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The 42
24-05-2025
- Business
- The 42
Tumultuous time for 7s as IRFU stick by decision to axe men's team
THE IRELAND MEN's sevens team were scheduled to play Czechia, Belgium and Georgia in the beautiful seaside town of Makarska in Croatia in a few weeks. That's where the first leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Championship takes place, with the second leg to follow in Hamburg, Germany on the last weekend of June. Ireland won the European series in 2023 and were runners-up to France last year. This competition might not grab many headlines, but it's part of the proud record that Ireland have put together over the past decade. But sadly, though the players' contracts run until the end of the year, it looks unlikely that Ireland will be there in Makarska for what was supposed to be the end point of their 2024/25 season. Instead, they're facing up to the end of their professional sevens careers. It's only eight days since confirmation of that landed from the IRFU. The players and staff who are losing their jobs are still reeling. They met with IRFU performance director David Humphreys on Monday to discuss the axing of the programme. Some left that meeting frustrated and feeling like questions remain unanswered, even if it's welcome that they will be paid until the end of the year. The IRFU has stuck firmly to its line that this is a financially driven decision amid challenging times in sevens. They felt others would follow their lead. Just yesterday, Great Britain scrapped its full-time men's and women's sevens programme. The British teams will still be on the SVNS Series, but will only meet up for training camps before each competition. There were separate England, Wales, and Scotland sevens teams up until 2023 when they combined as Great Britain due to funding issues. Now, the RFU, WRU, and Scottish Rugby are cutting back again due to 'continuing financial pressures associated with the sevens game and ongoing explorations as to the role the format can continue to play in player development systems.' That language is familiar to anyone who has been following this story in Ireland. It's not just sevens where unions are feeling the pinch. The 15s game faces big financial challenges. Costs have risen, revenues haven't. The worry is that revenues won't be rising any time soon. Indeed, some TV rights deals are going backwards. It's understood that the IRFU spent around €6 million on the men's sevens programme in the last Olympic cycle leading to the 2024 Games. That's a gross spend figure and there has been money coming in each year – €350,000 from World Rugby, €300,000 from Sport Ireland, as well as sponsorship from TritonLake and Blackrock Expert Services – but the men's sevens programme was loss-making. Ireland after qualifying for the Olympics. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO That is true of most programmes in Irish rugby. The men's national 15s team is pretty much the only side making money for the IRFU. 80% of the union's revenue still comes from that source. Andy Farrell's Ireland team is the lifeblood of the sport on these shores, so their success is the absolute priority. As the IRFU cuts budgets in several places – it's believed the men's U20 programme has had to tighten its belt, for example – the men's sevens team is the one that has been dealt a fatal blow. It's understood that the IRFU will save more than €500,000 per season by taking this measure. It might not seem like a transformative amount in the grand scheme of things, but the union has taken a long-term view that this can be better used elsewhere. Humphreys has been the perceived villain here because the programme has been axed less than a year after he took over from staunch sevens advocate Nucifora, who was the key driver in relaunching the programme and running it for the past decade. Nucifora is now working with Scottish Rugby, who we know are also cutting back in sevens. Humphreys played sevens for Ireland at the 1997 World Cup and spoke positively about the code when he was in the process of taking over from Nucifora. But it seems that reality has bitten. It appears that the IRFU had no long-term plan for sevens beyond last year. The men's programme has been running since 2015 but it seems there was no thought for life after the 2024 Olympics, which was always likely to be a point of transition. That there was no strategy beyond that point is damning. Advertisement Plotting for long-term success in sevens could have included implementing some sort of sevens pathway underneath the national teams, but that wasn't the case. The IRFU can blame World Rugby for dragging out confirmation of its future plans for sevens, but other nations simply got on with it after the Olympics and maintained their high standards. The Irish men were sent out on the SVNS Series with squads that lacked experience and sometimes even included injured players. Those involved in this 2024/25 