Latest news with #Humphreys
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Let them go – Samoa defectors might just save international footy
Humphreys, steering by the star of what was good for rugby league in the long term, not what was good for NSW in the short term, agreed. The result? Rugby league entered the big time, garnered eyeballs by the ship-load from all over the country, and indeed the world, and the game made BILLIONS of dollars out of it. All because administrators had foresight! Isn't that precisely the kind of situation league finds itself in now, contemplating this issue? Origin is so big that it completely dwarfs league's 'international game' because of a severe lack of serious competition. The absurd Rugby League World Cup fools no-one, because they don't actually play league seriously in most of the countries represented. The only nations that genuinely compete are Australia, New Zealand and England. But now, with so many Pasifika players going so brilliantly, there is a real chance of new contenders emerging, led by Samoa. If Haas, Fa'asuamaleaui, and the Hammer want to play for that brilliant, small island nation, fabulous! A real contest! Yes, folks, an actually watchable game in the international arena, outside of the Big Three? League – and more particularly we taxpayers – are putting $600 million into PNG to breathe life into the game there, and have the potential of yet another genuine international competitor emerging, but it still wants to denude Samoa of three players like that? Loading In the first place, no-one should have to be begged to wear the Australian jersey. In the second place, all potential Kangaroos who express an interest in playing for other nations, should be actively begged to do so! For the good of the game, just the way Origin was created. It won't give league an international game that comes within a bull's roar of rugby union of course – and that is the main thing, after all – but it will help to give it what it so lacks now, credibility. You're welcome. But send the cheque. You'll probably make tens of millions more in TV rights, too. You, of all people, Peter V'landys, surely recognise this? You're welcome, I said! Goolagong-Cawley's flying visit And who should that familiar figure in the Tullamarine Chairman's Lounge on Friday morning turn out to be? None other than my friend and yours, that great Australian icon, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley! Now in her mid-70s, the two-time Wimbledon winner looks great, and not a day older than when I last ran into her a few years ago. With her husband, Roger, she had been visiting the set of a three-part television mini-series being produced by the ABC and the BBC, starring Lila McGuire as Evonne herself. The now Queenslander expressed great satisfaction at how the whole thing is coming along, and the job being done by McGuire herself, and is looking forward to seeing it on our screens next year. And yes she even listened patiently, as I waxed lyrical on how wonderful I – if we can bring it back to me for a moment, Evonne? – found it to be at the women's and men's singles finals, myself, a fortnight ago, nodding sagely as I talked of the atmosphere, the spectacle, the whole damn thing! Swing and a miss, K-Man I'm sorry, my friend Darren Kane, but I'm just going to have to go with me on this one. For yes, I saw your column this week, which included the words in the headline, 'Greg Norman was right,' – Waiter! Shoot me! – and maintained that it was unfair that LIV golfers don't have their performances in LIV tournaments counted for rankings in getting into the Majors. Darren, I thought we had been through this before? I can't remember who I am misquoting now, and it might even be myself, but LIV golfers complaining about their disappearance from the world rankings, after they took the money and ran, is like a bloke who murders his parents pleading with the judge for mercy because he is now an orphan. The sheer chutzpah would kill a brown dog. The LIV golfers took the blood money. They knew what they were doing. They knew the damage it would do to golf. But they still want to play nice when it comes time for the majors? What's that expression again? I remember now – it rhymes with 'Kiss off!' As to the mooted merger of LIV with the PGA, why would the PGA do that now? We are now into the fourth year of LIV, and it is clear: no-one cares. Its ratings are abysmal, its tournaments make no buzz anywhere but Adelaide, and no-one talks about it. In all that time, only twice has a LIV player won a major, and those who have gone are not really missed. Loading And if a version of LIV comes along for rugby, as has been mooted – called R360, and headed up by former England captain Mike Tindall – it will meet the same fate, only quicker. Tonight we will see a