Changes to the AIL

[d angry kid]

Changes have been announced today to the structure of AIL Division 1 which are to be implemented in the 2009/10 season. In previous discussions held on the topic in newspapaers, on this board, etc. I gathered that the whole point of changing the structure of the AIL was to make it more competitve to a point where borderline provisional players can compete and develop at a much higher standard than what is already there. Does this new structure accomplish this???

In my humble opinion the answer to this question is probably not, the changes proposed are not enough. There are still 16 teams in Div. 1, all with a chance of winning it. All thats different is there are two sections with 8 teams each playing 7 home and 7 away games. It may be a bit tighter at the top with the stronger teams having to play each other twice but I don't think this system can truly hope to generate the higher standard required in order to develop better and larger provincial squads made up of IRISH players. This ultimately increasing the number of quality players available for selection to an Irish team that's in it's twilight years.

As for what it does to increase interest levels in the club game... does it do anything?!

[Leinsterman]

As for what it does to increase interest levels in the club game... does it do anything?!

It does absolutely nothing to increase interests.
People aren't going to suddenly take any interest in the likes of Clontarf or Shannon just because they play each other more often. The gulf between AIL and ML is really widening and I doubt if in future AIL players will be plucked from AIL to slot into the provincial squads mid-season to fill in. That's what the academies are for.

Time to ditch the AIL and go back to provincial leagues. They might get bigger crowds too. ........ but I doubt it.

[BlueArmyOriginal]

How much longer will it take before the union realises that they need to completely change the club system in this country instead of tweaking the current model?! I hope I'll be proved wrong on this but I cant see this working.

[silly punt]

How much longer will it take before the union realises that they need to completely change the club system in this country instead of tweaking the current model?! I hope I'll be proved wrong on this but I cant see this working.

The union are fully aware of what is required, it is the clubs who are stopping any change. A 66% majority is required for any change & the clubs in Divisions 2/3 dont want any changes to as they see it, their senior status.

The obvious thing would be (as has been discussed before) a 12 AIL Premiership playing each other on a home & away basis. With provincial Leagues feeding into the premiership, the provincial winners would play in a Round Robin, with the winners automatically promoted & second place playing off against second last in the Premiership. This would create another tier in Irish Rugby & should also provide aspiring young players with a higher standard of rugby.

But it wont happen.................................

[BlueArmyOriginal]

How much longer will it take before the union realises that they need to completely change the club system in this country instead of tweaking the current model?! I hope I'll be proved wrong on this but I cant see this working.

The union are fully aware of what is required, it is the clubs who are stopping any change. A 66% majority is required for any change & the clubs in Divisions 2/3 dont want any changes to as they see it, their senior status.

The obvious thing would be (as has been discussed before) a 12 AIL Premiership playing each other on a home & away basis. With provincial Leagues feeding into the premiership, the provincial winners would play in a Round Robin, with the winners automatically promoted & second place playing off against second last in the Premiership. This would create another tier in Irish Rugby & should also provide aspiring young players with a higher standard of rugby.

But it wont happen.................................

Forgot about that, my mistake