Connacht dismay at attempts to boost representation

NOT for the first time, the Connacht branch were sent back to the west last night without the spoils from an Irish Rugby Football Union AGM.

Connacht proposed that they be given a third representative on the union committee, but despite an impassioned plea from former IRFU president Don Crowley, the proposal was turned down after 62 delegates held a secret ballot.

Sixteen members voted in favour of Connacht’s motion and 46 voted against but the secret ballot was in itself controversial, with one Leinster representative suggesting it was unconstitutional, while an Ulsterman later expressing outrage at the way the issue was handled.