great match between the Wallabies and the British and Irish Lions, a Test with nigh-on 150 years of history behind it. Tens of thousands of people have come from all over the world to watch it, and will love every moment of it. Now, take exactly the same team, pay them millions each and call them the Saudi Slaughterers on one side, and the Mohammad Bin Salman Murderers on the other. Would we watch? Would we care? We would not. Kiss off, Tindall! What They Said Scottie Scheffler after winning the British Open: 'I don't think I'm anything special just because some weeks I'm better at shooting a lower score than other guys are. In some circles, like right now I'm the best player in the world. This week I was the best player in the world. I'm sitting here with the trophy. We're going to start all over in Memphis, back to even par, show goes on.' Scheffler doubles down on his comments last week, about golf trophies being no big deal when what he really wants to be good at is being a husband and father: 'Am I grateful for [winning]? Do I enjoy it? Oh, my gosh, yes, this is a cool feeling. But having success in life is not what fulfils the deepest desires of your heart. Just because you win a golf tournament doesn't make you happy - but I'm pretty excited to celebrate this one.' Lions star Owen Farrell on online trolls: 'But I understand that it's different now. I understand times are different and things catch fire quicker. Things grow legs, take a life of their own, go wherever they go and there's momentum behind them. But no, I don't always understand it.' How about Farrell dealing with praise and not just abuse? 'Both are a poison ... I guess the people I think we should listen to are the proper rugby people – your mates. Not that those people will just pat you on the back.' Nick Kyrgios after a doubles match: 'Knee cooked but fans still f--ed with us.' No, I have no idea, either. The Association on American Indian Affairs doesn't want Donald Trump to make moves to bring back the Redskins and Indians: 'These mascots and names do not honour Native Peoples — they reduce us to caricatures. Our diverse Peoples and cultures are not relics of the past or mascots for entertainment. Native Nations are sovereign, contemporary cultures who deserve respect and self-determination, not misrepresentation.' Bravo. English footballer Esme Morgan on how the Lionesses wound down after their match against Sweden: 'There was a lot of laughing at things that happened within the game, a few of us got together to watch that night's 'Love Island episode to try and tire us out.' Tom Lynagh on taking on the Lions: 'No point to prove, just go out there and play my game. It was incredible experience. It's my first time playing at Suncorp when it's packed out. It's always something I wanted to do and follow in Dad's footsteps. So, I'm living the dream now. It's a proud moment for myself and my family.' On being targeted physically: 'It's part of the job, mate. You've got to toughen up for games like this. You can't shy away from anything.' Loading Len Ikitau on what position Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii should play: 'To be honest, if he's on the field, that's the best thing for us. Just somewhere on the field, and if he's playing 13, if he's playing on the wing, fullback, I know that he's just a freak of an athlete, and he can step up to the occasion, and just play his footy. At the end of the day, it's a footy game and he's a footballer, so I don't think it'll faze him.' Team of the Week Wallabies. Play the British and Irish Lions at the MCG tonight, after a creditable if losing performance in the First Test, last week in Brissie. Jess Hull. The Australian flyer broke her own women's mile record, registering 4:13.68 to finish a couple of seconds behind Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay. England and Spain. Contest the final of the UEFA European Women's Championship. Scottie Scheffler. Now the undisputed biggest name in golf right now, because he keeps winning, including the British Open last weekend. The LIV sell-outs, meantime, ever more irrelevant. Have only won two majors between them, since LIV started. Felix Baumgartner. Extreme sports pioneer died as he lived in a paragliding accident, in Italy this week. You might remember as the bloke who more or less parachuted from space, back in 2012, jumping from 40 km up in the stratosphere. It still mesmerises. Cameron Smith. The only professional golfer to have been in all four majors this year, but failed to make the cut at all four. LIV appears to have destroyed – you heard me – his game, at least in the majors. But look, he's got squillions, so I guess that's the main thing. West Coast Fever. Into the Super Netball grand final while the Swifts take on the Vixens for the right to meet them. Hulk Hogan.