campaign did their utmost to represent Ireland with pride, but felt a lack of support from their union. Even now, members of the set-up believe this decision to shut the programme down wouldn't hurt as much if there had been more care shown this season and over the past week. It rankled that the public confirmation came suddenly on Wednesday evening last week. Humphreys called the players before the news was confirmed, but it all happened very quickly and the final statement was viewed as cold. Anyone losing their job would want to be informed face-to-face. The calls from ex-Ireland players to reverse the decision have fallen on deaf ears, while a group of parents of those ex-players and some current players haven't heard back from the IRFU after they expressed their frustrations in a letter addressed to Humphreys. Those parties want the IRFU to publish the two reviews that led to the men's programme being axed, but that is unlikely. One was carried out by World Rugby to look at the SVNS Series, so it isn't the IRFU's to share. The other was done by Portas, a sports management consultancy, for the IRFU to assess the financial state of the rugby. It is said to include confidential details that relate to other nations, not just Ireland. Jordan Conroy has been lethal for Ireland 7s. Travis Hayto / INPHO Travis Hayto / INPHO / INPHO The one review that it seems Ireland players and staff were involved in was the post-Olympics review into their performances in Paris. The most genuine hope those demanding a u-turn had was that Sport Ireland and the Olympic Federation of Ireland [OFI] would protest, given that an Irish medal contender has now been removed from the Olympics mix, but that hasn't quite been the case. It seems that both of those bodies could see this coming. Sport Ireland said the decision was 'disappointing but not surprising as there is a wider global context in terms of the sevens game,' while the OFI has also expressed its disappointment following a board meeting to discuss the issue on Wednesday. 'The removal of a high performance programme from the Irish Olympic team that has received significant tax payers investment through Sport Ireland and enjoyed good success is something that the OFI is disappointed in,' said an OFI spokesperson. The OFI added that it is determined that the Irish women's sevens team will continue to strive for Olympic qualification and to chase medals for Ireland. As they shed the men's sevens programme, the IRFU's key focuses now under Humphreys appear to be ensuring the Ireland 15s men's team remain strong, helping Connacht, Munster, and Ulster to close the gap to Leinster, as well as international women's 15s rugby. The drop-off in 'the other three' provinces has caused alarm. The concern is that Munster, Ulster, and Connacht aren't competing for trophies, but also that their pathways aren't delivering enough high-quality players into the Ireland squad. This is the thing that will cause most sleepless nights for Humphreys. It's why there will be another change to the national player contracting model, meaning the provinces must contribute 40% of 'central contracts' from their provincial salary budget from next year. This will mainly come from Leinster, who have the bulk of nationally-contracted players, and the money will be redirected into the Munster, Connacht, and Ulster player development pathways. The IRFU believes that stronger funding towards coaching and support for teenage players in schools and clubs across Ulster, Connacht, and Munster will have a long-term pay-off. It might take five or 10 years to truly be felt. So even if the savings each season from dropping the men's sevens programme won't be vast, the IRFU thinks the additional money will be better spent on that project, and on women's rugby. 'What we're trying to do is identify things we don't need to do anymore to free up resources to do the things we really want,' said Kevin Potts in an interview with the Sunday Independent last weekend. 'For example, to accelerate our women's game and to ensure that our national men's team is competing at the very highest level.' The IRFU's annual spend on women's rugby has risen drastically in recent years. IRFU performance director David Humphreys. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO It stood at €3.1 million per season in 2021. Four years on, it's around €9 million per season. 