Provinces not helped in quest for Europe

Strange things are starting to happen in the press box at the end of Ulster's matches - the last six of which have been won. The man from the Belfast Telegraph, an easy going sort in any case, has never smiled so much, and on Friday night he gave a rendition of "Oh what a night, Sweet December . . ."

What a night alright. One of the great nights. Not just for Ulster rugby, but for Irish rugby. If ever home advantage was the difference between winning and losing, this was it. Harry Williams reckons Ravenhill is worth about six to 10 points for his tight-knit side, for whom the bond with their home crowd is tangible for all to see.

It was interesting to read Gary Longwell's assertion in the Sunday Tribune that he felt the crowd hadn't believed in the possibility of a home win from the outset the way the players did.

That's the way it felt to this observer as well. But the contrast with another mentally suspect away performance by Munster within 48 hours showed how much self-belief has been engendered in the Ulster squad.

Friday night was the reward for the provinces being belatedly professionalised. This one game probably did more for the enhancement, development and self-belief of players such as Mark Blair, Tony McWhirter, Jan Cunningham, Andy Park and a host of others than an entire AIL campaign. This is the future.

Or at least it should be. But it's worth noting that Ulster progressed despite rather than because of the current system whereby our European Cup quarter-finalists were obliged to break-up for a month after the pool stages.

To dismiss the notion that this break-up could be offered as a mitigating factor for Munster's flat performance on the premise that "it didn't affect Ulster" is fatuous in the extreme. The seasonal structure in Ireland, as it currently stands, is not designed to facilitate the provinces in the European knock-out stages.

In fact, it is designed on the basis that they will all be eliminated in the pool stages, whereas advancement is a nuisance to the clubs' fixture list. The timing of the South African tour didn't help, but then all the other major European countries had Tests in November as well. The difference was that the French clubs, like the rest, came together again and had a couple of games before the quarter-finals. The only ones who didn't were the Irish provinces.

Both Ulster and Munster wanted games but because the AIL made its scheduled start the clubs had primacy over the provinces in the last two weeks. This begs the question: does the IRFU want the Irish provinces to progress further and actually win the competition?

They employ the provincial directors of rugby on a full-time basis and so the Union should therefore pay heed to whatever Declan Kidney reports back to them after the summary end to Munster's season.

Kidney, ever the diplomat, was keeping his council on these thoughts, but there's no doubt he will highlight how unhelpful the lack of games and proper build-up were to Munster's performance in Colomiers.

At the conclusion of the pool stages, Munster were on a roll, having won three games on the spin and lost just one of their last seven games. After a month apart, in which far more of their team than Ulster's had been put through the mill at various international levels, Munster effectively had to start from scratch again last Monday with a refresher course in line-out calls and the like.

Now the problem has resurfaced, because Ulster's semi-final against Stade Francais is in just four weeks' time. In the interim, Ballymena and Dungannon, along with the rest of the clubs, have two AIL games.

Will Ulster just be expected to pick up the pieces on Monday, January 4th, with no games in the interim? Ideally, if the IRFU are to give them every chance in the semi-finals, Ulster should have at least one warm-up game beforehand. After all, Stade Francais will.

These are all headaches which the main powerbrokers in the IRFU could do without. Likewise, the oft-mooted British League - for which an IRFU delegation led by Noel Murphy met again with their Home Union counterparts last week.

In fairness, you wouldn't envy them the impossible balancing act which now faces them. All the more so given that the English club owners are as hopelessly divided and visionless as the Irish clubs, and are even more inclined to brinkmanship.

On top of which, next October's World Cup leaves only 22 weeks free for domestic rugby in the rough guide to the 1999/2000 season; that's everything else bar the World Cup, the then Six Nations' Championship and the same nine weeks set aside for the two European Competitions.

Clearly, next season is the worst possible one for introducing a British (and/or not, Irish) League. The demands on the leading core of Irish players would simply be intolerable. You could easily share the IRFU's private hope that it doesn't come into being.

The problem is, though, that while Irish rugby doesn't need the British League, can it afford to be on the outside looking in? Probably not, provided there is some leeway with the clubs so that the fixture schedules are not logjammed.

There are some very difficult, and hard, decisions to be made here. And the kernel of the matter remains the same. Do the IRFU want to construct a pyramid with the Irish team at its apex, and the provinces providing the next tier, with the clubs the next tier down, as exists in the Southern Hemisphere countries?

If not, the juggling act will soon come a cropper. Something has to give, and unfortunately that has to begin with the clubs.

Worryingly though, too many IRFU officials have their club ties staring out at them when they open their cupboards in the morning.

Then there is the biggest factor of all, money, and the AIB's major sponsorship of the AIL, currently in its second of a three-year deal. Will the decisions made be in the best interests of the Irish international side and the provinces, and by extension therefore Irish rugby, or through expediency?

For example, a final thought on all of this. Many of the prospective home-based Irish internationals have already had around 14 to 16 competitive representative games this season. Some of them are beginning to look a little weary and battle-scarred.

Rather than now return to the AIL, they and the Irish team would best be served by a midseason break and a return to some fitness training. But in that regard, they and the Irish team are not going to have their best interests served.

Juggle, juggle, toil and trouble.