The Age
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
Let them go – Samoa defectors might just save international footy
Humphreys, steering by the star of what was good for rugby league in the long term, not what was good for NSW in the short term, agreed. The result? Rugby league entered the big time, garnered eyeballs by the ship-load from all over the country, and indeed the world, and the game made BILLIONS of dollars out of it. All because administrators had foresight! Isn't that precisely the kind of situation league finds itself in now, contemplating this issue? Origin is so big that it completely dwarfs league's 'international game' because of a severe lack of serious competition. The absurd Rugby League World Cup fools no-one, because they don't actually play league seriously in most of the countries represented. The only nations that genuinely compete are Australia, New Zealand and England. But now, with so many Pasifika players going so brilliantly, there is a real chance of new contenders emerging, led by Samoa. If Haas, Fa'asuamaleaui, and the Hammer want to play for that brilliant, small island nation, fabulous! A real contest! Yes, folks, an actually watchable game in the international arena, outside of the Big Three? League – and more particularly we taxpayers – are putting $600 million into PNG to breathe life into the game there, and have the potential of yet another genuine international competitor emerging, but it still wants to denude Samoa of three players like that? Loading In the first place, no-one should have to be begged to wear the Australian jersey. In the second place, all potential Kangaroos who express an interest in playing for other nations, should be actively begged to do so! For the good of the game, just the way Origin was created. It won't give league an international game that comes within a bull's roar of rugby union of course – and that is the main thing, after all – but it will help to give it what it so lacks now, credibility. You're welcome. But send the cheque. You'll probably make tens of millions more in TV rights, too. You, of all people, Peter V'landys, surely recognise this? You're welcome, I said! Goolagong-Cawley's flying visit And who should that familiar figure in the Tullamarine Chairman's Lounge on Friday morning turn out to be? None other than my friend and yours, that great Australian icon, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley! Now in her mid-70s, the two-time Wimbledon winner looks great, and not a day older than when I last ran into her a few years ago. With her husband, Roger, she had been visiting the set of a three-part television mini-series being produced by the ABC and the BBC, starring Lila McGuire as Evonne herself. The now Queenslander expressed great satisfaction at how the whole thing is coming along, and the job being done by McGuire herself, and is looking forward to seeing it on our screens next year. And yes she even listened patiently, as I waxed lyrical on how wonderful I – if we can bring it back to me for a moment, Evonne? – found it to be at the women's and men's singles finals, myself, a fortnight ago, nodding sagely as I talked of the atmosphere, the spectacle, the whole damn thing! Swing and a miss, K-Man I'm sorry, my friend Darren Kane, but I'm just going to have to go with me on this one. For yes, I saw your column this week, which included the words in the headline, 'Greg Norman was right,' – Waiter! Shoot me! – and maintained that it was unfair that LIV golfers don't have their performances in LIV tournaments counted for rankings in getting into the Majors. Darren, I thought we had been through this before? I can't remember who I am misquoting now, and it might even be myself, but LIV golfers complaining about their disappearance from the world rankings, after they took the money and ran, is like a bloke who murders his parents pleading with the judge for mercy because he is now an orphan. The sheer chutzpah would kill a brown dog. The LIV golfers took the blood money. They knew what they were doing. They knew the damage it would do to golf. But they still want to play nice when it comes time for the majors? What's that expression again? I remember now – it rhymes with 'Kiss off!' As to the mooted merger of LIV with the PGA, why would the PGA do that now? We are now into the fourth year of LIV, and it is clear: no-one cares. Its ratings are abysmal, its tournaments make no buzz anywhere but Adelaide, and no-one talks about it. In all that time, only twice has a LIV player won a major, and those who have gone are not really missed. Loading And if a version of LIV comes along for rugby, as has been mooted – called R360, and headed up by former England captain Mike Tindall – it will meet the same fate, only quicker. Tonight we will see a great match