Today’s two results (I’ll leave them till the end) allow us to draw some tentative conclusions.
To nobody’s surprise Wolfhounds, comprising the best players from Leinster and Ulster, have walked off with a second trophy running. Congratulations to them, but then we must ask if the aims set out by the organisers are really being met:
“The League is designed to develop and inspire World Class performance through elite competition, it is the highest form of domestic rugby across the 3 nations and acts as a pathway for current and future International Talent.”
That was the high intent, and overall the Challenge has indeed improved prospects for all three nations. But their individual circumstances are so different that we may question one of the claims made.
“The highest form of domestic rugby across the 3 nations” – at face value that may be true, but huge numbers of the best Welsh and Scottish players are attached to PWR clubs in England. That makes a striking difference to the make-up of opposing teams.
Most of Ireland’s test squad not represented in the Wolfhounds side were playing for Clovers in Ystrad Mynach. That leaves a select few (for example Neve Jones, Sam Monaghan (when fit) and Edel Mcmahon) absent in England. In stark contrast, barely more than one or two Scottish or Welsh caps play in the CC.
So an overwhelming victory for Wolfhounds leaves us wondering whether the authorities might consider tinkering with the set-up before next year. Edinburgh were already deprived of players through injury, and they don’t possess infinite resources. Players need to be tested, but the game at Donnybrook didn’t present the competition in the best light. 50-0 at half-time was more than doubled. This looked horribly like women versus girls.
Clovers had a more modest win against Gwalia, but still registered their fourth score of over fifty this season. The only losses the two Irish sides have suffered were against each other. Each righted the wrong in the return match.
We shouldn’t for a moment criticise them for the ease of these victories over cross-border rivals. It is they who are producing the one national league, the AIL, to come anywhere near the strength of PWR, good enough to retain the commitment of so many Irish internationals. But I recall the head coach of one of their leading clubs admitting that the standards there in no way compared with (what was then still) the Premier 15s. Irish voices can still be heard complaining about inadequacies in national structures.
It makes me wonder whether Scott Bemand, as well as overseeing the needs of the Irish squad, is bending the ear of the IRFU about the nature of supporting structures.
If next year the CC retains its present form, then fine. The proof of the pudding is in national results, and the Six Nations is just around the corner. As things stand, I suspect Sean Lynn will continue the pattern set by his Welsh predecessors and limit his choices to PWR players. If he doesn’t, it will be a small feather in WRU’s cap, and it needs all the feathers it can gather.
Bryan Easson included seven Edinburgh-based players in his extended squad. Again, it will be fascinating to see if any of them make his 23 for their first outing against Wales on 22 March. That is the route Alex Stewart took last year, gaining her first full cap in Cardiff as Scotland registered an all-important 20-18 away win.
It would be comforting to think that the top brass at SRU and WRU are working out how to devellop a home-grown league capable of attracting some of their best players back home from PWR. That would provide a vital extra bridge to the CC and the national sides. It’s already happening in the USA’s new WER league.
Results
Wolfhounds 102 Edinburgh Rugby 0
Gwalia Lightning 33 Clovers 55
Tomorrow, 9 March: Brython Thunder vs Glasgow Warriors (Parc Y Scarlets) – the last game of the season, between the two basement sides.
