Clearly  angered by the lack of consultation with them, the Irish Rugby Union Players' Association - which represents virtually all the 120 professional players in this country - have warned the IRFU of the inherent dangers in disbanding Connacht and so threatening the livelihood of 25 per cent of its membership.Gerry Thornley reports

Although the recently formed association successfully sought some dialogue with the IRFU this week it appears that the union had overlooked the players when considering the need to curtail its expenditure and thus its 120-strong playing pool, whether by culling Connacht en bloc or spreading the cuts across the provinces.

Rather than look at other means of countering the projected loss of €4 million this year and almost €7 million next year there are undoubtedly leading figures from the other three provinces in the IRFU who want to reduce the professional player pool from 120 to 90 purely and simply by jettisoning Connacht.

Formed last year, it is believed that 116 players enlisted with the IRUPA, thereby making the association a potentially powerful lobby group in conjunction with Connacht.

Fearful that this could be the thin end of the wedge, as a last resort the players could even threaten strike action.

Nor would the potential loss of livelihood be necessarily confined to Connacht players.

Were the union to cut its professional playing pool by one quarter, invariably some Connacht players (a handful of whom are currently on two-year deals) would be relocated to the other three provinces and so the ripple effect would be felt everywhere.

In any event, the players' union have issued a thinly veiled threat that to cull one quarter of its membership without prior consultation would be to risk all-out strike.

"It is with grave concern that we, the Irish Rugby Union Players' Association (IRUPA) - a representative body set up last year by the professional rugby players of Ireland to represent the players in matters concerning their welfare - have read over the past number of days numerous articles appearing in the national newspapers regarding the possible disbandment of the Connacht professional set-up."

The statement added: "We expect the IRFU to keep us informed of all developments in this matter and consult with the IRUPA before they make any decision which may directly and adversely affect the livelihood and careers of our members."

The IRFU chief executive Philip Browne admitted that he had met the former Irish winger Niall Woods, who was representing the IRUPA, earlier this week "in relation to this matter and we accept that the players have understandable concerns and that we'll have to deal with the players' association."

To that end they will meet again next Sunday week.

Browne blamed others within the IRFU, presumably in Connacht, for "the leakages" which obliged players to read about this issue in the media.

A union workshop having stunned Connacht delegates by bringing up the subject of disbanding the province's professional squad a couple of weeks ago, an IRFU delegation then travelled to Galway for an acrimonious meeting with Connacht officials last Thursday.

Similar briefings outlining the union's options in reducing its expenditure have still to be arranged with the other three provinces as part of what Browne has called "a process of information. At the end of the day it is a democracy."

So although a full IRFU committee meeting took place yesterday, at which the union's financial position and the alternative actions available to them were discussed, it was too early in this process to make any firm decisions.

Furthermore, the Connacht Branch have been granted their request for a meeting between the chief executives and treasurers of all four provinces as well as their IRFU counterparts the week after next, while they have also requested a full meeting of the IRFU council (which would incorporate 10 delegates from each provinces as well as the 22-man committee and the union officers) to discuss this vexed issue as soon as possible.

In view of all these meetings, and the entry of the players' association into the discussions, Browne conceded that possibility of any firm decisions being made this side of the New Year was highly unlikely.