Organisers of the British and Irish Cup have been at pains to point out that fixtures will not clash directly with AIL weekends.
In theory clubs should have their strongest squads available to them for AIL fixtures, but one wonders whether that will in fact be the case?
The best young club players in the province will see the British and Irish Cup as a means of furthering their prospects of securing a professional contract. Players will be in the shop window, playing at a high standard and hoping to make an impression.
It is understandable that talented young players’ first loyalty will be to the Munster A side and not necessarily to their clubs.
And no club is going to stand in the way of any of their players trying to further their rugby careers.
Bridging the gap
Division 1A of the AIL was seen as providing a means by which the top club players could bridge the gap between playing for their clubs and the professional set-up.
But it now seems as if the situation has changed. The British and Irish Cup is being put forward as the mechanism by which talented club players can make that progression.
The new-look Division 1A of the AIL loses some of its gloss with the inception of the British and Irish Cup.
The standard of the 24-team cup, which will feature 12 teams from the English Championship, six from the Welsh Principality Premiership, three Irish provinces Munster, Leinster and Ulster and three Scotland sides, will surely be higher than any AIL game.
As a spectacle, it will very likely prove more attractive to rugby supporters than an AIL game.
So with the full Munster side paying Magners League and Heineken Cup pool games in Limerick on a regular basis and then the province’s A side playing quality English, Welsh and Scottish opposition in the British and Irish Cup, it seems certain that the already modest attendances at AIL games will be hit even further.
In a time of recession, with numerous sporting counter-attractions on TV on Saturday afternoons and viewing facilities at club grounds - with the exception of Thomond Park- modest for spectators, the odds are stacked in favour of fewer patrons attending AIL games next season.
In short, the new British and Irish Cup will benefit the provinces and the development of talented young players, but it is unlikely to do much for a club player of decent standard who doesn’t have the ability or interest in moving into the provincial set-up.
It will also be fascinating to see just how the Irish province’s A sides will fare against English Championship, Welsh Principality Premiership and Scottish Premiership Division 1 sides.
It would be useful at this stage to explain exactly what is envisaged with the new British and Irish Cup.
The 12 competing English side are Championship, or National League One, clubs, comprising of Bedford, Birmingham & Solihull, Bristol Rugby, Cornish Pirates, Coventry, Doncaster, Exeter Chiefs, London Welsh, Moseley, Nottingham, Plymouth Albion, Rotherham Titans.
They will be joined by the top six Welsh Principality Premiership clubs as well as the top two finishers in Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership Division 1 (champions Ayr and Boroughmuir or Heriot’s) and a team drawn from the SRU National Academy and Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as the three Irish representatives from Munster, Leinster and Ulster.
Teams will be divided into four polls, with each one consisting of six teams. Teams play each other once, giving five pool matches.
The pools based on travel/geography with the aim of maximising local interest and minimising cost to teams and supporters
Teams will be awarded 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 bonus point for either a) scoring 4 or more tries or b) losing by 7 points or less.
The pool matches scheduled for November 7 and 28, February 13, February 27, March 13. These are non AIB League weekends.
Pool winners will progress to knockout stage. The two semi finals are scheduled for April 24, with the final fixed for May 15.
Irish Rugby Football Union Director of Rugby, Eddie Wigglesworth said the British & Irish Cup would introduce a more structured approach to the existing Ireland provincial A game programme in each province.
In 2009-10 this competition when combined with the existing A interprovincial series “will deliver the same number of games as agreed last year, with only the semi final and finals additional games”.
He continued: “Games will take place over the extended weekends (Thursday to Sunday) and will not conflict at any point in the season with the AIB league weekends or the latter stages of the AIB Cup.
“We need this additional professional game opportunity to augment the existing provincial Academy and Development player structure and also need a very strong domestic league. The AIB League represents the top level of our domestic game and professional player involvement in the AIB League is important to both the clubs and our professional structure. We believe this more structured approach can alleviate many of the current interface issues in the coming seasons.”
Further details on the British and Irish Cup will be available in the next couple of months.
A terrific spectacle
Saturday’s All-Ireland League Division 1 decider provided a terrific spectacle at Thomond Park. The meeting of Shannon and Clontarf produced arguably the best final since the play-off system was introduced.
Many neutrals felt that the manner in which Shannon were declared champions after the sides finished level after extra time was unsatisfactory. They felt a replay was the common sense approach to the matter.
But as Shannon officials and supporters were quick to point out later, they didn’t make up the rules governing the competition. They rules for Divisional Championships state that if the clubs are tied after extra-time, then the teams which scored the most tries will be deemed the winner. In this case both teams scored two tries.
The rules state that if the finalists manage the same number of tries, the side scoring the first one will be the winner. As a result David O’Donovan’s 22nd minute touchdown for Shannon was the scored which clinched a ninth AIL title for ‘the Parish’ side.
Incidentally, if the teams had finished level after extra time and neither side had managed to score a try, then the team that scored the first points in the final would be the winner. Shannon would also be declared winners in this scenario as out-half Tadhg Bennett opening the scoring with a first minute drop goal.
And finally, if the game had finished scoreless after extra time, the team occupying the higher finishing position in the League table at the end of the regular season would be declared the winner.
As it turned out, Shannon finished in second place in the League table, one point ahead of fourth-placed Clontarf. So now you know!
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