between the Wallabies and the British and Irish Lions, a Test with nigh-on 150 years of history behind it. Tens of thousands of people have come from all over the world to watch it, and will love every moment of it. Now, take exactly the same team, pay them millions each and call them the Saudi Slaughterers on one side, and the Mohammad Bin Salman Murderers on the other. Would we watch? Would we care? We would not. Kiss off, Tindall! What They Said Scottie Scheffler after winning the British Open: 'I don't think I'm anything special just because some weeks I'm better at shooting a lower score than other guys are. In some circles, like right now I'm the best player in the world. This week I was the best player in the world. I'm sitting here with the trophy. We're going to start all over in Memphis, back to even par, show goes on.' Scheffler doubles down on his comments last week, about golf trophies being no big deal when what he really wants to be good at is being a husband and father: 'Am I grateful for [winning]? Do I enjoy it? Oh, my gosh, yes, this is a cool feeling. But having success in life is not what fulfils the deepest desires of your heart. Just because you win a golf tournament doesn't make you happy - but I'm pretty excited to celebrate this one.' Lions star Owen Farrell on online trolls: 'But I understand that it's different now. I understand times are different and things catch fire quicker. Things grow legs, take a life of their own, go wherever they go and there's momentum behind them. But no, I don't always understand it.' How about Farrell dealing with praise and not just abuse? 'Both are a poison ... I guess the people I think we should listen to are the proper rugby people – your mates. Not that those people will just pat you on the back.' Nick Kyrgios after a doubles match: 'Knee cooked but fans still f--ed with us.' No, I have no idea, either. The Association on American Indian Affairs doesn't want Donald Trump to make moves to bring back the Redskins and Indians: 'These mascots and names do not honour Native Peoples — they reduce us to caricatures. Our diverse Peoples and cultures are not relics of the past or mascots for entertainment. Native Nations are sovereign, contemporary cultures who deserve respect and self-determination, not misrepresentation.' Bravo. English footballer Esme Morgan on how the Lionesses wound down after their match against Sweden: 'There was a lot of laughing at things that happened within the game, a few of us got together to watch that night's 'Love Island episode to try and tire us out.' Tom Lynagh on taking on the Lions: 'No point to prove, just go out there and play my game. It was incredible experience. It's my first time playing at Suncorp when it's packed out. It's always something I wanted to do and follow in Dad's footsteps. So, I'm living the dream now. It's a proud moment for myself and my family.' On being targeted physically: 'It's part of the job, mate. You've got to toughen up for games like this. You can't shy away from anything.' Loading Len Ikitau on what position Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii should play: 'To be honest, if he's on the field, that's the best thing for us. Just somewhere on the field, and if he's playing 13, if he's playing on the wing, fullback, I know that he's just a freak of an athlete, and he can step up to the occasion, and just play his footy. At the end of the day, it's a footy game and he's a footballer, so I don't think it'll faze him.' Team of the Week Wallabies. Play the British and Irish Lions at the MCG tonight, after a creditable if losing performance in the First Test, last week in Brissie. Jess Hull. The Australian flyer broke her own women's mile record, registering 4:13.68 to finish a couple of seconds behind Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay. England and Spain. Contest the final of the UEFA European Women's Championship. Scottie Scheffler. Now the undisputed biggest name in golf right now, because he keeps winning, including the British Open last weekend. The LIV sell-outs, meantime, ever more irrelevant. Have only won two majors between them, since LIV started. Felix Baumgartner. Extreme sports pioneer died as he lived in a paragliding accident, in Italy this week. You might remember as the bloke who more or less parachuted from space, back in 2012, jumping from 40 km up in the stratosphere. It still mesmerises. Cameron Smith. The only professional golfer to have been in all four majors this year, but failed to make the cut at all four. LIV appears to have destroyed – you heard me – his game, at least in the majors. But look, he's got squillions, so I guess that's the main thing. West Coast Fever. Into the Super Netball grand final while the Swifts take on the Vixens for the right to meet them. Hulk Hogan.
