Emigration hitting rural clubs

Rugby playing numbers are falling in rural areas due to emigration, according to an IRFU report released yesterday.

The survey showed that rural clubs are struggling due to players moving out of the country or to urban areas in search of work. It has been particularly harsh in the west of Ireland, where Connemara All Blacks secretary Irene King declared the difficulties as “immense”.

“Not only are people emigrating,” she said, “but they’re also heading off to different places to pursue third level education; that makes it very difficult in terms of being able to field teams week in and week out, and we do have 13 rugby teams in this club.”