'The provinces were put together by James II in 1610 and we’re organising women’s rugby around them in 2022. That’s nuts!'

Railway Union’s John Cronin says Ireland needs to ape England by creating a league based around representative clubs in the big population centres – Cork, Limerick, Galway, Belfast and four teams in Dublin.

Railway Union Director of Rugby John Cronin believes Irish women's rugby would benefit from a radical reshuffle.

As head coach of the AIL’s current standard-bearers, Railway Union’s John Cronin believes the women’s AIL – and, by extension, Ireland - would benefit from a radical reshuffle.

He says the IRFU tried to copy England’s success when it consulted with clubs in 2019 about forming an elite high performance league but didn’t go far enough.