Latest news with #CelticLeague
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Matt Williams: Irish rugby should value the URC above the faltering Champions Cup
It is no crash that if we charted the rise of the Irish national team alongside the introduction of our indigenous provincial club competition, the two lines would almost overlap. In the amateur era, the AIL club competition was dominant in Ireland, with the provincial teams playing only a handful of representative games. This structure placed Irish rugby and the national team in an extraordinarily weak position during Ireland's transition to professionalism in the late 1990s. While I am a great supporter of our AIL clubs and believe that today, they are our rugby community's lifeblood, in the late 1990s the AIL structure spread Ireland's elite playing talent far too thinly across the many clubs. READ MORE It was the introduction of the original multinational provincial competition in 2001, titled the Celtic League, that created a meaningful season-long playing programme for our provincial teams, which triggered the sudden rise of Irish rugby. For over a century, South African provinces competed for the Curry Cup. Since 1904, the New Zealand provinces had fought over the Ranfurly Shield, which eventually evolved into their National Provincial Championship competition. In France, winning the Bouclier de Brennus in the French championship has always been regarded as the pinnacle of their sport. While in Australia, before the formation of the Brumbies in 1996, the contests between Queensland and New South Wales not only spilled a lot of blood but produced the Wallaby players who won the 1984 Grand Slam and the 1991 World Cup. When I arrived in Ireland 25 years ago, Irish rugby desperately required a meaningful, season long, provincial competition and the Celtic League delivered that. Today's United Rugby Championship is the grandchild of the Celtic League. Since its conception, it has morphed into a unique rugby polyglot competition containing an extraordinarily diverse array of teams from Italy, South Africa and the three Celtic nations. Extraordinarily, the URC spans both hemispheres. So it is being played simultaneously in summer and winter. In the same round, games can be played in the heat of a southern summer, at altitude on the South African Highveld, with another game being played on a cool crisp evening in Milan, or a contest under a torrential lashing from an Atlantic gale in Galway. Munster's Jean Kleyn training in Durban. Photograph: Steve Haag/Inpho Supporters who journey to follow their team could be sipping magnificent wine from the Constantia Valley while enjoying the culinary wonders of a South African Braai. Or perhaps sampling the delights of a local restaurateur's Italian Nonas recipe from northern Italy. Or the gastronomic joys that can be found along Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way or in the mist of the Scottish Highlands. So, with all of these unique points of difference, why does the Irish rugby community not hold the URC in far more prestige? Many in Ireland are clinging to the memories of an era that has now passed, wrongly obsessed with the bisected remains of the once great Heineken Cup. Today's Champions Cup is a competition that has been designed by British and French administrators to limit the possibility of Irish provincial teams' success. In creating the Round of 16, the Champions Cup has failed to ensure the most basic of sporting competition principles, that teams actually need to win games before they make the playoffs of the competition. After a rigorous 18 rounds of hard fought, high-quality home and away fixtures in the URC, the rigorous competition has required the Scarlets, who are the lowest qualifying team for the quarter-finals, to accumulate 48 competition points, made up of nine wins, a draw and 10 bonus points. The lowest qualifier in the URC is required to have a winning record of 50 per cent across an arduous 18 games. The Champions Cup provided Ulster with a place in the Round of 16 with a winning record of one win in four games. A 25 per cent gets you into a Champions Cup playoff. What a joke. The URC has created a competition structure of the highest quality, which has empowered Irish provinces with the opportunities to select the next generation of players like Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast. While at the same time it has enabled our great players such as Peter O'Mahony, Jonny Sexton and Conor Murray to prolong their careers. They would not have enjoyed the longevity of playing for Ireland into their mid-thirties if their careers had been spent under the heel of owners in the Top 14 or the English Premiership. A general view of the URC trophy in Pretoria. Photograph: Steve Haag/Inpho There is no doubt that the addition of the South African teams has created logistical difficulties. Last week, Munster played at home. This week they are in Cape Town. Next week, they could remain in South Africa or be back in the north. That is problematic for all involved. However, the inclusion of the South African teams has lifted the standard of play inside the URC by a considerable margin. The quality of rugby that has been played across this season in the URC has been exceptionally high. In today's URC, winning away from home against Benneton, Glasgow or in Pretoria or Llanelli is exceptionally difficult. There is also no doubt that the defection of the South African teams to the URC has significantly weakened the standard of the Super Rugby competition. The South Africans would be welcomed back to the south in a Super Rugby heartbeat. Here we should take a leaf out of French rugby's play book. To the French, the Top 14 remains their pinnacle. Several French players have told me they regard winning the Top 14 above winning the World Cup. Even as Bordeaux are still celebrating their Champions Cup success, those players will tell you that trophy remains a significant step below the Bouclier de Brennus. Irish rugby needs to respect, nurture and value the URC above all else because it is the fuel that is powering rugby across the island.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Rugby seasons just keep going, but to what end?