2021 was when the IRFU came under intense scrutiny after a large group of women's players wrote to the Irish government to highlight 'multiple cycles of substandard commitment from the union.' The IRFU's spend on women's rugby has tripled in the four years since, and the union has a goal of having four full-time contracted provincial teams by 2028, which will require further investment. It's understood the women's game is currently bringing in just over €2 million per season and 'is not going to be profitable any time soon,' according to IRFU chief financial officer Thelma O'Driscoll, speaking last November. The women's sevens programme has survived and the IRFU insists that's a long-term decision because there are fewer development pathways in women's rugby. However, the increased focus on the 15s team in this World Cup year means the women's sevens team also endured a miserable season as key players went on 15s duty. The Ireland women's sevens were relegated from the SVNS Series, so will have to start again down a couple of levels. That, in turn, means players in the sevens team won't be exposed to as high a standard of competition as before. But as they said last week, the IRFU doesn't believe the men's sevens programme is a genuine pathway for professional 15s players. There have been success stories, of course, but the union seemingly feels that many of those who excelled at sevens, such as Hugo Keenan, had already shown their potential in 15s and could have kicked on anyway. There seems to be a sense that there isn't a strong correlation between the sevens and 15s games, and that only outside backs from 15s can truly shine in the seven-player code, not forwards. It's understood that the provinces have not been supportive of the sevens programme over the past decade. They would rather retain their academy players in order to cover injuries and give them chances in professional 15s when the time is right. The way the IRFU sees it, there have been very few players picked up by the Ireland sevens programme having been off their 15s radar, and then ended up progressing into the 15s game. Cormac Izuchukwu is the prime example, having come into the Irish system from the wilderness of Scottish club rugby, into the Ireland sevens and onto Ulster and his Ireland 15s cap. Even at that, Izuchukwu wasn't with the sevens for long. Zac Ward had played underage rugby for Ulster and then featured for Ulster A after returning home from Hartpury College, but almost certainly wouldn't now have a three-year deal in Ulster if it wasn't for his stunning impact at the Olympics last year. Still, Humphreys and co evidently feel that a couple of positive examples from 10 years of the programme aren't cause for investing further into this next four-year cycle before the 2028 Olympics. It is jarring that the IRFU seem to have shut down all possibility of the men's sevens team being brought back together to make a late run at the 2028 Games in LA. Ireland could restart in 2027 and qualify for the Olympics through Rugby Europe competitions. This is something that the current players asked Humphreys about at their meeting. The Ireland women's team were relegated from the SVNS Series this season. Travis Hayto / INPHO Travis Hayto / INPHO / INPHO And this is the unique thing about this case. The Olympics opened its doors to rugby. The sevens in Paris last year was wonderful. The Irish men weren't far off medalling. It seems a shame to give up on the prospect of doing so in the future. As things stand, LA 2028 is not on the table because the IRFU don't want to give false hope to the players who now have to move on, whether in rugby or outside it. The IRFU believes that other unions will follow suit and either axe their sevens programmes or notably curtail investment into the seven-player code, as Great Britain have now done. World Rugby hopes that a slimmed-down SVNS Series can stem the alarming financial situation, with the governing body having reportedly made annual losses of €25 million since centralising the series in 2023. But the mood around sevens is one of doom and gloom. Some people are of the view that the seven-player code should break away from World Rugby and its unions now that it's part of the Olympics. Nucifora is among them. For that to work, or for World Rugby's series to be saved, sevens needs people to support it on TV and in person in a way that simply hasn't been happening in recent years. Having amazing peaks every four years at the Olympics won't be enough. Bringing the sevens show on the road around the world is very costly, so a breakaway rugby sevens revolution would need generous backers. Something needs to change soon because the road sevens is on at the moment appears to have an unhappy ending.
Irish Daily Mirror
23-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Sevens players victims of potential IRFU money worries says Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll has speculated that the IRFU has cut the Men's Sevens squad because of potential financial issues "down the line". The Leinster and Ireland great says that he has "total sympathy" for the plight of the players who were informed last week that the programme has been shut down. They were subsequently told that they will be paid until the end of the year but the IRFU has been criticised by current and former Sevens stars and their families for this action. "Almost immediately they got onto the HSBC series and they have had an awful lot of success," O'Driscoll told Off The Ball. "OK, they didn't manage to win one of the events but they've been in