The 42
27-06-2025
- Business
- The 42
'I don't think I've seen signs of regression. I think this year is a blip'
A YEAR INTO his role as the IRFU's performance director, David Humphreys still has one clear task at the top of his to-do list. He wants to help Connacht, Ulster, and Munster close the gap to Leinster. While Leo Cullen's side won the URC and reached the Champions Cup semi-finals, it was a tough season for the other provinces. Munster squeezed into the URC play-offs but lost in the quarter-finals, while Connacht and Ulster finished 13th and 14th in the table, respectively. Humphreys and the IRFU have taken some action over the past 12 months. A new tweak to the national contracts model will see the provinces contribute 40% of those deals from their provincial budget from the summer of 2026 onwards. Leinster have the vast majority of so-called 'central contracts,' so that will divert around €700,000 combined per season into the other three provinces each season. That money will go specifically towards Munster, Ulster, and Connacht's pathways to help them produce more homegrown players. On top of that, Humphreys and the IRFU have ended the men's sevens programme, meaning another €1.2 million will be redirected into the three provinces and women's rugby, which is another big priority for the union. So what exactly will this money be spent on as the IRFU looks to help Munster, Ulster, and Connacht bridge the gap? A key part of the plan is for the union to place full-time directors of rugby into schools around the three provinces. More than 10 schools in Leinster have directors of rugby, so Humphreys and the IRFU plan to implement something similar around the island. It remains to be seen exactly where and when this happens, but the hope is that top-class coaching and planning in more schools in Connacht, Ulster, and Munster will have a major long-term impact. 'The biggest challenge we've got is that we have one province that is incredibly good at nearly everything,' said Humphreys this week. 'That's a huge credit to Shane [Nolan, Leinaster's CEO], Leo [Cullen, Leinster's head coach], and Guy [Easterby, Leinster's COO] for the work they've done with what you see on the pitch but also how they interact with the IRFU, certainly over the time I've been here, they have been great to deal with. So they've got a brilliant set-up. 'When I first came in, there was a lot of talk around 'Leinster are too strong.' In a high-performance system, a team can never be too strong. Ultimately, the goal is to be the very, very best. They are very close to being in that position. Humphreys with Leinster head coach Leo Cullen. Nick Elliot / INPHO Nick Elliot / INPHO / INPHO 'But the challenge that I believe we in the IRFU have, and in my role, is to make the other three more competitive. 'This year has definitely been a transition year. It's been a transition year because there's been a turnover in coaches, because two of our provinces [Munster and Ulster] in particular have had massive injury crises across the course of the season, so it's felt like a lot of things that could go wrong have gone wrong. 'The challenge then becomes how we close that gap in the provinces. We can do it a little bit by recruitment, by being a little bit more flexible in terms of who they can recruit, when they can recruit, but that's a short-term solution. 'To me, we've got to go, 'What is the longer-term solution?' I fundamentally believe, based on my experience, what we've seen working through the Irish system is that if we can support players below what is traditionally considered the pathway, going into the schools system and putting directors of rugby in there or supporting schools in a way they feel is necessary to improve their rugby programme, we can get a longer-term fix which will ultimately improve the provinces and ultimately support Ireland. 'How are we going to do that? Well, that was part of the decision to finish the men's sevens programme. It wasn't simply a financial decision. It was a performance decision based on, we have to be able to reallocate the resources in our system. 'The budgets are not being cut. Kevin Potts [CEO of the IRFU] has said we can't continue to keep doing what we've always done. So what that has meant is we've made a performance decision based on the financial reality of the world that rugby is in, not just the IRFU but the wider world, to say we're going to take a longer-term solution which is the money we're going to save from finishing the men's sevens programme is going entirely into investing in the three provincial pathways and the women's game.' While improving schools programmes across the three provinces appears to be the first objective, the IRFU also hopes to help clubs make progress. Humphreys mentioned the potential for club sides to compete in schools competitions as he stressed that the pathways in Munster, Ulster, and Connacht can't simply mimic what is working in Leinster. Between cutting the men's sevens programme and remodelling the national contracting system, the IRFU can redistribute close to €2 million per season, which could have a notable long-term impact. But this is the thing. Making changes to a player development pathway can take years to have an effect at the top of the chain. Ireland won a Triple Crown this season, but it wasn't a vintage campaign for the national team. Three of the provinces struggled. The Ireland U20s were poor in their Six Nations campaign. The concern in some quarters is that Irish rugby is in regression already. Humphreys doesn't agree. Advertisement Humphreys with Andy Farrell and Simon Easterby. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO 'I don't think I've seen signs of regression,' he said. 'I think the nature of sport is that there are ups and downs and it's almost this year there's been, not quite the perfect storm, but there's a lot of things that have happened which would give off the view that it hasn't been as successful as it has been in the past. 'But for all those areas that you mentioned, when you look at some of the changes we've made, whether its coaching team, from a contracting point of view, the quality of the squads, I have no doubt that next year will be much stronger and much better, certainly across the provinces. 'We've had players who've been unbelievably successful, two or three of them probably had a dip in form at the same time. Even after the Six Nations, the form that a lot of them produced towards the end of the season was much stronger. 'The good thing is that this tour will give some of our young players the opportunity to perform and play against a very good Georgian team and we'll get a sense of where they are.' Paul O'Connell will lead the Ireland tour to Georgia next week before they head on to Lisbon to face Portugal. They will be without head coach Andy Farrell and four of his Ireland assistants, as well as 16 Irish players, and many backroom staff. Two years out from the 2027 World Cup, this seems like an important window of development for the Ireland squad, yet they will be without the bulk of the coaching staff. Humphrey believes that Irish players will only benefit in the long run from Farrell, Simon Easterby, John Fogarty, Andrew Goodman, Johnny Sexton, and Gary Keegan being with the Lions. 'In the same way that we encourage our players to be aspirational and they all want to play at the very highest level, the British and Irish Lions, we want coaches coming in here who're pushing the boundaries, who are given the opportunity to show how good they are and also improve in their coaching,' said Humphreys. 'And I've no doubt that the opportunities that those coaches will have and the experience they will have over the next few months with Andy and the Lions will make them better coaches and ultimately improve Ireland. 'I also firmly believe we've a very good group of coaches throughout the Irish system at the minute and from a longer-term point of view, this will give the coaches who are going with Paul O'Connell on the Irish tour an opportunity for them to be better in what they do and take that back to the provinces and that will ultimately make our players better.' The Ireland U20s side has been a pivotal stepping stone for many of Ireland's leading players. That age-grade side has enjoyed huge success in recent years under former head coaches Noel McNamara and Richie Murphy, but they finished last in this year's Six Nations after one win in five games. Things have not gone well for Neil Doak's side, but Humphreys is not overly concerned. 'There's a huge expectation because of the success that Irish U20s have had but Peter Smyth [the IRFU's head of elite player development] was reminding me of 2018 where Ireland had Caelan Doris, Tommy O'Brien, James Hume, Michael Lowry [but won two games in the Six Nations and finished 11th at the World Championship]. There were a number of players who've gone on to be very successful. Humphreys at the IRFU's training base this week. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO 'It isn't necessarily an indicator that players won't come through. They've been very unfortunate in terms of injuries. If you look at the stats from the Six Nations, a lot of the stats put Ireland in the top two or three but what they couldn't compete with was that they lost Niall Smyth, Alex Usanov, Alan Spicer [two props and a second row] – the size, the power. 'And because we have a smaller group of players [compared to] a lot of our competitors, when we lose two or three key players out of that, we lose just a little bit of our competitiveness. 'It has been frustrating, I know how frustrated the players and coaches have been and I know how much they see the next few weeks in Italy [for the World Rugby U20 Championship] as a challenge but also an opportunity to show what they have.' While Humphreys is clearly concerned about Munster, Ulster, and Connacht not allowing the gap to Leinster to become even wider, he insisted he is not downbeat about the state of play in Irish rugby. With Stuart Lancaster coming into Connacht, Clayton McMillan arriving in Munster, and Richie Murphy guiding Ulster's young players, Humphreys is confident that fortunes will be quickly reversed around the island. 'I think this year is a blip for a number of reasons that were around changes in coaching teams, player injuries,' he said. 'I think with our recruitment, we're going to have stronger squads next year. With the coaches we've brought in, we're going to have strong coaching teams next year. That's going to allow us to close the gap. 'How long will that take? I don't know. But, ultimately, if Leinster keep pushing the boundaries but the other provinces keep working towards closing it, we're going to have a stronger national team and stronger provinces. 'The timeline is almost irrelevant, the challenge is to make sure we are closing the gamp, and from an IRFU perspective that we're making the decisions which are right, to ensure that yes, the challenge is on the provinces to do what they need to do, but the challenge is on us as the governing body to make sure that we're supporting them to close that gap. 'The expectation in Ireland now is that we have four provinces that are competitive and an Irish team is on top of the world.'
