Elite lose out as club map changes

On the way back from the west where they secured their place in the top four last Saturday, the St Mary's team coach stopped off in Barnhall, themselves qualifiers for the AIB League via the junior play-offs that afternoon. Apparently, it was the idea of former Barnhall player Trevor Brennan and, well, Trev is a persuasive fellow.

In fact, St Mary's wouldn't have needed any persuasion and Barnhall were more than happy to play hosts for the dual celebrations until the wee hours. Aside from Brennan, Barnhall's current out-half Conrad Burke played for St Mary's in the early 1990s and prop Warrick Bowden also played for both clubs, as did Sam Cawley two seasons ago.

However, this one incident helps to highlight the cross-interest between clubs and the changing map of senior club rugby. The AIL may have come a good many years too late, but better late than never, it has shaken up the old closed shop that was the Irish club scene.

The pinch has been most acutely felt in Dublin 4, the west and Ulster. For example, Wanderers, though now with a chance to return to the top flight, were lucky not to have dropped from Division One (where they were five seasons ago) to Division Three at the end of last season. In the event, sadly for them, Old Wesley duly did. Fifth in Division One in the 1992-93 season, their decline continued apace on Saturday with their relegation to Division Three. The changing face of the AIL is perhaps least pronounced in Division One, where seven of the 11 top-flight teams of six seasons ago were still in situ this season, although change there was with the welcome presence of two Connacht clubs during this campaign.

Counter-balancing the rise of Buccaneers and Galwegians, however, is the shrinkage of Connacht clubs in the AIL. Where there were eight clubs from the province when the four-division format was introduced six seasons ago, now there are only four. The amalgamation of Athlone and Ballinasloe into Buccaneers accounts for one, but unfortunately for the province, Sligo, Westport and UCG have since lost their senior status via the Division Four relegation trapdoor, as have Armagh and now, CIYMS. In their stead have come a series of upwardly-mobile clubs from the junior ranks; Ballynahinch, Richmond, Carlow (briefly), Suttonians and now Midleton all cutting a swathe through Division Four; the first named even fleetingly rising to Division Two.

Given their excellent underage structures, their status as the only senior club in Kildare and their support base, Barnhall are probably well-equipped to do the same.

Aside from underlining that several senior clubs at the time hardly justified the title, and that there were more progressive junior clubs denied a shot at them, this trend shows how the AIL has broadened the map primarily to include community-based clubs with a strong sense of identity and usually pretty fertile underage set-ups. The rewards for the IRFU and Irish rugby generally are manifest, for it is helping to spread the gospel and taking the game into previously uncharted waters.

The most striking example of this is, of course, Buccaneers. Six seasons ago they were a mixture of a third division club (Athlone) and a fourth division club (Ballinasloe). Now, after successive promotions, they are in the semi-final play-offs. As Saturday's crowd of 5,000 emphasised, they have a huge catchment area all to themselves in the midlands (the nearest senior club is 60 miles away) and thanks to good husbandry off the pitch, Buccaneers are unlikely to be one-season wonders.

Nor does it stop there. Clontarf, with the northside almost all to themselves, have climbed from Division Three and have gamely clung on to their Division One status. Sadly, after climbing two divisions each themselves, Skerries and Suttonians have since regressed, though it all contributed to the northside revolt.

DLSP, with a significant hinterland also all to themselves in south Dublin and a long-established underage structure, are on the verge of emulating Clontarf and Buccaneers' ascent from Division Three. There is, palpably, a growing trend here. The community-based clubs are on the march.

SET AGAINST these have been other long-established elite urban clubs, lacking a comparative sense of identity and very often any underage structures, who hail mostly from Dublin. Their response has been to utilise the advent of professionalism to simply throw money at it.

Run by cabals of moneymen almost as personal fiefdoms, generally they haven't been successful. Indeed, for all the investment, the only Dublin club to have consistently threatened to end the Munster monopoly has been St Mary's, themselves something of a community-based club. St Mary's are there again on Saturday flying the flag for Dublin.

Granted they've only squeezed in via fourth place again; they are not scoring nearly as freely as they were last season, and they have to overcome their Limerick bugbear once more (though, contrary to my erroneous claim yesterday, they have beaten Garryowen this season).

St Mary's are perhaps a barometer of the declining rate of tries being scored and expressive rugby being played. This time last season, they had scored 58 tries in 13 games at a rate of 4.5 per game. This season, they have scored just 24 tries in 11 games.

By all accounts the Cork Constitution-Shannon game was a cracker, but if so it was a rare one. This reporter cannot recount one truly memorable match this season. This is probably, at least in part, the product of the reduced number of matches (from 13 to 11) and the consequent reduction in the margin for error.

Not being wise after the event, but the decision not to bring in a Super 12 points-scoring system was a mistake on the IRFU's part. It would surely have encouraged more teams to go for tries. One cannot say how differently things might have panned out, and applied now the bonus points system would not alter the final standings unduly.

Cork Constitution would finish above Garryowen at the top, Terenure above Young Munster in mid-table and Blackrock above Clontarf. Indeed Blackrock will feel they deserved more for an expansive approach which saw them score more tries (20) than all bar Cork Constitution (30), Garryowen (27), Shannon (27) and St Mary's.

There's no telling how differently the table would have panned out had the teams been encouraged to go for bonus points. Either way, rather than tamper further with the structures and expand the first division to an ill-advised conference format of 16 clubs (thereby further diminishing standards), the IRFU should cast the Super 12 style system into stone forthwith.