finals, they've been third in the World Cup a few years ago in Cape Town, they've been incredibly consistent. "So I have total sympathy for their situation, how all of these players now all of a sudden look as though they're going to be out of a gig." Former IRFU performance director David Nucifora, who founded the Sevens programme, has described the decision as "total nonsense". O'Driscoll, however, adds that there's two sides to every story and he insists that Irish rugby chiefs - including Nucifora's successor, David Humphreys -must have a good reason for their decision. "I would imagine that the powers that be within the IRFU haven't taken this decision lightly," said O'Driscoll. "My sense is that there's potential trouble looming down the line from a financial point of view and all this comes down to is securing financial stability over the course of the next five to 10 years. "It's been very well documented about Wales, I think Scotland are not far away from being in a similar predicament or are certainly on the road there. "Even a union like Ireland, who everyone thought was bulletproof, when you see an €18 and a half million loss last year, the implications of a World Cup year when you don't host those November Test matches having such a significant impact on the balance sheet, there's something not right. "We're seeing clubs in the UK folding, we know that three of the four provinces are really struggling from a funding point of view, commercially not successful at the moment, they just haven't really recovered post-Covid. "So I think the decision is a financial one and I feel for David Humphreys where he has come into the role and now he's barely got his feet under the desk and he has to deliver this sort of news. "And it's not just because I know Humphs and know what sort of a guy he is. This is a bigger picture piece and it doesn't mean that everyone shouldn't feel worthy of feeling hard done by. "The Union, the players, the public, because it's not a good news story or news day for anyone. I think many of us thought Sevens was going to be the route into the global market, it became an Olympic sport, an opportunity to achieve a medal of some sort - it's such a carrot to these players. "But ultimately Sevens in Ireland is about being a feeder into 15, which runs the game and is the financial payer and the capital appreciator of rugby and you can't get away from that. "I'd be interested to ask all the players who play Sevens, I bet you all of them would say Sevens isn't the final marker or where they want to reach. I bet you all of them see it as a segue into the 15s game. "So it's very disappointing from their perspective because of the unbelievable work that they have put in, almost over-achieving based on the quality of global teams, but it's got to be a bigger picture piece around what is coming down the line. You can't get away from that and it's just trying to future proof the security of rugby in general in Ireland."
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
IRFU's ‘A' Interprovincial Championship providing valuable game time for players
Last weekend Leinster won the reconstituted 'A' Interprovincial Championship by beating Ulster 35-21 at Gibson Park, a result that went unheralded in the media – not even worth a brief with the scoreline, never mind a report. The teams contained a liberal sprinkling of outstanding young talent alongside several names that will be familiar from the senior provincial match day squads. The IRFU relaunched the competition with a view to not only celebrating its 150th anniversary but also as a playing outlet going forward to provide game time. The IRFU's performance director David Humphreys said at the time: 'With the success of the Emerging Ireland tours, coupled with the return of an 'A' international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows. 'Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local clubs.' READ MORE Despite the lukewarm reaction from mainstream media and supporters, the tournament has proved to be a godsend for academy players in the four provinces, for whom the majority would otherwise have been largely limited to playing AIL club matches. Nothing wrong with that if a player is lining out in Division 1A but there's a significant drop-off in standard for every rung of the ladder beneath. There is no substitute for matches, where practice examines theory. All the training and gym work in the world can help to nurture, but won't refine, a player's rugby IQ. But matches, specifically URC and either Champions Cup or Challenge Cup, were in relatively short supply for many players in the four provincial academies. At the start of the 2024-2025 season there were 74 players listed in provincial academies across a three-year cycle. They were ascribed as follows: Leinster 22 (Year 1 – 10, Year 2 – 7, Year 3 – 5); Ulster 20 (7, 11, 2), Munster 19 (7, 6, 6) and Connacht 13 (4, 5, 4). In macro terms Connacht played the fewest academy players in URC and Challenge Cup games, three of 13 (23 per cent). Ulster, in URC and Champions Cup, gave competitive game time to five of 20 (25 per cent); Munster, likewise, to seven of 19 (37 per cent); while Leinster provided the most opportunities to academy players with 14 of 22 (64 per cent), seeing game time in URC and Champions Cup. Leinster academy hooker Gus McCarthy made his Ireland debut against Fiji in the November internationals. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Taken in an overall context, roughly 60 per cent of academy players in the four provinces – 45 out of 74 – did not see a single minute in either the URC or Champions and Challenge Cups in Europe. A magnificent seven first-year academy players played senior provincial tournament rugby, with the standout performer Ulster outhalf Jack Murphy, who notched 894 minutes across 13 matches with 11 starts. Four Leinster players, hooker Stephen Smyth (five games – 65 minutes), scrumhalf Oliver Coffey (two games – 14 minutes), wing Reuben Moloney (one – three minutes) and secondrow Alan Spicer (one – two minutes); one Munster player, hooker Danny Sheahan (one – 15 minutes); and two Ulster players – Murphy and centre Wilhelm de Klerk (two – 104 minutes) also managed the landmark achievement. US-born tight head prop Niall Smyth has gone from year-one academy to a senior contract for next season despite missing most of the season following shoulder surgery. There were other eye-catching numbers, not least Murphy's former Pres Bray team-mate Finn Treacy (eight matches – 489 minutes) who had a brilliant season with Connacht, while in Leinster hooker Gus McCarthy (14 – 583 minutes), who was also capped by Ireland, secondrow Diarmuid Mangan (12 – 667 minutes), wing Andrew Osborne (10 – 669 minutes) and centre Charlie Tector (10 – 589 minutes) all enhanced their status. It is germane to point out that Munster prop Darragh McSweeney, backrow Luke Murphy, centre Fionn Gibbons and prop Ronan Foxe had seasons curtailed by injury; so too prop Alex Usanov (Leinster) and secondrow Spicer (Leinster). The pointy end of the decision-making process comes in year three where, if a player hasn't already received a senior contract, it is the end of the line with the buffers in view. Only scrumhalf Jack Oliver of that cohort hasn't progressed at Munster, released early to take up a contract with the Glasgow Warriors. In Leinster, centre Ben Brownlee, Aitzol Arenzana-King and Rory McGuire leave the province, with the latter two heading for contracts with Richie Murphy's Ulster. The other year-three players, Mangan and Tector, have upgraded to senior contracts as have a plethora of year-twos in Munster and Leinster. The new intake to the academies will be announced shortly (Ulster have released five players) but, as this season has proved, trying to find space to expose them to elite-level rugby is a difficult challenge and for many a composite itinerary of A interpros and club matches will have to suffice. Leinster Age Position Matches (starts) Minutes Aitzol Arenzana-King (Year 3) 22 Wing 2 (1) 62 Ben Brownlee (3) 22 Centre 0 0 Oliver Coffey (1) 20 Scrumhalf 2 (0) 14 Hugh Cooney (2) 21 Centre 5 (4) 325 Billy Corrigan (1) 19 Secondrow/Backrow 0 0 Casper Gabriel (1) 20 Outhalf 0 0 Fintan Gunne (2) 21 Scrumhalf 12 (3) 368 Diarmuid Mangan (3) 22 Secondrow/Backrow 12 (8) 667 Gus McCarthy (2) 21 Hooker 14 (7) 583 Henry McErlean (2) 22 Fullback 2 (1) 80 Rory McGuire (3) 22 Prop 5 (0) 51 Hugo McLaughlin (1) 20 Fullback 0 0 Reuben Moloney (1) 21 Fullback 1 (0) 3 Liam Molony (2) 21 Flanker 0 0 Conor O'Tighearnaigh (2) 22 Secondrow 1 (1) 50 Andrew Osborne (2) 21 Wing 10 (9) 669 Niall Smyth (1) 19 Prop 0 0 Stephen Smyth (1) 20 Hooker 5 (0) 65 Andrew Sparrow (1) 20 Prop 0 0 Alan Spicer (1) 20 Secondrow 1 (0) 2 Charlie Tector (3) 23 Outhalf/Ccentre 10 (7) 589 Alex Usanov (1) 19 Prop 0 0 Munster Age Position Matches (starts) Minutes Max Clein (2) 21 Hooker 0 0 Seán Edogbo (1) 21 Backrow 0 0 Ronan Foxe (2) 22 Prop 3 (0) 15 Michael Foy (1) 19 Secondrow/Backrow 0 0 Fionn Gibbons (3) 22 Centre 0 0 George Hadden (2) 22 Prop 0 0 Dylan Hicks (2) 20 Outhalf 0 0 Shay McCarthy (2) 22 Wing 6 (3) 307 Darragh McSweeney (3) 22 Prop 0 0 Luke Murphy (1) 20 Backrow 0 0 Evan O'Connell (3) 21 Secondrow 5 (3) 213 Ben O'Connor (2) 20 Fullback 7 (5) 414 Gene O'Leary Kareem (1) 19 Centre 0 0 Jake O'Riordan (1) 20 Scrumhalf 0 0 Jack Oliver (3) 22 Scrumhalf 0 0 Ruadhán Quinn (3) 21 Backrow 11 (2) 306 Kieran Ryan (3) 23 Prop 8 (0) 113 Danny Sheahan (1) 21 Hooker 1 (0) 15 Gordon Wood (1) 20 Centre 0 0 Ulster Age Position Matches (starts) Minutes Sam Berman (1) 21 Centre 0 0 Jack Boal (2) 22 Prop 0 0 Jacob Boyd (2) 20 Prop 1 (1) 48 Tom Brigg (2) 20 Backrow 0 0 Wilhelm de Klerk (1) 20 Centre 2 (0) 104 Cameron Doak (2) 20 Prop 0 0 Ethan Graham (2) 21 Wing 0 0 Joe Hopes (3) 21 Secondrow 0 0 Charlie Irvine (2) 22 Secondrow 1 (1) 80 Lukas Kenny (2) 20 Wing 0 0 Clark Logan (1) 19 Scrumhalf 0 0 Ben McFarlane (2) 20 Fullback/wing 0 0 James McKillop (1) 20 Backrow 0 0 Jack Murphy (1) 20 Outhalf 13 (11) 894 Jonny Scott (1) 20 Centre 0 0 Zac Solomon (2) 20 Hooker 0 0 Josh Stevens (2) 20 Backrow 0 0 Rory Telfer (3) Wing 4 (1) 151 Henry Walker (2) 19 Hooker 0 0 Bryn Ward (1) 20 Backrow 0 0 Connacht Age Position Matches (starts) Minutes Fiachna Barrett (2) 22 Prop 1 (0) 20 Billy Bohan (1) 19 Prop 0 0 John Devine (3) 21 Centre 0 0 Tomás Farthing (1) 19 Scrumhalf 0 0 Max Flynn (1) 20 Flanker 0 0 Daniel Hawkshaw (3) 23 Centre 0 0 Shane Mallon (3) 23 Wing 0 0 Éanna McCarthy (1) 20 No 8 0 0 Seán Naughton (2) 20 Outhalf 1 (0) 21 James Nicholson (2) 21 Fullback/Wing 0 0 Finn Treacy (2) 20 Wing/Centre 8 (7) 489 Matthew Victory (2) 21 Hooker 0 0 Harry West (3) 22 Outhalf 0 0
