Wednesday, December 28, 2011
WE may be immersed in the Christmas break but for the players and management of the provincial sides, it represents one of the busiest periods of the year.
Judging by the release of the new Player Contract Policy by the IRFU last Wednesday, it has also been a busy time for those charged with running the professional game in this country.
The guiding principle of the new policy is to aid the development of Irish qualified players and to remove the blockage that overseas players are creating in the system at present. It is an issue that requires examination as our younger talent need to be exposed to the demands of domestic and European competition at a younger age. Only time will tell whether the new policy will hinder the competitiveness of our sides in the Heineken Cup. If that proves to be the case then that would also have consequences for the national team.
Ireland have enjoyed an unprecedented period of success over the last decade culminating in the Grand Slam in 2009. In my view, that achievement and the Triple Crowns that preceded it in the Noughties was a natural progression from the success enjoyed by Munster and Leinster in Europe.
A contributory factor in winning four Heineken Cups over the last six years was the impact and professionalism brought to the table by players like Doug Howlett, Jim Williams, Isa Nacewa and Rocky Elsom. In that sense it is important to recognise that the door still remains firmly open for non Irish qualified players to add to the provincial mix even if their number is reduced from five to four from next season.
A big challenge facing the IRFU is in implementing the principles of the new policy given that the body charged with regulating and enforcing the policy, the Player Contracting Regulatory Group (PCRG) — you will be hearing a lot about them over the next few seasons — are either representatives of the provinces or progressed to the IRFU committee through that avenue.
The policy, which comes into effect from the outset of 2013-14, has four basic principles and applies to Munster, Leinster and Ulster only.
FIRSTLY, in future only one Non-Irish Eligible (NIE) player will be allowed in each of the 15 positions on the field across the three provinces.
The net result of this is that all three provinces will have to monitor everything that the other two are doing in the transfer market with a view to seeing how it affects them. If two provinces have a requirement in the same position at the same time then the political independence of the PCRG could be tested to the full.
The timing of contracts is now also crucial. As of now BJ Botha, whose contract expires in June 2013, cannot have his contract renewed as Ulster’s John Afoa, like Botha a tight head prop, is contracted until June 2014.
In any case the option to resign Botha, even if Munster don’t have an adequate replacement at that point in time, is affected by point four below.
Secondly, all future NIE player contracts will be position-specific: i.e. when you sign a NIE player the province must declare him exclusively a full-back, a scrum-half, a second row etc.
In theory that sounds simple but it’s not so straight-forward. It’s very common in the game now that full-backs and wingers become interchangeable. Look at Munster alone this year: Johne Murphy, Denis Hurley, Keith Earls and Felix Jones have all played right across the back three.
It doesn’t make sense to say that if you were buying Doug Howlett now you could only play him on the right wing and not on the left wing or full-back.
Do you announce a player is in the side at full-back, give him the number 15 jersey but position him on the wing? What are the consequences with the PCRG if you pull that stroke? Are we saying that if Munster contract a NIE centre they must nominate him as an inside centre (12) but hope on another weekend that neither Leinster or Ulster pick a NIE player at outside centre (13) and that Munster may be able to slip him in there?
The most difficult one to police is in the back row. Numbers six and eight are largely interchangeable now so if you declare a new NIE player as a number eight does that mean he cannot bind on the side of the scrum?
In games players rotate, depending on the position of scrum. David Wallace often swapped with Anthony Foley for attacking scrums close to the opposition line as he was more explosive off the base.
Likewise for defensive scrums, especially if your scrum was under pressure, you would always have Foley at number eight as he was the master at controlling the ball at the base and making the right decisions.
This policy negates the advantage of signing a player like Paul Warwick, who had the ability to play across a range of positions — he would have to be nominated as an out-half and therefore would not be available to play at full-back or in the centre.
There is a caveat in the policy in that in exceptional circumstances, he could play in another position but his selection would have to be sanctioned by the PCRG.
Imagine Tony McGahan having to apply to the PCRG seeking permission to play Warwick at full-back against Leinster in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup? A bit awkward for Martin O’Sullivan and Pa Whelan, Munster representatives on the PCRG, I would have thought.
The fact that a provincial coach will now have even further restrictions placed on who he can sign from overseas, and where he can play him, will impact on the decision of the best foreign coaches accepting a position here. With restrictions already in place with regard to the availability of his international squad members it could make the role more unattractive.
Thirdly, all injury replacement players must be Irish eligible.
This makes perfect sense to me and was introduced to stop short-term contracts similar to the one given to 36-year-old Stefan Terblanche recently by Ulster.
In that instance the former Springbok was signed for three months to cover an injury to Jared Payne. Some people have read this to mean that you could not have a NIE player on the bench in a match day squad but that is not the case.
Fourth, a province will not be allowed to renew the contract of a NIE player when his contract expires or bring in a new NIE player into the same position.
This appears over the top to me. Let’s take the example of Doug Howlett, outstanding both on and off the field for Munster.
He has helped to nurture young talent like Keith Earls, Denis Hurley, Felix Jones and recently Simon Zebo since his arrival here in 2008.
Under the new dictat Howlett would not be allowed to re-sign for Munster. In addition, Munster couldn’t go overseas for a replacement despite the fact there may be nobody coming through the system to replace him.
Even if there was, do you really want another inexperienced campaigner to line out in the back three with say Zebo and Jones?
There seems to be no cognisance given to the commercial value that someone like Howlett or Nacewa bring to the set-up even though the provinces are now seen as four separate cost centres, largely responsible for generating their income from sponsorship deals, season tickets, corporate promotions and adhering to strict financial models.
IT strikes me that while the provinces are doing an excellent job in running their financial affairs and are getting a greater degree of autonomy in this area — while still understandably having to report to the IRFU — they are experiencing an increasing dilution in their power to direct their on-field rugby activities.
Already the number of games and the rest periods for the national players is dictated by the national player management programme, with the front-line players restricted to just 10 RaboDirect games per season.
Now this independent PCRG are dictating who the provinces can sign, in what position they will play or, of even greater significance, in what position they can’t play.
A team’s ability to address a weakness due to a long-term injury could well come down to luck, to whether another province has a NIE player in that position or does not conflict with the need for a replacement to be Irish eligible.
This could have a detrimental effect on the effectiveness of the side.
I am all in favour of promoting youth and in protecting the key positions on the field so that indigenous talent can come through at half-back and in the front row, to avoid the situation we have now with too many overseas props in the country.
I just hope that the situation that was allowed to develop in that specific sector and was primarily responsible for the introduction of this new policy doesn’t have a detrimental effect on the competitive nature of our sides in Europe. We will wait and see.
* Final word today goes to The Bull. John Hayes bowed out of professional rugby on Monday night as he had played throughout his magnificent career, with dignity, humility and honesty.
Hayes retires to the sanctuary of the farm after a career that, by his own admission, lacks a single regret. That’s how it should be after everything he has contributed. He will be missed.
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