Browne’s IRFU financial fear

IRFU chiefs fear any boycott of the Heineken Cup or a similar European competition by English and/or French clubs could result in a €12m hit and place the union and the four provinces in a perilous financial position.

Revenue from the European and PRO12 competitions accounts for 13% of the IRFU’s annual income and that source is under threat with the impasse over English clubs participation in next season’s Heineken Cup.

Their French counterparts were of a similar mind until their union (the FFR) strong-armed them back into the Heineken camp, but it remains to be seen what action the powerful Top 14 club owners decide to take.

“Realistically, it would put us in a very difficult position,” said Browne of the likely effects any English and/or French absence would have on the future financial well-being of the IRFU and the provinces.

“We generate probably €5-6m from European competition on an annual basis and the provinces maybe generate the same again, so to take a hit of €10-12m and then to see a spiral in terms of commercial viability and brand strength being impacted, that has all got to have an impact.

“The difficulty we have is that there are a number of club owners who have a very different position. Some of them have more money than the entire worth of international rugby — full stop. To them this is almost personal.”

A complicated and multi-layered problem has only been exacerbated by the differing opinions held in Wales among the WRU and its regions with the latter having sidled up to the Anglo-French club camp and with some talk of them ditching the PRO12.

Yet the kernel of this problem lies on either side of the English Channel where the Premiership (PRL) and Top 14 (LNR) clubs are facing some hard choices and Browne admitted the IRFU was very much a bystander.

“This is much bigger than Ireland. This is about European rugby and international rugby as well and it is very much about governance and control and who is going to call the shots in relation to the development of the game over the next 10 years.”

The frustration from an Irish context must be that all these political machinations are ongoing against a backdrop of the four professional teams here completing a second straight European clean sweep over the weekend.