Niall Woods interview: Gerry Thornley talks to the IRUPA chief executive about dealing with unions which still maintain an amateur attitude towards professional players

Time was when Niall Woods would have been heading off on his holidays around now but nowadays, this is his busiest time. Consumed as he was by the players' hugely successful annual awards dinner on Wednesday he's also been driving up and down the country keeping his members abreast of negotiations with the IRFU over the vexed issue of match fees and bonuses.

As chief executive of the Irish Rugby Union Players' Association, the former Ireland winger has been seeking an improvement in fees and bonuses which haven't changed in six years. His latest meeting with the union took place yesterday and with negotiations still ongoing, he's not inclined to divulge details.

But he will say: "I think the key thing is that, as much as the IRFU have adjusted to professionalism, the attitude to the players is still an amateur one. The culture just hasn't changed toward the players, whereas the players themselves have changed."

As an example, Woods points out that since the turn of the millennium, Ireland are running joint second to England, alongside France, in the Six Nations, with 18 wins out of 25. Yet he was irked when the three unions involved in the Celtic League agreed to maintain the 22-game format for an additional third season, and also introduced an end-of-season Celtic Cup play-off.

"No players were involved. I spoke with the Welsh players' association and neither of us were asked for our opinion. I think that's a pity," he merely states. "Both the Welsh players' association and ourselves - Scotland don't have one yet - are new but we're not looking to try and run the game. We just want an input.

"I don't know how they think they can reassess the tournament without asking the players what they thought of it. Any players I've spoken to think the length of the season is a joke. This goes to the heart of player welfare and player safety, yet the players aren't being consulted. It's a well-known fact that the more fatigued you are, the more likely you are to get an injury."

The IRFU are not unique, witness the French Federation's decision to revert to a 30-game domestic league format plus play-offs from next season. Unsurprisingly, the French were the first to form a players' union and have been the most militant, recently threatening strike action, with the English next to get up and running, followed by the Irish.

In the IRFU's defence, Woods readily concedes the union have helped the IRUPA financially and provided it with an office. Yet he finds it amusing and slightly sad that if he walks into a committee room he senses an unease about his presence.

Woods stresses that his counterpart in the IRFU, Philip Browne, is very easy to deal with, "but I don't deal with him enough. It's just so slow trying to get things done," he says, in reference to the home union's labyrinthine decision-making process.

A crunch demand for improved employment conditions concerned the "termination clause", in light of a player becoming injured, and this has been increased from three months to six months - in line with England.

Woods, alas, had his eyes opened to the concept of player welfare and safety by the knee injury which prematurely ended his own playing career. By chance, as he describes it, Woods began working for the English PRA on foot of going to Damien Hopley about an insurance issue he had at the time.

He transferred to his current post in January 2003 which coincided with a baptism of fire, namely the Connacht dispute. The players emerged stronger and more of a union as a result, however.

Rugby is such an increasingly physical, high impact sport, and careers are becoming so much shorter there's never been a greater need for a players' union. Coping with either a sudden or inevitable end to a playing career, as Woods can testify, is as much psychological as anything.

"The money thing is a huge aspect. My wages dropped by about 65 per cent, yet no matter how much you save, you have commitments such as mortgages, car loans - some players are married with kids. When your salary is cut the glamorous side of being able to spend whatever you want just disappears. I found it difficult readjusting to that, because I was still hanging around players who were earning a lot more money than I was.

"You also miss playing, the adrenaline of the team, playing in front of 80,000 people at Wembley and knowing you're never going to do that again, going to Lansdowne Road and getting frustrated because you know you can't play there again.

"It's fine now, that's gone, but myself and Conor O'Shea both said on the night of the England game that that was the first time we weren't slightly peeved we weren't playing. We were both just genuinely happy for a great win."

Also, the heavier players will struggle with their weight when they finish training and playing. "That may sound stupid to people but it does affect you."

Players inevitably feel they are indestructible, and mightn't be inclined to plan for the future, much less top up insurance policies. Part of his remit is player education, i.e., getting players to have an interest outside the game while playing so that they have something to fall back on after rugby. For example the IRUPA have an education grant, so a player who does a course which is either vocational or educational pays for it himself but if he passes, the IRUPA will refund him 300.

A future bone of contention, he envisages, will be players' image rights. "Every time your picture is in a programme, someone is using your image, so it's just a matter of quantifying it and agreeing it with the tax man. In England the majority of overseas players have an image rights company, because you pay less tax on the income you earn in that company. It's actually a double winner, because the club or the union doesn't have to pay PRSI on that income," he adds, before outlining in greater detail how this complex area works.

"The RFU have agreed a fee (an estimated £300,000) to be put into the English player pool for the use of their image rights, which is basically all their off-field stuff; sponsorship activities, signing jerseys, photos, openings, launches, everything that they do with the RFU in England.

"If it is about £300,000 then, split amongst 30 players, that would mean ten grand a man. The Welsh, who are £70 million in debt, have agreed a figure of £60,000. I haven't even got into this yet with the IRFU," which he attributes to time spent getting the IRUPA established and also to player apathy. He cites, by comparison, the example of English players refusing to autograph jerseys for the time being.

The most striking thing he has learnt from his new career, especially from his time in England, is the power players have.

"At the end of the day, the supporters don't want to watch the RFU in England, they want to see the English rugby team. TV and sponsors want the players. It is players who keep the game going, and I don't think players realise how powerful they can be. But they're starting to."