Fine Gael leader Kenny hits out at rugby chiefs

RUGBY bosses should not have become involved in politics in the way they did by holding a press conference to oppose plans to show matches on free-to-air TV, according to Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny.

The Government yesterday stressed that no decision has been made on controversial proposals that would ensure Six Nations and Heineken Cup matches could not be shown on subscription stations.

Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, said the Government will come to a “common sense” decision on the issue following a consultation process.

The Irish Rugby Football Association (IRFU) said the proposals by Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan, would cost it €12 million annually and would be the biggest setback ever suffered by the game in Ireland.

At a press conference earlier this week, IRFU chief executive, Philip Browne, said if the plans went ahead, Minister Ryan would have to live with the fact “that he personally brought down Irish rugby on the back of a hunch.”

Asked yesterday if such an intervention by the IRFU was appropriate, Kenny said: “I don’t think sporting organisations should be involved in politics to that extent.”

Kenny claimed Minister Ryan was trying to get cheap publicity from the plans by announcing them on the eve of the Heineken Cup semi-finals being played by Leinster and Munster who could have potentially met in tomorrow’s final in Paris.

“If an income stream can be maintained and free to air can be done at the same time, great. But I think there needs to be some deeper analysis of what is going on here,” he said.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said: “What we have free to air I’d like to see retained and any developments in this area are consistent with the sports doing so well in this area.

“We are engaged in a consultation process. That will be thorough and the Tourism and Sports Minister will be involved, consulting with the relevant sporting organisations. We want to see a common sense outcome.”

Mr Ryan wants both the club and international rugby games added to the list of sporting events to be made available to all viewers free of charge.

But Fine Gael spokesperson on Communications, Simon Coveney, said the Six Nations will be shown for free on RTÉ for at least another three years under current agreements. “Why are we trying to fix something that isn’t broken?” he asked.

“There’s a review mechanism every three year, if we see Six Nations rugby being broadcast on a free to air basis is under threat we can act to prevent that. But what is happening at the moment is that Eamon Ryan is wading into this without having done his homework,” he said.

Meanwhile, Toulouse captain Thierry Dusautoir is hoping to complete a remarkable double after skippering France to the RBS Six Nations Grad Slam earlier this season.

The flanker is also looking to wipe out the bitter memories of successive runners-up medals – in 2006 and 2008 – with the first being in the colours of Biarritz, before moving on to Toulouse. Both defeats were at the hands of Munster.

Dusautoir admitted that it was now imperative for Toulouse to win on Saturday in the Stade de France against his former side Biarritz to avoid another trophy-less season – their second in succession.

“The appetite is there,” he told L’Equipe. “Several of us have joined Toulouse to win this trophy and it is the only way to

“Stade Toulousain has never lost in the final of the Heineken Cup to a French side, which is good for the superstitious, but this is a European final and that is enough for motivation.”

However, Biarritz flanker Magnus Lund said the Basques were content to go into the clash as underdogs. “If people keep writing us off we will be happy to take that and just go out there and do the work,” said the flanker.

“Those players who had been in the Heineken Cup final before said at the start of the season this was something they wanted to experience again and now, while we are happy to be there, it is a case of not just getting to the final, it is the winning of it.”