During a chance meeting recently with a former international rugby referee, one of his first comments about the game he officiated for many years was: 'I'm all rugby'd out.' Whether that was from the emotional toll of watching Leinster badly fall away from the Champions Cup or the fact that by late May two competitions were still running, he didn't say. But his point was well made. This 2025 rugby season has a never-ending feel to it, just as the 2024 season did. Both Leinster and Munster are still involved and if they win their next two matches, the quarter-final and semi-final of the United Rugby Championship (URC), they play the Grand Final on June 14th. READ MORE The teams kicked off the league on September 20th last year after preseason matches. The inaugural Celtic League in the 2000-01 season began on the weekend of August 17th and was completed by December 15th when Leinster beat Munster in front of 30,000 in Lansdowne Road. The following year the league final was in February, when Munster beat Neath in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. In its third year, the first following the formation of the five regional rugby sides in Wales, it was further elongated. Having previously been played as a pool stage followed by knockout rounds, it was re-engineered into a typical league system, based on home and away games only. That season the league began in September and was won by the Llanelli Scarlets when they beat Ulster in the last match on May 14th. By then the professional game was up and running and clubs needed income to pay their players. More attractive matches and a longer season was a sure way of generating income and rugby got what it has now, a mid-June final followed by an assortment of tours involving Ireland and Lions players as well as a women's World Cup in the UK, where the Irish team will play at least three pool matches against New Zealand, Japan and Spain. Leinster's Jordie Barrett signs autographs, a tiny part of his social load. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Last year in July the Irish men's squad was in South Africa preparing for a Test series against the world champions more than a year after their World Cup training camp began and 11 months since they opened their warm-up World Cup campaign against Italy at the Aviva Stadium. For Irish fullback Hugo Keenan last season was longer than any before. Having entered Ireland's training camp on June 18th, 2023, he finished playing in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with the now defunct Irish Sevens team on July 27th. When the URC final is complete, if any of the 15 Irish players selected for the Lions by Andy Farrell are playing, they can look forward to quickly convening for a match against Argentina five days later in the Aviva Stadium to mark the beginning of the summer tour. It is the first time a Lions team will play in Ireland, which should ensure that any Irish player who competes in the URC final will want to perform in front of a home crowd. Irish player involvement would also generate more local interest. The Lions then travel to Optus Stadium in Perth in Western Australia to begin the nine-match tour through Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane again, Melbourne and Sydney. The tour will include three Test matches against Australia towards the end, with the final match against the Wallabies taking place on August 2nd in Sydney's Stadium Australia. While that is happening, the Irish team − shorn of its Lions players − will play two summer tour matches against Georgia and Portugal under interim head coach Paul O'Connell. First up on July 5th Ireland will play Georgia in Tblisi. The Georgians are 11th in the World Rugby rankings. A week later Ireland travel to Lisbon to face 18th-ranked Portugal. The British and Irish Lions will play in Ireland for the first time this year. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Given the workloads you would wonder if rugby could learn from a comparable sport − American football. Through a 2025 collective bargaining agreement, the NFL announced a nine-week off season programme conducted in three phases. The first two weeks of the programme is limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation. The second phase, which is three weeks long, involves on-field workouts that may include individual or group instruction and drills. Phase three is a four-week bloc in which teams may conduct a total of 10 days of live practice, where no contact is permitted. The regular season begins on the weekend following the first Monday of September and ends in early January, after which the season's playoffs begin, culminating in the Super Bowl in February. There has been a lot said and written about long seasons posing significant challenges for rugby players, impacting their physical and cognitive performance and increasing injury risk. But exactly how long a season should be has not been precisely defined and, anyway, in Irish rugby some players have longer seasons than others. In 2016 an International Olympic Committee scientific paper also showed that player loads are not just training and playing matches but include psychological load, travel loads, social and social media loads. The non-physical loads are difficult to measure but are another factor in determining what is appropriate. Come August, when this season finally ends, it may or may not have been too long. But by then it will not just be the former international referee who will be all 'rugby'd out'.
