All is changed, changed utterly

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the momentous IRB decision that would change the face of rugby union forever - going professional. Declan Colley spoke to key figures in the game about the changing face of rugby in Ireland.

The Administrators

IRFU chief executive Philip Browne admits when the IRB decided to ‘open’ the game, rugby authorities here were defending the case for amateurism.

“The IRB felt they had no choice but to either bite the bullet or potentially lose control of the game. So they took their decision for better or worse and yes, it was a difficult time because we really didn’t know what to expect.

“There were a lot of commercial interests hovering around the game at the time, so it really was quite an uncertain period. There were various attempts to buy up and contract all the leading international players in the world and the back of that was only broken once the South Africans signed up to their union and New Zealand and Australia followed suit. Once that happened the onus was then on the authorities to provide professional structures,” Browne recalls.

Recently retired IRFU development guru George Spottswood concurs, saying that while the IRFU had “obviously been resisting the advent of professionalism” the decision ultimately centred on issues outside their control.

“We were against it because we didn’t have the money to run a professional game and were at a disadvantage, while also feeling the majority of players here at the time had professional careers outside the game and didn’t want to give them up.

“In the year after the Paris decision, it was a bit like a phoney war, because people were really only gearing up to go professional the following year through the money men in England. The reality in Ireland was different especially as the club versus province debate was still in full flow.

“A lot of our players initially went to the UK to play, and while the IRFU did then decide to make the provinces the second tier of the game here, the truth was initially we didn’t have the money to pay for four professional squads. Television money generated subsequently through the arrival of Sky proved crucial though, and the subsequent invention of the Celtic League gave those squads a full season with their provinces. Ultimately, the clubs did not have the sort of financial backers to swing the decision in their favour.”

Mr Browne says the Union had to learn a lot in a short period of time - and reckons they are still learning - but thinks the ultimate prognosis on professionalism here has been positive.

“But that does not underestimate the difficulties we have as a small playing race with a large cost base and there are real challenges out there for us. Having said that, there is huge interest in the game which was not there to the same extent before, and while we have attracted many new players at youth and underage level, the challenge now is to translate that into the adult code.

“The model which seems to work best in world rugby right now is the provincial one. All told I think there are more positives than negative to be drawn from the ten years. The glass is definitely half-full; the profile of the game has never been higher, the Irish team has never been as consistent, but there are still many challenges ahead.”

The Clubman

RESISTANCE to the official IRFU line on professionalism comes no more vigorously than from former Garryowen kingpin Frank Hogan.

“The majority of players now don’t get any recognition until they are 23 or 24,” he says. “The net result is the formative years of their rugby lives are involved playing mickey mouse average matches with average players who can’t teach them. I learned how to play rugby from more experienced players than me.

“The guy who is any good now is gone from the club, and I cannot see how he is going to become a good player without playing and training week-in, week-out with guys who will educate him. It is a shambles. The clubs haven’t a shilling and people are walking away from it. OK, so thousands of people are going to rugby matches, but those who are the lifeblood of the game are not comfortable with it.”

He admits the natural competitiveness of the scene in Limerick has kept the game “pretty alive” at club level there, but insists clubs who were traditionally very strong are all weak and the standard of rugby being played is “terrible.”

“Nobody goes to the AIL finals, nobody cares about the Munster Senior Cup, and if I was asked ‘is that good for the game,’ then I’d have to say it can’t be. Look at the amount of young players going to England. Why is that? Well, I believe it is because they cannot get quality football here.

“Ten years on and I’m terribly disappointed we have not won a European Cup. Largely the clubs have been gutted and the only ones doing well are the junior clubs. I don’t think that’s progress and if I was running my business like that, I’d be broke years ago.”

The Player

AT the age of 28 in 1995, Michael Galwey did not know if professional rugby was going to impact greatly on him. But the Shannon and Munster legend soon found out his sport would not only give him a new lease of life, but also a full-time and long-term career.

“In the start everyone wanted to know how it was going to work - it was something so new for all of us - but it worked out well in the end and the game has gone from strength to strength at every level,” he said.

In 1995 there was an exodus of Irish players to England. Galwey had offers but is glad he didn’t move. “There was a point where unless you were playing in England, it was hard to be selected for Ireland. But I’m glad we adapted to the professional game, because otherwise it could be like soccer, where all our top players play abroad and not at home. It may happen down the road that we’ll lose some of our high profile players to England or France to play out their career, but so far we have not lost any. The players at their peak now want to play in Ireland and that’s good.

“Professionalism was the best thing that happened me, and I’m delighted I had the experience. We played for the love of it, but to get paid for your passion is fantastic. “I’m glad I experienced both eras, because I can appreciate both equally.”

The Foreigner

KIWI Brent Pope arrived here in 1991, well ahead of professionalism, but at that time the game - particularly in the Southern Hemisphere - had more to do with ‘shamateurism’ than any Corinthian ideal.

“A lot of the guys I played with who were either All Blacks or going on to be, were professional rugby players before it was official,” he recalls. “In the lead up to it at home there was a lot going on with television bosses and I think that forced the hand of the IRB in the end.

“Ironically, the Irish were probably dragged kicking and screaming into it, but if you look back and see the way Irish rugby has gone, you’d have to say it was a good move. They certainly made the transition better than other home unions.”

Of the club/province argument, Pope agrees that, like in New Zealand, Irish clubs have suffered. He admits the 25,000 strong crowd that watched Young Munster and St. Mary’s in 1993 may be a thing of the past.

“It is very difficult to generate interest in the club game anymore for young players and that’s a shame. But the other side of that is how the junior clubs have come on because they are now getting a lot of players who didn’t make it at inter-provincial level and decide to go back to their home teams. It is those teams who are now making real progress.

“In New Zealand a lot of country clubs are now thriving once again because, let’s say, there are a lot of farmer’s sons who go to the big city to try and make it in a Super 12 or interprovincial outfit, but do not. So at the age of 26 or so, they decide ‘Hey, I’ve a dairy farm to run and I’m off home’.”

Pope reckons professionalism has worked better here than he envisaged. “If you’d have asked me beforehand, I’d have said Ireland would struggle. But I think they’ve really got their structures right, bringing players home from England was a masterstroke. The thing now is keeping everyone happy - and as we’ve seen with Shane Jennings and Leo Cullen going to Leicester, that may not always be possible. Money talks and players walk.”

The Referee

IT soon dawned on the powers-that-be that it needed to pay the top referees and make them full-time. One of Ireland’s top exponents, Dave McHugh, says that was no bad thing.

“There are a number of obvious advantages - you get more time to prepare and you don’t have to worry about an employer giving you permission to travel anywhere. The other side is that if you do have a job, it gives you another focus in your life, because as a full-time referee, you spend a lot of time on your own and a lot of time away from home.

“It is probably more of a commitment than the players have to make, because at the top level you could be away from home for over 200 days a year. Having said that it is hugely rewarding and being a professional referee is a great job. Look at the quality of the games now as opposed to ten years ago. The ball in play time, the number of tackles - all that stuff has increased dramatically. It is also a much faster game, much more physical. The athletes involved are of Olympic class standard and that could not have happened in the amateur era.”