Ford backs Irish rugby league plans

Ireland's rugby defensive coach Mike Ford has thrown his weight behind plans to establish a new rugby league competition in the country.

Plans are afoot to launch an 18-team competition in Ireland next summer, with the aim of replicating the success of the amateur 52-team Rugby League Conference operating in England and Wales.

Ford, who enjoyed a successful rugby league career with Wigan, Castleford and Great Britain, is firmly behind the proposals and believes that Ireland’s rugby union players can gain a great deal from sampling the 13-man code.

He said: “I would encourage all Irish clubs to take advantage of this opportunity.

“Rugby union can learn a great deal from its sibling code. The Rugby League Conference will give clubs the opportunity to run year-round operations which will identify clear revenue-generating opportunities as well as developing player-base skills.”

The new competition will be run along provincial lines, culminating with an All-Ireland Grand Final, with the winners taking on the champions of England and Wales.

It will be administered by Rugby League Ireland, the governing body for the sport in Ireland and, according to RLI’s Dave Southern, it will offer a number of major benefits for competing clubs.

“A major feature of the growth of the Rugby League Conference has been the symbiotic co-existence of developing rugby league clubs and established rugby union clubs that have seen the opportunity to enter the RLC.

“This has allowed them to double-up in summer for rugby league and winter for rugby union, thereby providing year-round use of facilities.”

Rugby League Ireland already runs a successful six-team competition that has been in operation since the 1980s.

One of the major success stories of that competition has been Wicklow-born Brian Carney, a one-time gaelic footballer who succeeded England's flying wing Jason Robinson at right wing for Wigan and is currently in the Great Britain Test team playing world champions Australia.