The 42
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Sport Ireland calls IRFU's 7s decision 'disappointing but not surprising'
SPORT IRELAND SAYS the IRFU's decision to shut down its men's rugby sevens programme is 'disappointing, but not surprising'. The IRFU receives annual funding from Sport Ireland to invest in all aspects of rugby, with the total sum amounting to more than €4 million in the 2023/24 financial year. Some of that funding has been directly for rugby sevens, with more than €255,000 going specifically towards the IRFU's preparations for the Olympic Games last year, in which the Ireland men's and women's teams competed. The Ireland men's team enjoyed an impressive rise through sevens over the past decade, with the programme having been relaunched in 2015. Ireland featured in the 2021 and 2024 Olympics, finished third at the 2022 World Cup, placed second on the World Series last season, and had a World Rugby sevens player of the year in 2022 in Terry Kennedy. But the IRFU confirmed last Wednesday that it is discontinuing its men's sevens programme from the end of this 2024/25 season. The union cited the need to ensure its 'long-term financial sustainability' as a prime reason for the decision and stated that a review found that the men's sevens programme 'does not contribute as a development pathway for the 15s game.' Advertisement IRFU performance director David Humphreys met with contracted men's sevens players and staff in Dublin yesterday to explain that decision. It's understood that the players will be paid until the end of the year and provided with support for further education as they now face the end of their careers as full-time professional players. The IRFU has come under strong criticism from leading ex-players such as Kennedy, Greg O'Shea, and former captain Harry McNulty in recent days, with those parties calling for the union to reverse its decision. A group of parents of players who have been involved in the sevens team addressed a letter to the IRFU calling for details of its review into the programme to be released. They also asked the union to clarify the financial savings it will make without the men's programme, while urging the IRFU board to convene an emergency meeting to do a u-turn on the decision to end the programme. However, that seems increasingly unlikely as the IRFU proceeds with its announced plans to end the men's sevens programme. The IRFU told The 42 that it could not comment on those calls to reverse the decision or the details of the review as the union goes through the consultation process with staff and players. It's understood Ireland could potentially qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles if the IRFU resurrected the men's team in 2027 and successfully took a route from the regional European qualifiers all the way to the Games. But again, that does not appear to be part of the long-term plan for the IRFU. Sport Ireland, which describes itself as 'the authority tasked with the development of sport in Ireland', has shared its sympathy with the players and staff affected by the IRFU's decision but stated that the funding provided for sevens in recent years was rewarded. 'The decision to cease the Men's Sevens programme following the conclusion of the 2024/25 season is a matter for the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU),' reads a statement from Sport Ireland to The 42. 'In high performance sport, programmes are subject to being discontinued and/or restructured. 'Sport Ireland had been informed that a decision regarding the Men's Sevens programme was likely subject to review. 'The decision is disappointing, but not surprising as there is a wider global context in terms of the Sevens game. 'Sport Ireland would like to see the Men's Sevens team qualify for the Olympic Games, but this is unlikely without a long-term structured programme. 'Sport Ireland sympathises with those players and staff affected by the decision. 'From Sport Ireland's point of view, our investment through High Performance Programme Funding was rewarded with excellent performances over the last number of years.' World Rugby declined to comment when asked by The 42 for its view on the IRFU's decision to shut down the Ireland men's sevens programme.
