Donal Lenihan: Fearing for the future after the H-bomb
The capitulation of the Pro12 faction at the negotiating table was cringeworthy and made even worse by the fact that three key parties to the dispute — the French club’s representative Ligue Nationale du Rugby (LNR), their English counterpart Premiership Rugby League (PRL) and the only member of the Celtic brethren to break ranks, the Welsh regions — weren’t even present for the debate.
Yet the PRL and LNR were granted practically everything they had been demanding with the stubborn resolve of a spoilt child.
One only hopes that this is part of a well choreographed strategy by those representing the rugby unions of Ireland, England, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the row that threatens the future of the European game.
What is clear now is the Heineken Cup, as we know it, is finished. What has to happen next is that its alternative is structured in a way that contributes to all aspects of the professional game in the northern hemisphere at club and international level.
I’ve long entertained the view that change is a good thing and that the Heineken Cup could benefit from a restructuring which addresses the quirks and anomalies that have impacted negatively on it’s makeup over the years.
Chief amongst those is a ranking system that has blighted the draw and led to some daft combinations such as Leinster and Clermont Auvergne paired together in a pool last year.
Having Leinster, Castres, Northampton and Ospreys in the same pool this season is even worse.
The statement issued on Thursday suggests that the share of the commercial revenues has been tweaked in favour of the French and English clubs with the caveat that the other four unions are set to earn more in monetary terms than they receive at present, despite a reduction in overall distribution in percentage terms from 52% to 33% of the total pot.
That could well be as a result of the deal negotiated by the PRL with BT Sport but with the certainty that Sky will challenge any such agreement in court, one wonders where the key issue of the broadcast rights sit at present. One would imagine that any new title sponsor will be very reluctant to commit to anything until the battle for those rights has been resolved.
Meritocracy poses no issue for me and the top seven teams having to qualify from the Rabo will only add significantly to that tournament.
However I’m not sure what will be achieved by reducing the competition from 24 to 20 teams, given that it doesn’t free up any weekends on the existing schedule.
What concerns me most is the proposed new European tournament, the blandly named Rugby Champions Cup, is the brainchild of the cash-rich owners of the French and English clubs who also want to control how it is run.
Reading that press release on Thursday night, I couldn’t help but reflect on where the professional game was going, scanning my table in the centre of the main hall. In many ways it represented the past, present and future of the game. Seated directly across from me was former Munster teammate Peter Clohessy, one of those fortunate enough to enjoy the best the amateur and professional game had to offer.
Next to him sat Anthony Foley, the first Munster man to lift the Heineken Cup and someone brought up in the very best traditions of the amateur game, despite being a professional for the majority of his career.
The fact that he is central to guiding the fortunes of the next generation of Munster hopefuls comes as no surprise to those of us privileged to work with him as a player.
On Axel’s right sat a key component in Munster’s future, Simon Zebo. The fact that he was positioned next to Racing Metro’s head coach Laurent Travers and blessed with fluent French made me nervous, to the point where I was reluctant to leave the table in case he was signed up on the spot! Munster couldn’t afford to lose a box office favourite at this juncture.
To my immediate left was the greatest Irish player of any era in Brian O’Driscoll along with his former Leinster and Ireland colleague Denis Hickie. Both were badly delayed en-route to Cork. Yet there was never any thought of turning back as they were 100% committed to honouring a player who had contributed so much to their careers, values that one hopes will survive well into the future of the ever-evolving sport of rugby.
On my right sat O’Gara’s fellow coaches at Racing Metro, conditioning coach Gilbert Gascou, backs coach Laurent Labit and Travers. In the centre of the French contingent, Jacky Lorenzetti, the clubs multimillionaire owner and a central figure in the French clubs’ fight for control of the European game. At midnight we shook hands as that quartet took their leave for Cork Airport, where Lorenzetti’s private jet was on standby to fly them back to Paris.
Lorenzetti, came across as a very charming and engaging man, appeared genuinely taken back by the multiple achievements of his club’s new kicking coach and the presence of so many luminaries from the world of sport and politics. I even overheard them discussing Roy Keane who was sat at the neighbouring table. When Finance Minister Michael Noonan addressed the audience, you sensed that Lorenzetti began to appreciate O’Gara’s standing in his community.
Over the course of the night, Lorenzetti revealed to me that he was only involved in the game for a few years and was still coming to terms with it and was taking it all in. Out of respect for Ronan, I resisted the temptation to tell him that this is exactly the reason people like him should not be attempting to hijack the game.
Already we have seen the likes of Lorenzetti’s counterpart in Toulon, Mourad Boudjellal, break ranks with his LNR counterparts over a proposed introduction of quotas on overseas players in the French championship.
The French Federation, working with the LNR, have become increasingly worried about the impact the number of foreign players is having on the competitiveness of the national team.
The IRFU is reducing the number of non-Irish qualified players in the provincial squads to four while the French proposal is for a staggered reduction, with a target of 12 foreigners per club by 2017.
Boudjellal is so enraged by this that he has said Toulon will not partake in the Rugby Champions Cup and has already broken ranks with the LNR, aligning himself instead with the ERC.
Acting like the kid who owns the ball and demands first on everything, Boudjellal has highlighted the potential for chaos when these club owners don’t get everything their own way.
What is best for French rugby is of little or no interest to Boudjellal.
Having so much power in the top clubs invested in one man is highly dangerous, yet these influential figures are now setting the agenda for the club game in Europe. That is a frightening prospect.