Irish Examiner
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Jack Conan: 'Week of mixed emotions, highs and lows, distractions, everything else'
URC: Leinster 76 Zebre Parma 5 Following a week of mixed emotions from his own perspective, Jack Conan returned to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday to play his part in Leinster's record 71-point victory over Zebre Parma in the United Rugby Championship. Their biggest winning margin in a competition that began life as the Celtic League back in 2001, this comprehensive triumph also ensured the eastern province will finish top in the URC regular season table and are also set to remain on home soil for the duration of their knockout round campaign. After a difficult couple of days dealing with the previous weekend's surprise European Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints in the Aviva, Conan's mood was significantly lifted last Thursday when he was one of 12 Leinster players to be named in Andy Farrell's British & Irish Lions squad for the forthcoming Tour of Australia. 'To be honest, I don't want another week like that. Monday and Tuesday were pretty grim, a lot of soul searching and stuff. Honest conversations about how poor we were the weekend before and then we got out, ran around on Monday and tried to bring a bit of craic. A bit of energy to it,' Conan remarked after Saturday's game. 'Tuesday night we had an awards ball, so we got to send the lads off properly, everyone who is leaving. Then obviously Thursday [the Lions announcement]. So kind of a week of mixed emotions, highs and lows, distractions, everything else. 'Then you've got to prep to go again [for the Zebre game] and make sure that you're better than you were. It wouldn't have been hard to be better than we were after last weekend. A strange old week. I wouldn't fancy doing it again now.' Deputising for the injured Caelan Doris as both team captain and Leinster's starting No 8, Conan played a pivotal role during a blistering start to Saturday's action from the Blues. Courtesy of excellent build-up play by the 32-year-old – as well as from his fellow Wicklow native Josh van der Flier for the latter score – Rónan Kelleher and Luke McGrath claimed tries for the hosts inside the opening five minutes of the contest. Ryan Baird's converted score subsequently had Leinster within sight of a bonus point and this was officially secured when Jordie Barrett was released by Sam Prendergast for a clinical finish in the 26th minute. Restored to the starting line-up in the wake of his much-discussed appearance off the bench in the Northampton game, New Zealand international Barrett proceeded to double his personal tally just past the half-hour mark. James Lowe's fifth try in just four games propelled Leinster towards an unassailable 38-0 interval cushion and the gap between the teams increased when player of the match Barrett unselfishly teed up Prendergast for a seven-pointer on the resumption. In the wake of van der Flier adding his name to the scoresheet, Leinster head coach Cullen opted to introduce seven replacements at once on the stroke of 50 minutes. Ciaran Frawley was one of those to enter the fray at this juncture and after Jamie Osborne dotted down in superb fashion on the right-wing, the Skerries man capped his 100th senior appearance for the province with a 61st minute try. While Zebre eventually opened their account with a Gonzalo Garcia five-pointer 13 minutes from time, a determined Leinster had the final say with late tries from replacement James Culhane and Osborne (his second). This means that - in advance of their final regular round fixture against third-place Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva this Saturday – Leinster are now nine points clear of Vodacom Bulls in the URC standings. LEINSTER: J Osborne; J O'Brien, G Ringrose (R Henshaw 50), J Barrett, J Lowe; S Prendergast (C Frawley 50), L McGrath (J Gibson-Park 30-35 & 67); J Boyle (A Porter 50), R Kelleher (J McKee 50), T Clarkson (R Slimani 50); J McCarthy (J Ryan 50), D Mangan; R Baird, J van der Flier (J Culhane 50), J Conan. ZEBRE PARMA: J Trulla (A Fusco 54); S Gregory, F Paea, E Lucchin, S Gesi; G Montemauri (G Da Re 54), G Garcia; L Franceschetto (M Hasa 30), G Ribaldi (T Di Bartolomeo 48), J Pitinari (I Neculai 62); R Nasove (M Canali 59), L Krumov; B Stavile (F Drago 70), I Bianchi, D Ruggeri (G Ferrari 70). Referee: S Grove-White (SRU).