RTÉ News
27-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
'There's a better way of doing it' - David Humphreys disappointed at 'rushed' Sevens announcement
David Humphreys has expressed his regret for how the plan to disband the men's Sevens programme was communicated, but is doubling down on the controversial decision. The IRFU announced last month that they would be withdrawing from the men's Sevens circuit with immediate effect, a decision which they said was necessary "to secure the long-term success of Irish Rugby". Humphreys, specifically, came under serious criticism from several members of last year's Irish Olympic Sevens squad, including former captain Harry McNulty and former World Sevens Player of the Year Terry Kennedy, as well as his predecessor at the IRFU, David Nucifora. It's believed the decision to axe the Sevens programme has freed up more than €1.2m annually for the IRFU to distribute elsewhere, although that figure has been disputed by McNulty and Kennedy, who claimed various sponsorship programmes were ensuring the programme was washing its grace financially. And Humphreys (below) says that money will now be used to supplement the women's game as well as Munster, Ulster and Connacht rugby, similar to how the provincial contributions to central contracts will also be funnelled to those provinces. "It wasn't simply a financial decision," he said of the end of the men's Sevens. "It was a performance decision based on: we have to be able to reallocate the resources in our system. The budgets are not being cut. Kevin Potts [IRFU chief executive] has said we can't continue to keep doing what we've always done. "So what that has meant is we've made a performance decision based on the financial reality of the world that rugby is in, not just the IRFU but the wider world, to say we're going to take a longer-term solution which is the money we're going to save from finishing the men's Sevens programme is going entirely into investing in the three provincial pathways and the women's game." The former Ireland out-half did accept criticism of how the decision was communicated, both to the current squad and to the wider public. The IRFU made their announcement on 14 May before they had spoken to the players in person, after their decision had become public. Humphreys says it was a regrettable way to inform the current squad, but that they are continuing to engage with the players affected. "We all know there is never a good way to deliver bad news, but there's a better way of doing it," he added. "We had been keeping all the stakeholders involved in the direction of travel, where we were getting to, we had kept some of our senior players, and Simon Keogh at Rugby Players Ireland were aware of the direction. So it didn't come as a surprise to any of the players. "However, the timing of it... yes, of course we were disappointed it had to be rushed out. We had a very clear plan in place which was after LA [leg of the World SVNS Series], the players had two weeks holidays and when they came back from holidays, we said we would give a presentation as to where both men's and women's sevens was going to go and while we knew were delivering bad news, why we wanted to be in control of it was acknowledging that the process hasn't been perfect and we said this to the players when we met. "We know the process hasn't been perfect but because of that what we're going to do is pay them to the end of their contracts, including the match fees and win bonusses for competitions they didn't go to, we paid them five months salaries as a lump sum payment, we extended their medical health insurance and we put into an education fund. "So, what we are saying to them was: 'Look, we know it hasn't been perfect, we are all really disappointed that it's had to come to this, but here's how we're going to help you transition out of it' "Some are going on trial into the provinces because we're trying to find a way to get them into the system, but ultimately to be rushed the way it was, was uncomfortable for us all and probably didn't help the wider reaction, than if it had been done in a much more controlled manner."
RTÉ News
27-06-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Provincial struggles just a 'blip' - David Humphreys hasn't seen signs of regression in Irish rugby
It's been a year since David Nucifora handed the keys of Irish rugby over to David Humphreys, twelve months where the new IRFU performance director has had more than a few big decisions land at his desk. The national team has been in a bit of a flux with Andy Farrell spending time on his British and Irish Lions sabbatical, with a third-place finish in the Six Nations following an underwhelming Autumn Nations Series.. He's had to make unpopular decisions, most notably by axing the men's Sevens programme, which he says has been done to provide extra funds for Munster, Connacht, Ulster and the women's game. That one could be legacy-defining. He's had a more hands-on approach than his predecessor when it comes to women's rugby, but even a year of steady growth has hit a snag recently with Hugh Hogan departing the setup just a few months out from a World Cup. The popular defence coach is believed to have had a falling out with head coach Scott Bemand, with James Scaysbrook coming in at short notice to replace him. On the face of it, the performances of the four provinces is the greatest cause for concern. Ulster and Connacht missed out on Champions Cup rugby, with the latter's season falling apart and leading to the departure of head coach Pete Wilkins. Munster barely scraped into the URC play-offs, and parted ways with Graham Rowntree back in