Christmas heralds a time of the year that invites reflection while simultaneously turning thoughts towards the future. It’s about making plans, chock-full of good intentions that are usually a little light on details. The end result is easy to identify, the steps to get there less so.
Those sentiments are applicable to sport, to rugby. The coronavirus pandemic has utterly changed the landscape in every aspect of life, in the way we work and live. We won’t be able to reclaim lost ground and instead will have to evolve.
On that basis, would Irish rugby benefit from doing things differently in the future? There are many different aspects to admire but that doesn’t mean that the governance can’t be improved upon. We have repeatedly been told that we punch above our weight internationally, an assertion that I agree and disagree with in the same breath.
We haven't changed our rugby structures much from the time I started as a player to the present day, so from that perspective we do regularly overachieve. But if we have a properly co-ordinated approach, as the recent letter from Irish women rugby players to the Irish Government advocates, perhaps we would be able to break through the glass ceiling of previous accomplishments in global terms.
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The IRFU's initial reaction to the letter was tone deaf, which is no surprise if the main author is who I think it is, and the union has quickly discovered that you can't coax the genie of public opinion back into the bottle. Second time around the response was more conciliatory in pitch, moderated under the weight of Government concerns.
Making reviews public is the correct approach and should be a matter of course going forward. Everyone takes a little bit of the pain. Otherwise they are just expensive dust-gatherers. It's a real pity that the IRFU didn't undertake to make public the review following the 2019 men's Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Offer an insight
A decent finish to the ensuing Six Nations meant that there was less of an outcry to publicise the findings of the report and thereby offer an insight into why things didn't go to plan. Accountability is important and should apply to all, whether players, coaches and administrators, right up to those at the highest level of the organisation.
The metrics of performance are easy to measure on and off the pitch once there is transparency. In its absence the guessing games ensue. If players and coaches have to meet clearly identifiable targets, why doesn’t the IRFU’s Teflon don, David Nucifora?
It’ll be ironic if the manner in which he has overseen the women’s game is the straw that broke the camel’s back. I doubt this will be the case but as a rule of thumb going forward performance reviews should be made public irrespective of the gender about whom they are based.
The thing about strategic goals in sport is that they are very one-sided and don't account for the other dogs at the bowl
What is apparent from the Women’s World Cup qualification fiasco is that simply throwing money at a problem doesn’t guarantee a desired outcome. Without proper investment and vision in our club game, men’s and women’s, we will always be punching with one hand tied behind our back.
It is important to note that the vast majority of male players in the schools rugby system start in a club. Imagine a scenario where every player gets coached in such a way to give them the tools to play and enjoy rugby, irrespective of level. Better coaching produces better players.
There was a root-and-branch review in German football after the 2000 European Championships, a tournament in which the national team entered as reigning champions and departed ignominiously, failing to win a single match in the pool stage.
The findings of the report helped plan a strategy around developing the coaching structures while prioritising the nurturing of indigenous talent. The upshot was the development of more technically proficient homegrown players, and Germany resumed their status as largely perennial contenders at European Championships and World Cups.
One-sided
The thing about strategic goals in sport is that they are very one-sided and don't account for the other dogs at the bowl. What the women's letter has done is shine a light on all aspects of governance that is applicable to both the men's and women's game in Ireland: the vision, the pathways, the structure.
A big bugbear of mine centres on the consultative approach to strategic documents, reviews or otherwise always pointing at the end product and not the steps required. For example, take participation growth in women’s rugby or improved coaching development in club rugby: what is the detail around both, or is there any?
Do we just increase a budget in column x and if it delivers the desired result it is deemed a success? If we continue as we always have, then we are doomed to commit the sins of our past.
The IRFU will come out of Covid in a much better place than the majority of its peers financially. This is a new dawn and there exists an opportunity now to genuinely revolutionise rugby in Ireland, and paramount to that is who will be the new chief executive officer (CEO) following Philip Browne’s retirement on December 31st. I don’t think there has been a more important decision in Irish rugby since the game turned professional and we centrally contracted our players.
He has done an admirable job and is somebody I deeply respect in Irish rugby. His tenure spanned the early professional era, he navigated a constantly changing landscape of professional rugby and was paramount to keeping players in Ireland. His successor must prioritise a long-term strategy for equitable development of rugby in Ireland.
Munster’s victory against Wasps in the Champions Cup pool match in Coventry was underpinned by a host of players getting regular game time in the All-Ireland League. There should be a closer alignment from that level to the professional game. Matches are at the core of a player’s development.
Arm wrestle
Munster regressed in performance terms from the Wasps game in subduing a Castres side that refused to play ball, literally, preferring to drag the game down to a stop-start arm wrestle. It came in the week in which Johann van Graan confirmed that he will leave Munster for Bath at the end of the season. Are the two related? I don't think so because for the majority of his time in charge there has been an innate conservatism that has been deeply frustrating to watch.
Aside from the occasional flicker of excitement in matches against Toulouse or Clermont Auvergne away, Munster focused exclusively on winning, with the evolution in style a secondary concern. It is one thing to play a reductive type of rugby if it ultimately leads to success. You can wear that and look down the mountain with pride.
It is another altogether when it yields little reward. Munster have been close but there is no trophy to point to that will offer a persuasive argument for defending the approach. Conservatism in selection is always brought into sharper focus in the event of injuries to key players; Joey Carbery's means that Ben Healy and Jack Crowley, who has had virtually no game time at that level, will be handed the starting jersey or alternate in the primary playmaking role.
The next Munster coach needs to build this squad, understand what success looks like even if it isn't winning a trophy immediately
There were times when Craig Casey and Gavin Coombes both deserved starts ahead of Conor Murray and CJ Stander, but the status quo remained intact. Munster's tight five had stagnated until last week. But there is hope on the horizon. Optimism is reasonable and justified with the new group of players coming through in Munster if they can find the right coach/director of rugby.
Speaking generally, rugby is starting to find its soul again on the pitch, where players are encouraged to risk a little more with the ball in hand. Munster must now find a coach that favours that approach. Nucifora was heavily involved in Van Graan’s selection. I wouldn’t say that the South African’s tenure has been a failure but it hasn’t been a success either.
Strength of character
The challenge for Munster is to find a coach who can win the players with his vision and then have the strength of character to deliver on it. I don’t believe that is Ronan O’Gara or Paul O’Connell at this time. There is still a lot of remedial work to be done and they are immersed in other projects.
The next Munster coach needs to build this squad, understand what success looks like even if it isn’t winning a trophy immediately, and allow his team to find their own voice or identity. Munster possess talent; however, there is no divine right to win trophies, but there is magic in that red jersey, and the right coach can use that to shape their future rather than reminding them of their failures.
The future is bright for Irish rugby and, a little bit like Munster, it could be brighter if we properly embraced the club game with the respect it deserves. Covid has given us a second chance to reset and realign, and I know first-hand that second chances don’t come around that often.
