Leinster are now unbeaten in 11 matches and four seasons in Europe, as it would enhance their prospects of reaching the semi-finals. Yet, a Lansdowne Road quarter-final might lure two, three or even four times Donnybrook's capacity. At a push, that could be up to €300,000 in additional gate receipts. Hard to turn down.

"If we got a home quarter-final, I think we would have to go to Lansdowne for reasons of health and safety, because Donnybrook, despite its cosiness, is too small and wouldn't hold the numbers that would want to go to it," admits Dawson.

Such a choice may even be a dry run for next season's pool stages, for until such time as Donnybrook is refurbished it could be that the ground will be unable even to cope with demand for Heineken Cup group games.

"I believe there's a huge untapped sporting market in Dublin of people who would attend a big match," says Dawson, "and I believe we've never got into the soccer neutrals or the Gaelic neutrals as the only professional show in town. And if they knew they could get a seat and a bit of comfort they might go along."

Leinster are by no means unique, for in truth, neither Lansdowne Road nor for that matter the Sportsground, Thomond Park, Musgrave Park or even Ravenhill are equipped for modern-day needs. As a result, the provinces are unable to reach their commercial potential.

Another problem is that they don't have enough games. Leinster only have six guaranteed competitive games at home this season, and Munster (also confined to three home games in the Celtic League) the same. Ulster have one more, but Connacht have had only five, before earning themselves a sixth against Pontypridd with Sunday's heroics. "We need an expanded Celtic League. You can't run a professional team on six home games a season," says Dawson.

Indeed, ideally, the provinces should be becoming more autonomous, so as to ease the strain on the IRFU coffers, but until such time as they have bigger grounds and more games they won't be able to.

"It's not just a Leinster phenomenon," adds Dawson. "Every provincial side has a stadium which is way behind its English counterpart, and we're trying to run a professional game. The game on the pitch is going reasonably well at the moment, but off the pitch one of the problems is that the stadiums they play in cannot raise enough income and also we're behind the English teams in the commercialisation of the game."

It is, as Dawson says, a Catch 22 situation.

Yet, on the pitch, Ireland's stock has rarely been higher. On foot of their thumping at the hands of Leinster, Swansea coach John Connolly reckoned that Ireland were on the threshold of breaking into the world's top five. "What they need," he estimated, "are another couple of Brian O'Driscolls. If they can unearth them from somewhere, they'll be bang in business."

You can see where he's coming from, but any team that unearthed another couple of Brian O'Driscolls might be on the verge of something special. The problem is there are scarcely another couple of Brian O'Driscolls on Planet Earth, much less in Ireland or Leinster.

Leinster would ideally like to avoid Leicester in the quarter-finals, all the more so as the Tigers are set to be at home again. Likewise it might be no harm if Leinster avoided a trip to Toulouse.

The best means of doing this, of course, will be to win their last two games and ensure a home quarter-final of their own. Wherever it may be.