Irish Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Gerry Thornley: IRFU decision on Sevens reflects the cold, hard business of sport
News that the IRFU are to cut the men's Sevens programme at the end of this season doesn't come as a surprise given their funding had already been reduced and that they had been very much a pet product of the previous Performance Director, David Nucifora. Even so, the bottom line is that it's very sad news and even a little cold and cruel given distinguished and future Sevens careers have been stopped. Alas, the biggest problem on David Humphreys' in-tray since succeeding Nucifora is the widening gap between Leinster and the other three provinces, and the new Performance Director has had his hands tied further by the Union's losses of €18 million over the course of the 2023-24 season. Cutting the men's Sevens programme is not necessarily a huge saving, although it could be around the €400,000 mark. It is estimated that the programme costs the IRFU in the region of €1.35m in total, but this is partially offset by the estimated €350,000 they received from World Rugby for playing in the world series, and Olympic funding from Sport Ireland of €300,000 as well as around €300,000 in sponsorship from Tritonlake, as title sponsors, and Blackrock as associate sponsors. In coming to this decision, the IRFU maintain that the Men's Sevens programme does not, in essence, provide a pathway through to the national 15-a-side team. It's true that it certainly doesn't in the same way that the women's Sevens programme is a vital lifeblood of the Ireland women's 15-a-side team in the absence of the four provinces which supply the men's 15-a-side team. READ MORE Similarly, the men's Sevens sides are a pathway for the likes of Argentina, Samoa and Kenya but also in the absence of four professional feeder provinces ala Ireland. Even so, while the debate will rage as to how much the Sevens programme helped or delayed the development of Hugo Keenan, Jimmy O'Brien, Nick Timoney and others, there's little doubt that, for example, Cormac Izuchukwu would not have ended up playing for Ulster and Ireland without being brought into the Sevens fold. One wonders if this decision would have been made had Ireland won a medal at the Olympics, where they lost by four points to the back-to-back gold medallists. It remains to be seen if this relative drop in the ocean will help to improve Connacht, Munster and Leinster bridge that gap with Leinster, although in truth all four provinces never had much love for an Ireland Sevens team that took away some of their players. The former Ireland Sevens captain Billy Dardis has described the move as 'short-sighted' and 'hugely deflating', while the Rugby Players of Ireland CEO Simon Keogh has highlighted the bad timing of this announcement and how challenging it will be for the players to find clubs in the 15s game. One imagines that Sport Ireland will not be enamoured or impressed by the IRFU's decision and the thought occurs that there should be, perhaps, a two-year Olympic qualifying cycle which is at least partially separate from the World Series. The Ireland Men's Sevens team are also a victim of the world series no linger having the reach it used to have when it was televised by Sky Sports, meaning in latter years it has had to be streamed online. True, England, Wales and Scotland only contribute to a combined Great Britain team and the Ireland Men's Sevens team always portrayed a good image and were a good reflection of Irish rugby. Having risen to number two in the world, it seems a real shame that they have been cast adrift. Across every facet of business and life there are loss-makers which need to be supported but, ultimately, it feels like this cold, money-based decision reflects the world we live in.
