Connacht exclusion ‘will not be allowed’
IRFU officials will meet with Connacht representatives this week, as part of a national tour, to outline financial difficulties as current projected losses of 4 million threaten to jump to 6.9m next year.
Everyone within the IRFU agrees cutbacks have to take place, even though this year’s projected losses may not be as bad as initially feared.
Rumours have been rife over the last couple of days that, in a bid to right the financial losses, Connacht will suffer more than any of the other three Provinces involved in the Heineken Cup.
That is bound to be resisted in the Province, however, and one long-serving official yesterday declared: “We are not going to be pushed into the Atlantic.”
Pointing to the recent success of the Connacht senior team and the major improvement made at schools and underage level, he said: “Too much work has gone into developing rugby in Connacht for everything to be swept under the carpet. It cannot, and will not be allowed to happen.”
The most embarrassing fact is Connacht have supplied one of their most loyal administrators as president of the Union this year. Yesterday Don Crowley would only say: “The organisation is taking a good look at finances, as it must, but no decision has yet been made as to how we keep the finances under control.
“Officers of the Union will be meeting with officials from all Provinces in the next week or so and other plans have been put in place to cut costs. I think the cost-cutting exercise will be taken a stage further when the IRFU committee meet on Thursday week.
“We have to look at every aspect of our finances. That has always been the case and we have to be seen to take action if action needs to be taken.”
That’s not to say, of course, that Mr Crowley is anyway in favour of radical moves to dump Connacht from the Irish provincial equation. “I think that’s not going to happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, Connacht coach Steph Nel has his own problems in advance of Friday’s Celtic League quarter-final with Munster at Musgrave Park.
The South African declined to comment on current speculation about the future of the province. “My only worry right now is to prepare my team for a big match against Munster. I don’t want to get involved, and I have no intention of responding to speculation or rumours.”
Nel will be without his captain Tim Allnutt, vice-captain Warwick Waugh (both are out for the season) while prop Dan McFarland and flanker Colm Rigney have also been ruled out. Shane Moore will captain the side which shows six changes from that which went down to Glasgow in their final pool game.
Mark McHugh moves to full-back with Gavin Duffy starting on the right wing and Ted Robinson switching to the other wing.
Ronan McCormack comes back into a front row which also sees Marnus Uijs starting as hooker. Damien Browne comes into the second row while Paul Neville is selected at blindside flanker.
Nel has still set his sights on victory despite the loss of key forwards. “It’s going to be tough because Munster are very difficult to dominate up front. My feelings at this stage of the competition, though, is that we have a 50-50 chance. It’s a quarter-final and knockout. We have no particular fears of travelling because you sometimes have to travel to win games. We have done it in the past.
“It’s not always the size of the dog but the fight in the dog that sometimes counts. I think Munster will find we will fight them all the way. the only way we can prove to ourselves how good, or otherwise, we are is by our performances on the pitch.”
That is just what the beleaguered Connacht Branch will love to hear in the present circumstances.
CONNACHT: M. McHugh; G. Duffy, D. Yapp, S. Moore (capt.), T. Robinson; E. Elwood, C. Keane; R. McCormack, M. Uijs, P. Bracken; D. Browne, R. Frost; P. Neville, J. O’Sullivan, J. O’Connor. Replacements: F. Boiroux, J. Flannery, M. Swift, E. Peters, E. Reddan, J. Norton, W. Munn.
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