Contracts could cost IRFU up to £3m

THE IRFU will spend up to £3 million next season in contracting around 100 players in an effort to keep Irish players at home…

THE IRFU will spend up to £3 million next season in contracting around 100 players in an effort to keep Irish players at home and to encourage those currently based in England to return.

The union is also recommend ing a restructuring of the Insurance Corporation All Ireland League next season and the inauguration of an All Ireland Cup competition. Those recommendations will be put to representatives from all the senior clubs at a meeting in Dublin next Sunday.

There is also a recommendation that the first division of the AIL be reduced from 14 to 12 clubs, and that divisions two and three also have 12 clubs, with 13 in division four.

While the precise details of the contracts for players have to be finalised, the president of the IRFU, Bobby Deacy, said last night: "We believe that we will have everything finalised by February. We are reaching the stage now where we are getting down to specifics, the principle has been agreed.

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"Our aim is to make it less attractive for players to play outside the country and more attractive to play at home. We have all seen the difficulties that have arisen in areas this season in relation to the players currently playing in England."

On the financial outlay involved, he said: "We can meet the expenditure out of our resources and income. We are well aware that there are players now playing in England who would gladly return home. Some of them rushed into a situation this season without considering all the implications.

"We see it as imperative that we get our players back in the best interest of our clubs, provinces and the national team."

There will be a seven tier structure, ranging from the established internationals in category A down to the players in category F, players who will make appearances in a team who are not part of an established squad or representative panel. Provision is also being made in category D for the foreign based players.

"An immense amount of thought and effort has gone into this whole area, but it is crucial," said Deacy. "I will emphasise that an integral element of the contracts is that players must play for their Irish clubs and provinces.

The current payment for home based players in the national squad is a basic £30,000, plus a car. Those who play in the internationals get £3,000 per match and £1,000 for a win and £500 for a draw in the internationals. The players based in England get the same match fees and bonus and £800 for their participation in each squad weekend. There are also appearance payments for the players in A internationals.

The union has reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the structure of club, province and country. They see the inter provincial series and European Cup as essential in terms of development and standards.

Yet again the AIL will not start until the end of November under the proposal. That has imposed financial problems on the clubs. "We are aware of that and that clubs do not have their representative players in the early months of the season," said Deacy, "but this the best structure."

He said the union is looking at ways of helping the clubs hit by a cash shortage in the early part of the season because of the late start to the AIL, and added that clubs will get a substantial increase this season in the expenses for travel and hotel accommodation in the AIL. It is suggested that the branches continue to play provincial leagues in the early part of the season.

There will be some disappointment among some of the first division clubs that the recommendation does not suggest the division being reduced to eight clubs and played on a home and away basis. "That was a view expressed by some of the clubs when we met them," said Deacy, "but it was a minority view among the first division clubs."

The union has accepted that too many players were removed from club rugby in the initial months because of provinces playing at A, Development and under 20 levels. This will be altered by restricting the numbers in training squads and confining matches to senior provincial teams only.

The meeting next Sunday should be as lively as it will be revealing.