Connacht deserves better treatment

In the European Cup fall-out from the World Cup, regular attenders at the Irish provinces' home games (save for Ulster) would be entitled to wonder what exactly, if anything, is wrong with Irish rugby. This Heineken Cup is becoming an oasis.

Between them, Munster, Leinster and Connacht have won all eight of their home games in Cup and Shield. There's nothing new in Munster doing that, but for Leinster to win three out of three at Donnybrook is unique.

Anyone who'd suggested such a thing as Leinster laboured to beat Connacht via Brian O'Driscoll's injury-time try, or Leinster's dismal and disjointed 30-13 defeat at home to Munster early last November, would have been taken away by the men in white coats.

Many Leinster diehards were getting seriously down about the province, and Mike Ruddock's position especially. The transformation since has been striking. As Ruddock regularly and generously concedes, much of it has been down to the arrival of Matt Williams as assistant/backs' coach.

The former New South Wales coach fell into the laps of Ruddock and Leinster while touring here as no more than a supporting Wallaby enjoying his 40th birthday celebrations during the World Cup. Williams has helped transform Leinster's running game and self-belief.

It also assuredly helped Leinster's collective mindset that Liam Toland not only brought some balance to the back-row in their problem position of open side, but his ascendancy to the captaincy brought some Munster steel to the equation - however cliched that may sound.

Another glaring factor in Leinster's improvement has been the emergence of the Stu Forster-Emmet Farrell half-back combination. Credit to Ruddock for calling this one, even if the popular but erroneous impression might be that it was Williams.

It will rankle with him that Farrell hasn't also solved the goalkicking problem, but that aside, Ruddock must be wondering privately why he waited 10 games and six different halfback combinations before opting for the Forster-Farrell ticket.

Similarly, Toland was available throughout the whole of last season, yet was never picked. Both in this, and with several of Ruddock's selections over the last three years, not to mention substitutions, the Leinster coach has mystified many of the province's supporters.

All of which perhaps underlines the mistake made by the Leinster Branch when they granted Ruddock sole selection powers following the disbandment of the Jim Glennon-Paul Dean backup management team.

But with Williams and Toland now on board, there seems to be a much better structure alongside Ruddock, and a more supportive one. You wouldn't envy him or any other coach with a young family in the current climate, for as a career it's neither financially very remunerative - compared to other team sports - nor does it provide much in the way of security.

But given the need for, and the benefits to be accrued from, more continuity in Irish and Leinster rugby, it makes sense for the Leinster Branch/IRFU to award Ruddock a new contract now, all the more so if Williams, Ruddock's first full-time assistant coach in his three-year tenure, remains on board.

If that is the thinking in the branch, then they should move quickly, preferably this week and prior to Saturday's crunch game away to Leicester. Not that they and the IRFU give you the impression they have the will or ability to move that swiftly.

For amid the improved entertainment at Donnybrook of late it's a pity that the crowds have generally been lower than last season, despite the team belatedly coming good and enjoying their best home form in the five years of the European Cup.

If any branch needs to be taken up by the roots, so to speak, and restructured then it's Leinster. Indeed perhaps they all do, for there's little doubt that were the union to hand over the European representatives to the clubs, as amalgamated businesses with each having shares in the new operation and more streamlined structures, then they'd be run far more professionally.

Instead, though, confirming the worst suspicions of even the least paranoid within Connacht, it's the west where the union are looking to do some cost-cutting. Judging by some newspaper reports, and off-the-record conversations yesterday, there is growing opinion within the IRFU that they are getting a poor return for their near £1 million investment in Connacht.

Were the union to downgrade Connacht to a semi-professional outlet, capable at most of competing in the interpros but not in Europe, it would be as much the union's historic failure to develop rugby in the province as it would be Connacht's.

It would also be a damning indictment of Irish rugby were the union, of all people, to admit that Ireland was incapable of fielding four representative teams in Europe. That is surely what they should be aspiring to.

On the one hand there is an acknowledgement that progress is being made at under-age level in Connacht, and that this needs to be serviced continually. Yet what would an aspiring young Connacht player actually aspire to? Playing for Ulster or Munster or Leinster?

It is true that Connacht only had four or five native westerners in Saturday's team that beat Steaua Bucharest, but it was only two years ago when they were the only province to provide a ray of light in European competition by reaching the Shield quarter-finals.

Even allowing for the objectionable morality behind this move, and the insulting break with tradition, to what degree is the movement toward diluting Connacht influenced by the relative lack of Connacht people at the IRFU's round table? For example, were Ulster in equally dire straits (as was so nearly the case up until last year) would there be a similar movement to downgrade them?

To what degree is this movement motivated by IRFU representatives from rival provinces keen to ensure their own province's guaranteed involvement in the European Cup or any putative Celtic competition?

And if certain elements within the union are so concerned about saving some expenditure, then why don't they look at pruning some of the junkets abroad?