The 42
30-04-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Munster record-breaker Stephen Archer to retire at end of season
MUNSTER TIGHTHEAD STEPHEN Archer will retire from rugby at the end of the season, bringing to an end an 18-year association with the province. Archer, 37, recently became the first Munster player to amass 300 provincial appearances, having previously earned two caps for Ireland. 'Growing up, my family were huge Munster supporters and I was lucky enough to be brought to lots of games when I was younger,' Archer said. 'When I made my first Munster appearance in 2009, it was a dream come true. To still be playing 16 years on as Munster's most capped player is fairly surreal and something I'm very proud of. It's been special in the last few years being able to have my kids at games and in the dressing room afterwards. I hope those will be memories of a lifetime for them. 'I'm looking forward to enjoying more time with my family and friends in the summer,' Archer added. 'I'm excited for what's ahead, looking for a new career path where I can draw on the experiences and skills that I have gained from professional rugby and will be invaluable to me in the future.' A product of Christian Brothers College, UCC and Cork Con, Archer joined Munster's academy in 2007 and made his first-team debut against Edinburgh two years later. He won an AIL title with Con in 2010 before graduating to Munster's senior squad the following season, contributing to his province's 2010/11 Celtic League title. Advertisement Archer made the first of his 61 Champions Cup appearances against Castres at Thomond Park in January 2012 and, a year later, came off the bench in Rome for an Ireland debut against Italy in the Six Nations. His second and final Test cap came in November 2013 against Australia. Since an injury-hit 2015/16 campaign with Munster, Archer has demonstrated remarkable durability, making 196 further appearances across nine years — averaging out at 22 games per season. He won his second trophy with Munster in 2023, starting the final five games of their URC triumph. Archer went the full 80 minutes in back-to-back weeks against the Stormers and the Sharks in South Africa prior to Munster's play-off run. 'After winning the first league in 2011, I didn't think it was going to be 12 years before we won it again in 2023,' Archer said. 'That made it more special in many ways, winning it again in Cape Town after all the near misses. 'Playing for Ireland was a huge honour and something I will always remember as a standout moment in my career. 'In all the Munster dressing rooms I've been a part of, there has always been a great bond between the players. I used to enjoy having the craic with the older players when I came in and now I'm the older player having the craic with the younger fellas. That's always been the way in Munster. 'The most enjoyable part has been sitting in the dressing room after a big performance where everyone has given it their all and you're all together as a team. 'That team bond is what I will miss most. The Saturday is when it counts but it doesn't just happen on Saturday – it's the week's work and the team bond that you build with everyone rowing in the same direction. 'I've shared the dressing room with special team-mates and we've had some of the world's best coaches – I have a lot to thank them for.' Archer became Munster's most-capped player of all time against Leinster in November 2023, eclipsing Donncha O'Callaghan's record of 268 appearances. This season's Champions Cup quarter-final defeat to Bordeaux Begles saw him reach the 300-cap landmark, a record that may never be surpassed. 'I'd like to thank my parents and siblings for their support and encouragement over the years,' Archer said. I'd also like to thank the Munster supporters. I think the majority appreciate my effort and work ethic and I'm grateful to them for that. 'Most importantly, I'd like to give a massive thanks to my wife Kelly, she has sacrificed a lot to allow me concentrate on rugby for all these years and that is something I will always be grateful for. 'It's been amazing so far and while I'm looking forward to supporting the team in the future, we have a big few weeks ahead.'
