FIVE years or so ago, hundreds of rugby supporters from Connacht, a group embellished by diehards from other areas of the country, laid siege on the IRFU offices in Dublin 4.
It was to let the governing body of rugby know that they weren’t at all pleased at plans to wind down the professional operation west of the Shannon.
The visit had the desired effect and Connacht, as an entity within the IRFU professional structure, lived to fight another day.
It has always been a fight for the men from the west. They have battled against perceptions even when results were firmly in their favour. Their performances in the Amlin Challenge Cup, for instance, have been very good if related to clubs from outside of Ireland, even the high profile clubs.
Having been designated as a feeder province for the purposes of keeping Ireland’s big three, Leinster, Munster and Ulster in that order, Connacht now find themselves on the cusp of joining the elite.
All it will take is for Leinster to win the Heineken Cup, and they’re in. That could lead to mixed feelings within Irish rugby, not just in the accounts department in Dublin 4.
Look at it this way, a hypothetical pot of say E12m, is currently divided between four teams, with the top boys getting E3.5m each and Connacht E1.5m.
So, Leinster win the Heineken and Connacht join the group. To compete favourably, they would need to embellish the squad and make some new, possibly costly, signings. So they go to the IRFU and ask for an equal share of E12 million.
The Union won’t budge, simply because the other three teams who have helped shape the future of Irish rugby through their exploits in the Heineken Cup won’t budge. They will want the current deal to remain.
The Union probably cannot budge either, because money is tight and budgets have been cut all over the place anyway; some top players have already felt the heat by being relegated from lucrative national contracts to provincial deals.
But of the three regular Heineken Cup participants, Leinster will certainly have the biggest argument against Connacht taking any bigger slice of their pie.
One insider pointed out last night that Leinster’s European run had reaped considerable riches for the IRFU.
“They have played games in the Aviva and filled the stadium. It’s not quite like having another home international, but they (IRFU) get a slice of the action and that has to be taken into account.
“If, next year, the IRFU tells Leinster they will have their budgets cut, the province will certainly tell them where to get off, that if cuts are to be made to accommodate Connacht’s entry into the Heineken Cup then they should look elsewhere. To Ulster, and to Munster.”
Interesting times ahead.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/tBBKW9jdUUI/post.aspx
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