October. And while Leinster broke their four-year wait for a trophy with the URC title, their shock Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints was a sobering one for the whole of Irish rugby. "I don't think I've seen signs of regression," Humphreys says, when Irish rugby's difficult 12 months is put to him. "I think the nature of sport is that there are ups and downs and it's almost this year there's been - not quite the perfect storm - but there's a lot of things that have happened which would give off the view that it hasn't been as successful as it has been in the past. "But for all those areas that you mentioned, when you look at some of the changes we've made, whether its coaching team, from a contracting point of view, the quality of the squads, I have no doubt that next year will be much stronger and much better, certainly across the provinces." Since arriving into this role a year ago, Humphreys has acknowledged one of his key jobs is to help bring Munster, Connacht and Ulster closer to Leinster, both in terms of results off the pitch and their financial means off it. All three have had a change of coaching in the last 18 months, with Richie Murphy installed as Dan McFarland's replacement at Ulster just over a year ago, while the appointments of Stuart Lancaster and Clayton McMillan at Connacht and Munster respectively appear to be statements of intent "The expectation in Ireland now is that we have four provinces that are competitive and an Irish team is on top of the world," added the 53-year-old. "When I first came in, there was a lot of talk around: 'Leinster are too strong.' In a high-performance system, a team can never be too strong. Ultimately, the goal is to be the very, very best. They are very close to being in that position. "But the challenge that I believe we in the IRFU have and in my role, is to make the other three more competitive. "I think this year is a blip for a number of reasons that were around changes in coaching teams, player injuries, I think with our recruitment we're going to have stronger squads next year. With the coaches we've brought in we're going to have strong coaching teams next year. That's going to allow us to close the gap [between Leinster and the rest]. "How long will that take? I don't know. But, ultimately, if Leinster keep pushing the boundaries but the other provinces keep working towards closing it, we're going to have a stronger national team and stronger provinces." To help bridge the gap between Leinster and the rest, provinces will now be forced to contribute up to 40% of the wages for their centrally contracted players, which will free up an estimated €700,000 to be rerouted to Munster, Connacht and Ulster. Additionally, those provinces - and the women's game - will share the €1.2m that has been reserved from disbanding the men's Sevens programme. Humphreys has also rowed back on one of his big policies he announced last summer, that non-Irish qualified front rows would not be sanctioned for the foreseeable future. The policy was in response to the lack of front row talent being developed for the senior national side, although he has since allowed Leinster re-sign France veteran Rabah Slimani, and sanctioned Ulster's signing of Australia star Angus Bell (above). "It was a very deliberate strategy. We were all aware about where our front-row depth was coming from and at the time I firmly believed, that as things stood at that time 12 months ago, we needed to do something different. "What that statement did was encourage conversations with us, with the provinces: 'How are we going to make sure that we can get more players into the system?' So, you'll have seen some players move between provinces. That's what we wanted. "You'll have seen a number of players get game time, in discussions with the provinces, and you've seen the acceleration of Boyle and Clarkson. They've come through very quickly because they've been playing. "So, it's this conversation; if we can get those young players playing, they will get better. But I also think part of working in high performance there has to be flexibility. "You can take a position, but as things change, as they do on a week to week basis and on a month to month basis, you have to be flexible and go: 'Do you know what, 12 months ago that's what I genuinely believed.' Now, because of what we've seen happen within the provinces; player movement, player game time and the development of some of these young players, I am much less concerned about us not having any depth." One thing Humphreys (above) is showing no flexibility around, however, is the IRFU's policy of not considering players based outside Ireland for selection to the men's national team. The union have taken a hard stance against selecting players based in Britain or France ever since Johnny Sexton's time at Racing 92, and Humphreys said it's not going to be changed any time soon. "It's a question that we've talked about internally, we've discussed it internally but actually when you look at the Irish system, one of the great strengths is our player welfare, our player management. "What we want is, we want all our players playing into their early to mid-30s. We want to give them every chance and we believe what we have in each of our provinces, how we manage them throughout the course of the season, that gives them the best opportunity to have a much longer career than perhaps if you let them go and play in some of the other leagues. "So for me at the minute, that is not something that's up for discussion. "We've considered it. We believe that it's a fundamental strength of the Irish rugby system and believe it will continue to be so."