Irish Times
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Munster's most capped player Stephen Archer to retire this summer
Munster 's most capped player Stephen Archer announced on Wednesday that he will retire from professional rugby in the summer after a record-breaking career that has seen him make over 300 appearances for the province. He is the only player ever to have hit the 300-cap landmark and also earned two Ireland caps over an 18-year association with the province since the tighthead prop joined the Munster Academy in 2007 Announcing the news, Archer said: 'Growing up, my family were huge Munster supporters and I was lucky enough to be brought to lots of games when I was younger. 'When I made my first Munster appearance in 2009, it was a dream come through. To still be playing 16 years on as Munster's most-capped player is fairly surreal and something I'm very proud of. READ MORE 'After winning the first league in 2011, I didn't think it was going to be 12 years before we won it again in 2023. That made it more special in many ways, winning it again in Cape Town after all the near misses. 'Playing for Ireland was a huge honour and something I will always remember as a standout moment in my career. 'In all the Munster dressingrooms I've been a part of, there has always been a great bond between the players. I used to enjoy having the craic with the older players when I came in and now I'm the older player having the craic with the younger fellas. That's always been the way in Munster. 'The most enjoyable part has been sitting in the dressingroom after a big performance where everyone has given it their all and you're all together as a team. 'That team bond is what I will miss most. The Saturday is when it counts but it doesn't just happen on Saturday – it's the week's work and the team bond that you build with everyone rowing in the same direction. 'I've shared the dressingroom with special team-mates and we've had some of the world's best coaches – I have a lot to thank them for. 'I'd like to thank my parents and siblings for their support and encouragement over the years. 'I'd also like to thank the Munster supporters, I think the majority appreciate my effort and work ethic and I'm grateful to them for that. 'Most importantly, I'd like to give a massive thanks to my wife Kelly, she has sacrificed a lot to allow me concentrate on rugby for all these years and that is something I will always be grateful for.' The 37-year-old Cork man made his Munster debut almost 16 years ago against Edinburgh in October 2009 after coming up through the ranks at Cork Constitution, CBC and UCC. He was an All-Ireland League winner with Cork Con in 2010 and moved up to the Munster senior squad later that year, helping the province to the Celtic League title in 2011. He made the first of his 61 Champions Cup appearances against Castres at Thomond Park in January 2012 and won the British & Irish Cup with Munster A later that year. His first senior Ireland cap came as a replacement against Italy in the 2013 Six Nations in Rome. Archer became Munster's most-capped player of all time against Leinster in November 2023, eclipsing Donncha O'Callaghan's record of 268. This year's Champions Cup quarter-final against Bordeaux Bègles saw Archer become the first player to reach the 300-cap landmark, a record that may never be surpassed. Munster head of rugby operations and interim head coach Ian Costello said: 'Archie has made a massive contribution to the province since joining the Academy in 2007 and is a hugely popular member of the squad. 'To have enjoyed such longevity in the game and played so many games for Munster shows his quality as a player but also his dedication, perseverance and character as a person. 'We are delighted that he's going out on his own terms and to have reached the 300-cap landmark is an incredible achievement that may never be matched. 'He has had brilliant support from his family and I'm sure everyone at Cork Constitution, CBC and UCC are very proud of his achievements in the game. 'We'll miss Archie but wish him, his wife Kelly and all his family the very best for the future.'
